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Auditors are like conspirators – people know they exist, but few understand what they are up to and why they are valuable. In general, the public hears about auditors only when something goes wrong somewhere.

Finding competent top-level specialists is getting harder, forcing companies to adapt on the employee-centred labour market and recruit already today for tomorrow, stated the Äripäev (daily business newspaper) produced radio programme “Kasvukursil”.

Last year was a very successful one for Grant Thornton Baltic – total revenue in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania grew by 15.1%, reaching 9.3 million euros. The company was able to grow the volumes of all of its services, from accounting and auditing to business advisory and risk management services.

In the beginning of the year, several tax changes were introduced in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Some of the changes will become effective in 2020. In addition we shall highlight tax rates applicable in the Baltics as of 2020.

Who is an electricity undertaking? What requirements does the ELTS impose on electricity undertakings? Which undertakings should have their activities audited? What precisely is audited? In the following, we draw attention to bottlenecks related to the ELTS and auditing.

A private limited company in Estonia can be founded with or without making a contribution. Only individuals have the option of starting a company without making the contribution. Legal persons setting up a private limited company must always make a contribution, either monetary or non-monetary.

The technology-centred, open economy is changing at light speed and finding a sustainable competitive edge is an ever sterner test for the business community. Clients and data are becoming companies’ most important assets. This in turn has significantly redefined the role and area of responsibility of the chief financial officer.

A stock-taking or physical inventory performed in a quality manner gives the heads of all units in a company assurance that financial statements and databases present a true and fair view of assets and inventories in stock. Periodic stock-taking is also quite effective for preventing fraud.

Companies that follow IFRS accounting standards were required to make the transition to recognizing and accounting for operating lease agreements according to new principles at the latest starting from reporting periods commencing on 1 January 2019.

An annual audit is an indispensable resource for obtaining assurance that a company’s financial statements and accounting is free from material misstatements. One of the most important preconditions for productive cooperation between auditor and the company is adherence to deadlines and being ready for the audit at the agreed time.

Stock-taking quality depends on preparation for and performing of the physical inventory. In the following, I will provide an overview of what to devote attention to while performing it.

For several years now, new thresholds have been in force for auditing annual reports, which exempted many companies from the obligation to have their annual reports audited. From the company’s viewpoint, it may seem a good solution to be rid of the audit or review obligation: less work and financial expense. Yet the other side of the coin should be considered – what do the company and the public have to lose?

Although technology has an important role in preventing cyber attacks, companies are neglecting an equally important means of preventing cyber threats from realising: their employees. The results of a recent study by Grant Thornton showed that the weakest link of cyber defence was overreliance on technology to protect personal data.

This Briefing Paper provides insight into the latest VAT and Customs developments for both importers and exporters of goods and services in a ‘no-deal’ scenario.

Often accountants face the question: “What is and what isn’t a source document from the standpoint of accounting, and is a source document always necessary, for example at a one-man company?”

Enterprises conducting transactions with related parties, such as companies in the same group or persons related to the owners of the company, must take into consideration domestic and international transfer pricing rules. The idea of transfer pricing rules is to prevent related persons from agreeing to sell each other goods and services at lower or higher than market price, thereby also transferring profit and income tax base.