Preparation of year-end accounts and publication documents, with checks on company activity, approval requirements and whether an audit is needed.
A client’s annual financial statements depended on documents held by several people, and responsibility for the deadlines was unclear. ARG checked the work already completed, identified missing records and organised the remaining tasks with those involved. Specific explanations helped the client understand what still needed attention and who needed to provide the underlying information.
Preparing the accounts involves decisions about the company’s activity, accounting records, audit position and corporate approval. Tax and statistical submissions also need to be checked against the year-end figures. Missing records or an unresolved audit question can delay publication even where a return has already been filed. Establishing the reporting route and assigning each task early gives management a basis for coordinating the accountant, auditor and authorised filer.
ARG can help when you need to
Provide reconciled ledgers, bank statements, assets, stock, loans and year-end adjustments; the statements must reflect the full reporting period.
No sales is not enough for inactivity. Test all four statutory conditions and check whether the one-time declaration has already been filed.
Establish the enterprise category, accounting basis and audit or group requirements before finalising the reports and approval timetable.
Arrange valid corporate adoption and an authorised filer. Ordinary publication is due by 30 September; first-period inactivity declarations by 30 June.
Annual financial statements are the company’s formal year-end account of what it owns and owes, its income and expenses, and the information needed to understand those figures. In Bulgaria the annual financial report is commonly called the GFO. Its components depend on the enterprise category and accounting framework: a microenterprise’s permitted shortened presentation differs from a complete set required for a larger business. The figures must come from reconciled accounting records; downloading a balance-sheet template does not complete the underlying accounting work.
The Bulgarian Accountancy Act (Закон за счетоводството, ЗСч) regulates preparation, accounting basis, form, corporate adoption and publication. Under Articles 16, 18 to 19, 29 and 38(1), the required components and presentation depend on the company’s category, accounting basis, legal form and any additional reporting requirements. Accountancy Act, Arts. 16, 18–19, 29 and 38
Support the accounts with reconciled books and evidence for assets, liabilities, income, costs and year-end adjustments. Owners, directors, lenders, counterparties and public authorities may rely on the published figures. A profit or loss does not determine whether reporting obligations have been completed.
The Bulgarian Corporate Income Tax Act (Закон за корпоративното подоходно облагане, ЗКПО) governs the separate annual corporate-tax return under Article 92. For entities within scope, the annual activity report accompanies that return. It supplies statistical information and does not replace the annual financial statements or their Commercial Register publication. NRA guidance on the Art. 92 return
Reconcile the information across accounts, tax and activity reporting. Director transactions, payroll liabilities, stock movements and foreign-currency balances may affect more than one submission, although each has its own content, method and conditions.
A foreign parent may request a group reporting package in English, but the Bulgarian subsidiary still needs its own statutory accounts. Agree the accounting basis, reporting currency and reconciliation to the group package before closing. Differences in depreciation, provisions or revenue recognition must be explained so that management can understand why the local accounts and the parent’s reporting figures differ.
Before preparing submissions, ARG checks the reporting period, current and prior-year records, enterprise category, accounting framework, corporate-tax position and potential audit requirement. These facts establish the work and professional input needed.
Management remains responsible for preparation and publication. The engagement should identify who will reconcile the records, prepare the accounts, obtain corporate approval and submit the publication documents.
The inactivity route requires no activity within the statutory meaning during the reporting period. No sales, low turnover, no profit or no VAT registration does not by itself establish eligibility.
A qualifying inactive entity follows a separate route instead of ordinary publication of full annual financial statements. Under Article 38(9)(2), its declaration is published once for the first inactive reporting period, by 30 June of the following year. It is not repeated for every later inactive year after that statutory declaration has been made. The Register Agency confirms this structure. Register Agency guidance on inactivity declarations the Accountancy Act, including Art. 38
Review the full period’s transactions. Bank movements, supplier costs, director or employee payments, assets, financing and operational accounting entries may affect the assessment. Their nature and context matter; turnover alone is insufficient.
The statutory inactivity definition in Additional Provisions § 1(30) requires all four conditions for the period: no commercial transactions under Commercial Act Article 1(1), no circumstances requiring revenue recognition, no investment, production or sale activity, and no purchases of goods or services intended to earn income or profit. A new company buying stock or preparing a revenue-generating operation may therefore be active before its first customer pays. Review what each payment was for, when the activity occurred and how it was recorded; a zero sales ledger alone cannot support the declaration. Accountancy Act, § 1(30) and Article 38(9)
Before choosing the route, reconcile the following evidence for the full reporting period:
Provide the reporting period, ledgers, bank evidence and prior filings for an initial route assessment. ARG can identify whether annual financial statements or the inactivity declaration is appropriate and what further accounting or filing work is required.
Tell us where you live, how your business works and what you want to change. We will help you identify the questions to resolve and the next steps to consider.
For a calendar-year company, distinguish the tax and activity-reporting timetable from Commercial Register publication:
The annual calendar contains separate obligations. Completing the June tax return does not complete the September publication requirement, while publication does not settle unpaid corporate tax. For each reporting year, retain the accepted tax-return receipt, activity-report confirmation, corporate approval and Register publication result in the company’s annual file. A liquidation, transformation or other special event can create separate reporting periods and deadlines that should be scheduled alongside the ordinary annual obligations.
Reconcile the ledger and year-end evidence, establish the accounts and audit position, check NRA and NSI submissions, obtain corporate adoption and complete publication. Missing approvals, attachments or audit work can prevent a complete filing near the deadline.
For the 2025 annual activity report, the National Statistical Institute requires Bulgarian lev or thousands of lev, as specified in the form. This guidance concerns the activity report. Confirm the presentation of the company’s 2025 financial statements against its accounting basis, policy and applicable euro-transition guidance. NSI guidance for the 2025 annual activity report
Build the timetable backwards from publication. Management supplies year-end estimates and missing documents, the accountant completes the accounts, the auditor completes any required independent audit, and the competent corporate body adopts the final version. Overseas owners should arrange signature and representation requirements early. The applicant then prepares the publication package and checks the Register result; the internal date on a PDF does not establish that it was submitted or published.
Establish whether the accounts require mandatory independent audit under Accountancy Act Art. 37 before arranging adoption and publication.
The Commercial Register and Register of Non-Profit Legal Entities Act (Закон за търговския регистър и регистъра на юридическите лица с нестопанска цел, ЗТРРЮЛНЦ) governs the application and review. The registration officer checks whether the act is subject to publication, the applicant is authorised and the required documents are present. Commercial Register Act, Arts. 13, 19(8), 21, 22 and 24
G 2 is the ordinary electronic application for publishing annual financial statements. The applicant must complete the required information and attachments and have authority to apply for the company. Portal access alone does not establish that authority. Register Agency G 2 application guidance
For an ordinary G 2 filing, identify the company by its EIK, the Bulgarian unified identification number, and select the correct reporting period and acts. Check the applicant’s legal capacity and any required authorisation, attach the adopted final accounts and supporting documents, and review the portal’s validation messages before signing. Preserve the submission reference and monitor the result. Do not assume that sending statistical data to NSI has itself published the adopted accounts in the Commercial Register. Registry Agency G 2 instructions
Audit assessment may depend on legal form, assets, net sales, average employees, public-interest status, group position and other Art. 37 criteria. Turnover alone does not settle it. Where audit is mandatory, complete the auditor’s work before publication.
Prepare the filing in this order:
Under Accountancy Act Art. 38(2), a timely original application can retain its timely status after a refusal under Commercial Register Act Art. 22(5) if the repeat application is submitted within 14 days after the refusal becomes final. Correct the omissions and retain evidence of both submissions and the finality date. Accountancy Act, Art. 38(2)
ARG assesses the reporting route, identifies missing work and coordinates the accountant, auditor and authorised filer. Agree the scope before work starts: accounts preparation, bookkeeping corrections, tax and activity-report filing, Register representation, corporate approvals, translations and audit liaison may be separate tasks. Management retains responsibility for preparation and publication.
Provide the accounting record: trial balance, reconciled ledgers, sales and purchase invoices, material contracts, bank and cash records, and support for year-end adjustments.
Provide balance-sheet evidence: asset and ownership records, stock records where relevant, loan documents, shareholder and related-party balances, receivable and payable reconciliations, and support for significant provisions and liabilities.
Provide employment and tax information: payroll, social-security and director-remuneration records, relevant VAT records, prior corporate-tax returns, annual activity reports and material correspondence or confirmations.
Provide company history and corporate documents: previously filed accounts, any inactivity declaration, current Register details, the reporting period and adoption documents. Identify the authorised applicant and available electronic access.
An inactivity assessment requires the full period’s bank, cash, accounting and tax evidence. Confirmation that there were no customer invoices is insufficient.
Disclose asset acquisitions or disposals, shareholder financing, cross-border transactions, bank movements, employee or director payments, changes of legal form, group membership, any appointed auditor and any rejected Register application.
Confirm the 2025 activity position, completed tax and activity-reporting submissions, possible audit requirements and the assistance required from ARG. These facts determine the document request, responsibilities and publication timetable.
Compare the related procedures in this category, including their requirements and the stage at which you need them.
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