Ireland · Financial statements, the annual return and audit
Notes on related undertakings, off balance sheet arrangements, staff, capital and financial assistance
the Companies Act 2014 · sections 314, 316 to 319 and 321 to 323
Where the problem is
The related undertakings note is long, and it is the one most often carried forward unchanged from the previous year. Where at the end of a financial year a company has a subsidiary undertaking, or holds an interest of the kind section 314(1) describes, the information that section requires must be given, subject to section 314(2A) and the other provisions of the section. A group that acquired or disposed of an undertaking during the year has a new note to write, not an old one to reprint.
Staff numbers are calculated, not estimated. The information section 317(1) lists must be given in the notes with respect to the employees of the company, and in respect of all persons employed during the year who are taken into account in determining the relevant annual number under section 317(1)(a), the further particulars in section 317(2) must be given. The same method feeds the size classification under section 280A, so an inaccurate figure moves the company into the wrong regime.
What the Companies Act 2014 requires
Section 314 requires information on related undertakings and section 316 provides the exemption that shifts part of that information to the annual return. Sections 317 and 318 require disclosure of staff particulars and of share capital and debentures. Section 319 requires the entity financial statements to show the aggregate amount of financial assistance provided by the company in the financial year (section 319(1)), and requires the same information for the group where group financial statements are prepared (section 319(2)).
Sections 321 to 323 require disclosure of accounting policies, of the remuneration of the statutory auditors and of the other matters the sections list. These notes are read together with the Schedule 3 note requirements, so a company using the small companies regime answers the Schedule 3A version rather than the Schedule 3 version of the same point.
The tool that solves it
Files 50, 51 and 52 of the IE-COMPANY package cover this situation. File 50 works through related undertakings and off balance sheet arrangements. File 51 works through staff particulars, share capital and debentures. File 52 works through financial assistance, accounting policies and auditors' remuneration. Each file asks where the underlying figure comes from and who checked it, so the note can be evidenced rather than asserted.
This situation is covered by these files from the pack IE-COMPANY
- File 50 · Information on related undertakings and off balance sheet arrangements
- File 51 · Disclosure of staff particulars and of share capital and debentures
- File 52 · Disclosure of financial assistance, accounting policies and auditors' remuneration
Files for this situation
Free · this situation only
The working files named above cover this situation. You take them from your free ComplianceSME account when this situation arises, and you come back to the site for the next situation.
You take the starter pack first: PRINT_ME_FIRST.pdf, the training file T_TRAIN, the four volumes of the reference file T_HELP, and File 1, which builds the ENTITY_PASSPORT.md that the other files require. The situations open in your account once you have taken the starter pack.
Take the files for this situationThe free system
Free · with a free account
The ComplianceSME system for the Companies Act 2014 is free. It needs a free ComplianceSME account. It is engineered for Claude and runs in a dedicated Claude account. It holds 215 working files. You take the starter pack first, and after that the files for one situation at a time, as each situation arises.
The starter pack holds PRINT_ME_FIRST.pdf, the training file T_TRAIN, the four volumes of the reference file T_HELP, and File 1, which builds the ENTITY_PASSPORT.md that every other working file requires. Print PRINT_ME_FIRST.pdf and read it before any other file.
The system is engineered for Claude and runs in a dedicated Claude account. Upload the files, type START, and the system asks you one question at a time until it has built your documentation, citing the section at every point.
Take the starter packComplianceSME tracks the Companies Act 2014 and issues update files through the membership, so that you are never working from a superseded version. Membership
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