Två kvinnor och en man framför en datorskärm

How do you approach the transition to ESEF?

Initiating work on the previous year’s annual report in the autumn saves time during the hectic months focused on financial statements. Marking and reviewing the previous year’s annual report before year-end, and then using it as a template for subsequent years, ensures a smooth and efficient process. 

At Aspia, we can help you prepare annual and consolidated accounts in accordance with the ESEF rules, answer questions about the rules or manage your ESEF project.

This is How It Works - Step by step

Establish a project with a project manager, a working group, and clear guidelines on their objectives. 

Set a budget, timeline, and division of labor. 

Learn the basics of the ESEF rules. If you plan to do the tagging yourself, familiarize yourself with the complete set of rules. 

Decide on your approach: whether to outsource the work or procure system support. 

Choose a provider, either for system support or contact us at Aspia for outsourcing. 

Tag last year’s consolidated financial statements to use as a template for future reports

Why Aspia?

We are already experts in ESEF regulations. At Aspia, we have specialists in ESEF, IFRS, and consolidated financial reporting. 

You avoid investment costs for systems, personnel training, and routine development: at Aspia, everything is already in place. 

You do not burden your own staff with additional tasks during an already demanding period and can concentrate on producing your reports. 

Our service includes ESEF tagging, reports in XHTML, reports for your auditor’s review, and an internal review copy for your website. 

Man och kvinna som sitter framför en dator

Considerations for ESEF system support:

  • Ensure that the system meets your IT security requirements. 
  • Verify that the system can be integrated with your existing systems and processes for annual and consolidated financial reporting, if required. 
  • Ensure that the system is prepared for regulatory updates. 
  • Investigate support for block tagging of notes; this is a recently added requirement and not all vendors support it yet. 

What is ESEF?

ESEF, or the European Single Electronic Format, is a technical standard developed by ESMA, the European Securities and Markets Authority, for uniform digital reporting. It is mandatory for annual and consolidated financial statements for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2021.  

 This new electronic format replaces the old PDF format and must be used by groups listed on a regulated market that follow International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Legal entities, such as a parent company applying RFR2, are not required to tag their annual report, but to convert their annual report from PDF to XHTML format.  

 The obligation for an issuer to prepare annual/consolidated reports in accordance with the ESEF format is laid down in Chapter 16, Section 4 of the Swedish Securities Market Act (2007:528).  

 The tagging of the annual report begins on 1 January 2021 for the four main statements (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement and statement of changes in equity) according to a standardised classification developed by ESMA. From 1 January 2022, the notes to the consolidated financial statements will also be included in the mandatory tagging.  

According to Chapter 16, Section 4 of the Securities Market Act, the issuer must publish its annual/consolidated financial statements on the company's website as soon as possible, but no later than four months after the end of each financial year. At the same time as the information is published, the issuer must submit it to the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen, FI) in accordance with Chapter 17, Section 3 of the Securities Market Act. The deadline for submission to the Swedish Companies Registration Office remains unchanged at seven months after the end of the financial year. 

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