Annual financial statementsand management accounts

Annual financial statements are a company's yearly financial report: the statement of financial position, statement of comprehensive income, statement of changes in equity, cash flow statement and notes. South African companies must prepare them within six months of their financial year-end under section 30(1) of the Companies Act. They support the ITR14 tax return, bank finance applications and CIPC compliance.

It depends on your company's public interest score and on the regulations for your class of company. Under section 30(2A) of the Companies Act, a company where every shareholder is also a director is exempt from an audit or independent review, unless the regulations require its class of company to be audited. N&V is not an audit firm; if you need an audit, we prepare the statements and work with a registered auditor.

Management accounts are short internal financial reports, usually monthly, showing profit, margins, cash and what's owed to and by the business. Unlike annual financial statements, they aren't required by law. They're for you: to price properly, plan cash and decide whether you can afford to hire or borrow. Owner-managed businesses with growing turnover or staff get the most value from them.

Usually: bank statements for every account for the full year, your accounting software access, the fixed asset register or invoices for major purchases, loan statements, and a list of stock, debtors and creditors at year-end. If we already do your monthly bookkeeping, most of this is in place and year-end is mostly review. We send a checklist tailored to your company.

Yes. Banks normally ask for the latest signed annual financial statements and often recent management accounts as well. If your year-end statements are out of date, we can bring them current first. We don't negotiate with the bank on your behalf, but we can explain your numbers clearly so you walk into the meeting knowing what the bank will ask.