Australian SaaS Sets Up Irish LTD for Stripe and EU Payroll — 8-Day Incorporation, Revenue Setup in Week Three
Background: Australia-only invoicing was hurting EU enterprise sales
The founder had built a developer-tools SaaS with strong product-market fit in the EU mid-market. Procurement teams routinely flagged Australian-entity invoicing as a vendor risk because of GST treatment and treaty issues, and Stripe Australia’s processing fees on EU customers consistently shaved 1.4–1.7% off margins. The CEO needed an EU operating company that could pass Stripe diligence and run a real Irish payroll for the EU engineering team.
The challenge: triple-track project on a 6-week clock
Three workstreams had to run in parallel: incorporation under Companies Act 2014 with Section 137 EEA-resident director compliance, Stripe Ireland onboarding (which insists on a real CRO certificate, real registered office and a clean RBO record), and Revenue employer registration plus BrightPay payroll for three EU engineers. Most agents run these sequentially over 12+ weeks.
The solution: integrated workstream with a single client lead
Chern & Co assigned one client lead and ran:
- A1 incorporation with founder as 100% shareholder + nominee director under Section 137 — days 1–8
- RBO declaration filed — day 10
- Revenue tax registration (CT, VAT, PREM) — days 11–14
- Stripe Ireland application with assembled documentation — submitted day 11, approved day 19
- Business bank account opened with a Tier-1 EMI — week three
- BrightPay payroll deployed for three engineers, first run executed, P30 monthly return filed — week six
The outcome: cleaner unit economics, EU-ready entity
Stripe Ireland processing replaced Stripe Australia for EU customers, recovering 1.4–1.7% of margin per transaction. The three EU engineers moved off contractor invoices to PAYE / PRSI / USC employment under Irish law, simplifying the cap table for the next funding round. The Australian parent now invoices the Irish subsidiary on a transfer-pricing basis approved by the company’s tax counsel.
“Eight working days for incorporation, three weeks to Stripe approval and Revenue setup. Chern & Co’s nominee director arrangement was straightforward and well-documented — our auditors signed off without comment.”
— CEO, Melbourne SaaS
Why integrated execution matters for non-EU founders
Non-EU founders running incorporation, Stripe and payroll across three vendors typically lose 4–6 weeks to inter-vendor email triangulation. As an authorised TCSP, BrightPay reseller and Sage Gold Partner, Chern & Co delivers all three under one engagement letter with one fixed quote.
Australian or APAC-based founder eyeing the EU? Book a free 15-minute consultation — written scope and quote within 24 hours.
