Balance sheet meaning

ARCHIVED : This Checklist has been archived and is not maintained . STOP PRESS: From 1 November 2024, the UK’s new securitisation framework took effect, annulling and supplanting the onshored EU legislative regime. Although the UK rules broadly preserve the substance of the prior onshored EU approach, they part company in several notable respects, including scope, risk retention, transparency, due diligence and STS designation. For a side-by-side of the STS criteria under both frameworks, see Practice Note: UK and EU securitisation regimes—comparison. On 17 June 2025, the European Commission issued its long-anticipated review of the EU Securitisation Framework, together with an extensive legislative package proposing amendments to the EU Securitisation Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2017/2402), the EU Capital Requirements Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 575/2013), the EU Solvency II Delegated Regulation (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/35) and the EU Liquidity Coverage Requirement Delegated Regulation (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/61). Proposed changes to the EU Securitisation Regulation cover, among other matters, risk retention, due diligence, transparency, STS on-balance sheet securitisations and...

In brief A company may review its intellectual property portfolio for various purposes, such as stocktaking; bolstering balance sheet asset strength and addressing gaps in asset coverage; valuing and leveraging those rights; spotting threats and reducing the likelihood of disputes; and creating a framework for ongoing IP administration and upkeep. This Checklist sets out the principal points to consider that could emerge in an IP audit and is to be read alongside Precedent: Intellectual property internal audit questionnaire...

This timeline outlines notable milestones linked to the Solvency UK regulatory regime. For earlier milestones, please see: Solvency II—timeline (2007–2023) [Archived]. 2026 Date: 11 March 2026 | Source: PRA | Document: PRA fines U K Insurance Limited £10,625,000 The Prudential Regulation Authority imposed a £10,625,000 penalty on U K Insurance Limited after a miscalculation of its Solvency II balance sheet in 2023 and 2024 led to overstated solvency figures reported to both the regulator and to the wider market. UKI Limited is a subsidiary and principal underwriter of Direct Line Group, and is now part of Aviva plc. This marks the PRA’s first public enforcement action in which the Early Account Scheme (EAS) has been applied. See: PRA fines U K Insurance Limited £10.6m for Solvency II micalculation Date: 25 February 2026 | Source: PRA | Document: CP4/26 — UK Solvency II Own Funds: Updates and fixes to rules and expectations The PRA...

On 3 March 2025, Moody’s Ratings characterised the new mandatory obligation as “credit positive” for insurers, even though it introduces further balance sheet vulnerabilities arising from exposure to floods and other types of natural catastrophes. Effective 31 March 2025, the legislation covers every firm operating in Italy, and it also extends to foreign enterprises that maintain a local branch. An exemption exists for fishing and associated sectors, granting them until year-end 2025 to obtain the policy. According to unverified Italian media reports, in 2024 only 6% of households carry natural catastrophe insurance and 5%...

EU developments RTS on the disclosure of information related to the principal adverse impacts on sustainability factors under the Securitisation Regulation published in Official Journal Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1700, concerning regulatory technical standards (RTS) that define, for simple, transparent and standardised (STS) non-ABCP traditional securitisations and STS on-balance-sheet securitisations, the scope, approaches and format of disclosures, including methodologies and presentation requirements, on the principal adverse impacts of assets funded by the underlying exposures on sustainability factors under Regulation (EU) 2017/2402 (the Securitisation Regulation), has now been published in the Official Journal. See: LNB News 18/06/2024 12...

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Term Meaning Accounting reference date On incorporation, a company is typically assigned an accounting reference date, being the final day of the month that contains the anniversary of its incorporation. Directors can alter this by submitting the relevant form to the Registrar of Companies. It denotes the end of the annual accounting period and is also called the balance sheet date. Accounts payable Sums a business or individual owes to others for goods or services already received. Accounts receivable Sums due to a business or individual from others for goods or services supplied. Accrual In company accounts, recognition of income earned or costs incurred during a reporting period, even though the cash has not yet been received or paid. Adjusted earnings Where reported earnings are affected, positively or negatively, by exceptional one-off events in the year, directors may present adjusted earnings to clarify performance. These are earnings with exceptional items excluded, which they believe better indicate the underlying results...

Practice Note This Practice Note outlines the courts’ treatment of business assets in financial remedy proceedings, covering matters such as whether those assets might be realised by sale, the circumstances for lifting the corporate veil and the effect of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Prest v Petrodel Resources, as well as the deployment of expert opinion. It further reviews situations in which business assets may, to varying degrees, be classed as non-matrimonial/civil partnership property, and how risk is apportioned between the parties as between assets that are ‘copper-bottomed’ and those that are ‘risk laden’, with reference to Wells sharing. Business interests—whether shareholdings in a limited company, stakes in a partnership or LLP, or the assets of a sole trader—form part of the pool of marital/civil partnership assets alongside other property or investments. Unlike land or buildings, bank balances and portfolio holdings, a business interest is often hard to quantify and typically lacks liquidity. A business interest is not merely an item to be costed by an accountant and inserted...

Where a company disposes of an intangible fixed asset (IFA) that falls within the corporate intangible assets regime in Part 8 of the Corporation Tax Act 2009 (CTA 2009), any gain or loss arising is recognised for corporation tax as, as appropriate, a credit or a debit. Amounts brought in under CTA 2009, Pt 8 are dealt with as income items, both for charge and relief. Consequently, the usual income/capital divide under general tax law is disapplied. Instead, a credit or debit on the realisation of an IFA is treated either (i) as a receipt or expense of a trade or of a property business, or (ii) where the IFA is not held for the purposes of a trade or property business, as a non-trading credit or a non-trading debit. For further detail on the taxation of IFAs, refer to Practice Note: How intangible fixed assets are taxed—basic principles...

Precedents This curated collection brings together worked examples for the following precedents listed: Annual budget—law firms Monthly budget—law firms Budget variance analysis—law firms Cashflow forecast—law firms Cashflow variance analysis—law firms Balance sheet forecast—law firms Collectively, these are commonly known as management accounts. Please note and be aware that our consolidated management accounts are produced in Excel, and therefore they cannot be downloaded into Word...

A balance sheet provides a simple picture of the company’s financial position at any point in time, essentially showing what the business is worth...

[ insert date ] To: [ insert full name and address of lender ] Dear [ insert full name of lender ] I am a director and act as the [ Chief Financial Officer OR Finance Director ] of [ insert full name of guarantor/third party security provider ], a company incorporated in England and Wales with registered number [ insert company number ], and its registered office is at [ insert address ] (the Company)...