Register of financial statements

What it means

The register of financial statements is the public database into which entities file their annual accounts, auditor’s reports and annual reports. Filing there discharges the duty to publish.

The public part is open to anyone. That makes it the best source of information about trading partners and competitors in Slovakia.

For annual accounts the register replaced the collection of deeds of the Business Register, which now keeps other documents such as the memorandum of association. Faulty accounts cannot simply be withdrawn from the register: the correction is filed as another document and the original stays open to view.

How it works in practice

Documents are filed electronically through the financial administration within the deadlines set by the Accounting Act. It is a separate obligation - filing a tax return does not discharge it, even though the deadlines overlap.

When checking a supplier or a customer, the register shows size, asset structure, indebtedness and the trend over several years. Benchmarking then compares it with your own figures.

After the general meeting’s approval of the accounts we also file the approval details and the resolution on profit distribution or loss settlement, if they did not go in with the accounts. The client’s file in the register is then complete, instead of one a bank would send back for completion during a loan review.

What to watch out for

Accounts not filed, or filed late, is a breach with its own penalty and a poor calling card: the blank in the register is visible to banks and partners alike. Companies subject to audit file the auditor’s report too, and its absence shows just as clearly.

Whatever is filed, everyone can see. Accounts with an error in the statements, such as a balance sheet that does not balance or last year’s notes, stay public even after the correction, and a business partner may download them before noticing the corrected version.