Annual accounts, as you will already know, are a process which any Spanish business must undertake. And, you must submit them annually to the Business Registry of the city where your office is located. It is a legal process that you can’t avoid. But, what happens when your business also operates in other countries? Do you have to submit these accounts there? When is it necessary to have your annual accounts in English? We explain all in this article.
When must some annual accounts be translated?
When gauging whether to translate your accounts or not, you have to look at the type of operations your company carries out. So, you will need to translate them when there is an office or subsidiary located abroad.
It’s important to bear in mind that the presence of Spanish businesses in other countries hasn’t stopped increasing, even in non-European markets. In the United Kingdom especially, there is a relatively close commercial relationship with Spain.
What happens if your company has an office or subsidiary in a foreign country? How do you submit the document? Well, the process is as follows. Remember that you will have to submit it in the official language of the State in question. You can’t do it across all sites in a working language such as English. This language, for example, will work for the United States, the United Kingdom or Australia, but not for France or Sweden.
Even if you only trade with countries in the European Union, you will also have to translate the documents, as there are still no common regulations in this regard.
And what if the country where you do business has the same language? If, for example, your business has an office in Chile, in this instance you can submit the same document in both States, as the same language is spoken.
When is it necessary to submit the accounts in another country?
As we explained earlier, having a subsidiary in another territory is usually the main reason. However, not all businesses work in the same way, nor do they have the same aims. Occasionally, they can register their accounts for these reasons:
– In order to participate in competitions in another country. Thus, if they are competing for a contract or a grant, they will have to submit the aforementioned accounts.
– If your business wants to stay in contact with foreign investors. It will be a way of grabbing their attention and informing them, at the same time, of your business’ progress. In this way, they will have reliable and accurate information when it’s time to invest.
Sworn translation of annual accounts
Let’s take the example of branches and subsidiaries in other parts of the world. Each country has its own legislation, and the branches, in the end, take on a certain level of autonomy and develop different competencies. Principally because they have to learn to do business in another territory. Therefore, it is for legal reasons that the translations of these accounts must be sworn.
Sworn translation is understood as translation which is of an official or legal nature. That is to say, that has legal validity. In this sense, the submission of annual accounts, being a legal document, will need this type of translation.
These translations must be done:
– When the subsidiary is first opened.
– Every year that it remains open.
– When you wish to access grants or competitions in said country.
What about translation to English?
It may be that your business doesn’t have any offices in any English speaking countries, but you’re interested in growing it through international financing. In this case, what the majority of large-scale companies do is translate their accounts to English. Do you want to know the reason?
First of all, it gives all the investors or investment funds that are interested in backing the companies with the best prospects first-hand information. And, therefore, although you do not operate in English speaking countries, offering these translations may be of interest to you. In this way, you will have the option to compete in other markets.
What is more, in this case there’s another important difference: you do not need a sworn translation. A trained and experienced translator will be sufficient to translate your accounts into English. These do not have to be submitted to official bodies in any country, nor do they have to go through any legal processes. Therefore, you can save on the sworn translation. This will be a document that is created thanks to your own initiative, and that’s what is interesting about it. It is more affordable and it can help you obtain investment for your brand.
Definitively, when does it make sense to have your annual accounts in English? Well, when you’re operating in countries with English as the official language (in which case a sworn translation will be needed) or when you want to attract investors to your business. Are you interested? Then visit Blarlo.com for quality translations.
