Annual report (Årsrapport)

What it means

In Danish law the årsrapport (annual report) is the complete statutory report a company prepares under the Danish Financial Statements Act. Under §2 of the Act the term is a collective designation: it bundles the financial statements together with the management's statement, the management's review and, for groups, the consolidated statements.

A typical small (class B) annual report contains: the management's statement (ledelsespåtegning), the auditor's report where an audit or other assurance is given (revisionspåtegning), the management's review (ledelsesberetning), the income statement, the balance sheet, and the notes, including the accounting policies. Required content grows with the company's reporting class.

It is the official, public account a company files each year. The numbers are only part of it: the annual report also explains the business, states management's responsibility and carries the auditor's opinion.

Why it matters

The annual report is the public, filed record of the company. For companies in scope of the CSRD it now also carries a sustainability statement inside the management's review, so financial and sustainability disclosures share one document and one deadline.

How it relates to nearby concepts

Do not confuse årsrapport with årsregnskab: the årsregnskab (the financial statements) is only one component of the årsrapport (the whole report). Most Danish annual reports are filed by digital filing in Inline XBRL.

Common misunderstandings

• “Årsrapport” and “årsregnskab” mean the same thing: The årsregnskab (financial statements) is a part of the årsrapport, not the whole report.