Swedish AB (Aktiebolag) — Bookkeeping, Tax and Annual Report
A Swedish Aktiebolag (AB) is the standard private limited company registered at Bolagsverket, operating under Aktiebolagslagen (2005:551) with minimum share capital of SEK 25,000. Every AB keeps double-entry books under Bokföringslagen, files an årsredovisning with Bolagsverket within seven months of the financial year end, and pays corporate income tax to Skatteverket at 20.6%. Licensed AB companies are additionally supervised by Finansinspektionen (FI). This page sets out what the compliance year actually looks like, and how our Tallinn team supports Swedish entities in EN/ET/RU alongside native SV and FI coverage.
What Bokföringslagen requires
Every AB — regardless of turnover — keeps double-entry books under Bokföringslagen (1999:1078), stores source documents (verifikationer) for seven years, and prepares an årsredovisning under Årsredovisningslagen (1995:1554) covering balance sheet, income statement, notes and förvaltningsberättelse (management report). The package goes to Bolagsverket within seven months of the financial year end. Late filing triggers förseningsavgifter up to SEK 40,000 and, persistently, tvångslikvidation (compulsory liquidation).
A moms-registered AB files monthly, quarterly or annual momsdeklaration through Skatteverket Mina sidor; a payroll-paying AB files arbetsgivardeklaration på individnivå (AGI) each month. Skatteverket assesses penalties and interest automatically if deadlines slip.
Tax cycle — CIT 20.6%, moms 25% and löner
Swedish bolagsskatt is 20.6% on profits (reduced from 21.4% in 2021). Preliminär F-skatt is paid monthly against Skatteverket debet and reconciled at year-end through the slutskattebesked. Moms is 25% standard, with reduced rates of 12% and 6% for specific categories; intra-EU supplies require a valid VAT number and a periodisk sammanställning.
For AB companies importing goods, running Amazon FBA or selling SaaS across the EU we map the VAT position before onboarding — OSS, IOSS and standalone registrations each carry different cash-flow and compliance consequences. Payroll runs through the F-skatt/A-skatt split, with arbetsgivaravgift and pension under collective-agreement (kollektivavtal) rules where applicable.
Årsredovisning filing with Bolagsverket
The årsredovisning filed with Bolagsverket includes balance sheet, income statement, notes, förvaltningsberättelse and — for larger AB companies — a revisionsberättelse from an auktoriserad revisor. Audit is mandatory once the AB exceeds two of the three thresholds (more than 3 employees, balance sheet above SEK 1.5m, turnover above SEK 3m) in two consecutive years; smaller AB companies can opt out. The regulatory framework — K1 (simplified), K2 (smaller AB) or K3 (IFRS-based) — determines report structure and note scope, chosen in line with BFN (Bokföringsnämnden) general guidance.
We prepare the statutory package in Swedish to K2 or K3 templates and deliver an English management pack in parallel for foreign directors. Filing happens via Bolagsverket e-tjänster within seven months of the financial year end, and the public register version is published shortly after.
Working with us
Onboarding takes two to three weeks: scoping call, document transfer through our client portal, chart-of-accounts alignment with the Swedish BAS-kontoplan, and handover of prior working papers. We operate in English, Estonian and Russian on the same ticket; Swedish statutory filings are reviewed by a Swedish-qualified accountant before submission.
If a question is outside our core coverage — for example a complex Finansinspektionen licensing matter or a specialised kollektivavtal dispute — we say so and introduce the right specialist rather than stretching a retainer into unpriced territory.