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Month-end close in Finland: monthly reporting for an Oy

Karma Accounts · Published 7 October 2026

Closing the month (kuukausikatko) means bringing one month's books to a point where the figures can be trusted: every bank line booked, missing receipts chased, balances checked, and the month's profit and balance sheet put in front of the owner. For most Finnish limited companies (Oy) it is not a legal requirement. It is a decision to know the numbers twelve times a year instead of once.

What the law requires, and what it does not

The Accounting Act (kirjanpitolaki 1336/1997, KPL) sets the rhythm of the bookkeeping, not of reporting:

• The books must be arranged so that entries can be viewed in chronological order and in systematic order (KPL 2:4).
• Cash payments are recorded by day and without delay. Other entries may be made by month or a similar period, unless another law requires more precise timing.
• Those other entries must be made in time for two things: reports to the authorities that a law requires, such as the VAT return, can be prepared from up-to-date books, and whoever is responsible for a company's accounting can carry out their duty of oversight.
• During the year, income and expenses may be booked when invoiced or when paid; on a payment basis, the company must still be able to tell its trade payables and receivables at any time (KPL 2:3). The financial statements take income and expenses into the year they belong to, whatever the payment date (KPL 3:3).
• Statutory financial statements are prepared for the financial year, within four months of its end (KPL 3:1 and 3:6).

The Limited Liability Companies Act (osakeyhtiölaki 624/2006, OYL) adds the people. The board is responsible for the supervision of the company's accounting and financial management being appropriately arranged (OYL 6:2). The managing director is responsible for the accounting complying with the law and for financial management being reliably arranged, and must give the board the information it needs for its duties (OYL 6:17).

Neither Act requires a monthly report. But a board cannot supervise figures it never sees, and a company with staff, stock, loans or several owners needs more than one look a year. A monthly close is the plain way to give it that look.

What a monthly close contains

The details depend on the company, but the core is the same:

1. Bank reconciliation. Every bank and card account agrees with its statement on the last day of the month, and every bank line is booked.
2. Missing receipts chased. A list of bank lines without a document goes to the owner while the month is still fresh. Every entry must rest on a dated document (KPL 2:5), and a receipt is far easier to find after four weeks than after eleven months; our article on receipts and record keeping covers what to keep.
3. Sales and purchase ledgers matched. Open sales invoices agree with the receivables account and open bills with the payables account, so the ageing lists can be relied on.
4. Accruals and prepayments for material items. A large bill for the month that has not arrived yet, a yearly licence paid in advance, work done but not yet invoiced: booked to the month it belongs to, where the amount matters. Small items can wait for the year-end.
5. Payroll and its liabilities. Salaries, tax withheld, employer's contributions, pension contributions and the holiday pay liability agree with the payroll and with what was reported to the Incomes Register (tulorekisteri).
6. VAT reconciled to the return. The VAT accounts agree with the return filed in MyTax, so the return can be traced back to the books, as KPL 2:6 requires.
7. Intercompany balances matched, in a group: what the parent says a subsidiary owes is what the subsidiary says it owes, every month.
8. Fixed assets and depreciation, where the company has them: new purchases added to the register and the month's depreciation booked.

The last close of the financial year becomes the start of the year-end; our article on year-end goes on from there.

The timetable

The employer's reports and the VAT return set the outer limits. For a company that pays salaries on 30 September 2026, files VAT monthly and has a monthly tax period, the deadlines for September are:

A monthly VAT return is due on the 12th of the second month after the month it covers; if the 12th falls on a weekend or a public holiday, the due date moves to the next business day, and the deadline cannot be extended. A company with an annual turnover of no more than 100 000 euros can ask for a quarterly VAT period. Our article on VAT return deadlines has the rest.

A close finished by the middle of the following month gives the owner a report that is still useful and leaves time to fix anything before the VAT return.

What a short management report shows

A management report (kuukausiraportti) is for the owner and the board, not for the authorities, so a few pages are enough:

• Profit and loss for the month and for the year to date, against the same periods last year.
• Balance sheet at the end of the month, against the same date last year.
• Cash position: bank balances at the month end and the tax and salary payments due in the coming weeks.
• Receivables ageing: who owes what and for how long, for example 0–30, 31–60 and over 60 days.
• Payables ageing: what the company owes, and anything already overdue.
• Notes on unusual items: a one-off cost, a large accrual, anything that makes this month look different from the trend.

Comparing with last year is what the financial statements do too, since every item in them shows the previous year's figure (KPL 3:1), so the monthly reports and the year-end tell one story.

How an owner reads it

1. Cash first. Is there enough in the bank for the VAT, the withheld tax and the salaries due before the next report? VAT collected and tax withheld from salaries are not the company's money to spend.
2. The month against last year. Are sales up or down, and is the margin holding? One month can mislead; the year to date shows whether it is a trend.
3. Receivables. An invoice over 60 days old needs a phone call, not just a line in a report.
4. Payables. Overdue bills cost interest and goodwill, and late taxes cost more.
5. The notes. If something looks odd and there is no note, ask.

An invented example

This example is invented, with round figures. In September a company's sales are 40 000 euros against 35 000 a year earlier, but the month's profit is only 2 000 euros against 4 000. The note explains that a yearly software licence of 6 000 euros was paid in September. Booked as a prepayment, it costs 500 euros a month, and September's profit becomes 7 500 euros. Without the accrual the owner reads a bad month; with it, a good one.

A monthly close with Karma Accounts

For a limited company, a monthly close with a short management report is available, agreed in the written scope and price before it starts. Our limited company prices are 199 euros a month up to 240 000 euros of turnover, 249 euros from 240 000 to 500 000 euros, and a written quote above that, all plus VAT. See limited company accounting or request a quote.

Sources

• Accounting Act 1336/1997, chapter 2 sections 3–6 and chapter 3 sections 1, 3 and 6 (Finlex, in Finnish)
• Limited Liability Companies Act 624/2006, chapter 6 sections 2 and 17 (Finlex, in Finnish)
• Act on the Assessment Procedure for Self-Assessed Taxes 768/2016, section 12 (Finlex, in Finnish)
• Tax Administration: when to file and pay VAT
• Tax Administration: VAT tax period
• Tax Administration: how to report wages and employer's contributions

Please note: this is general information about Finnish rules, not advice for your own situation, and the rules change. Ask us before you act on it.

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