Do not be fooled by the title, this Act is not just for Accountants.
The Companies (Accounting) Act 2017 was commenced on 08.02.2018 by means of S.I. 34/2018. At first glance, with around 80 amendments to the Companies Act 2014 it looks more like an Act intended to clarify and qualify misconceptions or unintended errors arising since publication of the Companies Act 2014.
However, there are some excellent nuggets hidden in the Act not least of which is:
- expansion of qualifying conditions to qualify as a Small Company; and
- introduction of the concept of a Micro Company.
Small Company
S.280(a) now classifies a Small Company as one fulfilling two of the three following requirements.
o Turnover – does not exceed €12m [up from €8.8m]
o Balance Sheet total – does not exceed €6m [up from €4.4m]
o Average number of employees – does not exceed 50 [no change]
Micro Company
S.280(d) introduces the concept of a Micro Company where it fulfils the following.
o Qualifies for Small Companies regime
o Fulfils two or more of the following
(a) Turnover – does not exceed €700,000
(b) Balance Sheet Total – does not exceed €350,000
(c) Average number of employees – does not exceed 10
The change in Small Company and introduction of Micro Company have knock-on effects to the Companies Act 2014. For example, substitution of S.352(1) dealing with exemption from filing certain information, and introduction of a new S.305A dealing with payments to third parties for services of directors.