Audit of a company in Campione d'Italia, financial statements, accounting, consulting in Campione d'Italia

Every Italian company is required by law to keep accounting records sufficient to identify all financial transactions made by the company.

Italian legal entities must present the following documents in their financial reporting:

• balance sheet,
• profit and loss statement,
• cash flow statement,
• notes to financial statements.

Financial statements must be accompanied by:

• directors’ report (nota integrationtiva), which is a statement of directors clarifying numbers contained in financial statements;
• report prepared by auditors, if the company is subject to audit.

Accounting records must be kept along with relevant business correspondence during 10 years after the date of the last reporting.

The following legal forms of business entities must file financial statements:

• Società a responsabilita limitata (SRL) / limited liability company;
• Società per azioni (SpA) / public limited company;
• Società in nome Collettivo (SNC) / general partnership;
• Società in Accomandita Semplice (SAS) / limited partnership;
• Società Cooperativa (SC) / cooperative company.

Limited liability companies (SNC, SAS) are not required to publish their financial statements but must prepare a balance sheet and profit and loss statement. Companies listed on a stock exchange must make quarterly financial statements. Small companies are allowed to make financial statements in condensed form.

Audit is compulsory for:

1) any company that in two consecutive financial years has surpassed two of the following three limits:

• balance currency – EUR 4 000 000;
• turnover – EUR 4 000 000;
• average headcount of employees during the financial year – 20;

[general rule]

2) public limited companies; and limited liability companies exceeding two of the following three limits in two consecutive years:

• balance currency – EUR 2 000 000;
• turnover – EUR 2 000 000;
• average headcount of employees during the financial year – 10;

3) all companies that prepare consolidated financial statements;

4) banks and other regulated financial institutions, stock brokerage companies, and fund management companies.

Audit of financial statements («revisione legale dei conti») must be conducted in accordance with Italian legislation (article 2409 bis of the Civil Code of Italia) and the auditing standards issued by the Italian Institute of Chartered Accountants (Consiglio Nazionale dei Dottori Commercialisti ed Esperti Contabili / CNDCEC), which are in line with the International Standards on Auditing (ISA) issued by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).

Financial year: 1 January to 31 December.

In accordance with the contents of the articles of association, partners / shareholders shall annually approve financial statements within 120 or 180 days after the end of the financial year. An annual report, auditors’ report, financial statements and a copy of the minutes of the annual general meeting of shareholders (Assemblea dei soci) must be filed with the register of companies within 30 days after the annual general meeting.

If a company fails to file financial statements on time, penalties will be imposed on it:

• if the delay in filing financial statements is more than 30 days – from EUR 137,33 to the maximum amount (EUR 1 376);
• if the delay in filing financial statements is less than 30 days, the penalty is reduced to one third: EUR 45,78 to the maximum amount (EUR 458,66).

If a company fails to file a tax return within 11 months after the end of the tax year, the company will be imposed with an administrative fine amounting to 120% to 240% of the due amount of tax.

Consolidated financial statements

Parent companies that along with controlled companies have exceeded two of the following thresholds in two consecutive financial years must prepare consolidated financial statements:

• balance currency – EUR 20 000 000;
• turnover – EUR 40 000 000;
• average headcount of employees during the financial year – 250.

Exemption from filing a consolidated report, if the above criteria have not been exceeded, does not apply if the parent company or one of its subsidiaries is a public company.