Accounting 4 min read
Annual accounts filing at the RCS
The preparation, deadlines and publication rules for annual accounts filed with the RCS.
A change of accountant starts with understanding where the company’s records stand. We review completed work, open items and upcoming deadlines to arrange the handover and ongoing support for your Luxembourg company.
The focus is continuity. We agree how information will pass between your team and the outgoing firm, and who will complete work already underway. Changing accountant does not by itself mean preparing previous accounts again.
The starting point is a review of what has been completed, what can be taken over and what needs to be reconstructed. This establishes the work needed before a timetable can be agreed.
The initial discussion covers the company’s activity, its last completed year-end, work in progress and your intended transfer date. Any recent tax authority correspondence or imminent deadline helps identify matters that need early attention.
We then agree the exchanges with the outgoing firm and your team. Existing accounts, filed returns, available supporting records and relevant access arrangements establish the starting position. The timetable takes account of the current engagement and the information actually transferred.
After the review and the checks required by anti-money-laundering law, the engagement letter sets out the work we take over and who is responsible for what. Any work to bring earlier periods up to date is kept separate from the ongoing support.
If the outgoing firm also provides the company’s registered office, the domiciliation agreement needs a separate review, because changing accountant does not end it automatically. If domiciliation ends, the new registered office, transfer date and related filings need to be arranged alongside the accounting handover.
The handover leads into bookkeeping and annual accounts, connected with the company’s tax returns. For a HoldCo or SPV, the records also need to reflect its investments, balances with other group companies and decisions. Where there are employees, the first month of payroll handled by the firm is agreed separately.
Changing accountant does not remove the consequences of an earlier delay. Existing assessments and correspondence are reviewed on their facts. Where a dispute falls outside our engagement, we work with your lawyer on the accounting and tax information needed.
Tell us about the company, its last completed year-end and your intended transfer date, including any approaching deadlines or outstanding work.
Discuss a handoverYes. The transfer date depends on work already completed, upcoming deadlines and the arrangements with the outgoing firm. It is agreed after reviewing the company’s records.
A change of accountant does not itself require this. We review the records received to take over the work. Missing information or an identified issue may call for additional work, with its scope agreed separately.
Yes. The periods involved, available records and steps already taken determine what can be addressed. Whether we take on the work, and when, depends on that review.