Legislative Regulation Financial Statement Preparation by Micro Entities: International Experience

The article analyzes the experience of legislative regulation of financial statement preparation by micro entities in the Commonwealth of Independent States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. The legislative acts of the countries, national accounting standards and financial reporting standards serve as the methodological basis for the analysis. For the purpose of this study the article identifies the criteria for categorizing an organization as a micro entity, analyzes the documents regulating the procedure for the preparation of financial statements, and compares the procedures for financial reports formation by micro entities in different countries. Micro entities are an important component of the country’s economy, affecting the level of employment, gross domestic product and other important indicators of the country’s development. In Russia, micro entities account for 96 percent of the small and medium-sized business sector, whose share in the gross domestic product was about 20.6 % in 2019 according to Federal State Statistics Service estimates and which created about 33 % of jobs. For comparison, in the OECD countries small and medium-sized businesses generate, on average, about 55 % of GDP and about 59.1 % of jobs, whereas in the EU countries the percentage is higher: 57.5 % of GDP, and 65 % of the employed. However, in order to support the development of micro entities, it is necessary to create favorable conditions for the implementation of entrepreneurial activities, in particular through simplifying the procedure for the formation and submission of financial statements.