Ireland · Financial statements, the annual return and audit

Circulating, laying and publishing the financial statements and delivering the annual return

the Companies Act 2014 · sections 338 to 341, 343, 346 to 348, 352, 353 and 355 to 357

Two clocks run in parallel and companies watch only one. The statutory financial statements and the reports of the directors and the statutory auditors must be laid before the members not later than 9 months after the financial year end date (section 341(2)). Separately, the annual return must be delivered to the Registrar not later than 56 days after the company's annual return date (section 343(2)), or not later than 56 days after an earlier date if the return is made up to one (section 343(3)).

The documents that travel with the return are the second exposure. A copy of each document listed in section 347(1) that has been, or is to be, laid before the relevant general meeting must be annexed to the annual return, and each copy has to satisfy the conditions in section 347(2). Every annexed document must cover the period section 347(4) sets, which for a first return runs from incorporation. A return delivered without a required annex is not a complete return.

A copy of each of the documents specified in section 338(2) must be sent to every person entitled under section 338(1). Any member is entitled to be furnished with the further copy section 339(3) describes within 14 days after the date of the request. Sections 340 and 341 govern publication and the laying of the statements before the members.

Sections 343 and 346 govern the annual return, its form, its made-up date and the establishment of a new annual return date. Where an order is made under section 343(5), the company has 28 days after the order, or such longer period as the court allows, to deliver what the order requires (section 343(6)). Sections 352 to 357 carry the filing exemptions: a company qualifying for the small companies regime or the micro companies regime that uses the section 352 exemption must instead annex abridged financial statements prepared under section 353 and approved and signed under section 355, together with a special statutory auditors' report prepared under section 356 (section 352(3)).

Working files 58, 59 and 60 of the IE-COMPANY agent toolkit cover this situation. Working file 58 works through circulation to members, the right to further copies, publication and the laying of the statements. Working file 59 works through the annual return itself, the annual return date, the 56-day delivery and every document annexed. Working file 60 works through the abridged financial statements and the filing exemptions for small and micro companies.

• Working file 58 · Circulation, publication and laying of the financial statements
• Working file 59 · The annual return and the documents annexed to it
• Working file 60 · Abridged financial statements and filing exemptions for small companies

ComplianceSME tracks the Companies Act 2014 and updates the toolkit on your account through the Compliance Complete account, so that you are never working from a superseded version. Compliance Complete

• Company size, the financial year and accounting records
• Preparing entity and group financial statements
• Disclosing directors' remuneration, loans and other transactions
• Notes on related undertakings, staff numbers, capital and financial assistance
• Approving and signing the financial statements and the directors' report
• The audit requirement, the audit exemption and the dormant company exemption
• Revising defective financial statements and reports
• Appointing, removing and replacing the statutory auditor

The Irish library holds all 75 situations →