Starting a business in Finland
Publicity of financial information of the company
Limited companies and similar types of entities
The financial statements of the limited liability companies and the cooperatives are public. The financial statements of the partnership (limited or general) whose general partner is a limited liability company or partnership, where at least one of the personally liable partners is a company just referred are also public. (Accounting Act 1336/1997, Chapter 3, Section 10 (in English) and (in Finnish)).
Publicity of financial statements of other companies
For other companies which have to maintain bookkeeping, the financial statements are public if two of the following three limits are exceeded:
- turnover 12,000,000 euros,
- balance sheet total 6,000,000 euros,
- average number of employees 50
There is no need to publish the financial statement if these limits are exceeded for the first time, the rule will come into force when it happens for the second time in a row.
Publicity means that a copy of the financial statement and the annual report has to be send to the Finnish Patent and Registration Office. The deadline for limited companies is 2 months from the date when balance sheet and the profit and loss statement have been approved at the Annual General Meeting and for others 6 months after the end of the financial year.
The company's financial statement data are also needed for creditors, financiers, statisticians, own industry organization and, of course, for the tax authorities.
Useful information in Finnish can be found on Taloushallintoliitto website .