Book-Keeping

Article 2195 considers someone as a commercial business owner if they are operating:

• An industrial activity producing goods or offering services
• An intermediary activity involving the distribution of goods
• A transport company operating by land, sea or air
• A banking or insurance company
• Other related sectors.

When operating one of the above-mentioned activities, an entrepreneur is considered to be a commercial business owner regardless of whether he is a sole trader or a collective undertaking.

Commercial business owners must keep the general ledger and the inventory book as well as keeping well-organized records of all correspondence (letters, telegrams and invoices sent and received).

Article 2214 of the Italian Civil Code applies to both sole traders and collective undertakings and they are obliged to register with the Business Register (Registro delle Imprese).

In practice this applies to:

• Sole traders (not small)
• Unlimited partnerships (S.n.c.)
• Limited partnerships (S.a.s.)
• Limited responsibility companies (S.a.p.a. and S.r.l.)
• Joint stock companies (S.p.a.)
• Consortium companies and limited liability consortium companies
• Cooperatives
• European economic interest groupings (EEIGs)
• Special businesses.

As stated by the law, limited responsibility companies and joint stock companies must also keep statutory registers (libri sociali).

Business owners can delegate the responsibility and administration of the requirements of the civil code and tax laws to Studio Bocca.