New Small Company Exemption Threshold - Implementation Date

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Our recent blog highlighted the legislative changes introduced on 3rd August 2012 to the Audit Exemption and Small Company Exemption thresholds.

Chartered Accountants Ireland has received legal advice seeking clarification on the effective implementation dates of these changes and has recently issued an Information Sheet in relation to the increase in small company and audit exemption thresholds.

The advice states that any company that satisfies two of the conditions set out in Section 8(2) of the 1986 Act on the basis of the new thresholds in respect of a financial year and the immediately preceding financial year, but did not satisfy two of the three conditions set out in Section 8(2) of the 1986 Act on the basis of the old thresholds for those financial years, becomes a small company in respect of the latter of those two financial years on 3rd August 2012.

In effect, this means that, as and from 3rd August 2012, the old thresholds are irrelevant in determining size and, accordingly, the new thresholds are applied to both the current and preceding financial year in determining whether a company is small in respect of the current financial year.

Under the new thresholds a company can be defined as a small company provided is satisfies two of the following three conditions:

• Turnover not exceeding          €8.8m
• Balance sheet total (gross assets) not exceeding €4.4m
• Employees not exceeding      50

 Dylan Byrne is Partner – OSK Audit.

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