Who this guide is for
This guide is for foreign companies that have opened, or will open, a subsidiary in Brazil and want to know what the local accounting does, what the parent must provide and what outsourcing the routine means.
Short answer. A Brazilian company has obligations every month and every year, even with no activity. The accounting records the operations, calculates the taxes, issues the payment slips and files the declarations on time.
BPO (business process outsourcing) means handing this routine to an external team. At Move Advisory, the accounting, the taxes, the payroll and the finance routine, with accounts payable and receivable, stay with us, on a fixed monthly calendar. We do all the reporting abroad, with the trial balance as the base report.
General information as of October 2026. Confirm your case with your advisors.
What the accounting does
- Bookkeeping: records the revenue, the expenses and the assets of the company.
- Taxes: calculates the taxes of the chosen regime and issues the payment slips.
- Invoices: issuing and checking.
- Payroll: partner's remuneration and employees, with social security and other charges.
- Finance: accounts payable and accounts receivable.
- Declarations: files the ancillary obligations on time.
- Reporting to the parent: trial balance and other reports.
The tax regime
The choice between presumed profit and actual profit is free, and it is made in the diagnosis with the company's numbers.
- Presumed profit: available to a company whose total gross revenue in the previous calendar year was up to R$ 78 million, or R$ 6.5 million multiplied by the number of months of activity when it operated for less than 12 months (Law 9,718/1998, article 13). The option applies to the whole calendar year. If the company passes the limit during the year, the change applies from the following year.
- Actual profit: above the limit, it becomes mandatory.
Simples Nacional. A subsidiary of a foreign company cannot join the Simples Nacional. Complementary Law 123/2006 excludes from the regime a company in whose capital another legal entity participates (article 3, paragraph 4, item I) and a company that has a partner domiciled abroad (article 17, item II). So, in practice, the choice is between presumed profit and actual profit.
The obligations that usually exist
| Obligation | What it is for | Deadline and basis |
|---|---|---|
| DCTFWeb | Declares taxes and contributions | Monthly, by the last business day of the following month (Normative Instruction RFB 2,237/2024). The DCTF was replaced by the tax inclusion module (MIT) in the DCTFWeb from 2025 |
| EFD-Reinf | Reports withholdings and payments | Day 15; if it is not a business day, the next business day (Normative Instruction RFB 2,163/2023) |
| EFD-Contribuições | Reports PIS and Cofins | Mandatory for companies under presumed profit, since 2013 (Normative Instruction RFB 1,252/2012) |
| ECD | Digital accounting bookkeeping | Last business day of June of the following year (Normative Instruction RFB 2,003/2021, article 5, as amended by Normative Instruction RFB 2,142/2023) |
| ECF | Annual tax bookkeeping | Last business day of July of the following year, for companies under presumed or actual profit |
The deadlines change. The team checks the official calendar of the Receita in each cycle.
What the parent must provide
- The corporate acts and the powers of attorney.
- The contracts with the parent: licence, services, loans.
- The information on the payments abroad.
- The documents of the investment, for the declaration to the Central Bank.
Contracts between group companies also need transfer pricing. See our guides on transfer pricing and on the SCE-IED.
Outsourcing the routine
Outsourcing does not depend on size: small and large companies outsource accounting and finance. What changes is the scope contracted. The division of roles is clear: the parent decides and provides the documents, and Move handles the Brazilian routine. The company's documents are signed by the administrator in Brazil.
Legal basis and sources
Rules and guidance used in this guide, checked in October 2026:
- Complementary Law 123/2006, articles 3 and 17: who cannot join the Simples Nacional.
- Law 9,718/1998, article 13: presumed profit and its revenue limit.
- Normative Instructions RFB 2,237/2024, 2,163/2023, 1,252/2012, 2,003/2021 and 2,142/2023: deadlines and obligations.
- Receita Federal: ECF and DCTFWeb/MIT.
How we work
Move Advisory is the consulting area of Move Online, an accounting firm in São Paulo founded in 2017.
In the diagnosis, we define the regime, the calendar and the reports. In the operation, we record, calculate, issue the payment slips, handle the finance routine and file the declarations contracted, with the trial balance and the reporting for the parent. See the services page.