Observatory › Business and companies › The new OIC 5: the criteria for liquidation accounts

The new OIC 5: the criteria for liquidation accounts

The accounting standard on liquidation accounts redefines both the measurement criteria and the disclosures. Practical consequences for companies being wound up and for their liquidators.

Accounting standard OIC 5 governs the preparation of accounts during liquidation, when the going concern perspective gives way to one of realisation and settlement of the company’s relationships. The final version, issued by the OIC on 16 July 2026, applies to accounts for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027 and may be adopted early for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2026. The effects of initial application are recognised retrospectively under OIC 29. Companies that were applying the previous version may continue to apply it until the liquidation is completed.

From going concern to liquidation

Liquidation accounts are no longer forward-looking: they report on the progress of the liquidation. Where the business is not carried on during liquidation, intangible and tangible assets, equity investments and debt securities are measured at the lower of their net book value at the start of liquidation and their realisable value in liquidation, and are not depreciated or amortised. Inventories are measured at the lower of cost and realisable value, receivables at their expected realisable amount and payables at their expected settlement amount. A value above book value is permitted only where the sale is considered certain (paras 86-88). The provision for liquidation costs and charges is no longer recognised: the costs of carrying out the liquidation are recognised as incurred, while contracts whose costs are neither necessary nor functional to the liquidation give rise to a provision as onerous contracts; other provisions for risks and charges continue to be measured under OIC 31 (paras 71-76).

What the officers must do

The liquidation opens with the rendiconto degli amministratori (Article 2487-bis(3) of the Italian Civil Code), the accounts prepared by the directors on a going concern basis for the period before liquidation begins. It is followed by the first liquidation accounts, the annual liquidation accounts (Article 2490 of the Civil Code) and the final accounts (Article 2492 of the Civil Code). The first liquidation accounts cover the whole financial year and, in the notes to the accounts (nota integrativa), distinguish the result of the directors’ management from that of the liquidators’ management. Differences arising from the change in measurement criteria are recognised in a reserve headed ‘Rettifiche di liquidazione’ (liquidation adjustments). The liquidators’ report describes the progress of the liquidation, its prospects, including the expected timing, and the criteria applied in realising the assets. The notes give the reasons for the measurement criteria adopted and for the changes from the last approved accounts and, under the new OIC 5, set out the expected pattern of cash receipts and payments.

For tax purposes, Article 182 of the Consolidated Income Taxes Act (TUIR) continues to apply; with effect from 1 January 2027 the corresponding provision, with substantially the same content, is Article 180 of Legislative Decree No. 117/2026. For corporations, taxable income for each intermediate financial year is determined on the basis of the corresponding accounts, net of losses brought forward, and, if the liquidation is completed within five financial years including the first, the company may redetermine it by setting off the residual losses (Article 182(3) TUIR). In the absence of administrative guidance (prassi), the tax treatment of the ‘Rettifiche di liquidazione’ reserve remains an open question.

• Accounting standard OIC 5 ‘Bilanci di liquidazione’ (Liquidation accounts), July 2026 version.
• Articles 2484 et seq., 2487-bis, 2490 and 2492 of the Italian Civil Code.
• Article 182 of Presidential Decree No. 917/1986 (TUIR); with effect from 1 January 2027, Article 180 of Legislative Decree No. 117/2026.