Closing the financial year and preparing financial statements

Last updated 17 days ago

Closing the financial year in NoCFO happens in two steps: first you prepare the financial statements document using the financial statements tool, then you lock the financial year.

For most small companies, preparing financial statements is a fairly straightforward process. It's still important to go through it carefully, since the financial statements are an official document that gets archived.

Before the financial statements — checklist

Before you open the financial statements tool, make sure these things are in order:

  • All transactions for the financial year have been recorded in the bookkeeping

  • Transactions have the necessary attachments (receipts, invoices, vouchers)

  • All VAT periods have been reported to the Tax Administration

  • The bookkeeping reports (income statement and balance sheet) look correct

If any of these points is unclear, check it before preparing the financial statements. You can get help from NoCFO's chat.

The financial statements tool

NoCFO's financial statements tool creates an editable financial statements document whose structure follows the Government Decree on the financial statements of small and micro-sized entities. You can read the decree in full on Finlex. You can also easily find ready-made example financial statements by searching online — it's worth looking at a reference if this is all new to you.

Instructions:

  1. Go to the Financial Years tab and open the financial statements tool

  2. Select the headings you want to include in the financial statements document — the tool suggests the mandatory headings by default

  3. Fill in the required information under each heading directly in the tool, or download the document and complete it separately

  4. Save and download the finished financial statements document

Locking the financial year

Once the financial statements are ready, remember to close and lock the financial year in NoCFO. Locking prevents changes to the bookkeeping of the closed financial year and automatically carries over the balance sheet's closing balances as the opening balances of the next financial year.