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How to apply for accreditation?
I’m really not much of a fan of paperwork in general, but I didn’t find the task overwhelming at all. For the most part, it was: recognition of my degree, preparing the statues, and submitting the statutes and impact indicators to the accreditation commission. After that, pretty quickly, you get the answer as to whether or not you’re approved then you can register your statutes with the RCS (Trade and Companies Register).

A piece of advice?
I formed my company on the 2nd or 3rd of July to be able to have a one and a half year financial year. Because the longest financial year you can have for your first one is a year and a half. So I deliberately formed the company on July 2nd or 3rd, and I’d recommend the same thing to anyone starting a business as a social impact company. Because it gives you an extra 6 months to grow your business before having to pay for an audit. And the audit takes place even later, so you technically have two years between when you form the company and your first audit.

An advantage starting out
Not having (as a SIS with 100% impact shares), having no taxes other than VAT. To me, that’s huge because all the corporate taxes other companies pay on a regular basis and from their creation, I’m not subjected to. So I don’t have an extra sum to pay out that would weaken my cash-flow.

Preparing for an audit
In the end, for my audit, if I’m really invested in my project, if I go looking for funders, if my project holds its course and I have funders supporting me, it all works out. So for me, I’m in a year where I can finance a certain number of projects thanks to donations I’ve received.

Getting donations
I had companies, of course, as well as structures in Luxembourg that hand out donations to subsidize social projects. Those structures were once more reserved for non-profits and foundations, are now also open to subsidizing SIS companies.