GET THE SAMPLE
Where shall we send it?
Choose the Irish or the UK edition, or both. We’ll email you the link straight away, and you can download the PDF on the next page.
WHAT’S INSIDE
Sixteen pages, the way a company files them
The full set
Everything a small company files for its first period, in order.
Company information and directors’ report
Profit and loss account
Balance sheet, with the statements above the signatures
Statement of changes in equity
17 notes, from accounting policies to directors’ loans
FORMAT
PDF, 16 pages, A4
Two editions
The same start-up, worded for each jurisdiction.
Ireland: Ardvane Smart Home Ltd, Companies Act 2014
UK: Fernwick Smart Home Ltd, Companies Act 2006
Audit-exemption statements as each law requires
Euro or sterling; corporation tax at 12.5% or 19%
CHOOSE
Ireland, UK or both
A guided read
Three pages before the accounts begin, so you know what to look for.
The company and its first ten months at a glance
Key figures: turnover, loss, cash and net assets
Six points where first years go wrong, with page references
How to prepare your own version
WHO IT IS FOR
Founders, directors, bookkeepers and students
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Six things that make a first year different
1
The statements above the signatures
A small company claiming the audit exemption must make specific statements on the balance sheet. Ireland and the UK word and place them differently.
4
Founders as lenders
Costs founders pay personally, even before incorporation, make them creditors of the company. The note follows each director’s loan account.
2
Shares not yet paid for
A founder who hasn’t paid for shares by the year end creates called up share capital not paid: within debtors in Ireland, on the face of the balance sheet in the UK.
5
A loss, and no deferred tax asset
First-year tax losses could support a deferred tax asset, but it is recognised only when recovery is probable – and the note says why it isn’t.
3
An angel investor’s money
An investor paying 50,000 for 100 shares buys mostly share premium, not share capital, and the legal costs of the issue come off the premium, not profit.
6
Going concern for a loss-maker
A first-year loss is normal, but the directors must explain why the going concern basis is right, looking at least twelve months ahead.
YOUR COMPANY’S VERSION
Prepare your own, in Excel.
The Startup First Accounts Template is the do-it-yourself workbook that produced this sample. You enter your company’s transactions and year-end adjustments; it builds the trial balance, the directors’ report, the statements and the notes – and checks them.
€250 · Excel 2010 or later · no macros. A do-it-yourself template: you prepare the financial statements, and the directors approve, sign and file them and remain responsible for them. Wide GAAP does not prepare, review or file financial statements. The sample uses fictitious companies and figures and is general information, not advice.