Cash Management article

Here are a few tips for preparing the accounts.

It is crucial that you make the right preparations in this phase so you can complete the tax documents and prepare the annual accounts quickly, effectively and properly.

The associated documentation includes mandatory specifications as per the end of the year, such as reconciliation of assets, liabilities and profit & loss accounts. All the balance sheet accounts and the important profit & loss accounts must be reconciled before you prepare the annual accounts. Even though these requirements primarily relate to the accounts department, they naturally serve as good ground rules for everyone who keeps accounts.

DNB’s Internet banking service, DNB Connect, has good reporting solutions. You can order reports by clicking on the message icon under Archive, and/or via the account overview. Call Corporate Customer service on telephone number +47 915 04800 or contact your account officer in the bank to order a bank report for audit purposes. This report sets out the details of your accounts, loans etc. in the bank, and shows who is authorised to operate the different accounts.

Important documents you should have on hand when preparing the annual accounts:

• Specification of all of your accounts, loans etc. (bank report for audit purposes)
• Bank statements/annual statement from the bank
• Statement of accounts receivable and payable
• Statement of holdings, and specifications of cash holdings and inventory

Examples of tasks that could be on your to-do list:
Contact the company’s suppliers, insurance company, bank etc. to get any information you need for verification purposes as well as any necessary documentation and/or missing statements or receipts etc.

Securities holdings
Set up a list of your securities holdings and their value as at 31 December. A list of all the shareholders in your company must be submitted to the Norwegian authorities through the web-site www.altinn.no by 1 February.

Documentation:
Notes to the annual accounts, annual statement from the Norwegian securities depository, VPS, specification of holdings from the shareholder register, reconciliation form/list of securities.

Loans to and from shareholders/employees
Check the statements to make sure the outstanding balance is correct and in conformity with loan agreements. Has interest been calculated as set out in the agreement? Have any interest advantages been calculated and reported? Should shareholders be taxed for interest that exceeds the shielding deduction?

Documentation:
Loan agreements, printouts from accounting records, and signed statements as per 31 December. It is also important to ensure that new allocations are recorded and that balances are transferred to the books for the new accounting year.

The information in this article should at least help you get started. For some, work on the annual accounts is the best part of accounting. You get to see the whole picture and round off a whole year of work.

Good luck!