<\/p>\n
Financial statements in Ukraine are signed by the head of the company and by the person responsible for keeping the accounting records. Responsibility for the reliability of the statements rests with the head of the company. It does not pass to the bookkeeper, to the outsourcing firm, or to the auditor. The auditor expresses an opinion on the statements but does not prepare them and is not answerable for them to the state.<\/p>\n
There are two signatures. The first is the head of the company, meaning the director or whoever leads the executive body under the charter. The second is whoever keeps the records: the chief accountant, a bookkeeper, or the head of the firm to which accounting has been outsourced.<\/p>\n
If there is no accountant and the director keeps the records personally, the director signs both. This is lawful and common in small limited companies. If an external firm keeps the records under contract, an authorised person of that firm signs, but this does not make the firm answerable for the figures.<\/p>\n
This is the question owners ask us more than any other, and confusion about it is expensive.<\/p>\n
The practical conclusion follows: outsourcing takes work off the director, not responsibility. That is why the contract with the provider matters, and specifically what it says about deadlines, access to documents and the correction of errors.<\/p>\n
The auditor signs the audit report, which is a separate document, not a part of the financial statements. In it the auditor states whether the statements give a true and fair view. The auditor may qualify the opinion or disclaim it where evidence is insufficient.<\/p>\n
No audit firm can promise in advance that the opinion will be unqualified. A promise of that kind means the outcome was decided before the work, which is no longer an audit. We say so directly during negotiations.<\/p>\n
We have worked since 2000 and see both sides: the audit<\/a> and the accounting<\/a>. We cannot both keep the records of a company and audit it: an auditor does not audit records they kept themselves. Where we keep your records, the audit is done by another firm and we help prepare the documents.<\/p>\n Yes, where the director personally keeps the accounting records and this is documented. In small limited companies this is normal. Where an accountant exists, the second signature must be theirs.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n Not to the state. Penalties are imposed on the company and its director. To the client, the provider is liable within the contract, and that is where the consequences of an error on its side should be set out in advance. Without such a clause, recovering losses is difficult.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n No. Corrections are made by the company, the auditor only reports them. An auditor who corrects the statements loses independence and can no longer express an opinion on them.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n The same pair: the head of the organisation and the person responsible for the records. For NGOs and charitable foundations the rule is the same, although the composition of the statements differs.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n The filing stands, but the company carries risk: on inspection this is a further reason to question reliability, and a bank or donor may refuse the document. Authority is evidenced by the charter, an order or a power of attorney.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n If you are unsure who should sign in your case, or what your provider contract actually says, write to us. We will look at the documents and tell you plainly. A proposal follows once we have reviewed the task.<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The two signatures on the statements, where responsibility sits between director, bookkeeper and auditor, and why outsourcing moves the work but not the duty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4452","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"Who signs financial statements in Ukraine | MK Audit","description":"The two signatures on the statements, where responsibility sits between director, bookkeeper and auditor, and what outsourcing does not move.","canonical_url":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/khto-pidpysuie-finzvitnist\/","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"miscellaneous":""},"schema":null,"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"MK Audit","og:type":"website","og:title":"Who signs financial statements in Ukraine","og:description":"The two signatures on the statements, where responsibility sits between director, bookkeeper and auditor, and what outsourcing\u2026","og:url":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/khto-pidpysuie-finzvitnist\/","article:published_time":"2026-10-16T10:51:39+00:00","article:modified_time":"2026-10-16T10:51:39+00:00","og:locale:alternate":["uk_UA","ru_RU"],"og:image":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/wp-content\/plugins\/mk-landing\/img\/og-default.jpg","og:image:width":1200,"og:image:height":630,"og:image:secure_url":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/wp-content\/plugins\/mk-landing\/img\/og-default.jpg","og:image:alt":"MK Audit, an audit firm in Kyiv and a full member of DFK International","twitter:card":"summary_large_image","twitter:title":"Who signs financial statements in Ukraine","twitter:description":"The two signatures on the statements, where responsibility sits between director, bookkeeper and auditor, and what outsourcing\u2026","twitter:image":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/wp-content\/plugins\/mk-landing\/img\/og-default.jpg","twitter:image:alt":"MK Audit, an audit firm in Kyiv and a full member of DFK International"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"4452","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":null,"keyphrases":null,"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":null,"og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"WebPage","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":null,"robots_max_videopreview":null,"robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":null,"local_seo":null,"breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"ai":null,"created":"2026-10-16 10:52:50","updated":"2026-10-16 10:52:50","seo_analyzer_scan_date":null,"focus_keyword":null,"additional_keywords":null,"truseo_locale":null},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"Can the director sign alone, without an accountant<\/summary>\n
Is the outsourcing firm liable for penalties<\/summary>\n
Can the auditor correct the errors found<\/summary>\n
Who signs the statements of a non-profit<\/summary>\n
What if the statements were signed by someone without authority<\/summary>\n