Mixed-use account
Personal expenses paid from the SRL's account, or the other way round, with no documentation or reimbursement.
30 September 2026 · Companies
SRL accounting after formation: the first year
When you walk out of the notary's office, you have a company registered with the Registro Imprese (the Companies Register) and a bank account holding the paid-in capital. The accounting, on the other hand, starts from zero, and the choices made in the first few months weigh on the whole first financial year. Here is what happens, in order, in the first year of an SRL (Italian limited company).
01 · The first weeks
The first few weeks: what to set up straight away
An SRL always keeps ordinary accounting (contabilità ordinaria, full double-entry bookkeeping), whatever its turnover: the simplifications available to sole proprietorships do not exist for limited companies. This means every transaction must be recorded in double entry, from the first payment of capital to the last invoice of the year.
Even before the first invoice, a few tools are needed: the company's PEC (certified email) address, the director's digital signature, the channel for receiving electronic invoices, and a bank account in the company's name used only for the company. Alongside the accounting registers there are the company books, in particular the book of shareholders' decisions and the book of the director's decisions, which must be kept up to date during the year.
How the practice organises these steps, with document collection and periodic deadlines, is described on the page about bookkeeping in Turin for partita IVA holders and companies (a partita IVA is an Italian VAT number).
- The company's PEC address and the director's digital signature
- Channel for receiving electronic invoices set up
- Bank account in the SRL's name, separate from your personal one
- Company books and accounting registers set up
- VAT regime chosen: monthly or quarterly settlements
- Decision on the director's pay, if any is planned
02 · In practice
Ordinary accounting: what changes in everyday life
The biggest change, for anyone coming from a sole proprietorship or from employment, is not technical: it is that the company's money is not yours. Even if you are the only shareholder, the balance on the SRL's account belongs to the SRL, and every payment to you must rest on a specific legal basis.
The possible bases are few and easy to recognise: the director's pay, reimbursement of documented expenses incurred on the company's behalf, repayment of a shareholder loan, and distribution of profits after the financial statements have been approved. A withdrawal with no basis creates a receivable of the company from the shareholder, which then has to be settled, and which is one of the first things examined in a tax inspection.
The same logic applies to expenses: personal expenses paid with the company card must be reimbursed to the company, and business expenses paid with your personal card must be documented and reimbursed to the shareholder. Keeping the two worlds apart from day one saves weeks of reconstruction at year end.
03 · Pay
The director's pay
In the first year many directors pay themselves nothing, to leave the company with cash. That is a legitimate choice; if there is pay, however, it must be decided before it is paid, as the articles of association provide, and be recorded in a resolution.
Once decided, the pay follows rules similar to those for a salary: the company withholds tax, pays the contributions due with the F24 form (the Italian tax payment form) within the set time limits and issues the Certificazione Unica (the annual statement of income and withholdings). At year end those withholdings flow into the withholding agents' return. The page on director's pay explains how it is set up and what is worth considering.
04 · The deadlines
The calendar of the first financial year
The exact dates must be checked every year against the tax calendar, because they can change with extensions or public holidays. The sequence, though, is always the same, and it is worth being clear about it from the start.
- Every monthEntries and withholdingsInvoices, bank and cash recorded; withholdings on pay paid with F24 within the set time limits
- Month or quarterVAT settlementsCalculation and payment of periodic VAT, with the quarterly report of settlements
- Year endClosing the accountsInventory, accruals, deferrals, depreciation: the basis of the first financial statements
- Within 120 daysApproval of the financial statementsFrom the end of the financial year, or within the longer limit where the articles of association and the law allow it
- Within 30 daysFilingFrom approval, filing of the financial statements with the Registro Imprese
- Second yearTax returnsThe company's income tax return, IRAP (the regional tax on productive activities) and the VAT return for the first financial year
The first financial year can be shorter or longer than twelve months, depending on the date of formation and what the articles of association provide. Check this straight away, because it shifts every later date.
05 · The second year
First-year taxes and the effect on the second year
In its first financial year an SRL normally pays no tax advances, because advances are calculated, under the most commonly used method, on the previous year's tax, which does not exist for a new company. It is good news only on the surface.
The following year the balance for the first financial year and the advances for the second arrive together, with the advances calculated on that very balance. Example with round, purely illustrative figures: if first-year taxes come to €10,000, in the second year you could find yourself paying close to double that within a few months, between balance and advances.
Those who do not know about it find out in June. Those who do know set aside part of the profits during the first year in a dedicated account, and reach the deadline with the cash already there. It is also why it makes sense to estimate the result halfway through the year, not only at year end.
06 · What to avoid
Typical first-year mistakes
Pay without a resolution
Sums paid to the director before the pay has been decided in the required form.
Documents at year end
Invoices and bank statements handed over all at once in January: the financial statements are built during the year.
Shareholders' money with no trail
Payments from shareholders that were never formalised: it is unclear whether they are capital, a loan or something else.
07 · The method
How to organise your SRL accounting and reach the first financial statements without stress
The method is simple: documents handed over at a fixed interval, monthly or quarterly, the company account reconciled with the books, and an interim check of the result and the taxes halfway through the financial year. That way the first financial statements become the sum of twelve months already in order, not a reconstruction.
If the company has just been formed or is about to be, the guide to setting up an SRL in Turin covers the earlier stage. For how the bookkeeping, VAT settlements and financial statements are organised, you will find the details on the page about bookkeeping in Turin.
The rules described here are general. Time limits, rates and specific obligations must be checked for the individual company and under the rules for the current year.
Frequently asked
The questions that keep coming up
Does an SRL with no turnover still have to keep accounts?
Yes. Even with no revenue there are costs, the paid-in capital and any shareholder loans, and the financial statements must still be approved and filed. A dormant company has fewer obligations in terms of numbers, but it still has some.
Can I take money from the SRL's account if I am the only shareholder?
Only with a basis: pay approved by resolution, documented reimbursement of expenses, repayment of a loan, or a dividend after the financial statements have been approved. A withdrawal with no basis becomes a receivable of the company from you, which has to be regularised.
When are the first financial statements approved?
As a rule within 120 days of the end of the first financial year, with the option of a longer limit in the cases provided for by law and by the articles of association. After approval, the financial statements must be filed with the Registro Imprese within thirty days.
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