Business Practices

General information

Kwintessential
Information on doing business in Colombia

Opening hours and days

Banks are open Monday through Friday from 9am to 4pm in Bogota and 8am to 11:30am and 2pm to 4:30pm in the rest of the country. On the last workday of each month, banks close at noon.
Public administrative offices operate Monday through Friday from 8am to noon and 2pm to 6pm.
Business offices are open Monday through Friday and sometimes on Saturday from 8am to noon and 1pm to 5pm.
Store are open Monday through Saturday from 9am to 7pm.
Shopping malls are open daily from 10am to 7pm.
Some supermarkets are open 24/7

Holiday compensation

The celebration of holidays are always postponed until the following Monday when the holiday falls on a week end.

Accounting Rules

Tax year

The fiscal year begins on January 1st and ends on December 31st.

Accounting standards

Standards and accounting services for the nation on the website of the National General Accounting Office

Accounting regulation bodies

National General Accounting Office

Accounting reports

BALANCE SHEET: December 31 n, compared to December 31 n-1
1) Assets
- current assets
- liquid assets
- bad debt allowance
- salaries
- other
- income tax
- inventories
- expenses incurred
- Total current assets
2) equipment, machinery property
- Depreciation
3) Other assets
4) Total assets
INCOME STATEMENT: December 31 n, compared with n-1
1) Revenues
2) Gross profit
3) Operating costs
4) Operating earnings
5) Total operating costs
6) Earnings before income taxes
7) Net income.

 

Publication requirements

The Colombian Commerce Code does not detail the requirements for accounting and the certification of accounts. It is generally found in practice that companies maintain up-to-date ledgers and inventories also annually prepare the documents necessary for a financial analysis (balance sheet, income statement, operational balances, annexes).

Professional accountancy bodies

National Institute of Expert Public Accountants

Certification and auditing

 In Colombia all companies along with the subsidiaries of foreign companies are required to seek a statutory auditor to conduct an annual audit of the financial health of their organization. The auditors must be certified public accountants and must ensure the government the accuracy of the published accounting information. When signing the financial statements they certify that they have been informed of all the required information.

Accounting news

See "News" on the website of the National General Accounting Office

Tax Rates

Intellectual Property

National organizations

The organization with competence in matters of  industrial property is the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio.
Colombia is a signer of Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Convention that established the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Colombia has not signed the the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) but it is currently under consideration in Congress. More information can be found on the Proexport website.

Regional organizations

Since January 1994, the regulation of patent rights has become more accommodating since the enforcement of Decision 344 of the Cartagena Agreement. This decision has strengthened the legal protection of patents and trademarks in all the countries of the Andean bloc.

Legal Framework

Independence of justice

The judiciary is not independent and the country's judicial system is slow and plagued by corruption and extortion. However, considerable advances have been made in the promotion of transparency in the implementation of trade legislation.

Equal treatment of nationals and foreigners

From a legal standpoint, foreign nationals can generally expect to be treated similarly to Colombian nationals, although some complaints to the contrary have been filed. For more information please contact your embassy.

The language of justice

Spanish

Recourse to an interpreter

One is always permitted to be accompanied by an interpreter (contact your embassy).

Sources of the law and legal similarities

The main basis of law in Colombia is the 1991 constitution, partly based on Spanish law. It also originated in the judicial review of legislative and executive acts. A new penal code, modeled on procedures in the U.S.A. was declared in 2004 and is being to be implemented gradually.

Checking national laws online

New decrees from the Ministry of the Interior and Justice

Standards

National standards organizations

INCOTEC - TecnicaCertification National Institute

Integration in the international standards network

The organization responsible for the choice of standards and standardization of production is the Colombian Institute of Technical Standards (Instituto Colombiano de Normas Técnicas y Certificación ; ICONTEC). This organization is an active member of the ISO and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
The standards developed by the ICONTEC  are optional. The Government, through the National Council of Standards and Quality, may issue mandatory standards in matters of safety, health and the environment.

Classification of standards

NTC/ISO

Online consultation of standards

To consult the national technical standards visit the ICONTEC website.

Certification organizations

Colombian Institute of Technical Standards