It feels like we just blinked and January is already coming to an end! As the year continues to pass, Colombian SAS companies need to stay on top of key legal and corporate obligations to stay compliant and avoid unnecessary risks. Q1 brings several important deadlines that every business owner and manager should have on their radar.

At Colombia Legal Edge (CLE), we’ve put together this brief yet powerful checklist to help you navigate your essential legal duties:

Friendly Reminder Q1 List:

Deadline	Obligation	Entity
January 31st	Pay severance interests (12% annual calculated over accrued severance in the past year)	Paid directly to employees
First 15 working days of February	Report/update any claims filed by the data subjects regarding their personal data	National Database Registry (Industry and Commerce Superintendency)
February 14th (February 16th this year given that Feb 14th falls on a Saturday)	Pay accrued severance (only for qualifying employees. For instance: employees earning integral salary do not accrue severance)	Paid to Severance Funds, NOT employees directly
March 31st	Renew business registration (Matrícula Mercantil)	Chamber of Commerce in the city where the company was incorporated
March 31st	Mandatory annual shareholders meeting (requires: financial statements and management report)	None, only requires shareholders to attend according to quorum per bylaws
March 31st	Name a fiscal auditor ONLY IF: the previous fiscal year registers gross assets equals to or excedes 5.000 minimum wages (roughly US $ 2.4M) or gross income equals to or excedes 3.000 minimum wages (roughly US $ 1.4M)	Chamber of Commerce in the city where the company was incorporated
March 31st	Companies and non-profits who manage databases and whose total assets exceed 100,000 UVT (roughly US $1.44M)	National Database Registry (Companies Superintendency)
March 31st	Renew National Tourism Registry (only for companies in the tourism industry who require such registry)	National Tourism Registry (Ministry of Commerce)

Pro tips

1. Do not wait until the last day to file your reports: the lines at the Chamber of Commerce on March 31st are a genuine nightmare, whereas a regular morning can be very easy to navigate
2. Never ever pay accrued severance directly to employees: Colombian law only allows severance funds to disburse to employees to purchase property or for educational purposes
3. Trust and respect your shareholders: the mandatory annual meeting shouldn’t feel like a painful obligation, but rather an opportunity to strengthen the corporate relationship
4. Make sure you understand translation: We try our best to translate very specific legal and corporate terms into English, but we highly advise you make sure you fully understand every single word before signing legal documents
5. Have a sound legal strategy from day 1: Our checklists are meant to serve you as helpful guides, but they will never replace a sound legal strategy to ensure your operations run smoothly in Colombia

We’re always here for you to find the best way to tackle your Q1 obligations with structure, compliance and trust, so please feel free to reach out.