Using a virtual office as your seat address can save your Hungarian company a lot of time, effort, and money. You can have competent assistance from Day 1 of your operation for the fraction of the cost of an employee, and you can rest assured your official mail will always find you.
What exactly is a virtual office?
A virtual office is not a place: it is a service. Of course, a physical office exists on the address of the virtual office, but it is not a place you can visit, spend time or meet partners at. The virtual office provider lets your company use their address as its registered address, so the staff of the provider can receive mail intended for your company.
Why is this a good deal for anyone?
Every Hungarian company is obliged to have a registered address in Hungary. It is part of the “core data” of the company, and this is where authorities expect to find the company. When someone sends a letter here, they will consider it delivered. Sometimes these letters can only be received in person (or with an authorization), and sometimes they require immediate action (within 8 days, for example).
Now, if you do not want to sit at your company seat all day, every day, and you do not want to hire an employee for just that, contracting a virtual office is a simple and cost-effective solution. They provide the address, the infrastructure, and the personnel, and you can access all this for a reasonable price.
But how do I get my mail?
The virtual office service may or may not include mail forwarding.
- In the simplest setup, you just get a notification when your company receives a letter and you can go pick it up.
- More advanced services, however, can forward your mail to a preferred address.
- If you are spending more time on the road, it is worth choosing a service where the staff opens your mail, scans your letters, and forwards them in email.
- If you do not speak Hungarian (or at least not on the level that you are fluent in “legalese” language), you can even find a provider that can send you brief summaries of how to act on letters that require prompt action.
- Many of these letters will relevant not for you, but your accountant, so it is also possible to find a service that can even sort letters, and forward them directly to you or your accountant as necessary.
What if my company moves?
The best part of the virtual office is that it can always stay the same, even if your company moves. This has several benefits throughout the life of your company.
- When you are just starting up, you might not want to rent an office or hire an employee right away. However, you can have competent personnel handling your incoming mail from Day 1.
- When your company is expanding or moving to a new shop, office, or warehouse, the registered seat can stay the same, wherever you move to. You will continue to receive your mail on time, same as always.
Moreover, the seat address is a piece of “core data” of your Hungarian company. Changing it entails a “company modification”, which costs some time and money. Staying with the same provider and receiving the same high-quality service throughout the life of your company is therefore cost-effective as well as convenient.
What should I do if I need an actual office for my company?
Even if you do not need a place of your own right from startup, sooner or later you will probably need a place to work or meet clients and partners. Until then, when you need such a space only sporadically, you can use the services of one of the many co-working spaces in Budapest. These typically offer desks, meeting rooms, and other office facilities on a pay-as-you-go basis, for a daily fee.
Some virtual office providers also offer co-working spaces. In that case, using the co-working space may even be included in your virtual office package, maybe with a set number of days when you can use a desk or the meeting rooms for free.
Set up your company with a virtual office
Whatever your plans are in Hungary, a virtual office is a cost-effective and convenient solution for receiving and handling official mail with the help of competent staff, from Day 1 of operation, throughout the life of the company. Depending on what your plans are in Hungary, you have various levels of service to choose from, and you can even complement the virtual office and mail forwarding with access to an actual office space.
Got you interested? Helpers Hungary provides business and immigration assistance to foreigners in Hungary for more than 15 years, including not only company formation assistance, but also virtual office, mail forwarding, and physical office spaces as needed (like our own Office+ package). Contact us today through our form or in email, and ask about your options.