Skip to content
00. [ GUIDE ]

Accountants in Monaco: who may keep your books, certify your accounts and advise on your tax

Written by Julien Rossi, Tax, licensing and compliance lead. Reviewed by Camille Perrin. Updated 20 September 2026. Reading time 11 minutes.

Office buildings in Monaco photographed in daylight from street level.
01.

Short answer

In Monaco only an expert-comptable (chartered accountant) or a comptable agréé (authorised accountant), authorised by ministerial decree and entered on the roll of the Ordre des experts-comptables et comptables agréés, may keep and close a company's accounts as an independent profession. Only an expert-comptable may certify those accounts or hold an auditor's mandate.

02.

On this page

  • The governing law
  • Who may keep and certify
  • The two titles
  • The reserved mandates
  • When you need a member
  • The audit thresholds
  • The visa
  • The accounting year
  • Never filing
  • The penalty ladder
  • Checking the roll
  • Advising on tax
  • A foreign accountant
  • Fees
  • A capped profession
  • Never your director
  • Standards and formats
  • Where we stop
  • Sources
  • Frequently asked questions
  • Next step
03.

Which law governs accountants in Monaco, and why 1945 is the wrong answer

Both professions and their Order are governed by Loi n° 1.231 of 12 July 2000, "relative aux professions d'expert-comptable et de comptable agréé", whose Art. 36 repealed Loi n° 406 of 12 January 1945 and Ordonnance Souveraine n° 3.650 of 20 March 1948. The 1945 wording survives inside Loi n° 408 of 20 January 1945, whose Art. 10 still sends the reader to "l'ordre institué par la loi du 12 janvier 1945": an un-updated cross-reference, not law in force. The Order does date from 1945, since O.S. n° 2.986 of 14 March 1945 appointed its first council.

Two statutes stand behind the work a founder buys: keeping and certifying accounts under Loi n° 1.231, advice in tax matters for a fee under Loi n° 1.144, Art. 8. Company in Monaco: Tax in Monaco covers what Monaco taxes; this page stays on who may do the work.

04.

Who may lawfully keep a Monegasque company's books and certify its accounts?

Art. 1 of Loi n° 1.231 subjects the practice of both professions, and the use of their titles, to an authorisation delivered by arrêté ministériel (ministerial decree). Art. 2 sets out what an expert-comptable does "à titre indépendant": organise, keep, close, review, appraise and correct the accounts of any person established in the Principality, and attest and certify that the financial statements are regular and sincere. Art. 3 gives a comptable agréé the first half of that list, plus the attestation of the statements of the establishments whose accounts he closes, and Art. 6 reserves both auditor functions to experts-comptables.

The Order calls its members "the only ones authorised (on an external basis) in the Principality to keep and audit the accounts of companies and non-profit-making organisations" (Ordre des experts-comptables et comptables agréés). Reading "à titre indépendant" beside "on an external basis", a company's own employee keeping its internal books appears to fall outside: our reading of two texts, not a quoted rule. Practising either profession, or taking either title, without the authorisation is an offence (Art. 32).

Figure Who may do what with a Monaco company's accounts
01

expert-comptable, comptable agréé, a foreign accountant, the company's own employee, a tax adviser who is not a member. Columns: keep and close the books, revie

Loi n° 1.231

02

Loi n° 1.144 Art. 8. The employee row is marked as our reading of Art. 2 and of the Order's wording, not as a quoted rule

Loi n° 1.144

03

the tax-adviser row carries the "accessoirement" limit of Art. 2

Art. 2

Figure 1. The permissions matrix, with its article in every cell. The employee row is a reading, not a quoted rule

05.

Expert-comptable or comptable agréé: what each of the two titles may do

Both titles are protected, and the English-language market collapses them into one word. The line between them decides what a firm may sign for you. Neither has an official English name, so this page keeps the French term with a gloss.

What the work isexpert-comptable (chartered accountant)comptable agréé (authorised accountant)Act and article
Organise, keep and close the accountsyesyesLoi n° 1.231, Arts. 2 1° and 3 1°
Review, appraise and correct themyesnoLoi n° 1.231, Arts. 2 1° and 3 1°
Attest that the financial statements are regular and sincereyesonly for the establishments whose accounts he closesLoi n° 1.231, Arts. 2 2° and 3 2°
Certify the financial statementsyesnoLoi n° 1.231, Art. 2 2°
Act as commissaire aux comptes (statutory auditor) or commissaire aux apports (contribution auditor)yes, and alonenoLoi n° 1.231, Art. 6
Advise on economic and financial management and on legal and tax mattersaccessorily to the main work, and subject to Loi n° 1.144, Art. 8not given by the articleLoi n° 1.231, Art. 2
Serve as expert, arbitrator, judicial administrator, liquidator or syndicaccessorilynot given by the articleLoi n° 1.231, Art. 2
06.

The two jobs only an expert-comptable may do: statutory auditor and contribution auditor

Art. 6 of Loi n° 1.231 is short: "Les experts-comptables sont seuls habilités à exercer les fonctions de commissaire aux apports et celles de commissaire aux comptes." Loi n° 408 says the same from the company's side, in Arts. 1, 10 and 14: a joint-stock company's auditors, their substitutes and its contribution auditor come from the roll. One rule keeps the two mandates apart, and it is recent: a company's statutory auditor may not be its contribution auditor (Loi n° 1.573 of 8 April 2025, Art. 17).

07.

The moments a founder must bring in a member of the Order

1. A contribution in kind at formation. An SARL's non-cash contribution is valued by a commissaire aux apports chosen unanimously from the roll (Code de commerce, Art. 35-3), unless the partners unanimously do without one and take joint liability for the stated value for five years. No period governs the valuation.

2. The constitutive meeting of a SAM. The first general meeting appoints the first administrators and the auditors (Loi n° 1.573, Art. 17), who come from the roll for three consecutive financial years.

3. Crossing the audit thresholds. An SARL, SNC or SCS then appoints a statutory auditor for a renewable three-year term (section 6).

4. Every year, where there is no auditor. The manager's attestation is countersigned by a member of the Order, the visa of section 7, which must exist by the filing date.

5. Dealings with a non-partner gérant (manager). Prior authorisation by a meeting, plus a yearly special report by an expert-comptable or an auditor from the roll (Art. 35-7).

6. A group accountant abroad. He works on the Monegasque company only with the Council's prior agreement, and never as its statutory auditor (section 13).

A business street in morning light, with office frontages along the pavement
08.

Does my company need a statutory auditor, and above which thresholds?

Four figures decide it for an SARL, an SNC and an SCS, in Ordonnance Souveraine n° 993 of 16 February 2007, Art. 3. A SAM or an SCA is on another rule and has auditors from its constitutive meeting: Company in Monaco: The SAM (Societe Anonyme Monegasque) sets out that form.

The companyWhen an auditor is compulsoryTermAct and article
SARLcapital above EUR 150,000, or two of three passed for two consecutive years: balance-sheet total above EUR 1,500,000, turnover excluding tax above EUR 2,500,000, more than 20 employeesrenewable term of three financial years, appointed by the ordinary general meetingO.S. n° 993, Art. 3
SNC and SCSthe same four figuresthe sameO.S. n° 993, Art. 3
SAM and SCAalways, one or two auditors with a general and permanent duty of supervision, removable only for serious faultthree consecutive financial years; the first appointed at the constitutive meetingLoi n° 408, Arts. 8 and 9; Loi n° 1.573, Art. 17
Below the thresholdsoptional: the partners may appoint one, and Loi n° 408 then governs himas decidedCode de commerce, Art. 51-8

Independence sits in the same statute: no act of management, "même en vertu de procuration", no board seat for five years after the mandate, no relative to the fourth degree or spouse of a director, nobody paid by the company for other functions in the last three years (Loi n° 408, Arts. 11, 30 and 31).

09.

What is the visa on the manager's yearly attestation, and what happens without it?

Most Monegasque companies never reach the thresholds, and a member of the Order still enters their year. Where no auditor is in office, the gérant's yearly attestation "doit être visée par un membre de l'Ordre des experts-comptables et comptables agréés" (Code de commerce, Art. 51-9), and under Art. 5 of O.S. n° 993 that member expresses his view on "la vraisemblance et la cohérence" of what the manager states.

Skipping it is an offence, not a filing error: a manager who does not have the auditor appointed, the attestation countersigned, or who withholds documents from either, faces two years' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 18,000 to 90,000, or one of the two penalties only (Art. 51-12, with Code pénal, Art. 26 chiffre 4). No period is published for obtaining a visa: the governing date is the filing date below.

10.

The accounting year of a Monaco company, from the first book to the last filing

Bookkeeping starts before any accountant is appointed: two books, initialled once a year, kept ten years (Code de commerce, Arts. 10 to 13). Ten, not five. The meeting that approves the accounts and the filing that follows are two deadlines, six months and then three, and merging them is the commonest error in English guides here. What is filed stays closed: the accounting documents "ne peuvent être ni consultés ni communiqués", a point the Monaco business registry returns to.

WhenWhat must happenWho signsAct and article
ContinuouslyLivre-journal and inventory book kept, initialled and stamped once a year free of charge by a judge or the Mayor, retained ten yearsthe traderCode de commerce, Arts. 10 to 13
At the year endInventory, balance sheet, profit and loss account and management report drawn up in the statutory formatthe gérant or the boardCode de commerce, Art. 51-6; O.S. n° 3.167, Arts. 1 and 2
Within three months of the year endThe profits-tax return and payment, before 1 April where the financial year is the calendar year, with certified copies of the accounts and the minutes; instalments in February, May, August and November, each one fifth of the tax. corporate tax in Monaco carries the tax itselfthe companythe Government's ISB page, updated 30 July 2026
Within six months of the year endThe meeting that approves the accounts is convened and heldthe gérant or the boardCode de commerce, Art. 51-6
Within three months of that meetingFiling at the RCI: balance sheet, profit and loss account and the gérant's signed attestation, countersigned by a member of the Order where there is no auditor; for a SAM or SCA, the auditors' attestation and report, the statute addressing it to the Minister of Statethe gérant; the auditorsO.S. n° 993, Art. 4; Code de commerce, Art. 51-9; Loi n° 408, Art. 35
Once filedThe accounting documents are not public and may be neither consulted nor communicatedthe RCI servicethe Government's filing page, updated 31 August 2026
Nine months after the year endFormal notice to file within fifteen days, with an extension of at most three months on requestthe RCI serviceCode de commerce, Art. 51-7
Figure From the year end to the commission
  1. 01

    the two books kept continuously, initialled once a year, retained ten years (Code de commerce Arts. 10 to 13)

  2. 02

    the year end documents in the statutory format of O.S. n° 3.167

    O.S. n° 3.167

  3. 03

    three months, the profits-tax return with four instalments

  4. 04

    six months, the meeting that approves the accounts

    Art. 51-6

  5. 05

    three months after the meeting, the filing at the RCI with the visa or the auditors' attestation

    O.S. n° 993

  6. 06

    once filed, the accounts are not public

  7. 07

    nine months, formal notice, fifteen days, extension of at most three months

    Art. 51-7

  8. 08

    an expert from the Order, three months, at the company's cost

  9. 09

    the Minister of State and the commission of Loi n° 1.144 Art. 10. Footer line: no period is published for obtaining a visa itself

    Loi n° 1.144

Figure 2. The statutory year in order, and the failure path that opens at nine months

A company that pays profits tax approves its accounts well inside the six months, since the return and the minutes fall due within three months of the year end: a consequence of two texts, not a deadline of its own.

11.

What happens to a company's business authorisation if the accounts are never filed

1. Nine months after the year end. The RCI service may serve formal notice to file within fifteen days, with an extension of at most three months (Code de commerce, Art. 51-7).

2. An expert from the Order, at the company's cost. The service may appoint a member to report within three months, his fee fixed by the Minister of State.

3. The Minister of State decides. He may order compliance within three months, have an ad hoc agent appointed to file the documents, or refer the case onward.

4. The commission of Loi n° 1.144, Art. 10. It advises before an authorisation is suspended: the Finance Counsellor in the chair, the Procureur général, the Directors of Tax Services and of Economic Development and the President of the Order, excluding the company's own accountant or auditor (O.S. n° 993, Art. 6).

5. The same road for a SAM. Loi n° 408, Arts. 38 and 39, run an equivalent sequence, and a SAM's auditors attest each year whether the activity conforms to the authorised one.

Accounting and the autorisation d'exercer (business authorisation) are one thread, and nothing is published about how often any stage is reached.

12.

What a failure costs: the penalty ladder

Four breaches carry four penalties from four articles, and quotations move them around. Each line keeps its own.

The breachThe penaltyAct and articleWho it reaches
Yearly documents not drawn up, not put to the meeting or not filedEUR 600 to 1,000; EUR 1,000 to 2,250 on a repeatCode de commerce, Art. 51-13, with Code pénal, Arts. 29 chiffre 4 and 26 chiffre 1the gérant or the board
No auditor appointed, no visa obtained, or documents withheld from eithertwo years' imprisonment and EUR 18,000 to 90,000, or one of the two penalties onlyCode de commerce, Art. 51-12, with Code pénal, Art. 26 chiffre 4the manager
Practising either profession, or using either title, without the authorisationthree months to one year and EUR 2,250 to 9,000, the maximum raisable fivefold (EUR 45,000 by arithmetic on the statute, which quotes no figure)Loi n° 1.231, Art. 32, with Code pénal, Art. 26 chiffre 2the person, and a company that benefited may be held jointly liable for the fine
A repeat of that offencesix months to two years and EUR 18,000 to 90,000, the maximum raisable tenfold (EUR 900,000 by the same arithmetic)Loi n° 1.231, Art. 32, with Code pénal, Art. 26 chiffre 4the person
Professional disciplinewarning, reprimand, suspension of the authorisation for at most five years, withdrawal; the two heaviest by ministerial decree, with one month to appealLoi n° 1.231, Arts. 25 to 27the member
Anti-money-laundering breach, after the Council's opinionat most EUR 1,000,000, or 10% of annual turnover, or twice the advantage obtained, whichever is highestLoi n° 1.231, Art. 26-1 7°the member

Which of these obligations will your Monaco company carry in its first year?

Tell us what the company will do and how it will be owned, and we will map the file, the registrations and the dates that follow from them.

Get a formation plan
14.

How do I check that an accountant in Monaco is registered?

Three official routes answer the question, and a search engine answers none: the first result is often a licence page from another country. Advertising is forbidden, so the answer is a register, not a list.

15.

Who may advise on tax in Monaco, and is that the same person as the accountant?

Two statutes and two authorisations govern the two jobs: accounts and audit under Loi n° 1.231, and advice or assistance in legal, tax, financial or stock-exchange matters for a fee under Loi n° 1.144 of 26 July 1991, Art. 8, which binds Monegasque nationals too. An expert-comptable may advise on legal and tax matters only "accessoirement" (Art. 2). Both are anti-money-laundering obliged entities, auditors and tax advisers under Art. 1er 12° of Loi n° 1.362 of 3 August 2009 and the professionals of Loi n° 1.231 under 20°, which is why identification documents are asked for first.

Whether a non-member may prepare and file a client's returns for a fee turns on Art. 8, and this page does not answer it. What we may lawfully prepare is the registration: tax registration in Monaco covers it, and VAT in Monaco carries the rates and ceilings left out here.

16.

Can my accountant in France, the United Kingdom or elsewhere do the work?

Art. 31 opens a narrow door. A foreign accountant or firm may carry out professional missions in Monaco only with the prior agreement of the Council, must meet the conditions of Art. 5, 2° to 4°, and may act only for persons "dépendant de personnes établies à l'étranger" for whom he already performs the same missions abroad. A group's own accountant may therefore work on its Monegasque subsidiary; he may never be its statutory auditor (Art. 6; Loi n° 408, Arts. 1, 10 and 14), and he waits an unpublished time for the agreement. Entry to the profession itself runs on Art. 5 (nationality or serious ties plus domicile, civil rights, professional morality, the diploma) and Art. 9 (a three-year traineeship for a comptable agréé).

17.

What do accountants charge in Monaco, and is there an official scale?

No scale exists for accountancy work. Fees are "convenus librement avec leurs clients", agreed freely under the code of professional ethics, and a member may take no other remuneration, even indirect (Loi n° 1.231, Art. 14). The Order adds that its Professional Practice Standard 17 requires fees commensurate with the services rendered.

One fee is governed differently: an auditor's remuneration is fixed each year by the meeting that approves the accounts, following a tariff approved by ministerial order, reducible only "pour des motifs exceptionnels" (Loi n° 408, Art. 28). We print no amount, because that tariff was never located in any official source we read, and the one fee range published by a page ranking on these searches carries no source either.

18.

Why the Monegasque market looks thin: a cap, an advertising ban and a rule on firms

Four structural facts explain why that search returns directories, job boards and firms from other countries.

19.

Why your accountant can never be your local director, hold your money or lend his name

Art. 13 of Loi n° 1.231 closes a door the offshore market keeps opening. A member holds no salaried post save in a firm recognised by the Order, does no act of commerce, accepts no mandate "de recevoir, conserver ou délivrer des fonds ou valeurs ou de donner quittance", acts as no business agent and keeps no accounts for a business in which he holds substantial interests; his employees are bound too. An auditor performs no act of management even under a power of attorney (Loi n° 408, Art. 11). So the accountant who signs as manager, receives the money or lends his name has no lawful version here. Company in Monaco: Nominee Directors in Monaco sets out what the law does to a lent name.

20.

Which accounting standards and formats apply to a Monegasque company?

Formats, rather than standards, are what the Monegasque texts publish. Ordonnance Souveraine n° 3.167 of 29 January 1946 fixes the formule type (statutory model) of the balance sheet in Annexe I and of the profit and loss account in Annexe II, excludes banks and financial establishments, and sets up a commission du bilan-type for questions of doctrine. An SARL draws its yearly documents "selon les dispositions légalement applicables aux sociétés anonymes et en commandite par actions" (Code de commerce, Art. 51-6). Above them sit the Order's normes professionnelles (professional standards), set by arrêté ministériel n° 2020-621 of 15 September 2020, named here and not opened. No chart of accounts and no rule on international standards appears in any text we read.

21.

Which questions need a different professional, and what we do not do

An expert-comptable advises on legal and tax matters only accessorily (Art. 2), so a succession question, a licence application or a matter heading for court belongs elsewhere, inheritance tax in Monaco among them. We prepare and steer files: the authorisation dossier, the formation, premises inside the authorised formulas, the registrations and the filings that follow. We do not keep books, draw up annual accounts, audit, run payroll or advise on tax, and we take neither protected title for ourselves or our team.

From our practice. In a Monegasque company's first year three questions arrive, in this order: whether an auditor or a visa applies, what format the two statements take, and which date the filing runs from once the meeting has been held. The first two are settled before the year end; the third nobody can move.

PRICING: ON_REQUEST
22.

Sources

Statutes, codes and ordinances first, then the authorities and the professional body, each with the date it was read. Every government link is the French original.

Modern office buildings in daylight
23.

Next step: registering the company for tax and VAT in Monaco

24. Questions founders ask

Answered with the article

+ Who is allowed to keep a Monegasque company's books and sign off its accounts?

An expert-comptable or a comptable agréé holding a ministerial authorisation and entered on the Order's roll, practising as an independent profession (Loi n° 1.231, Arts. 1, 2 and 3). Only an expert-comptable may certify the statements or hold an auditor's mandate (Art. 6). The Order calls its members the only ones authorised "on an external basis".

+ Does an accountant have to be registered in Monaco, and how do I check that one is?

Yes. Both the practice and the two titles need an authorisation delivered by arrêté ministériel (Art. 1). Three routes check it: the roll published in the Journal de Monaco at the start of each year (Art. 20), the Order's own list of members, and the State's directory of the profession. No ranking of members exists, because advertising is forbidden.

+ What is the difference between an expert-comptable and a comptable agréé?

An expert-comptable organises, keeps, closes, reviews, appraises and corrects the accounts and may attest and certify the financial statements (Art. 2). A comptable agréé organises, keeps and closes them and attests only for the establishments whose accounts he closes (Art. 3), with no review, no certification and no auditor mandate. Neither title has an official English name.

+ Can my accountant in France, the United Kingdom or elsewhere do the accounts of my Monegasque company?

Only with the prior agreement of the Council of the Order, on the conditions of Art. 5, 2° to 4°, and only for persons dependent on the foreign group he already serves abroad (Art. 31). He may never be the Monegasque company's statutory auditor (Art. 6; Loi n° 408, Arts. 1, 10 and 14). No decision period is published.

+ Is bookkeeping compulsory in Monaco, and which books must a company keep?

Yes. Every trader keeps a livre-journal (day book) and a yearly inventory book, initialled and stamped once a year by a judge of the tribunal de première instance or by the Mayor, free of charge, and retains them ten years (Code de commerce, Arts. 10 to 13). The yearly documents follow the statutory format of O.S. n° 3.167.

+ Does my SARL need a statutory auditor, and above which thresholds?

Above a capital of EUR 150,000, or where two of three are passed for two consecutive years: a balance-sheet total above EUR 1,500,000, turnover excluding tax above EUR 2,500,000, or more than 20 employees (O.S. n° 993, Art. 3, which covers the SNC and the SCS too). Below them the partners may still appoint one (Code de commerce, Art. 51-8).

+ Does every SAM need auditors, and when are the first ones appointed?

Yes. A SAM or SCA has one or two auditors with a general and permanent duty of supervision, taken from the roll and appointed for three consecutive financial years (Loi n° 408, Arts. 8, 9 and 10). The first are appointed by the constitutive meeting together with the first administrators, and the statutory auditor may not be the contribution auditor (Loi n° 1.573, Art. 17).

+ What is the visa on the manager's yearly attestation, and what happens without it?

Where no auditor is in office, the gérant's attestation must be countersigned by a member of the Order, who gives his view on the plausibility and the consistency of what the gérant states (Code de commerce, Art. 51-9; O.S. n° 993, Art. 5). Doing without it, or withholding documents, carries two years' imprisonment and EUR 18,000 to 90,000 (Art. 51-12).

+ Who may advise on tax in Monaco, and is that the same person as the accountant?

Two statutes and two authorisations. Accounts and audit sit under Loi n° 1.231; advice or assistance in tax matters for a fee needs its own authorisation under Loi n° 1.144, Art. 8, Monegasque nationals included. An expert-comptable may advise on tax only "accessoirement" (Art. 2). Both professions are anti-money-laundering obliged entities (Loi n° 1.362, Art. 1er).

+ When must the annual accounts be approved and filed, and are they public?

The meeting that approves them is held within six months of the financial year end (Code de commerce, Art. 51-6), and the filing at the RCI follows within three months of that meeting (O.S. n° 993, Art. 4). The filed accounting documents are not public: they may be neither consulted nor communicated.

+ What happens to a company's business authorisation if the accounts are never filed?

Nine months after the year end the RCI service may require filing within fifteen days, with an extension of at most three months; a member of the Order may then report on the company at its own cost; the Minister of State may order compliance, appoint an ad hoc agent or refer the case to the commission of Loi n° 1.144, Art. 10, on which the President of the Order sits.

+ What do accountants charge in Monaco, and is there an official scale?

No scale exists: fees are agreed freely under the code of professional ethics and exclude any other remuneration, even indirect (Loi n° 1.231, Art. 14). An auditor's remuneration follows a tariff approved by ministerial order (Loi n° 408, Art. 28) whose amounts we could not locate, and the one range published on these search results carries no source.

+ How many accountants and accountancy firms are there in Monaco, and is the number capped?

The maximum number in each profession is capped by sovereign ordinance after the Council's opinion (Loi n° 1.231, Art. 4), and the figure in force is not published here. The State's directory listed 55 entries when we read it on 6 September 2026: three comptables agréés, 37 experts-comptables and 15 accountancy companies, including the Monegasque companies of four international networks.

+ Can an accountant be my company's manager, hold its money or lend his name?

No. Art. 13 bars a salaried post outside a firm recognised by the Order, any act of commerce, any mandate to receive, hold or hand over funds or securities or to give receipts, a business-agent role and accounts for a business in which he holds substantial interests. An auditor performs no act of management, even under a power of attorney.

+ Which accounting standards and formats apply to a Monegasque company?

The balance sheet and the profit and loss account follow the formule type of O.S. n° 3.167, Annexes I and II, banks and financial establishments excluded, and an SARL follows the rules applicable to joint-stock companies (Code de commerce, Art. 51-6). The Order's professional standards are set by arrêté ministériel n° 2020-621, named here and not opened. No chart of accounts and no international-standards rule appears in the texts we read. ---

Start your Monaco file

Tell us the activity, where it will be carried on and who will run it. One of us reads it and comes back with the questions the authorisation file will ask. Our fees are on request.