There are moments in Ghana where paying a professional is not an indulgence but the cheapest thing you will do all year. Buying land is one. A large rent advance is another. A company with more than one shareholder is a third.

This guide is about knowing which moments those are.

Lawyers

When you genuinely need one:

  • Buying land or property. Always. The searches at the Lands Commission, the indenture, the registration. Ghanaian land litigation runs for years and the fee is a rounding error against the loss. — Buying land in Ghana
  • A large rent advance, particularly a two-year one on a valuable property. — The rent advance
  • Incorporating a company with partners. A shareholders’ agreement written properly at the start costs a fraction of unwinding a dispute later. — Registering a business
  • Employment disputes, on either side. — Your rights as an employee
  • Immigration matters that have gone wrong.
  • Wills and estates. Ghanaian intestate succession is governed by statute and by customary law depending on the marriage and the property, and it produces enormous family conflict. A will is a kindness.

Finding one. Lawyers in Ghana must be enrolled at the Bar and hold a current solicitor’s licence from the General Legal Council. Ask to see it — it is renewed annually, and practising without a current one happens.

The Ghana Bar Association can point you to firms. Personal recommendation from someone who has used them for the same kind of work is better.

Costs. Vary enormously. Conveyancing is often a percentage of the transaction; other work may be hourly or fixed fee. Ask for a written fee quote before instructing, and ask what is excluded — searches, registration fees, stamp duty and disbursements are usually on top.

Accountants and tax

When you need one:

  • Running a company, particularly once you have employees
  • Once you cross the VAT registration threshold of ₵200,000
  • Any GRA audit or dispute
  • Working out whether you are compliant at all after a few informal years

Look for a chartered accountant — ICAG (the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana) is the domestic body; ACCA and CIMA members practise here too. Ask which they hold.

What they will actually save you. Withholding tax credits you did not claim, the difference between deductible and non-deductible expenses, penalties for late filing, and the tax clearance certificate you will need at some point for something urgent.

Freelancing in Ghana Income tax and PAYE

Other professionals you may need

Licensed surveyor — for any land purchase. The site plan must be signed by a licensed surveyor to be usable, and the boundaries must be walked.

Notary public and Commissioner for Oaths — for affidavits, statutory declarations and certifying documents. Cheap and everywhere. A statutory declaration is the standard fix for name discrepancies across documents, which is a common Ghanaian problem. — Getting a Ghana Card

Architects and structural engineers, licensed, for anything you build.

Clearing agents, for imports. — Importing and customs

Insurance brokers. Ghana’s insurance market is regulated by the National Insurance Commission; check any insurer against its register.

How to engage anyone well

  • Check the licence, with the regulator, not with them.
  • Get the fee in writing before work starts, with what is included.
  • Agree how you will be updated, and how often.
  • Get everything in writing. Advice given on the phone is advice you cannot rely on later.
  • Keep your own file. Copies of everything filed on your behalf.
  • Ask what could go wrong, and what it would cost.

The cost of not using one

Ghanaians will tell you the same three stories: land bought twice, a company split without a shareholders’ agreement, and an estate that consumed a family. Each was avoidable for a fee that looked large at the time and trivial afterwards.

Free and cheaper help

Legal Aid Commission provides legal assistance to people who cannot afford representation.

Rent Control Department mediates tenancy disputes free of charge. — Tenancy agreements

Labour Department and the National Labour Commission for employment disputes.

CHRAJ — the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice — takes complaints about public bodies and administrative injustice, free of charge. Under-used, and genuinely useful when an agency has treated you badly.