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FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FILED WITH THE CRO AFTER 1 JUNE 2015

This note is provided as guidance in relation to what documents the CRO will accept after 1 June 2015. Company directors may wish to obtain their own professional advice and accountants may wish to seek guidance from their Recognised Accountancy Bodies.

The CRO is planning to take the following approach in relation to financial statements attached to annual returns delivered to the Registrar on or after 1 June 2015.

• If the financial year ends before 1 June 2015 and the financial statements are signed by the director(s) before 1 June, they must be prepared and filed in accordance with the 1963-2013 Companies Acts;
• If the financial year ends before 1 June 2015 and the financial statements are signed by the director(s) after 1 June, they may be prepared and filed under either the 1963-2013 Companies Acts OR the 2014 Companies Act (*it is envisaged that this arrangement will end in April 2016 when all financial statements in respect of financial years ending before 1 June 2015 should have been filed with the CRO);
• If the financial year ends after 1 June 2015, the financial statements must be prepared and filed under the 2014 Companies Act.

Under section 288 of the new Act, the financial statements attached to a company’s first full annual return (i.e. with financial statements) must cover the period from incorporation and must not be for a period longer than 18 months. Each subsequent financial year begins on the date immediately after the last financial year end date and must be for a period of no more than 7 days shorter or longer than 12 months.

A company may, by filing a Form B83 with the Registrar, apply to alter its current or its previous financial year end date by not more than six months, which will then become its financial year end date for the future.

The table below shows when the new act should be applied: