New Micro Companies in Ireland will reduce disclosure requirements

Soon to be introduced, under the new Companies (Accounting) Bill 2015, will be a new company size termed “the Micro Company”. This new company size will have a great deal less disclosure requirements than a normal small company.
The majority of the Companies (Accounting) Bill 2015 has been drafted, including all key areas, however, it is not yet known when the Bill will be implemented.
Qualifying as a Micro Company  
The Directive 2013/34/EU provides the size thresholds of the new company size. To qualify as a Micro Company, you must satisfy two of the three conditions listed below:

• The Company turnover does not exceed the amount of €700,000.
• The balance sheet of the company does not exceed €350,000.
• The amount of employees within the company does not exceed 10

 Thresholds for other Company sizes to increase
Small and medium sized companies are also to be revised in the new Bill which will see an increase in the thresholds for both company sizes.
When the Bill has been implemented, to qualify as a small company, a turnover of €12 million should not be exceed, the company should have less than 5o employees and the balance sheet should not exceed €6 million. To qualify as a medium size company, a turnover of €40 million should not be exceed, the company should have less than 250 employees and the balance sheet should not exceed €20 million.
Directors Remuneration
One of the most welcomed features proposed in the new Bill is that micro companies will not be required to disclose the director’s remuneration in the company’s annual financial statements. This is a feature that many directors will want to avail of in order to keep their remuneration private. Small and Medium sized companies will still be required to disclose director’s remuneration in their annual financial statements.
Other Proposed Changes
The Bill also proposes other changes in relation to the financial statements for micro companies, small and medium companies including: –

• Directors of micro companies will not be required to file director’s report
• Micro companies will be also exempt from a number of other disclosure requirements that are currently required by the Companies Act
• Medium sized companies will no longer be allowed to submit Abridged financial statements

For more information on the new Bill or to register a company in Ireland, please do not hesitate to contact us +353(0) 1646 1625 or alternatively you can fill out a contact form on our website and an expert will be in touch shortly.