Company Formation Specialists

What Is A Qualifying Partnership And What Accounts Must They Prepare?

The Partnerships and Unlimited Companies (Accounts) Regulations 1993 require companies which are members of 'qualifying partnerships' to prepare and attach accounts of the partnership to their own accounts.

A qualifying partnership is a partnership that is governed by the laws of any part of Great Britain if each of the members is:

• a limited company; or
• an unlimited company or a Scottish firm, each of whose members is a limited company.

Note

1. Any reference to a qualifying partnership in relation to a limited partnership is a reference to the general partners only.
2. Any reference to a limited company, an unlimited company, a Scottish firm or another partnership includes any comparable undertaking formed under the laws of another state.

The partnership regulations will apply to most limited partnerships that have limited companies as their general partners and are registered under the Limited Partnerships Act 1907, as these partnerships must have their principal place of business in Great Britain on registration.

The partnership must prepare and have audited accounts as if it were a company formed under the Companies Act 1985 so as to conform to Part VII of that Act. The Act has been amended to take account of the circumstances of qualifying partnerships. However, the partnership may take advantage of regulation 7, which permits the accounts to be dealt with on a consolidated basis as group accounts prepared by either:

• a member of the partnership which is established under the law of a member state of the European Economic Area (EEA); or
• a parent undertaking of such a member.

In these cases, the accounts must be prepared on a consolidated basis under the law of the member state in accordance with the Seventh Company Law Directive. A note must be included to say that the accounts have been prepared to take advantage of this regulation. Top Of Page

Online Company Formation