Electronic signature for establishing and modifying a limited liability company

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If you hold a qualified electronic signature and a qualified timestamp, you can establish a limited liability company (LLC) from the comfort of your home—without the need to visit a notary or a municipal office. The same applies to any changes you make to your LLC during its existence. In this article, you will learn how to obtain a qualified electronic signature and how electronic signing works when setting up or modifying an LLC.

Electronic signature for LLC incorporation and changes without visiting a notary or registry

When establishing an LLC, the law requires future entrepreneurs to prepare certain documents, including the articles of association or the deed of incorporation. These documents, along with many other legally prescribed attachments, must be in written form, and the signatures of the founders must be officially certified under §58 of Act No. 323/1992 Coll. (Notarial Code) or Act No. 599/2001 Coll. on Authentication of Documents and Signatures. The articles of association must be signed by all founders or their representatives, who may be authorized through a power of attorney. This authorization itself must also be officially certified and attached.

If the LLC is founded by a single person, the deed of incorporation replaces the articles of association. It must contain the same elements, and the sole founder’s signature must also be officially certified. Today, however, the legislation allows these documents to be signed electronically—without visiting a notary or municipal office. A qualified electronic signature with a timestamp fully replaces an officially certified handwritten signature. Such a document is legally equivalent to one notarized or certified by a registry office.

Pro tip:

Any documents required by law for establishing or modifying an LLC that usually require certified signatures can be signed with a qualified electronic signature with a timestamp. They carry the same legal weight as if they had been certified in person. This saves both time and fees for notary or registry services.

Qualified electronic signature and timestamp from NFQES – fast and easy

A qualified electronic signature (QES) reliably and uniquely identifies the individual who created it. In practice, it fully replaces a handwritten signature, ensuring authenticity, integrity, and non-repudiation. A QES is issued by a certification authority—a provider of trust services recognized under the EU eIDAS regulation and listed in the Trusted List. One such provider is BRAIN:IT, operator of the online platform NFQES.com.

How to get a qualified signature via NFQES?

1. Submit a request for a qualified certificate at zone.nfqes.com.
2. Schedule a one-time in-person appointment with the certification authority (required by law for identification). This visit is only needed once.
3. During the appointment, present your identification documents and pay the certificate fee.
4. Receive your qualified certificate, upload your documents for signing, and sign them with a single click before sending them where needed.

You can also sign multiple documents at once (bulk electronic signing). The price of a qualified electronic signature from the NFQES platform is €18 per year. If you would like to extend its validity, the renewal fee is €16 for one year or €28 for two years.

To sign LLC incorporation documents without visiting a notary or registry, you’ll also need a qualified timestamp. It ensures that the document’s time of signing is legally verifiable and indisputable, since the time source comes directly from the NFQES certification authority server.

Learn more here about qualified timestamps and how to get them quickly and easily here.

Signing incorporation documents for LLC formation and changes

1. Signing with a qualified electronic signature is very simple in practice. You prepare all the documents for establishing an LLC or for making changes to an LLC, such as the articles of association, the deed of foundation, the managing director’s signature specimen, the property owner’s consent, the declaration under Section 105a of the Commercial Code, and many others as needed, and upload the documents you want to sign through the NFQES platform.
2. Next, you select the type of signature and the timestamp and sign all uploaded documents with a single click.
3. Finally, you can download the document and save it on one of your devices, or send it wherever you need.

The platform allows you to preview documents before signing.

Once signed, you can submit them yourself or authorize another person to do so. Filing documents (applications) with the Slovak Business Register also requires a QES. Currently, filing can be done only electronically (unlike in the past when paper filing was possible).

Changes you can sign with a qualified electronic signature

A QES can also be used to sign amendments in an existing LLC, such as:

• Change of company name,
• Change of registered office,
• Changes in shareholders and managing directors,
• Company sale (transfer of shares, e.g., 100% or 50%),
• Changes in beneficial owners,
• Updates to personal data of shareholders, directors, representatives, supervisory board members, or beneficial owners,
• Establishment or changes in the supervisory board,
• Changes in authorized representatives,
• Other legally required changes where certified signatures are necessary for documents submitted to the Slovak Business Register.

In case of any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us — we will be happy to explain everything to you.