New Bookkeeping Act – template for describing bookkeeping procedures

On 19 May 2022, the Danish Parliament adopted a new Bookkeeping Act. Section 6 of the New Bookkeeping Act contains a number of requirements for the company to describe:

• The company’s procedures to ensure that all the company’s transactions are continuously recorded
• the Company’s procedures to ensure that the Company’s accounting records are kept safely; and
• Which employees are responsible for the procedures.

The requirement to describe the company’s accounting procedures applies to:

• Companies in classes B, C and D of the Danish Financial Statements Act
• Companies in class A of the Danish Financial Statements Act if the net turnover exceeds DKK 300,000 for two years in a row.

You can download the template here.

When should the company’s description be ready?

The requirement in section 6 of the Danish Bookkeeping Act came into force on 1 July 2022. However, the Danish Business Authority has stated that companies can wait until the next new financial year to comply with the requirement. For the vast majority of companies, the description must therefore be ready no later than 1 January 2023.

At the beginning of October 2022, the Danish Business Authority has clarified that companies with a balance sheet date of 30 September 2022 can wait to comply with the requirement for the financial year starting 1 October 2023:

“In view of the fact that the template was published on 30 September 2022 corresponding to the end of the financial year 2021/22 for a number of companies, the Danish Business Authority wishes to clarify that companies must first comply with the requirement in their next new financial year, which starts after 1 October 2022. This means that the companies that had year-end closing on 30 September 2022 must first comply with the requirement for the fiscal year or income year starting 1 October 2023.”

If you need assistance with the preparation of bookkeeping procedures or have questions about the new Bookkeeping Act, please contact us and hear more.