Preparing Annual Financial Statements in Mauritius

What financial statements mean for a Mauritius company

Every company incorporated under the Companies Act 2001 must close its books at the end of each financial year and turn them into a set of annual accounts. If you are asking what the financial statements of a Mauritius company must look like, the short answer is that they are a formal, signed record of the company's position and performance, prepared by the directors and filed with the authorities in the form the law requires for that type of company.

The rules are not identical for every entity. A private company with modest turnover, a company holding a Global Business Licence and a public company each follow a different path. This page walks through the contents, the order of work and the filing step, and flags where your situation may change the answer. It is general information, not advice on your own accounts.

What the annual accounts contain

A full set of annual accounts for a private company normally brings together the following elements:

• a statement of financial position (the balance sheet), showing assets, liabilities and equity at the year-end date;
• a statement of profit or loss for the year, with other comprehensive income where it applies;
• a statement of changes in equity;
• a statement of cash flows;
• notes setting out the accounting policies and the detail behind the main figures;
• the directors' signature approving the statements.

The reporting framework most private companies use is described in IFRS for SMEs for Mauritian private companies. Which framework applies depends on the size and nature of the company, so confirm it with your accountant before the year-end work starts.

The accounts are only as reliable as the records behind them. Invoices, bank statements, contracts and ledgers need to be complete before anyone drafts a balance sheet; see bookkeeping requirements for a Mauritius company and company records and how long to keep them.

The preparation timeline

According to the Corporate and Business Registration Department (CBRD), financial statements must be prepared within six months after the balance sheet date. The first financial year cannot exceed 18 months from incorporation. Those two limits frame the whole exercise.

The six-month limit runs from the balance sheet date, not from the annual meeting. Work backwards from it: the audit, where there is one, needs time, and the board needs a finished draft in front of it before it can sign. The full yearly sequence, including tax and registry dates, is laid out in the compliance calendar and the annual compliance checklist.

Choosing the year-end

The financial year-end drives every later deadline. If it no longer suits the business, the procedure for moving it is covered in changing a company's financial year end. Remember the limit on the first year: a company that is incorporated and then waits to close its first period risks running past 18 months.

Filing the statements with the Registrar

Outside the small private company regime, a company must file its financial statements with the Registrar within 28 days of their being signed, or within another period the Registrar sets (Companies Act, section 215). Filing is done online through CBRIS, the Companies and Businesses Registration Integrated System, the secure web application used for statutory forms and annual fees. The CBRD also makes XBRL facilities available for the filing of financial statements.

The statements must be filed in addition to, not instead of, the annual return. Every company files an annual return once a year within 28 days of the date of its annual meeting, signed by a director or the secretary. No annual return is due in the calendar year in which the company was incorporated (section 223). For the meeting itself, see the annual meeting of shareholders.

If nothing has changed since the previous annual return, the CBRD allows a No Change Return (form F26), certified by a director or the secretary. The full annual return (form F24) is needed where there has been a structural change and, according to the CBRD, where turnover exceeds Rs 100 million.

Small private companies: a lighter route

A small private company is a private company whose turnover in the previous financial year was below Rs 100 million, which does not hold a Global Business Licence and is not an entity listed in the First Schedule of the Financial Reporting Act. The threshold was raised from Rs 50 million by the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022, with effect from 2 August 2022. A newly incorporated private company is treated as a small private company for its first financial year (Companies Act, section 2(5) to (7)).

For these companies:

• the company files, with its annual return, a financial summary (Ninth Schedule) or its financial statements;
• below Rs 100 million of turnover, the summary may be prepared on a cash basis, with a profit and loss statement only (sections 215 and 211);
• under section 223(1B), as amended in 2022, no annual return is required unless there is a change in shareholding, in the composition of the board or in other information.

The lighter route changes what is filed. It does not remove the duty to keep proper accounting records or the duty of the directors to act on the company's true position. The wider picture for this kind of company is in compliance for a small private company with one director and, for a company with no activity, keeping a dormant company compliant.

Annual registry fees follow the same classification

The annual fee payable to the Registrar depends on the company category and, for small private companies, on turnover recorded at the CBRD. If the financial summary has not been filed or is not yet due, the fee must be accompanied by a declaration from the directors that turnover has not exceeded Rs 30 million.

The 2026 amounts for the last two rows are double those of 2025, which were Rs 9 000 and Rs 13 500 for a private company above Rs 100 million and for a public or foreign company respectively. Check the current fee table at the time of filing, since the amounts are set by notice.

Companies with a Global Business Licence

A Global Business Corporation is governed by section 71 of the Financial Services Act 2007. Under section 71(3)(b)(iii) and (iv), it must keep its accounting records at its registered office in Mauritius and have its statutory financial statements prepared and audited in Mauritius. A holder of this licence also cannot use the small private company route, as described above.

For the 2026-27 renewal cycle, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) moved the deadline for paying annual fees to 30 September 2026. Payment is made through the FSC One platform, including by direct debit or from the deposit account of an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence).

An Authorised Company works through a registered agent. Under section 71A(8) of the same Act, the agent handles, among other things, the filing of returns and documents required by the Financial Services Act, the Income Tax Act or the Companies Act, communications with the FSC, the MRA and the Registrar, AML/CFT measures and the keeping of records such as minutes and resolutions. Who does the work in practice is a matter for the engagement terms you agree.

Where the accounts feed other filings

Approved accounts are the starting point for several other obligations:

• the tax computation and return, covered in corporate income tax return filing and filing with the MRA online;
• the audit or the decision to claim exemption, covered in audit exemption and the audit process step by step;
• any dividend decision, which depends on the solvency test, see paying a dividend;
• for companies in the relevant scope, the Fair Share Contribution, which applies where taxable income in the year exceeds Rs 24 million (Part XC of the VAT Act). Since the Finance Act 2026, with effect from 13 August 2026, the turnover criterion has been removed;
• the CSR Levy: since the Finance Act 2026, companies in the quarterly advance payment system pay it in three instalments of 25 % with their APS returns and the balance with the annual return, while others pay it with the annual return.

Beneficial ownership information is also filed through CBRIS on incorporation, with the annual return and on any share transfer or issue. The separate register behind it is explained in the beneficial ownership register guide.

Practical checklist before you sign

• Confirm the company category (small private, private above the threshold, public, Global Business)
• Confirm the financial year-end and the six-month preparation limit
• Complete the bookkeeping and reconcile bank and loan balances
• Decide whether an audit is required or an exemption applies
• Have the statements drafted under the reporting framework that applies
• Circulate the draft to all directors with time to review it
• Sign the statements and record the date of signature
• File through CBRIS within the period that runs from signature
• Pay the annual fee for the correct category before the deadline

What goes wrong, and what follows

The Registrar may strike a company off the register in several cases, including where it has ceased to carry on business without reason to remain, has not paid its registration fees, has not filed its annual return under section 223(2), or has not complied with beneficial ownership filing (section 309(1)). Filing late also raises the annual fee, as the table shows. The wider consequences are discussed in penalties for non-compliance.

Because the answer on categories, exemptions and timing depends on the facts of each company, take advice on your own position. If you want a licensed provider to look at it, you can send a request through the site and the form is passed on to an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence).