Annual statement of activities

An enterprise is required to prepare financial statements that state all income and expenses. Every time you sell a product, you must issue an invoice or record the amount in the cash register, making it possible to see what was sold and how much it cost. You must also save the receipts for the products you buy. This is important for your business to be able to calculate income and expenses, as well as taxes, VAT, duties etc.

As the owner of a business, you are obligated to record the income and expenses of your business, and to keep proper accounts for your business. These regulations are laid down in the Danish Bookkeeping Act.

There are no requirements stipulating who must keep the books. For instance, you may choose to keep the daily cash account records yourself, and leave everything or part of the bookkeeping to an accountant or an accounting agency. Many enterprises use an accountant who keeps the numbers in order and prepares the financial statements. This is an assurance to you that the financial statements are properly kept. However, it does not exempt you from knowing about the requirements, and what you should do in order to meet them.

Proprietary responsibility

Irrespective of the person keeping the accounts, the owner or management of the enterprise always has executive responsibility for the work being done correctly. If you choose to let others do the bookkeeping for you, it will therefore be important that the person entrusted with keeping your accounts has taken out indemnity insurance. Registered and state-authorised accountants and members of the Danish Association of Auditors are obligated to take out insurance.