Guidance

Accounting for European Economic Area (EEA) organisations

How EEA companies and groups with a presence in the UK can comply with UK accounting and reporting requirements.

Operating as an EEA company and group with a presence in the UK

Group accounts

Intermediate UK parent companies with an immediate EEA parent may not be exempt from producing group accounts. Find out more in the government and Financial Reporting Council (FRC) guidance for the accounting sector.

Annual accounts

UK registered dormant companies with an immediate EEA parent need to file individual annual accounts with Companies House for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2021.

Exemptions

EEA companies with a UK incorporated subsidiary may not be eligible for certain exemptions from preparing and filing accounts.

The exemption from producing non-financial information statements and alteration of accounting reference dates has been removed for financial periods beginning on or after 1 January 2021.

Operating as an EEA company with a UK listing

EEA incorporated groups that issue debt or any other securities, which are admitted to trading on a UK market, can continue to use accounts prepared using EU-adopted international accounting standards (IAS).

Auditing

Auditing EEA companies that issue securities that are admitted to trading on a UK regulated market

Make sure your EEA auditor is registered as either a:

  • statutory auditor in the UK
  • third country auditor on the register maintained by the FRC

This applies for all accounting years beginning on or after 1 January 2021.

EEA companies audited by UK auditors and firms that are also registered in EEA countries

UK auditors’ and audit firms’ registrations as EEA auditors and audit firms may not be valid.

Find further information on what you need to do if you are a UK auditor or firm with an EEA registration

Accounting for UK companies in the EEA

Find out what you need to do if you’re a UK company operating in the EEA.

Updates to this page

Published 31 December 2020

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