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Year-end in Finland: the steps from your last month to the financial statements

Published 3 October 2026

For most small businesses the financial year ends on 31 December, and the work runs from December into the summer. A few things count only if they happen before the year turns. The rest follows fixed deadlines: a limited company (Oy) prepares its financial statements within four months and adopts them within six, and a late fee follows if they are not filed with the Trade Register within eight; a sole trader (toiminimi) files the business tax return by 1 April.

Before 31 December

Make the purchases you need, and take them into use, before the year ends. Buy them because the business needs them, not only for the deduction, but the deduction belongs to the year an item is taken into use. A small acquisition costing up to 1 200 euros can be deducted at once, up to 3 600 euros a year in total. Movable equipment with a probable economic life of three years or less can also be deducted at once, whatever it costs. Other machinery and equipment is depreciated by at most 25 % a year of the remaining balance; the temporary 50 % rate, which covered 2020 to 2025, cannot be used for 2026.

Estimate the year's profit. If your prepayments will not cover the tax, pay the difference as an additional prepayment (lisäennakko). A toiminimi owner can pay it without interest during January, and a company within one month of the end of its financial year. Apply early: you choose a due date when you apply, and if the last day falls on a weekend, the due date moves to the next weekday and interest is charged for the extra days. In 2027, 31 January is a Sunday, so apply and pay by Friday 29 January. Our article on prepayment tax explains the prepayment decision itself.

Count the stock on the last day. Goods still unsold at the end of the year are an asset at their cost, written down if they are worth less (Accounting Act 5:6). A dated list of quantities and prices from that count is how you show the value.

January: close the last month

• Check that every bank account agrees with its statement at 31 December.
• List the sales invoices still unpaid and the bills still owed at the end of the year, so both land in the right financial year.
• Update the fixed asset register and book the year's depreciation.
• File December's VAT return. A monthly filer's return and payment are due on 12 February; our article on VAT return deadlines has the rest.

Then the statements and the tax returns

For a financial year ending on 31 December 2026, the deadlines are:

A company's tax return is due within four months from the end of the last month of its financial year. The Trade Register filing is due within two months of the meeting that adopts the statements, and the Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) charges a late fee if they have not been filed within eight months of the year end: 150, 300 or 600 euros depending on how late, doubled if the statements were late for two or more consecutive financial years. Our article on financial statement deadlines goes through the fees.

For a toiminimi

A sole trader's year is the calendar year, and the business tax return is due on 1 April every year, even after a year without activity. A toiminimi that keeps double-entry books has the same four months as a company to prepare its financial statements. Year-end is also the moment to collect the deductions that never arrive as an invoice, from travel days to the home office deduction; our article on deductions a sole trader forgets lists them.

If you want an accounting company in Finland to take you through the close, tell us before December ends: some of the decisions that save tax have to be made before the year turns.

Sources

• Accounting Act 1336/1997, chapter 3 section 6 and chapter 5 section 6 (Finlex, in Finnish)
• Limited Liability Companies Act 624/2006, chapter 5 section 3 and chapter 8 section 10 (Finlex, in Finnish)
• Business Income Tax Act 360/1968, sections 30 and 33 (Finlex, in Finnish)
• Tax Administration: decision on filing tax returns, VH/5602/00.01.00/2025 (in Finnish)
• Tax Administration: additional prepayment and the reduced late-payment interest (in Finnish)
• Tax Administration: depreciation and small acquisitions (in Finnish)
• Finnish Patent and Registration Office: late fee for financial statements (in Finnish)

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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