Freelancing in Finland

The ultimate resource for transitioning to freelancing for software developers 👩‍💻🇫🇮

• Introduction
  • What problem will you face without this guide?
  • How can this guide solve the problem?
  • I have questions specific to my case. Do you offer personal consultation?
• Preparation - what to do before you establish your company
  • Know how to handle your upcoming new immigration status
  • Network with freelance brokers and organizations
  • Wait until you find a project you like
  • Apply for startup grant
  • Quit your job
  • Establish your company
• Foundation - what to do after you establish your company
  • Apply for general housing allowance
  • Open a business bank account
  • Find an accountant
  • Buy social security insurance YEL
  • Understand your new personal taxation situation
  • Consider buying corporate liability insurance
  • Consider joining a union

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Introduction

What problem will you face without this guide?

Losing an estimated 200 hours figuring out how to do everything on your own. I know this because that's how much time I had to spend myself.

In Finland, there are many extensive guides by authorities which have precise information about everything you need to know. The problem is, however, that the target audience of those guides are the general population and out of every 100 pages, maybe 10 pages are relevant to your situation.

For myself, I had questions like:

• How to get freelance projects without any network of my own?
• What you need to do before you establish your company to be eligible for government grants?
• When you set up your company, what are your recurring obligations?

Figuring those questions out was tiring and very time consuming.

How can this guide solve the problem?

By narrowing down the target audience to the person reading this guide on GitHub, you wouldn't lose the time I lost.

You are the target audience of this guide if:

• You are already living in Finland for more than 3 months
• You are already working as a software developer
• You want to work as an independent freelance software developer
• You want to establish a limited liability company to offer your freelance services through it

This guide is under MIT license which means use it at your own risk, I'm not a lawyer and no statement here should be thought of as legal advice.

I have questions specific to my case. Do you offer personal consultation?

Yes, I do.

What's your background?

• I started working as a software developer in 2015 and established my company in 2019.
• I published this guide in 2020 and have kept it up to date ever since.
• Since 2019, I've spent over 1000 hours researching everything. 40 hours on this commit, for example.

What can you help me with? I can help with every stage of your freelancing journey because I've been through it all.

• If you haven't started yet and are thinking about whether to make the jump:
  • I can tell you what it's like, what you should expect, etc.
• If you've just established your company and don't have the time or energy to read the guide:
  • I can give you specific help quickly so you can set a good foundation and move on.
• If you've been running your company for some years and need feedback on your setup or costs:
  • I can look at your situation and offer suggestions for optimizing your fixed costs, YEL, taxes, etc.

How much? €100 per hour, plus VAT.

OK. How can I book? You can book a time here. Afterwards:

• I'll review your booking and email you an invoice.
• Once the payment is received, I'll confirm the meeting.
• We'll meet at your selected time via video call.

Can't find a time that works? No problem. Email me at sam@hosseini.io and we'll figure something out.

Testimonials

Preparation - what to do before you establish your company

Know how to handle your upcoming new immigration status

Source of truth: Finnish Immigration Service

What is it? Once you start working as a self-employed person, you may need to apply for a different type of residence permit.

If you're a Finnish citizen, this is not applicable to you.

If you're a EU citizen, as the target audience of this guide is people who are already living in Finland for more than 3 months, given that you have already registered your right of residence, you don't need to apply for another permit.

If you're a non-EU citizen, depending on your current permit, you may need to apply for another permit.

• If you have a permanent residence permit, you don't need to apply for another permit.
• If you have any other type of permit, please contact Migri to get specific advise for your case.

Network with freelance brokers and organizations

What is it? To find a project that you like, there are companies that can help you with that. Most require a meeting before they let you in their network. It's always a relaxed meeting, though, as you will be partners who will help each other.

How does it work? They find you a project. They add around 5-20% to your hourly rate. You invoice them. They invoice the end client.

What happens in the meeting?

• They ask if you know their company and depending on that, they introduce you accordingly.
• They ask about your story.
• They ask if there's an industry that you particularly like/dislike to work in.
• They ask about your hourly rate.
• You can ask about their principles and priorities for the possible partnership with you.
• You can ask if they offer any other services than finding a project.
• You can ask about their terms of payment, i.e. how many days until they pay your sales invoice.
• You can ask if there are any restrictions in place if you take a project from them in the form of