Opening a bank account is obligatory for all Hungarian companies. You have to comply within 8 days after company registration. This is a prerequisite of starting your business activity. We usually advise clients to open 3 bank accounts for 3 currencies. Read on to learn why!

Open 3 Hungarian bank accounts

• HUF: for official fees, salaries, contributions, and trading in Hungary
• EUR: for trading in the EU
• USD: for trading outside the EU

HUF bank account for your income and costs in Hungary

• You have to pay official fees to Hungarian authorities from your HUF bank account. This is how they can verify it is indeed your company who is paying.
• If you have Hungarian employees, you should pay their salaries in HUF, which is best done from your HUF account.
• If you trade within Hungary, you will issue and receive invoices in HUF – and those amounts are best transferred in HUF, between HUF bank accounts.

EUR and USD bank accounts for international trade

If you trade outside Hungary, you will probably receive and issue invoices in EUR and/or USD. EUR invoices are preferred by partners within the EU, while partners outside the European Union might prefer either EUR or USD invoices.

Each payment to its own bank account

When you are doing business in various currencies, it is important that each transfer is made from and received to the right bank account. The rule of thumb is: pay all taxes, contributions and salaries from your HUF bank account, and make any other transactions from the bank account with the currency you see on the invoice.

While actually you can make transactions between accounts of different currencies, in those cases the money has to be exchanged from one currency to the other. The exchange rates can vary from time to time, and they might not be favorable to you. In the long run, losses might accumulate. At the same time, you are generating more work not only for the bank, but also for your accountant. In the long run, making many transactions with mixed currencies can risk losing the transparency of your company, which is essential to remain compliant with Hungarian regulations.

Report all bank accounts you have

The bank account number of a Hungarian company is part of its official data. Authorities need to know about all bank accounts registered for your company – just like your accountant, who can properly perform the bookkeeping only if they know about all of your company bank accounts. Make sure you let them know when you open a new bank account or cancel an old one. This includes bank accounts opened for your Hungarian company not only at banks in Hungary but also abroad.

At the same time, since bank account numbers are official data, you can always check data at the Registry Court to see if the bank account number indicated on an invoice you received from your business partner is valid.

Disclaimer: The data in this article reflect the state of affairs upon publication. To get up-to-date information, always consult your accountant.