Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Companies Act 1993

Accounting records and financial reporting - Accounting records

194: Accounting records must be kept

You could also call this:

“Companies must maintain accurate and accessible accounting records”

The board of your company must make sure that accounting records are always kept. These records need to correctly show all the company’s transactions. They must also allow the company to make sure its financial statements follow generally accepted accounting practices, if the company has to prepare such statements. If the financial statements need to be audited, the records must make this easy to do.

The company’s transactions include any acts that are described in section 105C(3) of the Crimes Act 1961.

Your company’s board must set up and maintain a good system to control these accounting records.

The accounting records must be kept in English, either written down or in a way that can be easily accessed and changed into written English.

If the board doesn’t follow these rules, every director of the company is breaking the law. They can be found guilty and punished as set out in section 374(3).

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM320874.

Topics:
Business > Industry rules
Business > Fair trading
Previous

193A: Rectification or correction of address for service, or

“Updating a company's official address in the register”

Next

195: Place accounting records to be kept, or

“Where you must store your company's accounting records”

Part 11 Accounting records and financial reporting
Accounting records

194Accounting records must be kept

  1. The board of a company must ensure that there are kept at all times accounting records that—

  2. correctly record the transactions of the company; and
    1. will enable the company to ensure that the financial statements or group financial statements of the company comply with generally accepted accounting practice (if the company is required to prepare such statements under this Act or any other enactment); and
      1. will enable the financial statements or group financial statements of the company to be readily and properly audited (if those statements are required to be audited).

        1. For the purpose of subsection (1), the transactions of the company include any transaction that constitutes an act of the type described in section 105C(3) of the Crimes Act 1961.

        2. The board of a company must establish and maintain a satisfactory system of control of its accounting records.

        3. The accounting records must be kept—

        4. in written form in English; or
          1. in a form or manner in which they are easily accessible and convertible into written form in English.

            1. If the board of a company fails to comply with the requirements of this section, every director of the company commits an offence and is liable on conviction to the penalty set out in section 374(3).

            Notes
            • Section 194: replaced, on , by section 30 of the Financial Reporting (Amendments to Other Enactments) Act 2013 (2013 No 102).
            • Section 194(1A): inserted, on , by section 4 of the Companies Amendment Act 2015 (2015 No 97).