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Companies’ credit agreements generally contain customer-specific conditions called covenants. December is the last chance to check whether the company is indeed in compliance with these covenants, especially considering how companies’ financial results have been impacted by the current ultra-rapid economic growth, rising prices and supply chain problems.

Often people neglect to consider that the same key interest rate affects not only businesses' loan capability and finances but also taxation.

The audit requirement recently applied to crypto companies will notably increase the workload of auditors who are expected to provide a service that is largely lacking in Estonia currently.

After leaping back strongly from the darkest days of the pandemic, the global mid-market could only manage a small additional step forward in the second half of 2021, as tracked by the Global business pulse, Grant Thornton’s index of health among mid-sized companies. At 1.2, the index score is now within sight of pre-COVID health levels (3.4), but there is still some way to go for a full recovery.

From 2022, an updated regulation will take effect, regarding the methodology for determining transactions between related persons. Since it was adopted in 2006, Minister of Finance regulation no. 53 had been in force unchanged.

A wisely selected supervisory board – one that doesn’t do its work only at meetings but lays down clear strategic goals for management and itself and meters them constantly, while serving as a mentor for executives – can contribute greatly to achieving solid business results.

Effective 1 April 2022, when the system for taking child leave will change in the Employment Contracts Act, all parents of children under 14 years of age will be entitled to 10 working days of paid child leave per child under 14.

An increasing number of companies in Estonia cross the threshold of turnover and balance sheet volume that requires them to order an audit or financial review of their 2021 annual report. On the other hand, the number of auditing companies has decreased compared to last year. How to cope with a situation with fewer service providers, increasing numbers of customers, and increasing troublesome findings regarding the quality of service provided by audit firms?

Companies that sell physical goods to European countries all too often have to grapple with the destination country’s complicated VAT system, but in summer 2021, the situation will become simpler and the administrative expenses related to declaration of taxes will decrease.

The Ministry of Environment recently weighed in on packaging audit requirements. This topic pertains in particular to packaging undertakings who have already filed a packaging report for 2020 with the packaging register.

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) regularly updates its 2017 transfer pricing guidance. It is worth keeping up to date with the OECD guidelines because transfer pricing regulations in Estonia and many other countries rely on the OECD’s guidelines.

The accounting and preparation of packaging reports has become better over the years and the awareness of the importance of accounting more but there are still shortcomings in packaging reporting.

Store data correctly and securely, and more importantly, use the data the same way, and you might well find that the benefits easily exceed any direct monetary gains. An expert explains how to make maximum use of data for turning a profit.

The representatives of the board of the Auditors’ Association met Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice Tõnis Saar and Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice Viljar Peep in February on the topic of developing the Commercial Register and updating register data.

Grant Thornton Baltic OÜ experts conducted an analysis of the energy networks belonging to public undertakings at the request of the Strategy Unit of the Government Office of Estonia and it was funded from measure no. 12.2 “Development of quality of policy-making” of priority axis no. 12 “Administrative Capacity” of the Cohesion Fund’s operational programme 2014-2020. The initiator and partner of the project is the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.

Based on the rules in force until the end of 2020, Estonia was entitled to tax wages of non-residents starting from day one if the entity making the payment was located in Estonia. If the payer was located abroad, , the right of taxation in Estonia arose only if the employee had been in Estonia for the purpose of employment for 183 days.