If you have a business registered in Albania, the law treats you as an economic unit and accounting is a legal requirement, not an option. The basis is Law No. 25/2018 on Accounting and Financial Statements. The good news is that how simple or detailed your accounting will be depends on the size of your business, not on anyone's whim.
Many owners start their business thinking that accounting is work for large firms. In fact, the law doesn't ask how big you are, only whether you carry out registered economic activities. Under the scope of Law No. 25/2018 fall commercial companies and other economic units operating in Albania.
What varies from one business to another isn't the obligation, but its burden. A small shop keeps much simpler records than a construction firm with dozens of employees. The law recognizes this and divides businesses into categories, with lighter rules for the smaller ones.
Michael Gerber puts it well in The E-Myth Revisited. The business that survives isn't the one with the owner working the hardest, but the one with the best system. Accounting is the first system the law requires you to establish, and at the same time the first that protects you from chaos.
Ana opens a café in Tirana. In the first year she has revenues of 9,000,000 LEK, assets of about 3,500,000 LEK, and two employees. Since the day she registered with the QKB, Ana is an economic unit and must keep accounting records.
But its figures are well below the micro-entity thresholds, which are assets of up to 25,000,000 LEK, revenues of up to 50,000,000 LEK, and up to 10 employees. Ana does not exceed any of them, so it is classified as a microenterprise and applies the simplest standard, SKK 15. In practice, this means minimal statements and basic records, not lengthy reports. The obligation exists, but it is manageable even for a café with two employees.
On the main finance and accounting page, you'll find the "Are You a Microenterprise?" tool. Enter your assets, revenue, and number of employees, and it immediately tells you which category you fall into. You'll find it under Finance and Accounting. Finance and Accounting and other job templates can be downloaded from the Resource Center.
Law No. 25/2018 on Accounting and Financial Statements is the new legal framework that replaced the previous one. The scope of application is defined in the law's opening articles. Classification into categories is carried out in accordance with Article 4, applying the rule of two out of the three thresholds as of the balance sheet date. The applicable standards are defined in Article 5. The key practical point for colleagues is that classification is not an entity's choice but an automatic consequence of the figures as of the balance sheet date, so it must be reassessed each year before year-end.
Yes, the obligation begins with registration, not with the first sale. But for a business with no transactions, the registrations are minimal. The important thing is not to leave gaps from the start, because fixing them later costs more than maintaining them in real time.
The law requires that accounting be maintained in accordance with applicable standards. You can handle the daily entries yourself, but preparing the financial statements requires professional expertise. Most small businesses work with an external accountant, which costs far less than an in-house one.
If you want to leave the recordings and deadlines in safe hands, see how an external economist works at offer or write to us at Contact page.
We take care of accounting and taxes, so you can save time, money, and focus on growing your business.
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