Annual report in Denmark – a simple guide for international small businesses

If you run a company in Denmark as an international founder, you will sooner or later run into the term “annual report in Denmark” – or, in Danish, årsrapport. For many non-Danish speakers, it quickly turns into a mix of unfamiliar rules and deadlines. On top of that come digital letters in a language they don’t fully understand.

This article keeps things simple. In clear English, we walk through what the Danish annual report is, who needs one and how the timeline works. You will also see which documents your accountant asks for, when it makes sense to involve an auditor in Denmark (revisor), and which mistakes international owners often make. By the end, you will have a clear overview and know where an English-speaking accountant in Denmark – and, when relevant, a Danish auditor – can make your life much easier.

What is an annual report (årsrapport) in Denmark?

In Denmark, the annual report is the official set of financial statements for your company for a full financial year. It is more than a form for the tax office. It gives a complete picture of your business: what it owns, what it owes and how it has performed during the year.

A typical annual report in Denmark includes a balance sheet, a profit and loss statement and notes that explain important items. It also contains a management statement. For companies that are subject to audit, there is an independent auditor’s report from a registered revisor.

Once management approves the annual report, you file it with the Danish Business Authority (Erhvervsstyrelsen). For most limited companies, it then becomes publicly available in the CVR register.

In other words: the årsrapport is not just “extra admin”. It is the official snapshot that banks, investors, partners and even some clients look at when they want to understand how healthy and transparent your company is.

Annual report vs. Danish tax return – what’s the difference?

One of the biggest sources of confusion for expat founders is the difference between the annual report and the tax return.

The annual report in Denmark is prepared at company level and focuses on financial reporting and transparency. It shows how your company has done over the year and must be filed with Erhvervsstyrelsen.

Your tax returns, on the other hand, go to Skattestyrelsen (SKAT), the Danish Tax Agency. Here we are talking about company tax returns, personal tax returns for the owner, and reporting salary and dividends. The tax returns are often based on the numbers in your bookkeeping and, where required, your annual report. Legally, however, they are a separate process with a different purpose.

In practice, this means you will usually need both:

• a correct and timely annual report in Denmark, and
• the relevant tax filings based on your company’s and your personal situation.

Keeping these two concepts separate in your mind makes it much easier to deal with Danish year-end obligations.

Who needs to file an annual report in Denmark?

Whether you must submit an annual report depends on the legal form of your business and how it is registered.

If you have an ApS (Anpartsselskab – private limited company), you can almost assume there is a yearly annual report requirement. The same applies to A/S (Aktieselskab – public limited company) and a range of other company types. These companies need a clear legal separation between the owners and the business, and the annual report is a key part of that structure.

If you operate as a sole trader / self-employed person under an enkeltmandsvirksomhed, the picture is different. In most cases, you do not have to file an annual report with Erhvervsstyrelsen. You still need proper bookkeeping and a tax return based on your business results, but there is no public årsrapport.

For many international small business owners, the situation is therefore quite simple:

If you have an ApS, you will be dealing with an annual report in Denmark every year.

If you are not sure which rules apply to your business, reach out to your accountant. They can check this quickly by looking at your registration in the CVR register and the rules for your specific company type.

Do you need an auditor (revisor) in Denmark?

Alongside the question of whether you need an annual report, there is another important question. Does your company need an auditor – a Danish revisor – to sign the report?

Danish law divides companies into different reporting classes. Depending on your size (turnover, balance sheet total and number of employees) and structure, you may:

• be required to have your annual report audited,
• be allowed to opt out of audit if you stay below certain thresholds, or
• have a choice between a full audit and lighter assurance services (for example, a review).

These thresholds and rules can change over time and differ between company types. Because of that, it is not a good idea to rely on old numbers from a blog post. The safest approach is to ask your accountant or auditor directly whether your company:

1. is currently subject to mandatory audit,
2. has validly opted out of audit (if allowed), or
3. could benefit from audit or other assurance even if it is not legally required.

So when do we recommend working with an auditor in Denmark, even if you are technically small enough to opt out?

Typical situations include:

• You are growing quickly, and investors or potential buyers care about audited figures.
• Your bank or financing partner explicitly requests audited annual reports as part of the loan conditions.
• You have several shareholders, maybe in different countries, who want extra comfort that the numbers are correct.
• You operate in a regulated or sensitive industry, where independent assurance on your accounts builds trust.
• You, as the owner, simply want a higher level of comfort that everything is done correctly.

In these cases, an auditor is not just “another cost”. It is a way of reducing risk and strengthening credibility.

How accountants and auditors work together

If you already have an accountant in Denmark who handles your day-to-day bookkeeping, VAT and payroll, and you then bring in an auditor (revisor), they typically work side by side.

• The accountant keeps the books correct and up to date during the year. They prepare the draft financial statements and help you understand your numbers.
• The auditor comes in as an independent party, tests and reviews the accounts and issues an opinion on whether the annual report gives a true and fair view under Danish rules.

Good collaboration between accountant and auditor makes the audit process smoother and more efficient. If you are an international owner, it is a big advantage when at least one of them – ideally both – can explain the process to you in clear English, so you are not left guessing what the audit findings mean.

Timeline and deadlines for your Danish annual report

The exact deadlines for your annual report depend on both your company form and your financial year (regnskabsår). Many companies use the calendar year, from 1 January to 31 December, but this is not compulsory. You might, for example, have a financial year from July to June.

The overall flow is usually similar. At the end of your financial year, you close the books for that period. Your bookkeeper or accountant reconciles the bank accounts, makes sure that income and expenses are correct, and checks that loans, leasing and assets are up to date. This work creates the foundation for the annual report.

On top of this bookkeeping, your accountant prepares the official annual report: the formatted financial statements and notes that comply with Danish rules. If you need or choose an audit, your auditor in Denmark reviews and tests the figures and issues their auditor’s report. Management then reviews the document, asks questions and approves it. After that, you file the report digitally with the Danish Business Authority within the legal deadline, and approve it at the general meeting.

Because the law and deadlines can change and vary by company type, the safest approach is to:

• know when your financial year ends,
• ask your accountant or auditor to confirm your specific filing deadline, and
• keep an eye on messages about the annual report in your Digital Post / e-Boks.

What you definitely want to avoid is starting to collect a year’s worth of receipts and bank statements a week before the deadline.

What your accountant needs for your annual report in Denmark

Your annual report in Denmark is only as good as the underlying bookkeeping and documentation. Many founders imagine the annual report as a single document that appears “out of nowhere” once a year. In reality, it is based on the everyday data in your accounting system.

Bank and payment accounts

Your accountant needs a clear picture of your bank and payment accounts. That means not only your main business bank account, but also savings accounts, credit cards and online providers such as Stripe, PayPal, Shopify Payments, MobilePay or similar. For each of these, the balances in the system should match the statements from the bank or platform.

Sales and income

On the sales side, all your income needs to be recorded in a structured way. This may be through your accounting system (such as Dinero, e-conomic or Billy), your webshop platform (Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon, Etsy) or a combination of both. If you sell abroad, it is important to know which clients are in Denmark, the EU or outside the EU and how you must treat VAT (moms) and currencies.

Purchases and expenses

For purchases and expenses, your accountant will want to see supplier invoices, subscription confirmations, travel and entertainment receipts, office rent, utilities, insurance and other costs. Some items may be booked automatically if you use tools like Pleo. There should still be documentation and a short description, especially for anything that looks unusual.

Payroll and people

If you have employees or pay yourself salary through the company, the payroll data must match the bookkeeping. Your accountant will look at reports from the salary system, check salary, pension, holiday pay, bonuses and any board fees, and make sure everything ties together with what has been reported to the tax authorities.

Loans, leasing and assets

Loans, leasing contracts and larger purchases – laptops, equipment, machines – also need consistent treatment. Your accountant requires loan agreements, year-end statements and information on what was bought and when. With that, they can decide what should be treated as fixed assets and depreciated over time, and what can go directly as an expense.

Good habits that make life easier

You don’t need to memorise every category. What matters is that you get into the habit of saving documents and giving your accountant access to the full financial story of your business, not just the bank feed. If an auditor is involved, this also makes their work much smoother, because they can trace transactions back to clear, well organised documentation.

Common mistakes international founders make (and how to avoid them)

Working with international clients, we see the same patterns repeat themselves when it comes to the annual report in Denmark. None of them are dramatic on their own, but together they create stress and unnecessary work.

Mistake 1: Ignoring Digital Post

A very common issue is simply ignoring Digital Post (e-Boks). In many countries, important letters still arrive as paper mail, so founders are not used to logging into a digital mailbox. In Denmark, however, the Digital Post system is the official way authorities communicate with you. If you never look at it, you may only discover a missed deadline or a penalty when it is already too late. Setting up email or app notifications, and giving your accountant access where possible, solves a large part of this problem.

Mistake 2: Mixing personal and business money

Another frequent mistake is mixing personal and business money. In the early stages of a company, it is tempting to use whichever card is closest at hand, or to pay for business costs from a personal account and sort it out “later”. This creates confusion in the accounts and, in worse cases, can raise questions from the tax authorities. A separate business bank account and card, plus a clear rule for yourself – “if I use the wrong card by accident, I tell my accountant and document it” – makes a big difference.

Mistake 3: Assuming the accountant sees everything

Many founders also assume that their accountant “sees everything automatically”. A connected bank feed is very helpful, but it does not explain the context of each transaction. Your accountant may see that 1,000 DKK left the account. Without an invoice or description, they cannot know whether this was software, equipment, a refund, a salary correction or something else. The annual report process is much smoother when you agree on a clear way of sending missing documents and answering questions during the year.

Mistake 4: Doing all the clean-up at once

Timing is another pain point. Trying to do twelve months of cleaning in one weekend is not realistic. Instead, it helps to think in terms of monthly or quarterly mini-closings. During these, you reconcile the bank, add missing receipts and clarify strange payments. When it is time for your annual report in Denmark, most of the work is already done. If an audit is required, your auditor can then focus on core audit work instead of basic clean-up.

Mistake 5: Underestimating foreign currency and platforms

Finally, companies that use multiple currencies and platforms sometimes underestimate the complexity of foreign currency and marketplace flows. Money moves between Stripe, PayPal, Amazon, your DKK account and maybe an EUR account. Fees are deducted along the way, and currency conversions happen at different times. Your accountant will need clear exports and a short explanation of how the money flows through your system. Investing a bit of time in describing this once can save hours of detective work later for both your accountant and your auditor.

How an English-speaking accountant in Denmark (and a good auditor) can help

If Danish is not your first language, you are dealing not just with numbers, but also with administration in a foreign language. An English-speaking accountant in Denmark can act as a “translation layer” between you and the Danish system – both linguistically and practically.

At a basic level, that means taking letters from SKAT and Erhvervsstyrelsen and explaining them in plain English: what they mean, what the deadline is and what you actually need to do. Instead of copy-pasting machine translations, you get someone who understands your business and can tell you what is relevant and what is not.

It also means setting up digital processes that fit international clients. Online onboarding, shared folders for documents, clear rules on how to name and upload invoices, and agreed routines for monthly or quarterly check-ins are all part of this. You should not have to print out papers or physically visit an office just to keep your accounts up to date.

Another important aspect is proactive guidance. A good accountant does not wait until the day before your deadline to say that something is missing. They remind you well in advance, warn you about possible cash-flow or tax issues and help you plan dividends, investments or salary changes with the next annual report in mind.

Beyond pure compliance, an engaged accountant helps you read your annual report as a management tool. You can see where your profit really comes from, how stable your cash flow is, whether your pricing and cost structure make sense and what that means for the coming year. If your company also works with an auditor in Denmark, your accountant can translate audit findings into practical actions instead of leaving you with a technical audit letter.

Quick self-check: are you “annual-report-ready”?

You don’t have to be an expert in Danish accounting to check whether you are broadly on track. Ask yourself these questions:

• Do I know when my financial year starts and ends?
• Do I know roughly when my annual report in Denmark is due?
• Are my bank accounts and main payment platforms reconciled and documented?
• Do I regularly save and share invoices and receipts with my accountant?
• Do I clearly separate personal and business spending?
• Does someone – me, my accountant or my auditor – actually check Digital Post / e-Boks?
• Do I have an English-speaking accountant (and, if needed, an auditor) who understands my business and communicates clearly?

If you answer “no” to several of these, there is no need to panic. It is simply a sign that now is a good time to improve your setup, before the next annual report season arrives.

Need help with your annual report in Denmark?

If you’re an international founder or small business owner and feel unsure about your annual report in Denmark, you’re very much not alone. The Danish system has its own logic, and it’s completely normal to feel lost in årsrapport, Digital Post, SKAT messages and online portals.

With the right support, though, the process can become predictable and manageable. A clear timetable, good bookkeeping routines and an accountant who speaks your language remove most of the stress from the annual report. If your company also needs an auditor in Denmark, your accountant can coordinate with your chosen revisor – or help you decide when involving an auditor makes sense.

If you would like help:

• understanding what exactly applies to your company,
• preparing for your next annual report step by step, or
• setting up a simple, digital workflow that works in English,

👉 Book a 30-minute online call or send us a short message with your CVR number and a brief description of your business. We’ll get back to you with concrete next steps tailored to your situation.