Onboard a sole proprietor

Prerequisites

To create a business account for a sole proprietor, ensure that you have the following scopes enabled:

users:admin
users:read
businesses:admin
businesses:read
checks:admin
checks:read
roles:admin
roles:read
accounts:admin
accounts:read
taxes:admin
taxes:read

For more information on authentication scopes in the Authentication section.

Overview

This section explains how to create a business account for sole proprietors. For information on business accounts for larger businesses and corporations, refer to the Create a corporate business account section.

Step 1: Create the sole proprietor entity

Clients must use the /businesses endpoint to create a new sole proprietor entity in addition to the user entity. This additionally includes all tax and identity information related to the individual’s incorporation.

POST /businesses

{
    "contact_email": "acme.corporation@example.com",
    "registered_address": {
        "address_line1": "110",
        "address_line2": "Schonhauser Allee",
        "postcode": "101110",
        "city": "Berlin",
        "state": "BE",
        "country": "DE"
    },
    "registration_number": "111221111",
    "tax_information": {
        "tax_country_code": "DE",
        "tax_identification_type": "STEUERNUMMER",
        "tax_identification_number": "111213123123",
        "is_resident_in_multiple_tax_jurisdictions": false,
        "is_subject_to_fatca": false
    },
    "business_type": "SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP",
    "terms_and_conditions": {
        "consent_document_id": "6a163d14-5b3d-48be-ac90-43314e96be71",
        "confirmed_at": "2024-10-24T14:14:22Z"
    },
    "data_privacy_and_sharing_agreement": {
        "consent_document_id": "fa2227c3-2b29-47e1-84da-996d09517edc",
        "confirmed_at": "2024-10-24T14:16:22Z"
    }
}

The table below shows the related parameters and their descriptions.

Parameter	Required	Description
`contact_email`	Required	Contact email address of the sole proprietorship.
`registered_address`	Required	The official, registered address of the sole proprietorship.
`registration_number`	Required	The registration number of the sole proprietorship as listed in the commercial registry.
`tax_information` `.tax_country_code`	Required	Accepted country code as listed in ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code. For Germany, this value equals "DE".
`tax_information` `.tax_identification_number`	Required	Tax identification number of the business. For Germany, this equals the USt-ID / Umsatzsteuer-ID.
`tax_information` `.is_resident_in_multiple_tax_jurisdictions`	Required	Indicates if the sole proprietorship is resident in multiple tax jurisdictions. At this time, business accounts are only available for entities resident in a single tax jurisdiction.
`tax_information` `.is_subject_to_fatca`	Required	Indicates if the sole proprietorship is subject to FATCA regulations. At this time, business accounts are only available for entities that are not subject to FATCA regulations.
`business_type`	Required	The official, registered type of business. Currently we support the following: - `SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP`: In Germany, this applies to Einzelunternehmen. - `LIMITED_LIABILITY_COMPANY`: In Germany, this applies to the following: Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH) Unternehmergesellschaft (UG). Aktiengesellschaft (AG). For instructions to onboard corporate entities, refer to the Create corporate business accounts section.
`data_privacy_and_sharing_agreement` `.consent_document_id`	Required	The universally unique identifier (UUID) of the data privacy and sharing agreement document.
`data_privacy_and_sharing_agreement` `.confirmed_at`	Required	The timestamp when the data privacy and sharing agreement was confirmed.
`terms_and_conditions` `.consent_document_id`	Required	The universally unique identifier (UUID) of the consent document.
`terms_and_conditions` `.confirmed_at`	Required	Timestamp when the terms and conditions were confirmed.

Sole Proprietorship lifecycle status

The process for creating a business entity for a sole proprietorship and its lifecycle goes through the following statuses.

Status	Description
INACTIVE	The sole proprietorship’s approval is pending. The sole proprietorship entity is visible via our API but cannot be processed.
ACTIVE	The sole proprietorship is active and able to use the full functionality of the Investment API
OFFBOARDING	The offboarding process has started. The sole proprietorship remains in this status until there are no open account groups and no pending regulatory reporting (e.g., annual tax statements).
OFFBOARDED	The sole proprietorship is offboarded. The sole proprietorship’s record can be kept for the regulatory period.

You can listen to the Business events webhook for the BUSINESS.CREATED message which provides confirmation that the business was successfully created.

{
  "id": "2df83681-6a42-4837-a554-a8197335bcfa",
  "created_at": "2021-11-22T09:04:42Z",
  "type": "BUSINESS.CREATED",
  "object": {
    "id": "a9a72268-4f3c-4de2-abb9-a553a3bb7608",
    "created_at": "2024-10-24T14:14:22Z",
    "updated_at": "2024-10-24T14:14:22Z",
    "contact_email": "acme.corporation@example.com",
    "registered_address": {
        "address_line1": "110",
        "address_line2": "Schonhauser Allee",
        "postcode": "101110",
        "city": "Berlin",
        "state": "BE",
        "country": "DE"
    },
    "registration_number": "111221111",
    "tax_information": {
        "tax_country_code": "DE",
        "tax_identification_type": "STEUERNUMMER",
        "tax_identification_number": "111213123123",
        "is_resident_in_multiple_tax_jurisdictions": false,
        "is_subject_to_fatca": false
    },
    "business_type": "SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP",
    "terms_and_conditions": {
        "consent_document_id": "6a163d14-5b3d-48be-ac90-43314e96be71",
        "confirmed_at": "2024-10-24T14:14:22Z"
    },
    "data_privacy_and_sharing_agreement": {
        "consent_document_id": "fa2227c3-2b29-47e1-84da-996d09517edc",
        "confirmed_at": "2024-10-24T14:16:22Z"
    },
    "status": "ACTIVE"
},
  "webhook_id": "1b097e06-8a14-4181-b72a-de0972a3c57b"
}

Step 2: Conduct self-assessment check

The self-assessment check provides you with the details needed to perform a risk assessment for the sole proprietorship. This includes listing the sole proprietorship’s industry, the countries in which they operate, and financial information like revenue and asset values.

For Bring your own license - Single accounts (BYOL-SA) clients, the self-assessment is only required if you also leverage Upvest for tax onboarding.

POST /businesses/{business_id}/checks

{
    "type": "BUSINESS_SELF_ASSESSMENT",
    "check_confirmed_at": "2021-08-24T14:15:22Z",
    "business_industry": "MANUFACTURING",
    "purpose_of_business_relationship": "WEALTH_GROWTH",
    "primary_countries_of_activity": [
        "DE",
        "FR"
    ],
    "annual_revenue": {
        "currency": "EUR",
        "lower_bound": 0,
        "upper_bound": 50000
    },
    "expected_volume_of_investment": {
        "currency": "EUR",
        "lower_bound": 0,
        "upper_bound": 50000
    },
    "total_asset_value": {
        "currency": "EUR",
        "lower_bound": 0,
        "upper_bound": 50000
    }
}

Parameter	Required	Description
`business_id`	Required	The unique identifier for the sole proprietorship.
`type`	Required	For the self assessment check, set this equal to `BUSINESS_SELF_ASSESSMENT`.
`check_confirmed_at`	Required	The date and time when the check was confirmed.
`business_industry`	Required	The industry classification for the sole proprietorship. This value is key for AML checks and includes a subset of NACE codes (Nomenclature statistique des activités économiques dans la Communauté Européenne) as set by the European Commission. For a list of all available enums and their related NACE codes, refer to List of business industries and NACE Codes.
`purpose_of_business_relationship`	Required	Lists the purpose of the business relationship with regards to trading. This field accepts the following values: - `WEALTH_GROWTH` - `TREASURY_LIQUIDITY_MANAGEMENT` - `HEDGING_RISK_MANAGEMENT` - `EMPLOYEE_BENEFIT_FUNDING` - `STRATEGIC_INVESTMENT`
`primary_countries_of_activity`	Required	List of all the primary countries where the sole proprietorship operates. This field accepts ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes.
`annual_revenue` `.currency` `.lower_bound` `.upper_bound`	Required	The range of annual revenue for the sole proprietorship. To report the annual revenue, use the following: - `.currency`: the currency used for the values below. Set this equal to either `EUR` or `GBP`. - `.lower_bound`: the lowest estimated annual revenue. - `.upper_bound`: the highest estimated annual revenue. Note: Both `.currency` and `.lower_bound` are required. The `.upper_bound` value is optional.
`expected_volume_of_investment` `.currency` `.lower_bound` `.upper_bound`	Required	The range of expected investment volume. To report the expected volume, use the following: - `.currency`: the currency used for the values below. Set this equal to either `EUR` or `GBP`. - `.lower_bound`: the lowest estimated investment volume. - `.upper_bound`: the highest estimated investment volume. Note: Both `.currency` and `.lower_bound` are required. The `.upper_bound` value is optional.
`total_asset_value` `.currency` `.lower_bound` `.upper_bound`	Required	The range of total asset value for the business. To report the total asset value, use the following: - `.currency`: the currency used for the values below. Set this equal to either `EUR` or `GBP`. - `.lower_bound`: the lowest estimated asset value. - `.upper_bound`: the highest estimated asset value. Note: Both `.currency` and `.lower_bound` are required. The `.upper_bound` value is optional.

You can listen to the Business checks event webhook for the BUSINESS_CHECK.PASSED message which provides confirmation that the business has passed the required check.

{
  "id": "38fc59d0-fc42-46ef-9512-824773219b2e",
  "created_at": "2021-11-19T13:06:57.820371265Z",
  "type": "BUSINESS_CHECK.PASSED",
  "object": {
    "id": "a9a72268-4f3c-4de2-abb9-a553a3bb7608",
    "business_id": "1b097e06-8a14-4181-b72a-de0972a3c57b",
    "type": "KYB",
    "originally_confirmed_at":  "2020-08-24T14:15:22Z",
    "check_confirmed_at": "2020-08-24T14:15:22Z",
    "data_download_link": "https://bucket.customer.com/por/kyb.zip",
    "document_type": "KYB_DOCUMENTS",
    "status": "PASSED"
  },
  "webhook_id": "1b097e06-8a14-4181-b72a-de0972a3c57b"
}

Step 3: Create a business account group and account

To create the business account group, simply set type: "BUSINESS" when creating the account group.

POST /account_groups

{
  "business_id": "bc6f8c82-1234-4b56-a7d8-9e012345f678",
  "type": "BUSINESS",
  "securities_account_number": "12345689"
}

Once completed, you can create a new account for the sole proprietorship using the /accounts endpoint.

POST /accounts

{
  "business_id": "bc6f8c82-1234-4b56-a7d8-9e012345f678",
  "account_group_id": "fa2414ed-8d62-46fd-85ed-565a340c81d6",
  "type": "TRADING",
  "name": "Main account"
}

Step 4: Create the user associated with the sole proprietorship

Creating related users for business accounts has a slightly different process compared to creating an individual user. For business accounts, the users are not responsible for the following items and can continue to be onboarded without submitting the following:

Accepting terms and conditions
Data privacy and sharing agreement

Instead, these occur as part of creating the business entity.

Users that are also opening personal investing accounts must accept both agreements.

For more information on creating a user, refer to our Users guide.

POST /users

{
  "first_name": "Karl",
  "last_name": "Schmidt",
  "email": "karl.schmidt@example.com",
  "salutation": "SALUTATION_MALE",
  "title": "DR",
  "birth_date": "1972-09-30",
  "birth_city": "Berlin",
  "birth_country": "DE",
  "birth_name": "Schmidt",
  "nationalities": [
    "DE",
    "AU"
  ],
  "phone_number": "4930901820",
  "postal_address": {
    "address_line1": "Rosenweg 221",
    "address_line2": "apt. 33",
    "postcode": "45678",
    "city": "Berlin",
    "state": "BE",
    "country": "DE"
  },
  "address": {
    "address_line1": "Rosenweg 221",
    "address_line2": "apt. 33",
    "postcode": "45678",
    "city": "Berlin",
    "state": "BE",
    "country": "DE"
  },
  "fatca": {
    "status": false,
    "confirmed_at": "2020-08-24T14:15:22Z"
  }
}

Create a Know Your Customer check

The user that is part of a business must be assigned a specific role using the /roles API. For sole proprietors, the user must complete a Know Your Customer (KYC) check.

In addition, all users for a business account are subject to the Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) checks and sanctions screening.

For more information on creating a user, refer to our Users guide.

POST /users/{user_id}/checks

{
  "type": "KYC",
  "check_confirmed_at": "2019-08-24T14:15:22Z",
  "data_download_link": "https://bucket.customer.com/ident/user3.zip",
  "document_type": "ID_CARD",
  "document_expiration_date": "2030-01-01",
  "nationality": "DE",
  "provider": "KYC provider",
  "method": "VIDEO_ID",
  "confirmed_address": {
    "address_line1": "Rosenweg 221",
    "address_line2": "apt. 33",
    "postcode": "45678",
    "city": "Berlin",
    "state": "BE",
    "country": "DE"
  }
}

Create a user tax residency

Upvest requires the user to submit tax-related information as part of their onboarding process.

{
   "tax_residencies": [
      {
         "country": "DE",
         "tax_identifier_number": "12345678901"
      }
   ]
}

Create a user identifier (only for sole proprietors)

If required, you must create a user identifier for the end user. Complete details on user identifiers can be found in our User Identifiers section.

{
    "type": "NATIONAL_ID",
    "issuing_country": "PL",
    "identifier_standard": "PESEL",
    "identifier": "83053078917"
}

Step 5: Assign user roles

For sole proprietorships, you must use the /roles endpoint to set the user as SOLE PROPRIETOR.

POST /roles

{
  "entity_id": "0d10c51f-33f2-4399-b8ab-92ec84e6b2f0",
  "entity_type": "BUSINESS",
  "role_type": "SOLE_PROPRIETOR",
  "user_id": "9c36af78-91a0-4174-a515-fc81214e3dab"
}

Sole proprietor data change

We provide the /businesses/{business_id}/data_change_requests endpoint to allow you to update the contact email for any sole proprietorship.

POST /businesses/{business_id}/data_change_requests

{
    "contact_email": "acme.corporation@example.com"
}