How does bookkeeping work in Montenegro?

Companies keep double-entry books under Montenegrin accounting rules, file monthly VAT (PDV) returns if registered, report payroll monthly, and submit an annual corporate income tax return. Records are filed with the Tax Administration (Poreska uprava Crne Gore), and most filings are done electronically.

What is the VAT rate in Montenegro?

The standard PDV rate is 21%, with a reduced 7% rate on certain supplies and a 0% rate on some others. VAT registration becomes mandatory once turnover exceeds €30,000 in a year, and registered businesses file VAT returns monthly, by the 15th of the following month.

How is salary taxed in Montenegro?

Personal income tax on salaries is progressive: the first €700 of monthly gross pay is tax-free, income between €700.01 and €1,000 is taxed at 9%, and income above €1,000 at 15%. Employers withhold the tax and pay it monthly.

What are Montenegro's social contributions?

Employee contributions cover pension and unemployment insurance. Mandatory health-insurance contributions were abolished in October 2024, and that reform also changed the employer/employee split — confirm the current rates with the Tax Administration before running payroll.

What is the corporate income tax rate?

Corporate profit is taxed progressively: 9% up to €100,000, 12% between €100,000 and €1.5 million, and 15% above that — among the lowest headline rates in Europe.

What is the minimum wage in Montenegro in 2026?

€670 per month gross for a standard 40-hour week, applied uniformly across the country.

When are payroll taxes filed?

Employers calculate and pay personal income tax and social contributions monthly, submitting the payroll report by the 15th day of the following month. The annual personal income tax return is due by 30 April.

Do I need a bookkeeping service or software in Montenegro?

Small companies with straightforward operations can run their own books in accounting software, provided VAT and payroll are calculated to Montenegrin rules and filings are made on time. Bilenta handles PDV, payroll and double-entry accounting for Montenegro in one platform, in Montenegrin, English and Russian.

bilenta

Bookkeeping and payroll in Montenegro

Name: Bilenta
Author: Bilenta

What Montenegrin businesses have to do — VAT (PDV), payroll, double-entry books and filing deadlines — and how Bilenta handles all of it in one cloud platform.

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Built for Montenegrin business

Invoicing and double-entry accounting
VAT (PDV) tracking and returns
Payroll and employee management
Multi-currency with ECB reference rates
Available in Montenegrin, English and Russian

Montenegro tax and payroll figures for 2026

Corporate income tax: 9% / 12% / 15%
VAT (PDV) standard rate: 21%
VAT reduced rate: 7%
VAT registration threshold: €30,000
Salary tax-free amount: €700 / month
Salary tax rates: 0% / 9% / 15%
Minimum wage: €670 / month
Monthly payroll filing: by the 15th

Figures verified July 2026 against PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries and Montenegrin sources. Social-contribution rates changed with the October 2024 reform — confirm current rates with Poreska uprava Crne Gore before running payroll.

What's inside

Five tools in one bookkeeping platform — no duct tape.

Bilenta is the system the accountant uses to close the books, and the system the business owner uses to send invoices and chase payments. Same data, two views, one subscription.

Invoicing that doesn't fight you

Create invoices in seconds, schedule recurring ones, send credit notes, email PDFs in five languages. Per-invoice language and currency. Peppol UBL 2.1 e-invoicing for Latvian and EU clients.

Quotes clients accept online

Send a quote with a secure link. The client views it and accepts or declines in one click — the status updates itself and the follow-up reminders stop. Every email sent is logged against the quote, so you see exactly what went out and when.

Real double-entry accounting

Chart of accounts pre-loaded per country. Journal entries, opening balances, period locks, fiscal year close, audit trail on every change. Country-specific account mappings — LV, BG and ME charts ship in the box.

Guided close & onboarding wizards

Step-by-step year-end close and employee onboarding. The close wizard checks readiness, blocks on unposted entries, posts depreciation and the VAT return, carries the result to retained earnings, then locks the periods — in the right order, every time.

Client document portal

Send your client a single link. They upload receipts, statements, signed contracts — no login. Files land in S3, you get a notification. One click converts an uploaded supplier invoice into a pending receipt.

Bank reconciliation that learns

Import CSV or CAMT.053. Four-strategy matching: invoice number, IBAN, name, amount. One-click accept or split. SEPA XML payment files for your bank in return.

Country-specific payroll

Latvia: PIT, MSSC, tax-booklet handling. Bulgaria: ОДФЛ, ДОО, with sector minimum insurable income (МОД) applied automatically. Montenegro: PIT with non-taxable threshold. Payslip PDFs, SEPA payment files, employee portal with payslip self-service in five languages.

VAT, EC Sales, CIT

Monthly or quarterly VAT (the policy setting you’ve been wanting). EC Sales lists, supplier reports, reverse-charge handling. Bulgaria exports the NRA purchase & sales ledgers (дневници) and tracks SAF-T scope. Filing formats match VID, NRA, and the Montenegrin tax authority.

Fixed assets & depreciation

A proper asset register with automatic monthly depreciation — straight-line or declining-balance — posted to the ledger. Bulgarian companies also get a parallel tax-depreciation schedule (ЗКПО categories, cars and EVs included), and the book-vs-tax difference flows straight into the corporate-tax calculation.

CRM & sales pipeline

Contacts, deals, tasks, quotes, contracts. Quotes convert to invoices with one click — or adjust the lines first. Recurring CRM tasks ("chase Q1 closing docs every quarter") materialise on schedule.

Project management

Kanban boards, time tracking, budgets, file sharing. Link invoices and expenses to projects, see real profitability. Billable hours roll up to draft invoices when you're ready.

Inventory & products

Stock levels, purchase orders, fulfilment, returns, price lists, stocktake. Below-cost margin warnings. Asset register with depreciation that posts to the GL automatically every month.

HR — leave, shifts, assets

Probation tracking with country-specific notice rules. Public holiday calendars for LV, BG and ME baked into leave calculations. Weekly shift planning with bulk apply. Asset assignments — "who has the laptop" answered in one click.

Team roles & employee portal

Six roles (Owner, Admin, Accountant, Manager, Employee, Viewer) with granular per-page permissions. Employees get their own portal: payslips, vacation requests, time sheets — without seeing the books.

Approval workflows

Rules for high-value invoices, payroll runs, leave requests. Routed to the right manager, approved or rejected in two clicks. Vacations canceled before they start return the days to the employee's balance.

Multi-company, multi-currency

Run several clients from one login. Workspace inbox shows what needs attention across every company. ECB exchange rates daily, FX gain/loss posts automatically on reconciliation.

Five languages — including the emails

UI, invoices, quotes, payslips and reminders in Latvian, English, Bulgarian, Montenegrin, Russian. Per-contact, per-invoice language. The send path picks the right translation — English fallback for anything missing.

Receipts in, journals out

Upload receipts by photo or drag-and-drop. Mark them VAT-deductible, link to vendor and account. Booking generates the journal entry. Manual data entry now; OCR auto-fill on the roadmap.

Frequently asked questions

How does bookkeeping work in Montenegro?: Companies keep double-entry books under Montenegrin accounting rules, file monthly VAT (PDV) returns if registered, report payroll monthly, and submit an annual corporate income tax return. Records are filed with the Tax Administration (Poreska uprava Crne Gore), and most filings are done electronically.
What is the VAT rate in Montenegro?: The standard PDV rate is 21%, with a reduced 7% rate on certain supplies and a 0% rate on some others. VAT registration becomes mandatory once turnover exceeds €30,000 in a year, and registered businesses file VAT returns monthly, by the 15th of the following month.
How is salary taxed in Montenegro?: Personal income tax on salaries is progressive: the first €700 of monthly gross pay is tax-free, income between €700.01 and €1,000 is taxed at 9%, and income above €1,000 at 15%. Employers withhold the tax and pay it monthly.
What are Montenegro's social contributions?: Employee contributions cover pension and unemployment insurance. Mandatory health-insurance contributions were abolished in October 2024, and that reform also changed the employer/employee split — confirm the current rates with the Tax Administration before running payroll.
What is the corporate income tax rate?: Corporate profit is taxed progressively: 9% up to €100,000, 12% between €100,000 and €1.5 million, and 15% above that — among the lowest headline rates in Europe.
What is the minimum wage in Montenegro in 2026?: €670 per month gross for a standard 40-hour week, applied uniformly across the country.
When are payroll taxes filed?: Employers calculate and pay personal income tax and social contributions monthly, submitting the payroll report by the 15th day of the following month. The annual personal income tax return is due by 30 April.
Do I need a bookkeeping service or software in Montenegro?: Small companies with straightforward operations can run their own books in accounting software, provided VAT and payroll are calculated to Montenegrin rules and filings are made on time. Bilenta handles PDV, payroll and double-entry accounting for Montenegro in one platform, in Montenegrin, English and Russian.

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