Accountancy Practices in Finland:
Accounting, Financial Statements, Auditing

In Brief
Enterprise Finland - Accountancy Practices
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All persons and entities engaged in business, as well as self-employed professionals, are obliged to keep books. The management of an enterprise is responsible for arranging its accounting. The obligation to keep books starts when founding the enterprise.

The period of an enterprise’s existence is divided into accounting periods, and financial statements are prepared for each accounting period. The accounting period may be the calendar year or another twelve-month period appropriate for the operations of the enterprise. In exceptional cases, the length of an accounting period may differ from 12 months, but may never be more than 18 months.

The financial statements document the result of the operations, based on which taxes are paid and profits are distributed to the owners, or losses are noted. On the other hand, the financial statements document the financial position of the enterprise: property, assets and debts.

With certain exceptions, financial statements are public documents. Enterprises are obliged to submit their financial statements to the Trade Register administered by the National Board of Patents and Registration.

According to the Auditing Act, companies and foundations with a legal obligation to keep accounts as stipulated in the Accounting Act must elect an auditor and carry out an audit of the accounts. The audit is part of the enterprise’s supervision system and is obligatory for limited liability companies, general and limited partnerships, associations, cooperatives and foundations.

This summary by Enterprise Finland

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Enterprise Finland - Accountancy Practices

Direct links to Enterprise Finland. Please note expanded menus on linked pages.

• Accounting
  All persons and entities engaged in business, as well as self-employed professionals, are obliged to keep books. The obligation to keep books starts when founding the enterprise.
• Financial Statements
  Depending on the type of business, the financial statements must be prepared within 3-4 months of closing the accounts.
• Auditing
  Auditing is obligatory for limited liability companies, general and limited partnerships and cooperatives.
• Changing the Accounting Period
  An accounting period covers 12 months. When starting or ending the operations, or changing the time of closing the accounts, the accounting period may be shorter or longer than this, but never longer than 18 months.

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