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Italian Annual Accounts

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The Annual Accounts are the series of accounting documents a company is required to draw up periodically, under law, in order to follow the principle of truthfulness and provide a clear, truthful and proper picture of its equity and financial situation, at the end of the reference financial period, as well as the economic results for the financial year itself.


The Annual Accounts are a document made up of three parts: Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Additional Note.

Balance Sheet

Balance Sheet


It represents the company situation at the end of the financial year: in this document must be described the financial position of the company, all the assets and liabilities and its equity as the difference between the two. The Balance Sheet is divided into two sections: assets and liabilities.

Assets – All business assets (buildings, machinery, equipment) used for the performance of the activity, receivables from third parties (customers, etc.), liquidity (cash, net balance in the accounts).

Liabilities – Company payables to third parties (suppliers, banks, etc.). Net capital indicates the company's ideal debt to its owners, and consists of reserves and share capital.

Income Statement

Income Statement


It provides information on the economic situation of the company, indicating the costs incurred and revenues earned by the company during the financial year: the profit or loss for the financial year derives from the difference between costs and revenues. The connecting element between the income statement and the balance sheet is represented by the profit for the financial year (or loss) which, if not distributed to shareholders, will become part of the company's equity.
Additional Note

Additional Note


It is a document that is an integral part of the annual accounts: it contains all the information that allows a more truthful and correct representation of the economic, patrimonial and financial situation of the company, for example an illustration of the accounting policies adopted, an indication of the information, details and reasons for the inclusion of some items in the balance sheet and income statement and other information of various kinds.



Based on the contents of the statute, the partners approve the accounts annually within 120 or 180 days of the end of the financial year, and within 30 days of the date of approval the director files it with the competent Business Register.

Examples of terms for filed:

Due date for December 31th

Approval within 120 days (April 30th)

Filing within 30 days from the approval      (max May 30th)

Due date for December 31th

Approval within 180 days (June 30th)

Filing within 30 days from the approval      (max July 30th)

 

Following abolition of the shareholders register, Limited Liability Companies are no longer required to file a list of shareholders. Joint Stock Companies, on the other hand, are required to re-confirm the corporate structure with respect to the previous year if it has not changed, or to file the changes that have taken place during the period from the approval date of the annual accounts for the previous year and the approval date of the annual accounts being filed.



  • Ordinary annual accounts

    Ordinary annual accounts


  • Short annual accounts

    Short annual accounts


  • Annual accounts for micro-enterprises

    Annual accounts for micro-enterprises


  • Final winding-up statement

    Final winding-up statement


The first paragraph of new article 2423 of the Italian Civil Code requires that directors draw up the ordinary annual accounts for the year, consisting of:

  • Statement of Assets and Liabilities
  • Profit and Loss Account
  • Financial Statement
  • Additional Note.

The annual accounts be drafted in a clear and fair manner and must represent the company's assets and liabilities in a true and fair manner and the financial result for the year.

The ordinary annual accounts concern the Companies that issued securities traded on regulated markets or exceeded the limits to prepare the annual accounts in an abbreviated form.

The short annual accounts may only be drawn up by joint stock companies that, during the first financial year or, following that, for two consecutive financial years, have not exceeded two of the following limits (small enterprises):

  • total assets in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities: 4,400,000 €
  • revenue from sales and services: 8,800,000 €
  • average number of employees during the financial year: 50 persons.

The short annual accounts consists of:

  • Statement of Assets and Liabilities
  • Profit and Loss Account
  • Additional Note.

Companies that are classified as small enterprises can still present an ordinary annual accounts.

Micro-enterprises are those companies that, during the first financial year or, following that, for two consecutive financial years, have not exceeded two of the following limits:

  • total assets in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities: 175,000 €
  • revenue from sales and services: 350,000 €
  • average number of employees during the financial year: 5 persons.

Micro-enterprises are exempt from the need to draw up:

  • the Annual Accounts
  • the Additional Note

when the information envisaged by the first paragraph of art. 2427 of the Italian Civil Code, No. 9 (the overall amount of obligations, guarantees and potential liabilities not resulting from the Statement of Assets and Liabilities) and No. 16 (the sum of remunerations, advances and credits granted to directors and auditors) appears at the foot of Statement of Assets and Liabilities;

and they are exempt from presenting a management report

when the information required by art. 2428 of the Italian Civil Code, No. 3 (the number and nominal value of both own stocks and stocks or shares in parent companies held by the company) and No. 4 (the number and nominal value of both own stocks and stocks or shares in parent companies acquired or transferred by the company during the financial year) appears at the foot of the Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

Consequently, the Annual Accounts for micro-enterprises can consist only of the Statement of Assets and Liabilities and the Profit and Loss Account, for which the form, structure and contents must be the same as those for the short annual accounts. If companies that can be classified as micro-enterprises wish to present an annual accounts complete with Additional Note and Financial Statement, they must draw up and file the annual accounts in short form, using the relevant taxonomy.

Just like small enterprises, micro-enterprises are also entitled to present an ordinary annual accounts.

Preparation of the winding-up statement is the final accounting requirement for businesses that are being put into liquidation. Once all the winding-up operations have been carried out, the liquidators are required to draw up the winding-up statement, indicating the part due to each partner or share when the assets are distributed.

Legislation does not require winding-up statements to be drawn up in such a strict form as is the case for the Annual Accounts. This means there is a certain amount of freedom when it is drawn up, with the sole requirement being that any remaining capital after winding-up of the company be shown and that the final shares due to each of the partners be indicated.

To be complete, the accounting document must:

  • quantify the final assets available for distribution
  • set out the distribution plan, highlighting the right of partners to the winding-up shares
  • allow the control bodies to express their opinion.

Once the winding-up statement has been prepared, the liquidators must fulfil the legal advertisement requirements, so as to allow partners to make claims before the Court within the term of ninety days. The final winding-up statement does not have to be approved by the Meeting of shareholders, but, unlike the annual financial statement, it is presumptive, so that in the absence of any complaints by partners within the terms indicated in article 2493 of the Italian Civil Code the statement will be approved.




The Financial Statement is a administrative-accounting document, drawn up at the end of the administrative period, with which the professional represents the financial situation of the company and quantifies the economic result of the tax period.

The Financial Statement constitutes a part of the Annual Accounts and is a mandatory document only for companies whose parameters involve the preparation of the Ordinary Annual Accounts.

It is possible to request the Last Annual Accounts of any company that has deposited them.

The Annual Accounts are available in the following formats:

  • Adobe Pdf and, if any,
  • XBRL
  • CSV

The Annual Accounts document, in pdf format, is strictly in English.

After purchase of the Annual Accounts, at no additional cost, the user can obtain the Financial Statement (if any) in the Pdf, Csv, Html formats, and in the English, Italian, French, German languages.

FOR A SAMPLE OF A FINANCIAL STATEMENT (FAC-SIMILE, IN ENGLISH), SEE HERE.