Before you start — when does PalkkaOnline's responsibility begin?
This is important to understand from the beginning: PalkkaOnline's accounting service responsibility begins from the subscription activation date. This is the day your agreement starts and you begin invoicing through the service.
If you previously had another accounting firm or managed your own bookkeeping, earlier years or months of accounting are not included in PalkkaOnline's standard service. In practice:
Accounting is in order — If the previous firm delivers clean accounting records, the transition is smooth with no extra costs.
Accounting has gaps — If previous bookkeeping is incomplete, VAT returns are overdue, or expense receipts are missing, these must be corrected before PalkkaOnline can take responsibility. This remediation work is billed at hourly rates because it requires manual work by an accountant.
You have not kept books before — If you operated without an accounting firm and things are unclear, the investigation work is billed separately.
PalkkaOnline informs you in advance if additional work is needed, and work only begins once you have approved it.
Step 1: Register
Register at tmi.palkkaonline.fi. Fill in your basic details: name, email, phone number. This creates your user account.
Step 2: Complete your profile
After logging in, complete your profile with personal and address details. These are needed for invoicing and accounting.
Step 3: Add payment details
Add your bank account details so PalkkaOnline can settle your income to your bank account. You need a Finnish IBAN account number.
Step 4: Verify your identity
Verify your identity using online banking credentials or a mobile certificate. This confirms your identity.
Step 5: Grant Suomi.fi authorisation
Grant PalkkaOnline a Suomi.fi authorisation. This authorises us to handle your tax affairs — VAT returns, tax prepayments, and the business tax return. Without this authorisation, we cannot act on your behalf with the Tax Administration.
The authorisation is granted at suomi.fi/valtuudet using your Business ID.
Step 6: Confirm tax settings
The final step before activation. PalkkaOnline fetches your register information from the Tax Administration (VAT register, prepayment register) and confirms your tax settings. Also provide an income estimate for the year so tax prepayments can be calculated.
Your account is active!
Once all steps are completed, your account is activated and you can start invoicing. From this point, PalkkaOnline handles:
Invoicing and payment tracking
VAT withholding and filing
Tax prepayment withholding and payment
Bookkeeping
Preparing and submitting the business tax return
After your first invoice
Once you have sent your first invoice and the customer pays, you will see your first settlement in the client funds account view. See the article How does money reach my account? for more details.
What is included in the service — and what is not?
PalkkaOnline's standard service includes:
Invoicing service and client funds account
Bookkeeping from the activation date onwards
VAT returns and their submission
Tax prepayment management
Annual business tax return
Expense processing
The standard service does not include:
Correcting or completing bookkeeping from previous years
Resolving gaps left by a previous accounting firm
Personal tax advice (PalkkaOnline only handles business tax matters)
YEL insurance management (this is handled directly with your pension insurance company)
Additional work is always agreed upon in advance and billed separately.