Irish Regions Office Website

February 01, 2010

An end to annual accounts for micro enterprises?

An amendment to the EU accounting directives rules, approved by the European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee on 28 January, is a significant step in exempting micro-enterprises from having to draw up annual accounts. This follows upon a Commission proposal from February 2009 to realise one of the ambitions of the European Economic Recovery Plan to simplify the business environment for small firms so as to enhance their competitiveness and release their growth potential.

Although firms would still have to maintain records of their business transactions and financial situation, the move would help to alleviate some of the disproportionate regulatory burden on the smallest companies by differentiating them from larger firms. The exemptions would have to be granted by national authorities. In order to qualify, firms would need to meet two of the following criteria: balance sheet total under EUR500,000, net turnover under EUR1 million and/or an average of 10 employees during the financial year.

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Posted by iroronan at February 1, 2010 03:17 PM