South African Consultant Sets Up Irish LTD with Nominee Director

South African Consultant Sets Up Irish LTD to Invoice EU Clients — Nominee Director, VAT and Bank Live in Four Weeks

Background: a South African (Pty) Ltd was costing the consultant 3 percentage points of margin

The consultant had been invoicing UK and EU clients through her Cape Town (Pty) Ltd. South African corporate tax (27% in 2026), withholding tax frictions and FX volatility were eating ~3 percentage points of margin. Several EU clients had also raised vendor-due-diligence questions about non-EU contracting parties. The consultant decided to set up an Irish LTD to invoice EU clients directly while retaining her South African (Pty) Ltd for African work.

The challenge: solo founders often get deprioritised by formation agents

Many incorporation agents quote large packages and treat solo founders as low-priority “small fish.” The consultant had been quoted by two agents whose timelines drifted to 8–10 weeks and whose nominee director arrangements were vague. She wanted: a published fixed fee, a written timeline, and a nominee director arrangement she could show her own clients.

The solution: standard non-resident package with predictable execution

Chern & Co’s Non-Resident Package covered:

• A1 incorporation with the consultant as 100% shareholder + EEA-resident nominee director under Section 137
• RBO declaration filed within statutory window
• Registered office in Limerick
• Revenue tax registration (CT and VAT)
• Introduction to a Tier-1 EU EMI for a fast-track business bank account
• One year of company secretarial and B1 annual return preparation

The certificate issued in week two, VAT number in week three, bank account live in week four.

The outcome: ~3 points of margin recovered, EU client onboarding cleaner

The first EU invoice issued from the Irish LTD in week five, denominated in EUR with a 0% VAT reverse charge for B2B recipients in other member states. Net of the corporate-tax differential and currency conversion savings, the consultant recovered approximately 3 percentage points of margin within three months. EU clients’ procurement teams accepted the new entity without follow-up questions because the CRO record, RBO declaration and registered office were all live and verifiable.

Why solo founders should expect institution-grade execution

An Irish LTD costs the same to incorporate whether the founder is a single consultant or a Series B fintech. The procedural rigour is identical: A1 form, Section 137 compliance, RBO filing, Revenue registration. As an authorised TCSP since 2018, Chern & Co applies the same discipline to a single-founder consultancy as to a 30-employee SaaS HQ. There is no “small client tier.”