The network covers North Macedonia within the Southern Europe region. Payslips there are drawn up in MKD, and dealings with a local firm are conducted in Macedonian and Albanian.
The business centres where the network is looking for a correspondent as a priority are Skopje, Bitola, Koumanovo, Tetovo.
The country lies outside the European Union and outside the European Economic Area: the A1 certificate has no standing there. Whether the employee remains in the scheme of origin then depends on the bilateral social security agreement, if any, concluded with the sending country; where no such agreement exists, dual affiliation must be expected and budgeted into the assignment.
The answer to this question changes everything: it determines to whom you may entrust your payslips locally, and what you must ask for before signing. It has been verified country by country with the local authorities.
In North Macedonia, running payroll on behalf of third parties is a regulated activity. It is carried on under the title of Сметководител / Овластен сметководител, and a registration in force must be produced to you before any engagement.
La Macédoine du Nord est, parmi les pays de ce lot, celui où l'activité est la plus fermée : la loi sur l'exercice des travaux comptables réserve la tenue de comptabilité et des travaux associés (dont la paie et les déclarations MPIN) aux titulaires d'une licence de сметководител ou d'овластен сметководител, exercant au sein d'un commerçant individuel comptable ou d'une société de travaux comptables elle-même inscrite au registre de l'ИСОС. Vérifier impérativement les DEUX inscriptions, la personne et la société.
North Macedonia is a candidate for European Union membership rather than a member, keeps its own currency, the denar, and has two official languages, Macedonian and Albanian, the latter used in municipalities with a substantial Albanian-speaking population. A foreign employer has to settle the language question in the contract itself, and sometimes the question of a dual version.
On the social side, the Public Revenue Office collects income tax and contributions together, through a single payroll return filed before any salary is paid. There is therefore no separate certificate from a pension fund or a health insurance fund.
It is also, among the Western Balkans, the country where access to the accounting profession is most tightly closed. The law on the performance of accounting work reserves bookkeeping and the tasks that go with it, payroll and payroll returns included, to holders of an accountant or certified accountant licence practising within a firm that is itself entered on the register of the Institute of Accountants and Certified Accountants.
The monthly salary return is filed with the Public Revenue Office and validated by it before the bank executes payment of salaries and contributions. A salary cannot therefore be paid independently of its return, which rules out the deferred correction practices common elsewhere and requires the payroll calendar to be built around the mechanism.
Two references identify the company: the economic entity number, issued by the Central Register on incorporation, and the tax number allocated by the Public Revenue Office. The administration asks for both.
The contract is written and signed before work starts; the employee is notified electronically to the health insurance fund and the pension scheme within a short window. Check who, between head office and the local provider, holds the digital certificates needed to file.
That leaves the payslip given to the employee, record retention, the handling of leave and overtime, and then exit: notice, admissible grounds, any severance and deregistration from the social registers. For a foreign employee, the work authorisation is dealt with before any commitment is made. Plan as well for what happens to the electronic filing certificate when a provider is replaced, since access to it conditions the ability to pay salaries at all.
The network asks 7 documents of any firm wishing to represent it in North Macedonia. The table gives, for each of them, the exact wording in use locally, the body that issues it and the period during which it remains admissible. These are the terms to use in an application to the local administration.
Of these 7 documents, 5 are required of every applicant and 4 have a limited period of validity, the shortest being 3 months.
| Local wording | Issuing body | Validity | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Тековна состојба (izvod / current status certificate)Current status extract from the Trade Register La « тековна состојба » est l'extrait standard exigé dans tous les dossiers macédoniens ; les acheteurs publics l'acceptent généralement dans un délai de six mois, les banques exigent souvent trois mois. | Централен регистар на Република Северна Македонија (Registre central de la République de Macédoine du Nord) | 6 months Required | Official website |
| ЕДБ — Единствен даночен бројUnique tax number L'ЕДБ est attribué par l'UJP après l'immatriculation au Registre central ; il est distinct du ЕМБС, numéro d'identification du sujet économique porté par l'extrait. | Управа за јавни приходи (UJP — Office des recettes publiques) | No expiry Required | Official website |
| Уверение за платени даноци и придонесиCertificate of paid taxes and contributions Cette attestation couvre à la fois les impôts et les cotisations sociales, l'UJP collectant les deux via la déclaration intégrée MPIN. | Управа за јавни приходи (UJP) | 3 months Required | Official website |
| Полиса за осигурување од професионална одговорностProfessional liability insurance policy | Assureur agréé par l'Агенција за супервизија на осигурување (ASO) | 12 months Where applicable | Official website |
| Лиценца за сметководител / овластен сметководител и упис на друштвото во регистарот на ИСОСAccountant / certified accountant licence and registration of the firm with the Institute PIÈCE CENTRALE EN MACÉDOINE DU NORD : l'ISOS tient un registre des personnes physiques licenciées ET un registre des personnes morales autorisées à exercer les travaux comptables. Une société étrangère candidate doit produire l'inscription du cabinet, pas seulement la licence de son dirigeant. | Институт на сметководители и овластени сметководители на Република Северна Македонија (ИСОС / ISOS) | 12 months Required | Official website |
| Лична карта или пасош на управителотIdentity card or passport of the manager Le gérant (управител) est nommé sur la тековна состојба, ce qui permet de recouper la pièce d'identité. | Министерство за внатрешни работи | No expiry Required | Official website |
| Пријава на збирки на лични податоци со висок ризик до АЗЛПNotification of high-risk personal data filing systems La loi sur la protection des données (Journal officiel n°42/20, 294/21, 101/2025) a supprimé l'enregistrement systématique de toutes les bases : seuls les traitements à haut risque sont notifiés à l'АЗЛП. En revanche, la tenue du registre des traitements est obligatoire dès 50 salariés ou en cas de traitement non occasionnel — ce qui vise tout cabinet de paie. | Агенција за заштита на личните податоци (АЗЛП) | No expiry Where applicable | Official website |
The link between filing and payment is the feature with the widest consequences. Until the monthly return is accepted by the authority, salaries do not leave the account. A payroll calendar designed abroad, with late validation, collides directly with that mechanism.
Company identification then rests on two references that are not interchangeable. The economic entity number shown on the central register extract and the tax number issued by the revenue office answer different purposes, and a file containing only one of them is incomplete.
Depending on the municipality and on the composition of the workforce, Albanian may finally have to appear alongside Macedonian in documents handed to employees. That question is settled before the first hire, not in the middle of a dispute. Official translation of documents forwarded to head office remains necessary in every case, and it is worth budgeting for from the outset.
Ne pas confondre les deux identifiants : le ЕМБС (numéro du sujet économique, porté par la тековна состојба du Registre central) et le ЕДБ (numéro fiscal délivré par l'UJP) ; les deux sont demandés. Comme l'UJP collecte l'impôt sur le revenu et les cotisations sociales dans une déclaration unique (MPIN), il n'existe pas d'attestation sociale distincte auprès d'un fonds de pension ou d'assurance maladie : une seule uverenije de l'UJP couvre les deux volets. Enfin, l'entrée dans l'UE mettrait fin au régime de déclaration des bases à haut risque, la loi le prévoit expressément — ce point sera à réexaminer.
The network opens 3 partner slots in North Macedonia, not one more. No firm is listed there yet: all 3 slots therefore remain open to applications.
No listed partner in North Macedonia has asked to appear in the public directory. The contact details of a firm are passed on to the client only when an assignment is awarded.
Filing an application does not amount to admission: every request is reviewed one by one. There is no minimum turnover requirement, and the partner selected invoices its fees directly.
Submit an application: we review your file, we check the documents required on the ground and we give you an answer, whether it is positive or not.
Applying from North Macedonia means evidencing two registrations rather than one: the individual accountant or certified accountant licence, and entry of the accounting services company itself on the Institute's register. We verify both as a matter of course. The file also includes the central register extract carrying the economic entity number, the tax number issued by the Public Revenue Office, and the certificate of paid taxes and contributions, which here covers both sides. Professional indemnity cover written by a licensed insurer completes the set.
Describe your requirement. No firm is listed in North Macedonia yet: we review the request, then entrust it to a local firm that the network identifies and vets, or to the partner of a neighbouring country covering this territory. Your contact details are passed on to the selected firm alone.
Request a provider in North MacedoniaMobility is rarely arranged one country at a time. The neighbouring profiles follow the same outline.
These countries account for most of the requests received: each one has, in addition to its profile, six pages devoted to a single aspect of local payroll.
The information gathered on this page comes from the registers, administrations and bodies listed below, consulted when the reference base was compiled. It is given for guidance and does not replace the advice of a professional established in North Macedonia.