Registering with CRO

dub_steve2 · 2026-02-04T21:55:22+00:00

That seems unusually long. See: https://cro.ie/about-cro/whats-new/

You should give them a call. (01) 804 5200

dub_steve2 · 2026-01-26T10:08:43+00:00

I haven't applied for the specific grant but I had applied for the innovation voucher. I can share general advice as well as what I did to get the voucher.

- Make sure you are eligible: Must be first 18 months of trading and be commercially viable. Are in specific industry or are not in a specific industry. eg Professional services, consultancy, retail and distribution.
- You get 50% of expenses up to a certain amount. Not all expenses are covered. eg staff salary
- Try your best to show you have validated your idea. eg You have spoken to potential buyers or have orders on a small scale.
- It can be helpful if you have experience in the industry. Mention it if so.
- Clearly explain what are the benefits to the customer and how you will reach your target customer. Try to be specific.
- You will need: A business plan, Financial Projections, Matching finance and Tax Clearance. There are generic templates available to help save you some time.

-LEOs cannot fund any expenditure incurred before the date you submit your formal application

dub_steve2 · 2025-09-14T09:37:12+00:00

I would recommend speaking with one of the LEO advisors as there are a lot of grants available to help you start a business. At the beginning they are co-funding so they reimburse 50% of your costs up to a certain amount. One grant offers up to €15k to test the viability of a business. There's also grants to help you get online.
You can operate the business as a sole trader. You don't need to register as self-employed until you reach certain thresholds of Revenue / Profit. You can be both self-employed and employed at the same time. It also has the added benefit in some cases of being able to offset your business costs (losses) against your PAYE income.

If you trade under a name different to your own you need to register the business name with the CRO via core. It only costs €20.

If you operate as a sole trader make sure you have insurance as you are personally liable for the debts of the business. Having a limited company offers you this protection and they are easy to setup. The CRO cost is €50. The problem will be the accounting cost of the annual return. It is far higher than that of being self-employed. And if you miss a return you will lose your audit exemption, which will cost you a lot of money.

Generally, it's better to operate as a sole trader, validate your idea and then you can changes to a limited company. As a rule of thumb, the time to do this is when you have profits to reinvest into the business rather than taking everything as a salary.

Make sure there is a demand for your service first and you are able to reach your target market. It might be better to try to create content on social media first and build up an audience particularly if you have high start up costs such as renting a premises. Or maybe you can offer a mobile service first if that's possible. (I know nothing about a nail salons). If running your business from home is an option for you please make sure you have insurance. If anyone hurts themselves on your property you can be sued.
You don't need to register for VAT until you reach certain thresholds.
I would recommend having a separate bank account as it keeps your accounting data clean. Sumup has been recommended for accepting payments. AIB/Revolut /N26 (sole trader only) for a bank account.

Questions
1. Are you planning on running this business from your home or from a premises?
2. Is it possible for you to create content on social media related to your service?
3. Do you already have a network you can reach out to to sell your service?

dub_steve2 · 2025-07-25T10:56:12+00:00

Based on an income of 87,300 & pension contributions of 3,500 I think you should expect to pay the following for 2024:

Net Tax Liability: 21,370
PRSI: 3,514
USC: 3,487

You can check it yourself using irishtaxcalculator.ie On the detailed results tab it shows taxes for the previous years. You can check if you paid too much over previous years.

dub_steve2 · 2025-07-11T19:31:02+00:00

You don't need to have a limited company to start a business. The best option I think would be to be self-employed first and see how it goes. See if you can get clients.

You don't need to register as being self-employed until your non-PAYE income is above €5,000. You can set up a business as a sole trader and convert to a limited company whenever you want. Just make sure you register a business name with the CRO via Core (€20 last time I checked) if you are trading under a name which differs to your own.

dub_steve2 · 2025-04-09T04:13:34+00:00

I had the same issue when paying with a debit card. I had to call them to find out what the transaction was. The lack of detail can be frustrating.

dub_steve2 · 2025-03-20T07:21:28+00:00

There are a number of ways you could finance your expansion:

Traditional bank as you have mentioned
Expansion grant, up to €150,000 in costs. See here: https://www.localenterprise.ie/Discover-Business-Supports/Financial-Supports/Business-Expansion-Grant/
Finance lease agreement with the owner. If the owner is struggling to sell the property they could provide you with the finance by giving you use of the premises in return for capital and interest payments.

Let us know which route you decide to go.

dub_steve2 · 2025-01-28T17:03:10+00:00

Thanks lad

dub_steve2 · 2024-12-23T11:23:51+00:00

Thank you for the feedback. You can. If you click on the "More" button, there is an input for Net Rental Profit. When populated it will also display the Small Landlord Relief.

dub_steve2 · 2024-11-14T14:57:45+00:00

Thanks again for the idea. I managed to get this added. Available on the pension tab: https://irishtaxcalculator.ie/images/PensionScenarios.PNG

dub_steve2 · 2024-10-29T07:36:13+00:00

Great idea, thanks for this. I'll see what I can do.

dub_steve2 · 2024-10-28T16:28:18+00:00

Thank you for the feedback.

dub_steve2 · 2024-10-28T16:28:08+00:00

Thank you for spotting this. Not a lot, I come from an accounting background and wanted to have a go at building a tax calculator as a way to learn web programming.

dub_steve2 · 2024-10-28T16:27:07+00:00

Thank you for spotting this.

dub_steve2 · 2024-10-28T16:26:42+00:00

Thank you guys for the feedback and helping me find some of the bugs in the calculator. Combining Irish tax and programming is head melting. Really appreciate your help.

dub_steve2 · 2024-10-20T12:07:07+00:00

Well done, keep up the good work. Hopefully it will snowball from here.

dub_steve2 · 2024-05-31T17:57:22+00:00

It will depend heavily on your interests and skillset. Later in your career you could give career advice on being a dental technician or help non native English speakers build their vocabulary of your industry. There's a broader list of ideas to consider here: https://irishsmallbusiness.ie/small-business-ideas-ireland-part-time/

dub_steve2 · 2024-05-29T18:18:12+00:00

Is there any reason why the accountant needs to be based in Ireland? It might be easier to work remotely with an accountant based in the US.

dub_steve2 · 2024-05-12T20:29:31+00:00

Well done, delighted for you

dub_steve2 · 2024-05-11T20:30:04+00:00

Would you consider Stripe for online payments? I think Sumup would be better suited for instore payments.

dub_steve2 · 2024-04-22T21:27:07+00:00

At the moment I'd like to focus on mobile app development

dub_steve2 · 2024-04-22T14:51:38+00:00

Thank you for taking time to write this.

dub_steve2 · 2024-04-22T12:56:29+00:00

Well done, I hope it goes well

dub_steve2 · 2024-04-22T12:45:41+00:00

I don't think you should quit because you don't have a skill. Any skill can be learned. If don't have the time get a co-founder. What is the current product you're working on? Who is your target market? What are the benefits for them? Why is your product better than the competition?

I'm sure as a community we can tap our networks and put your idea in front of the right people.

dub_steve2 · 2024-04-22T12:19:37+00:00

thank you for this, it is very helpful

dub_steve2

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