Expand into Latin America without flying blind.
Cross-border entity formation, banking setup, tax structuring, and local partner introductions for U.S. companies entering Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. Run from our CDMX offices, with on-the-ground relationships in every country.
LATAM is the highest-growth market and the most painful setup.
U.S. companies see the demand: enterprise SaaS buyers in Mexico City, marketplace volume in São Paulo, engineering talent in Buenos Aires, fintech adoption in Bogotá. Then they try to actually set up shop.
Cross-border banking is a wall — FATCA reporting, foreign-currency holdings, repatriation rules, and banks that don’t answer your email. Tax compliance shifts every year, and each country has its own playbook (Mexico’s CFDI vs. Brazil’s SPED vs. Colombia’s POS-not-the-software). Hiring locally requires entity structure that doesn’t exist yet. Transfer pricing rules between U.S. parent and LATAM sub get audited.
Most U.S. advisors either don’t do this work or charge Big-Four prices for what amounts to a checklist. We’ve been on the ground in LATAM for years — our CDMX office is the operational hub for every engagement — and we’ve done this setup enough times to know what actually breaks in week 12.
From parent-co structure to first hire, all the way through.
- Entity formationCountry-appropriate structure: SA de CV (Mexico), SAS (Colombia), SpA (Chile), SA/SRL (Argentina), LTDA (Brazil).
- Tax IDs + registrationsRFC (MX), NIT (CO), RUT (CL), CUIT (AR), CNPJ (BR) — plus state and municipal registrations where required.
- Cross-border bankingUSD + local currency accounts. Introductions to banks that actually work with foreign-owned subs (HSBC, Citibanamex, BTG Pactual, Itaú, etc.).
- Local accounting partnerVetted firms in each country, contracted directly with you. We coordinate setup; you own the relationship.
- Local legal counselSame model. We make the intro to firms we’ve worked with personally; you contract directly.
- Transfer pricing structureU.S. parent to LATAM sub: service agreement, royalty structure, cost-plus arrangements. Audit-defensible from day one.
- HR and payroll setupPEO/EOR partnerships (Deel, Remote, country-specific) so you can hire week one without running payroll yourself.
- Tax compliance cadenceCountry-specific filing calendars, deadlines mapped, and ongoing-advisory included for the first 6 months.
- Currency hedgingFX strategy for revenue/cost mismatches. Particularly important for ARS (Argentina) and BRL (Brazil) volatility.
- Vendor and supplier networkOffice space, IT, recruiters, payroll providers — vetted contacts you can use day one.
Best fit if you’ve already proven the LATAM thesis.
You’re a great fit if…
- You have confirmed LATAM customers or users — not just a hypothesis.
- You’re B2B SaaS, marketplace, fintech, or healthtech with $1M+ ARR.
- You’re hiring engineering or operations talent in the region.
- You need real entity structure for billing, payroll, or local sales.
- You’ve outgrown PEO/EOR-only setups and need a proper subsidiary.
You’re probably not a fit if…
- You’re just exploring LATAM. Run our free Scorecard first.
- You only need remote contractors — Deel or Remote will handle that for $50/month per person.
- You’re pre-revenue and want to set up before you have customers.
- You’re looking for the cheapest possible filing service. We’re not that.
Five steps over 60-120 days.
Discovery call
Country selection, customer base, timing. We map your specific use case to our country playbooks.
Country strategy
Single-country vs. regional approach. Which country first if multiple. Tax structure design.
Entity formation
30-60 days in most countries (90 in Brazil). Documents, registrations, tax IDs.
Banking + ops
30-45 days for bank accounts. Accounting partner onboarded. Payroll structure in place.
Fixed-scope, fixed-fee. 6 months of advisory included.
Pricing reflects country complexity and number of jurisdictions. Brazil-only engagements price toward the top of each range because Brazilian compliance demands more hours. Every engagement includes 6 months of post-launch advisory so we’re still in the room when you hit your first tax filing or first hire.
Single-country entry
One country, full entity + banking + tax + local partner setup. Mexico, Colombia, Chile, or Argentina. Brazil is +20% due to compliance complexity.
Multi-country regional
Two or three countries setup in parallel. Most common: Mexico + Colombia, or Mexico + Brazil. Includes inter-country transfer pricing structure.
Custom scope
M&A across borders, restructuring an existing footprint, four+ countries, or jurisdictions outside our core five. Scoped on the discovery call.
LATAM expansion questions, answered.
How long does LATAM entity formation actually take?
Mexico (SA de CV or SAPI de CV): 30-45 days from documents-in-hand to entity-formed. Colombia (SAS): 20-30 days. Argentina (SA or SRL): 45-60 days. Chile (SpA): 25-40 days. Brazil (LTDA): 60-90 days — Brazil is consistently the slowest, mostly due to CNPJ registration. Banking adds another 30-45 days after entity formation in most countries.
Do you operate in countries beyond your listed five?
Our core network is strongest in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. We’ve also done one-off work in Peru, Uruguay, and Panama. For other LATAM countries (Costa Rica, Ecuador, Bolivia, etc.), we can refer you to vetted local advisors but won’t manage the engagement end-to-end.
What about Brazil specifically?
Brazil is the LATAM market with the highest opportunity AND the most painful setup. Tax compliance is genuinely complex — federal, state, municipal, all with overlapping obligations. We work with Brazilian counsel on every Brazil engagement; we don’t pretend to do it solo. Expect 60-90 days for entity, 30-45 days for banking, and a 6-month learning curve on compliance cadence.
Can you handle payroll/HR for our LATAM team?
Yes, through partnerships with established LATAM PEO/EOR providers (Deel, Remote, country-specific firms). We don’t run payroll ourselves but we set up the structure and manage the relationship so you have one point of contact instead of five.
Do you have legal counsel relationships in each country?
Yes — vetted, worked-with-personally relationships in all five core countries. We make the introduction, you contract directly with local counsel. We don’t take a referral fee or markup. Local counsel handles entity filings; we handle finance, tax structure, and ongoing strategy.
Can we do this without a fractional CFO engagement?
Yes. LATAM Market Entry is a fixed-scope project. Some clients only need the entry setup and continue with their existing finance team afterward. Others convert into ongoing fractional CFO engagements because the LATAM operation creates ongoing complexity. Both work.