Companies (Accounting) Act 2017 - Key Points

PUBLISHED: 3rd July 2017

The Companies (Accounting) Bill 2017 was passed by the Irish government on 10 May 2017 and introduces some key accountancy changes to part 6 of the Companies Act 2014 in relation to financial statements, annual returns and auditing requirements of Irish companies.

Some of the key provisions of The Companies (Accounting) Act 2017 are as follows:

Micro Companies

A new type of micro company has been introduced which will enable such a company to submit a minimum amount of financial information to the public record in the Companies Registration Office. For a company to qualify as a micro company, it must satisfy two of the following three criteria:

• Turnover shall not exceed €700,000.
• Balance Sheet shall not exceed €350,000.
• Average number of employees shall be less than 10

Non-Filing Structures

Previously effective “non-filing structures" where an unlimited company could avail of the exemption from filing financial statements, whilst still retaining the protection of limited liability through a group structure will be a thing of the past.

The new Act will require Irish registered unlimited companies which have a direct or indirect limited liability holding company to file accounts with their annual return.

Unlimited Company Names

The Companies Act 2014 made provision for Unlimited Companies to apply to the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to allow that company to drop the words “Unlimited Company” or “UC” from the company name.

The Companies (Accounting) Act 2017 withdraws this mechanism to apply for an exemption to drop the words Unlimited Company from a company name. We should point out that if an unlimited company has already been granted an exemption under the old rules the exemption shall remain in force for the designated period.

For further and more detailed information on the above matters or any other provision of the Companies (Accounting) Act 2017 or the Companies Act 2014 please contact us.