Ireland · The accounting Schedules
The small companies regime: Schedule 3A financial statements and Schedule 4A group financial statements
the Companies Act 2014 · Schedules 3A and 4A
A small company that files under Schedule 3 instead of Schedule 3A has cited the wrong Schedule
The small companies regime is a different Schedule, not a shortened version of Schedule 3, and the paragraph numbers differ. Where Schedule 3A paragraph 34(1) applies in the case of a fixed asset, the amount of any value adjustment for depreciation is dealt with as paragraph 34(3) requires. A company that answers the Schedule 3 paragraph and files it has cited the wrong Schedule.
The group version is Schedule 4A and it carries its own goodwill rule. The resulting amount under Schedule 4A paragraph 14(6)(a), if positive, is treated as goodwill and the provisions of Schedule 3A apply to it. A small group that applies the Schedule 4 treatment has again used the wrong Schedule.
Schedule 3A and Schedule 4A set the small companies regime rules, and sections 280A and 280B decide who qualifies
Schedule 3A sets the formats, accounting principles, value adjustments and notes for a company qualifying for the small companies regime. In respect of each item shown under creditors in the balance sheet, the aggregate amounts Schedule 3A paragraph 50(1) identifies must be stated, which is the small company equivalent of the Schedule 3 paragraph 56(1) analysis.
Schedule 4A sets the rules for group financial statements prepared under the small companies regime, including consolidation, acquisition accounting and the goodwill treatment described above. Whether a company or group is in the regime is decided under sections 280A and 280B, so the size assessment comes first and the Schedule follows from it.
The system generates your ComplianceSME company passport and then walks you through the working files
Working files 210, 211 and 214 of the IE-COMPANY agent toolkit cover this situation. Working file 210 works through the Schedule 3A accounting principles and value adjustments. Working file 211 works through the information required in the Schedule 3A notes. Working file 214 works through Schedule 4A group financial statements under the small companies regime. Each file first confirms, from the passport, that the company is in the regime before asking anything else.
- Working file 210 · Schedule 3A: the small companies regime, accounting principles and value adjustments
- Working file 211 · Schedule 3A: the small companies regime, information required in the notes
- Working file 214 · Schedule 4A: group financial statements under the small companies regime
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The working files above open from your ComplianceSME account at no charge, and so does the rest of the Companies Act 2014 toolkit: 215 working files across the 75 situations a company registered in Ireland can be in. Working file 1 runs first and builds the company passport; after that you open each working file as its situation arises.
A working file runs in Claude. You ask the ComplianceSME connector for it in a dedicated premium seat on the Claude Team plan. It asks one question at a time, then returns the document the Companies Act 2014 names, citing the Act's section at every step. Nothing is downloaded and nothing is installed.
The report stays yours, ready for a bank, an insurer, a customer or an inspector. Your dashboard shows every working file and its state.
Open this working fileComplianceSME 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