Who Does What in a Sri Lanka Market Entry Project: Lawyers, Accountants, Landlords and Recruiters

When entering Sri Lanka, lawyers, accountants, landlords and recruitment providers are not interchangeable service providers who can each handle a little of everything. Each party addresses different risks, documents and decisions. A smoother market entry depends not on assigning every task to one party, but on establishing a clear responsibility map, handover sequence and confirmation process from the start.

For overseas teams, the most common issue is not finding service providers. It is that company formation, office arrangements, staffing and ongoing operations become disconnected. Lawyers may not understand the intended lease arrangement; landlords may not know the conditions required for the business to begin operating; recruiters may not receive timely confirmation of approved roles; and accountants may receive transaction and employee information only after the business has started. This can lead to repeated document requests, delayed internal decisions, or a company being formed without being operationally ready to begin work.

Start by separating professional advice, commercial delivery and project coordination

A market entry project usually includes three different types of work:

1. Professional advice and statutory documentation: This may include company formation documents, contract review, tax and accounting treatment, and professional matters relating to employment or immigration. Such work should be handled by appropriately qualified professional firms or practitioners.
2. Commercial resource delivery: This may include office searches, discussion of commercial lease terms, candidate sourcing, interview scheduling, and introductions to equipment or service suppliers. This work is closely linked to the company’s practical operating needs.
3. Project coordination: This may include mapping dependencies, maintaining consistent document versions, arranging communication among parties, recording open decisions and tracking project milestones. A coordinator does not replace lawyers, accountants or other licensed professionals in making professional judgments, but can help prevent gaps in information.

MMD Business Support acts as a local business support and resource coordination provider. Its role includes helping clients structure requirements, coordinate document checklists, match local resources, liaise with licensed professional firms, support meetings and follow up on project progress. Company formation, legal, tax, audit, immigration and specific licensing work should be handled by appointed professional firms that are legally qualified to provide those services.

Lawyers: legal structure, document risk and matters requiring professional judgment

A lawyer is not usually the overall project owner. However, where legal documents, rights and obligations, or regulatory pathways are involved, legal advice should form part of the decision-making process. Businesses should explain their planned activities to legal counsel at an early stage, rather than providing only a broad industry label.

A lawyer may be involved in the following areas:

• Helping identify legal or licensing issues that require further confirmation based on the business activities proposed;
• Reviewing or drafting company documents, commercial contracts or lease documents that require legal review;
• Advising on document requirements relating to shareholders, directors, authorised signatories and intra-group arrangements;
• Coordinating relevant professional input on foreign personnel, employment relationships, intellectual property, data processing or regulated activities;
• Identifying matters that require further confirmation before contracts are signed, operations begin or recruitment starts.

The information provided to a lawyer should go beyond the statement, “We want to register a company.” It should include a description of the intended business activities, customer types, charging model, whether goods will be imported or exported, whether local employees will be engaged, whether foreign personnel will be needed on site, and which key commercial documents are expected to be signed.

Who lawyers should not replace

Lawyers do not normally handle office searches, candidate sourcing, day-to-day bookkeeping or project chasing. Even where a lawyer assists with company formation, this does not mean that the lawyer automatically takes responsibility for later office, recruitment, accounting or operational coordination matters. The scope of engagement should clearly distinguish between documents and matters handled by the lawyer, those reviewed by the lawyer, and those requiring support from other providers.

Accountants: turning a business plan into workable financial and record-keeping arrangements

The value of an accounting or tax professional firm is not limited to filings or bookkeeping after a company begins operating. For teams preparing to enter the market, it is more important to understand early what transactions, payments, personnel arrangements and record-keeping requirements the business is likely to generate, and then prepare internal processes accordingly.

An accounting or tax professional firm can typically help the business organise:

• The expected nature of revenue, costs, supplier payments and intra-group transactions;
• The records needed for initial employees, salary structures, expense reimbursements and payment approval processes;
• How invoices, contracts, payment evidence, bank statements and other operating records should be retained and handed over;
• Registration, filing or ongoing compliance matters that should be confirmed with relevant authorities or professional firms before trading begins;
• The financial information management should receive regularly to monitor budgets and actual operating performance.

The accounting team’s required inputs often come from business leads, HR leads, procurement staff or administrative personnel. A company should therefore appoint an internal information owner to maintain contracts, payment support, personnel information and business descriptions in one place. This reduces the need to trace documents across multiple departments when professional support is required.

Who accountants should not replace

Accountants do not determine whether a business may carry out a regulated activity, negotiate office rent or directly recruit candidates. Questions such as whether a contract is acceptable, whether an activity requires a particular approval, or whether arrangements for foreign personnel are feasible should be confirmed separately with the appropriate professional advisers.

Landlords and workspace operators: providing premises and defining deliverable conditions

The main role of a landlord, business park operator, serviced office provider or property manager is to explain the space, services and contractual arrangements that they can provide. When selecting a location, a business should not compare only floor area and pricing. It should also confirm whether the premises support its intended way of starting operations.

Landlords and workspace operators are typically responsible for:

• Providing information on office location, space format, handover condition and permitted use of the premises;
• Explaining commercial terms in the lease or occupancy agreement, service scope, and arrangements for deposits, payments and exit;
• Explaining on-site conditions relating to internet connectivity, electricity, access control, meeting rooms, parking, fit-out, furniture and property services;
• Coordinating site visits, document signing, premises handover and routine property management contacts;
• Explaining acceptable arrangements or items requiring further confirmation where the business requests signage, equipment, visitors, operating hours or future expansion.

The business itself needs to decide its initial team size, budget limits, whether dedicated space is required, client meeting needs, information security requirements, backup workspace arrangements and potential future expansion. If a lease requires professional review, it should be referred to a lawyer before signing. If the selected premises will affect hiring, equipment planning or operating costs, relevant recruitment and finance stakeholders should also be involved.

Recruiters: building a candidate pipeline, not making hiring decisions for the business

A recruitment provider may be a recruitment agency, talent adviser, outsourced provider or an internal recruitment lead. Its core role is to organise talent sourcing, screening, interview arrangements and candidate communication based on requirements confirmed by the business.

Recruiters are typically responsible for:

• Translating the company’s role requirements into job descriptions that can be published and screened against;
• Supporting candidate sourcing, initial outreach, CV screening and interview coordination;
• Providing feedback on talent availability, candidate concerns and common obstacles in the hiring process;
• Coordinating information that needs confirmation from the business, lawyers, accountants or administrative teams during the hiring process;
• Supporting onboarding arrangements and information handover after the company makes a hiring decision.

The company must decide its initial roles, reporting lines, work location, language requirements, budget, interview decision-makers and hiring approvers. Where a role involves foreign personnel, special qualifications, sensitive data or particular employment arrangements, the business should obtain relevant professional advice separately. It should not rely solely on a recruiter’s verbal view.

A responsibility map: who leads and who provides input

Matter	Primary responsible party	Key input required from the business	Common collaborators
Mapping business activities and market entry approach	Business decision-maker	Business model, customers, transaction methods, initial plan	Project coordinator, lawyer, accountant
Company formation and related professional documents	Appointed professional firm	Shareholder, director, authority and document information	Lawyer, accountant, project coordinator
Financial record-keeping and ongoing compliance preparation	Accounting or tax professional firm	Transaction process, budget, personnel and payment arrangements	Internal finance lead, lawyer
Office selection and premises handover	Landlord or workspace operator	Team size, working model, facility requirements	Internal administration lead, lawyer, project coordinator
Commercial lease terms and legal review	Business and lawyer, each for their respective role	Commercial terms, premises needs, risk preferences	Landlord, project coordinator
Recruitment for initial roles	Internal recruitment lead or recruitment provider	Job descriptions, salary budget, interview process	Hiring manager, accountant, administrative team
Project timing, document versions and open decisions	Internal project lead or coordinator	Decision-makers, priorities, document status	All participating parties

The handover points most often missed

1. Between company formation and office signing

A business may want to secure office space quickly, but the lease signing entity, payment arrangements, use of the address and internal approval process often need to align with company formation progress. The business should first identify which matters must be confirmed before signing and which can be completed later. Lawyers, landlords and company decision-makers should each confirm the elements for which they are responsible.

2. Between starting recruitment and being ready to operate

Recruitment does not necessarily need to wait until every other item is complete. However, the job posting date, work location, expected start date and equipment arrangements need to remain aligned. If candidates receive information that differs from the actual office or employment arrangement, the company may need to repeatedly explain changes and reschedule plans.

3. Between beginning business activities and retaining financial records

Many teams begin organising contracts and supporting documents only after the first transaction, first payment or first employee start date. A more reliable approach is to identify record retention, approval, payment and handover owners before business begins, and to ensure that the accounting professional firm understands the company’s actual operating process.

Maintain a single source-of-truth project sheet

Regardless of how many parties are involved, the business should maintain a project fact sheet confirmed by an internal owner. This should serve as the common basis for communication among all parties. It does not need to be complicated, but should include at least:

• The latest description of business activities;
• Confirmation status for the entity type and key decision-makers;
• Initial office requirements and budget limits;
• Initial roles, expected joining sequence and hiring managers;
• Appointed professional firms and the scope of their work;
• Matters pending confirmation, responsible persons, required inputs and next actions;
• Versions and storage locations of documents that have been submitted or signed.

The purpose of this document is not to replace professional advice. It is to prevent different service providers from working from different versions of the facts. For matters requiring several parties to progress together, the company should identify who raises the question, who provides the information, who makes the decision, who records the conclusion and who follows up on the next action.

Conclusion

Lawyers, accountants, landlords and recruiters each solve different problems. Lawyers focus on legal documents and professional judgment. Accountants focus on business records and financial arrangements. Landlords are responsible for premises conditions and handover. Recruiters focus on talent sourcing and recruitment processes. The business itself must retain final decision-making authority over its business model, budget, hiring and commercial commitments.

When a local coordinator helps structure matters, organise communication and track dependencies, professional firms can work more effectively within their respective boundaries. The business can also identify more easily which issues have not yet been confirmed. This responsibility map can be incorporated into a company’s 90-day market entry plan to sequence company formation, office setup, staffing and operational preparation.

This content is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal, tax or immigration advice. Specific requirements should be confirmed based on the latest guidance from the relevant Sri Lankan authorities and the appointed licensed professional firms.