The Companies Act 2014, increased the availability of the audit exemption for companies and groups.
The current audit exemption limits are;
- Balance sheet total does not exceed €6m
- Turnover does not exceed €12m
- Employees do not exceed 50
To qualify as a small company and avail of this exemption, a company must satisfy TWO or more of the above conditions in the current financial year and in the preceding financial year.
For the first time, Irish companies which are members of a group and those limited by guarantee can now avail of the audit exemption.
Audit exemption applies to any group company if the group as a whole qualifies as a small group. The entire group and all its subsidiary undertakings must, taken as a whole, satisfy two of the following 3 conditions in order to claim a group company audit exemption:
- The balance sheet total of holding company and subsidiaries taken as a whole does not exceed €6m net (or €7.2m gross)
- The amount of turnover of the holding company and subsidiaries taken as a whole does not exceed €12m net (or €14.4m gross)
- The average number of persons employed by the holding company and its subsidiaries does not exceed 50.
The above conditions must be met in the year (the conditions must also be met in the preceding year unless it is the holding company’s first financial year.) (s359 (5) CA2014).
In relation to the aggregate figures for turnover and balance sheet total, ‘net’ means after set-offs and other adjustments made to eliminate group transactions;
(i) in the case of Companies Act financial statements, in accordance with Schedule 4, and
(ii) in the case of IFRS financial statements, in accordance with international financial reporting standards; ‘gross’ means without those set-offs and other adjustments (section 280a Companies Act 2014)
PKF will prepare full and abridged financial statements for filing with the CRO to ensure your company complies with Company Law requirements.
