Hiring an IT Company in Serbia: 12 Questions to Ask
By Nemanja Vukmirović, Lizzard Solutions. Last updated November 3, 2026.
Picking the wrong developer costs you months, not just money: a half-built app, code you can't access, and a vendor who stops answering. Hiring an IT company in Serbia can be a smart move for price, skills and time zone, but only if you check the right things before you sign.
This guide gives you 12 questions to ask when hiring an IT company in Serbia, the free public registers that let you verify any Serbian firm in minutes, and a simple scoring table for comparing offers.
TL;DR
- Verify the company first: the APR business register, the Chamber of Commerce IT registry and the NBS list of blocked accounts are all public.
- Ask about similar past projects, who exactly will work on yours, and how often you'll see working software.
- Put code ownership, data protection, support and exit terms in the contract, not in an email.
What Does Hiring an IT Company in Serbia Involve?
Hiring an IT company in Serbia means contracting a Serbian-registered firm to design, build or maintain software for you, either as a fixed-scope project or as an ongoing team. You agree on scope, price, ownership of the code and support, and the firm delivers remotely or on site.
Serbia is in the Central European time zone, the same as Berlin or Vienna, so working hours overlap fully with most of the EU. Many local firms work in English every day. That makes the decision less about geography and more about the firm itself.
Key takeaway
The country gives you a good starting point. The checks below tell you whether a specific firm deserves your project.
Action for today: write one paragraph describing what you want built, for whom, and by when. Every firm you contact should get the same text.
Questions 1-3: Is the Company Real and Stable?
Start with facts you can check yourself, before any sales call. Serbia has free public registers that most foreign clients don't know about:
| Question | Where to check it |
|---|---|
| 1. Is the company registered and active? | The Business Registers Agency (APR) search shows status, registration date, legal form, owners and published financial statements |
| 2. Is its bank account blocked? | The National Bank of Serbia publishes a public search of accounts under forced collection (blocked accounts) |
| 3. Is it a known IT firm? | The Chamber of Commerce IT company registry lets you filter Serbian IT firms by city, team size and main activity |
Ask the firm for its company ID number (matični broj) and tax ID (PIB). A serious company sends them right away, because they also appear on every invoice. Then look up both in the APR register and confirm the name, address and owners match what you were told.
Published financial statements tell you roughly how big the firm is and whether it's growing. You don't need to be an accountant: a firm with several years of filings and no blocked account is a far safer bet than one registered last month.
Key takeaway
If a firm can't or won't give you its matični broj and PIB, stop there.
Action for today: look up every firm on your shortlist in APR and note its status, founding year and latest revenue.
Questions 4-6: Can They Build What You Need?
- 4. Can you show a similar project you built? Ask for a live link, app store listing or demo, and what part of it the firm actually did. A redesign is not the same as building the backend.
- 5. Who exactly will work on my project? Get names and roles: developer, designer, project manager. Ask whether they are employees or subcontractors, and whether the people on the sales call will be on the project.
- 6. Can I speak with a past client? One short call with a reference tells you more than any portfolio page. Ask what went wrong and how the firm handled it.
For example, imagine a bakery chain in Niš that wants online ordering. A firm that has built ordering or booking systems before will ask about delivery zones, payment and kitchen workflow in the first meeting. A firm that only builds brochure sites will ask about colours.
If you're still deciding whether you need custom work at all, read our comparison of custom software vs off-the-shelf tools before you request quotes.
Action for today: send every shortlisted firm questions 4-6 in writing and compare how specific the answers are.
Questions 7-9: How Will We Work Together?
- 7. How often will I see working software? Good firms show progress every one or two weeks in a test environment you can click through, not only in status reports.
- 8. How do you estimate, and what happens when scope changes? Ask for a breakdown by feature, and a written change process with prices for extra work.
- 9. How do you test and launch? Ask about automated tests, a staging environment, backups and who monitors the system after launch.
Fixed price suits a small, well-defined project. Time and materials suits products that will change as you learn from users. Many startups combine them: a fixed-price first version, then a monthly team. Our MVP development guide for startups explains how to keep that first version small.
Watch out
A quote with one total number and no feature breakdown makes every later change a negotiation. Ask for the breakdown before you compare prices.
Action for today: ask each firm for a sample sprint report or demo recording from a past project.
Questions 10-12: Contract, Code Ownership and Data
- 10. Who owns the source code and when? Serbian copyright law (the Law on Copyright and Related Rights) protects software as a copyright work, so don't assume you own it because you paid. The contract should transfer the economic rights to you, or give you an exclusive licence, and say that you get the repository and all access keys.
- 11. How will you protect our customers' data? If the firm will handle personal data for you, the Serbian Law on Personal Data Protection expects a written agreement with a processor. Ask how data is stored, who can access it and where it is hosted.
- 12. What happens after launch, or if we part ways? Agree on a support period, response times, monthly maintenance price and a handover: documentation, credentials and a short knowledge-transfer session.
Also confirm whether prices include VAT. Serbia's general VAT rate is 20%, so the difference is large. VAT-registered Serbian companies also send B2B invoices through the state e-invoicing system (SEF), so a local client should expect an e-invoice.
Contract terms and data rules depend on your situation. This guide is not legal advice, so have a lawyer review a contract for a large project.
Key takeaway
Code ownership, data protection and exit terms belong in the signed contract, not in a sales email.
Action for today: add questions 10-12 to your request for proposal and reject any offer that leaves them unanswered.
How to Compare Offers From Serbian IT Firms
Once you have two or three proposals, score them on the same criteria instead of comparing only the total price:
| Criterion | What a strong answer looks like | Score 1-5 |
|---|---|---|
| Verified company | Active in APR, no blocked account, several years of filings | |
| Relevant experience | Live examples close to your project, plus a reference call | |
| Named team | Specific people and roles, stable for the project | |
| Transparent estimate | Price per feature, written change process | |
| Process | Demo every 1-2 weeks, tests, staging, backups | |
| Contract | Code ownership, data agreement, support and handover terms |
The cheapest offer often leaves out testing, support or handover, and you pay for those later. If two firms score close, choose the one that asked you better questions. That usually predicts a better project.
If you're weighing a Serbian firm against an in-house hire, our IT outsourcing guide for small businesses covers costs, risks and what to keep in-house.
Action for today: copy this table into a spreadsheet and score every offer you receive.
Hiring an IT Company in Serbia: FAQ
How do I check if a Serbian company is legitimate?
Ask for its company ID (matični broj) and tax ID (PIB), then search them in the APR business register to confirm it's active and see its owners and financial statements. Also check the National Bank of Serbia's public search of blocked accounts, and whether the firm appears in the Chamber of Commerce IT registry.
Who owns the code when a Serbian IT company builds my software?
Whoever the contract says. Software is a copyright work under Serbian law, so payment alone doesn't make you the owner. Make sure the contract transfers the economic rights to the source code to you, or gives you an exclusive licence, and that you receive the repository and all credentials.
Is it better to choose a fixed price or time and materials?
Fixed price works for small projects with clear, stable requirements. Time and materials works better for products that will change after users try them. Many startups use a fixed-price first version and then switch to a monthly team. Either way, insist on a feature-level estimate and a written change process.
Do Serbian IT companies work with clients in the EU?
Many do. Serbia uses Central European Time, the same as most EU countries, so working hours overlap, and English is common in the local IT sector. Check the firm's past international clients, how it invoices foreign customers, and how it handles personal data under both Serbian law and GDPR.
Hiring an IT company in Serbia goes well when you verify the firm in public registers, ask the 12 questions above in writing, and sign a contract that covers code ownership, data and support. Want to see how we work first? Read about our software development and IT services, or try our free website audit to see the kind of report we send.
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