Statutory Audit Requirements: Is Your Company Subject to a Mandatory Audit?
As year-end approaches, growing businesses, including newly established and smaller companies, should assess whether they are likely to exceed the statutory thresholds for a mandatory audit of their financial statements.
Under Section 19 of the Slovak Accounting Act, a statutory audit is required for companies and cooperatives that meet at least two of the following three criteria in both the current and immediately preceding accounting periods:
- Total assets exceeding €4 million, based on the balance sheet value before adjustments under Section 26(3) of the Act.
- Net turnover exceeding €8 million.
- An average recalculated number of employees exceeding 50.
The audit requirement also applies to companies and cooperatives whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market in an EU Member State, regardless of whether they meet the above size thresholds.
When does the audit obligation arise?
If your company exceeded at least two of these thresholds in 2025 and does so again in 2026, its 2026 financial statements will be subject to a statutory audit, assuming its financial year corresponds to the calendar year.
It is also important to note that the auditor responsible for auditing the financial statements must be appointed and dismissed by the general meeting of shareholders or the members’ meeting, as applicable. Without the required approval, the engagement cannot be considered a statutory audit under the Slovak Accounting Act.
Audit requirements for non-profit organisations
Under Section 19(5) of the Slovak Accounting Act, certain legal entities specified in Section 50 of Act No. 595/2003 Coll. on Income Tax are also subject to a statutory audit if the amount of tax allocated to them exceeds €35,000 in a given accounting period. The audit requirement applies to the accounting period in which the funds are used.
The financial statements must be audited within one year of the end of the relevant accounting period. The entities concerned include:
- Civic associations and their organisational units
- Foundations
- Non-investment funds
- Non-profit organisations providing generally beneficial services
- Special-purpose facilities of churches and religious societies
- Organisations with an international element
- The Slovak Red Cross
- Research and development entities
Non-profit organisations providing generally beneficial services may also be subject to additional audit requirements under Section 33(3) of Act No. 213/1997 Coll. on Non-Profit Organisations Providing Generally Beneficial Services.
Review your company’s financial indicators in advance to determine whether a statutory audit will be required and allow sufficient time to prepare for the audit process.