Annual report guide for housing associations

This guide explains the requirements for preparing and filing the annual report for an housing association in Sweden. It summarises what documents must be submitted to Bolagsverket, who must sign the annual report and when the reporting deadlines apply.

For financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2025

The table shows questions and answers regarding the requirements for the annual report.

Table showing questions and answers about what applies to the annual report.

Question

Answer

Must an annual report be prepared?

Yes

Who must sign the annual report?

All members of the board of directors at the date of signing. Employee representatives board must also sign the annual report.

When must the ordinary general meeting be held?

Within six months after the end of the financial year.

Must the annual report and the auditor’s report be submitted?

Yes

Submitted to?

Bolagsverket, Årsredovisningar, SE-851 98 Sundsvall, Sweden

What must be submitted?

  • The annual report, consisting of the directors’ report, income statement, balance sheet, notes and, for large housing associations, a cash flow statement.
  • A financial statements approval in original.
  • Auditor’s report.
  • Consolidated accounts and consolidated auditor’s report, if the association is the parent company of a large group.

All documents must be submitted as certified copies. However, the financial statements approval, signed on the copy of the annual report, must bear an original signature from a board member.

When must the documents be received?

No later than one month after the income statement and balance sheet were approved at the general meeting.

Sanctions if the documents are not submitted?

Late filing penalties.

Liquidation.

Provisions

  • Chapter 6, Section 1, first paragraph 2, Book-keeping Act (1999:1078)
  • Chapter 8, Section 3, first paragraph 2, Annual Accounts Act (1995:1554)
  • Chapter 17, Section 11, first paragraph 2, Economic Associations Act (2018:672)

How to write a financial statements approval

Example of a financial statements approval in the annual report (In Swedish). docx, 151 kB.

Sanctions

Late filing penalties

An housing association must pay a late filing penalty of SEK 7,500 if the annual report and the auditor’s report (and, where applicable, the consolidated accounts and consolidated auditor’s report) have not been submitted to the Swedish Companies Registration Office (Bolagsverket) within seven months after the end of the financial year.

After an additional two months’ delay, the association must pay a second penalty of SEK 7,500. If the delay continues for another two months, a third penalty of SEK 15,000 will be imposed.

Liquidation

An housing association that has not submitted its annual report and auditor’s report, and, where applicable, the consolidated accounts and consolidated auditor’s report, to the Swedish Companies Registration Office within eleven months after the end of the financial year risks compulsory liquidation.

Accounting offence

Please note that a late-prepared annual report may also constitute an accounting offence. For more information, visit the Swedish Economic Crime Authority External link.(Ekobrottsmyndigheten) website.