The Sociedad por Acciones Simplificada (SAS), created under Law 1258 of 2008, is the structure behind the vast majority of new company registrations in Colombia — and for foreign founders, it's almost always the right default. It allows a single shareholder, permits full foreign ownership, requires no minimum capital, and shields personal assets from company liabilities.
The process
1. Draft the bylaws (estatutos). This document defines the company name, registered address, business purpose (which can be written broadly to allow future flexibility), capital structure, share distribution, and legal representative. Unlike some Colombian entity types, this is filed as a private document with the Chamber of Commerce — it generally doesn't require a public notary deed unless the founding capital includes assets that need one.
2. Register with the Cámara de Comercio (Chamber of Commerce) in the city where the company will operate. This is where the company legally comes into existence.
3. Get the NIT and RUT from DIAN (Colombia's tax authority). The RUT is often assigned during Chamber of Commerce registration in a single-window process, particularly in Bogotá; other cities may require a provisional RUT first, finalized after the bank account step below.
4. Open a corporate bank account. This isn't optional — DIAN generally requires proof of an active corporate account to issue the definitive NIT, and the company's invoicing and payroll need to flow through it. This step is where foreign-owned SAS formations most often stall.
5. Register the shareholders' book and minutes book with the Chamber of Commerce, and register any capital contributed from abroad as foreign investment with the Banco de la República.
What it costs and how long it takes
A DIY formation, handling the Chamber of Commerce filing yourself, generally runs in the low hundreds of dollars in direct fees. Using a lawyer or formation service for the full process — bylaws, filing, NIT/RUT, and initial guidance — typically costs somewhere in the high hundreds to low thousands of dollars, depending on complexity. Timeline for a straightforward single-founder SAS runs from about a week to a few weeks; the bank account step is usually the long pole.
Ongoing obligations
Once formed, a SAS has real recurring compliance: monthly accounting records (not annual — Colombia expects monthly bookkeeping), electronic invoicing (facturación electrónica) through DIAN, and, if you have employees, monthly electronic payroll filing. Corporate income tax runs at a flat rate on net income, with the exact rate subject to periodic tax reform — confirm the current rate with a Colombian accountant (contador) before you budget your tax position, since Colombia has adjusted corporate and dividend tax rates more than once in recent years. A monthly contador is, in practice, close to mandatory — Colombia's filing calendar is unforgiving of missed deadlines.
If the goal is a visa, not just a company
A registered, actively-capitalized SAS can support a business-route investor visa application — but the investment has to be paid in and registered, backed by formal accounting and a share composition certificate, not just declared as an intention. See our guide on Colombia residency by investment for how the business-route threshold compares to the property route.