Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked

What does light entrepreneurship mean, and who is it for?

Light entrepreneurship means doing work and invoicing for it without a company of your own. You use an invoicing service, which handles the invoicing, the tax settlement, the social security contributions and the insurance for you. It suits freelancers, students, pensioners and anyone who would rather focus on the work than on running a business.

What does Palkkaguru do?

Palkkaguru is an invoicing service for freelancers and light entrepreneurs. We check and send your invoice, follow the payment, handle the official notifications and pay you. You do the work.

How much does it cost?

The service fee starts at 1.9% of the invoice amount excluding VAT, and there are no monthly charges. The maximum is 249 EUR per invoice. The full price list is at /en/pricing, and the commission calculator shows what you keep.

Who is Palkkaguru for?

Freelancers, consultants, creatives, students, part-timers, and anyone who wants to invoice without starting a company.

How does Palkkaguru differ from an accounting firm or a sole trader business?

A sole trader business means founding a company and getting a Business ID, and you are responsible for the bookkeeping and the tax returns yourself, or you buy them from an accounting firm, which handles the books of a company that already exists. As a light entrepreneur you found nothing: you invoice through the service and we handle the obligations.

Can I deduct expenses?

Under certain conditions you can receive work-related costs as tax-free allowances, such as mileage allowances and per diems. Keep the original receipts and vouchers, and make sure the costs really arose from the work. We advise on these.

What if a client does not pay on time?

We help with unpaid invoices too. Two payment reminders are included in the service, and collection itself is handled through our partner. We always aim for an amicable solution first.

How is tax handled?

Advance tax is withheld from your fee according to your tax card and we remit it to the Tax Administration. We also handle the employer health insurance contribution, Sava, and the Income Register notifications. Earnings-related pension, unemployment insurance and group life are not levied: this is not an employment relationship. We can retrieve your tax card for you.

Do I need to be in a trade union or an unemployment fund?

You do not have to. It is still worth considering your own social security: as a light entrepreneur you can belong to an unemployment fund, which pays earnings-related allowance under certain conditions. Which union or fund suits you depends on your situation, the service does not limit your choices.

How do I get started?

Create an account. It takes under a minute. After that you can write your first invoice. There is no fixed term and no commitment: you pay only when you invoice, and you can stop at any time.

Can I invoice clients abroad?

Yes. We handle the VAT rules that apply to international invoicing for you.

Where do I see my salary breakdown?

Gross and net, contributions and taxes all appear on the fee statement, which reaches you automatically by email for every remittance.

What cannot be invoiced through the service?

Work done in an employment relationship, personal fees such as meeting and lecture fees, agency work, sales of goods and capital income. Someone with a Business ID is paid work compensation rather than wages. The full list is in this post.

How are work-related expenses handled?

You can add work-related expenses to the sales invoice so that they are taken into account for tax. Daily allowances, mileage allowances and receipt-based reimbursements are settled when the payment is. Receipts are archived electronically, so they can be retrieved later.

Do I need to report expenses separately on my own tax return?

Not the ones settled with the payment. If you incurred expenses you did not report when creating the sales invoice, you can add them to your pre-completed tax return once a year.

Which expenses are deductible without a Business ID?

Expenses directly attributable to billable work are generally deductible and personal ones are not. A flight to visit a client is deductible, a flight for a holiday is not. See deductions and tax-free compensation.

Can I invoice a client abroad?

Yes. The client's country does not prevent invoicing, it decides how VAT is handled, and that is our responsibility. See invoicing a client abroad.