Determination of Company’s Financial Year End
The financial year is a period in which any financial statements of a company is made up, whether that period is a year or not. The financial year is referring to a company’s accounting period, a range of time which profit & loss account and balance sheet are makeup. The decision to determine your company’s first financial year-end or any change of financial year end thereafter is solely at the discretion of your company.
However, your Company is required to prepare its financial statements within 18 months from the date of its incorporation and subsequently 6 months of its financial year. Audited financial statements are then circulated to shareholders, directors, auditor and debenture holders (if any). The audited financial statements shall be approved by the board of directors before circulation.
Your company should not fix its first accounting period for exactly 18 months or more. It is advisable that the first financial year-end be fixed few months before the deadline of 18 months to allow some time for the auditor to prepare the audited financial statements.
Subsequently, your company is required to lodge its audited financial statements and reports to Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) within 30 days from audited financial statements and reports are circulated to shareholders. Hence it advisable for you to liaise with your auditors to finalise the audited financial statements earlier so that it could be made available for lodgement to SSM before the deadline.
In summary, the financial year end for a newly set up company can be any date so long as it is within 18 months from the company’s incorporation date.
What to consider when choosing a Financial Year End of a company
Should you need further clarification in determining your company’s financial year-end, please contact us or email us at enquiry@comsetup.com.my