Entering the Spanish market?

The international companies that thrive when entering the Spanish market are the ones who admit in week 1 they don't understand all of the Spanish system, not in month 6.

Even experienced finance teams can be caught off guard by things like director liability rules that work completely differently, tax deadlines that don't align with your fiscal year and statutory account formats that can't simply be translated from your consolidated reports.

Last month, a director contacted me to see if I could help. 'Rolf, we just found out our Spanish subsidiary's accounts don't comply. The audit is in three days.'

Her voice was shaking. I've heard this panic before, when people discover Spanish statutory formats can't just be translated from consolidated reports. These issues are never discovered at convenient times.

The Spanish system isn't just 'different paperwork', it's built on fundamentally different legal and tax principles.

Where are you on the timeline? Week 1 with questions or month 5, hoping everything is fine?

++ I'm Rolf, I talk about business compliance, Spanish market entry and accounts in Spain's complex business landscape. Follow me for insights, tips and advice about cross-border accountancy.