How to choose the accounting framework and the entity category

What is it for?

The accounting framework (referencial contabilístico) is the set of standards the company follows: SNC (general regime), SNC-PE (small entities), SNC-ME (micro-entities), SNC-ESNL (non-profit entities) or IFRS / IAS. It decides the model of the balance sheet and the income statement and the set of taxonomies of the accounts in the SAF-T. Without a framework, the balance sheet and the income statement are not shown.

The entity category (micro, small, medium or large) is calculated from the figures of each fiscal year and lets fiscaldoo suggest the framework. The choice is always made by whoever configures the company.

Choosing the framework or recording the figures creates no journal entries.

When to use it?

• When you configure a new company, before producing the first balance sheet. If it is a micro-entity, read the warning in “Before you start” first.
• When the company changes category (for example, it stops being a small entity in two consecutive fiscal years) and the certified accountant decides to change framework. Moving to SNC-ME carries the same warning.

Where to find it?

• Accounting › Configure › Set up the company (in the General group), step 2. Accounting framework: the year's figures, the Company size category, the Suggested framework and the Accounting framework. You do not need developer mode.
• Settings › Users & Companies › Companies, the company, PT Localization tab, REFERENCIAL CONTABILÍSTICO E INVENTÁRIO group (accounting framework and inventory): the result (Accounting referential, Company size category, Suggested referential and SAF-T taxonomy reference) and the Change the accounting referential button, which only changes the framework.

Before you start

• You do these steps with the administrator profile (tested with that profile up to the last step). In the demo, the Certified Accountant / Fiscal Manager profile does not have Set up the company in the Configure menu, and neither it nor the Accountant has the Settings app.
• The certified accountant has decided the framework. Pending validation by a certified accountant: which framework the company should follow with the calculated category, and from which fiscal year the change applies (DL 158/2009, art. 9 and 9-A).
• You have the figures of the last closed fiscal year: Turnover of the year, Balance sheet total and Average number of employees.
• In the example, Empresa Teste Portugal (COMMUNITY), with journal entries in 2025 and 2026 and still without a framework: the balance sheet said “The accounting framework of "Empresa Teste Portugal (COMMUNITY)" is not set…”. 2025 figures: €3,000,000.00 turnover, €1,500,000.00 balance sheet total and 20 employees.

When moving to SNC-ME, some accounts are left to be chosen

With SNC-ME (microentities), fiscaldoo gives each account its line of Annex III. An account that can go to more than one line is left to be chosen, because that decision is an accounting one: until it is made, the statement says which accounts they are (see “Common problems”). This also applies to a new company, because the chart of accounts fiscaldoo installs is always the SNC. Ticking the Microentity box on the company record, leaving the Accounting framework empty for a micro-entity (the assistant uses the Suggested framework) or changing the Accounting referential on the record has the same effect as the Change the accounting referential button.

How to use it

1. Choose the company in the top right corner and open Accounting › Configure › Set up the company. In step 1. Identification, check the company details and click Next. The assistant warns that clicking Next does not turn on the Copilot: it stays off for this company, and the assistant works without it. In the example, the Starting point was left at New company, the option ticked by default.
2. In step 2. Accounting framework, under 2. COMO A EMPRESA FAZ A CONTABILIDADE (how the company keeps its accounts), type the Year of the figures (2025), the Turnover of the year (3000000), the Balance sheet total (1500000) and the Average number of employees (20). If the company is an association or foundation, also choose the Legal form. The Company size category and the Suggested framework fill in on their own: in the example, Small entity and SNC-PE (small entities). The table PORQUE É QUE O ASSISTENTE PROPÕE ISTO (why the assistant proposes this) explains: “With the figures of 2025 the company is a “Small entity”: a company is in a category when it does not exceed two of the three limits of that category (turnover limit read here: €8,000,000.00). The framework is only a suggestion; you choose.”
3. In Accounting framework, choose the framework: SNC (general regime), SNC-PE (small entities), SNC-ME (microentities), SNC-ESNL (non-profit entities), IFRS / IAS or Other. If you leave it empty, the assistant uses the Suggested framework. If the suggested one is SNC-ME (microentities), do not leave the field empty and do not choose SNC-ME: stop here and talk to support (warning in “Before you start”). Check Fiscal year ends in and Day the fiscal year ends (in the example, December and 31).
4. Click Go to the summary. Under O QUE VAI SER CRIADO E ALTERADO (what will be created and changed), the line Accounting framework and fiscal year shows the before and after (in the example, “Referencial contabilístico: -” and “Referencial contabilístico: SNC-PE (pequenas entidades)”). The summary also has the lines of the other steps, with the answers the assistant proposed. In the example: the 2025 category figures, the VAT periodicity (Monthly), draft journals and invoicing series, training mode, payment reminders, customer and supplier payment terms and the company size. The Suggestion (not applied) lines are not applied. If a line does not suit you, click Back to its step and change the answer.
5. Click Apply what the summary shows and, in the Confirmation window (“Apply the changes of the summary? Nothing is validated, numbered or sent to the AT.”), Confirm. The assistant moves to 15. Final check, with the list O QUE FOI FEITO (what was done) and the result Done on each line.
6. Open Accounting › Review › Balance sheet. The title becomes that of the framework (in the example, Balanço (SNC-PE, modelo reduzido)). The first time, this also appears: “The lines of this statement had never been generated for the company Empresa Teste Portugal (COMMUNITY), so they were generated now from the AT taxonomy table (version AT-SVAT-2021-01, 29 lines). You do not need to do anything; to redo them later, search for “Accounting › Configure › Plan and legal rules › Generate statement lines” in the menu search. (To see it, turn on developer mode.)”

Expected result

• On the company record (PT Localization tab), the Accounting referential is the one chosen, the Company size category is the calculated one and the SAF-T taxonomy reference is that of the framework. In the example, SNC-PE, Small entity and S - SNC base.
• Further down, the same record shows Microentity (unticked: it is only ticked with SNC-ME), Proposed classification and Classification of the entity (confirmed). The Proposed classification may show another category, because it is calculated differently: it applies the same limits to the company's journal entries in the two previous fiscal years (closed or not) and to the number of employees, not to the figures you typed in step 2. The Company size category comes from those figures or, if the Fiscal officer set it by hand, from the one they chose (see “Important notes”). In the example, the Proposed classification says Microentity, because the test company has few entries in 2025 (€3,200.00 of sales), and the Classification of the entity (confirmed) is empty. The framework follows the Company size category. The proposed and confirmed classifications are used to propose the permanent inventory obligation.
• The balance sheet and the income statement open in the framework's model. In the example, Balanço (SNC-PE, modelo reduzido) and Demonstração de Resultados por Naturezas (SNC-PE, modelo reduzido).
• No journal entry was created: the example company had 43 entries before and after. The rest of what the summary listed was created (in the example, the FRA, FTA and NCA journals, the draft series, which still have to be activated with the AT code, and the training journal and series).

Important notes

• The suggestion does not decide. The Suggested framework is just that: the framework only changes when you apply the summary (or with Change the accounting referential). With figures for two fiscal years, the category only changes when two consecutive years call for it. In the demo, with another company's 2024 and 2025 figures, the product said in 2025: “The previous category is kept: a change needs two consecutive years (DL 158/2009, art. 9.º-A).”
• The limits depend on the year of the figures. With the 2025 figures, the assistant uses the limits of DL 158/2009 as worded by DL 98/2015 (the table says “exercícios de 2016 a 2025”, fiscal years 2016 to 2025). For fiscal years 2026 onwards, the product uses the limits of DL 126-B/2025. In the Company size category menu (the Administrator sees it without developer mode), the Limits in force since field shows the start of the fiscal year of the figures (for example 01/01/2025), not the date those limits came into force. Pending validation by a certified accountant: which limits apply to the figures of each fiscal year (DL 98/2015 and DL 126-B/2025).
• The category can be set by hand. In the Company size category menu there is the Category set by the fiscal manager field, which overrides the calculated category. Use it only on the certified accountant's decision. Pending validation by a certified accountant: in which cases the category set by hand overrides the calculated one.
• The assistant applies everything the summary shows. To change only the framework of a company already configured, the administrator has the Change the accounting referential button on the company record, which asks for the Reason. The window warns that “the taxonomy of the company's accounts is recalculated (your manual choices are kept)”.
• The balance sheet variant does not replace the framework. The balance sheet's Variant list lets you see the other models, but they only serve a company that follows that framework (see How to get the balance sheet).

Common problems

“The accounting framework of … is not set…”

• Symptom: in the balance sheet or the income statement: “The accounting framework of "Empresa Teste Portugal (COMMUNITY)" is not set, so this statement cannot be shown: without it the Balance sheet and the Income statement would come out empty or unbalanced. Nothing was calculated or exported. Ask the fiscal officer or the system administrator to choose it in Settings › Users & Companies › Companies › "Empresa Teste Portugal (COMMUNITY)" › PT Localization tab › Accounting referential (SNC, SNC-PE or SNC-ME) and open the statement again.”
• What to do: choose the framework with the assistant (steps 1 to 5).

“The entity category is not known…”

• Symptom: on the company record and in the Change the accounting referential window, “The entity category is not known: record the indicators in the “Company size category” menu. Until then the framework is chosen by hand, without a suggestion.”
• What to do: type the figures in step 2 of the assistant (steps 1 and 2). The Administrator sees the menu the message mentions without developer mode; the Certified accountant only with it; the Accountant and the Auditor do not see it.

“… cannot be generated yet: 32 account(s) have no taxonomy…” after moving to SNC-ME

• Symptom: in the income statement: “The lines of this statement are not generated for the company Empresa Teste Portugal and automatic generation did not work: The financial statements of "Empresa Teste Portugal" cannot be generated yet: 32 account(s) have no taxonomy, the code that places an account in the Balance sheet and in the Income statement (2691 Acionistas c/ subscrição, 26961 Empréstimos concedidos - empresa-mãe (CORRENTE), […] and 17 more). Open each of these accounts in the chart of accounts, choose its taxonomy, and open the statement again.”. Below, the statement shows zero.
• Cause: the company had the SNC chart and moved to SNC-ME, and these accounts can go to more than one line of Annex III.
• What to do: with the certified accountant, open each account in the list in the chart of accounts and, in the Portugal tab, choose the Taxonomy: the Suggestions table below shows the ones that fit that account. In the field, type part of the description (for example, Quotas não liberadas), because the code (M63) cannot be found, and choose one starting with M. One starting with S is refused: “Taxonomy "S1 - Caixa" belongs to Taxonomy S, but company … uses Taxonomy M. Pick a taxonomy of the company's reference.” With the accounts dealt with, open the statement again: the lines are generated and the amounts appear. See How to assign the SNC taxonomies to accounts.

“Balance sheet control at …: Assets (…) are not equal to Equity plus Liabilities…”

• Symptom: the balance sheet opens, but with Not balanced and this message. In the example, after applying the summary: “Balance sheet control at 31/12/2026: Assets (30.564,60) are not equal to Equity plus Liabilities (27.364,60); the difference is 3.200,00. Nothing was adjusted. …”, followed by “1 account(s) with a balance have no line in the Balance sheet and stay outside its totals, so Assets may differ from Equity plus Liabilities (sum of those balances: -3.200,00): 711 (-3.200,00). …”.
• Verified cause: accounts with a balance that the balance sheet does not put in any line. In the example, the test company's 2025 sales (€3,200.00 on account 711) were never closed in that fiscal year's year-end closing. The change of framework did not create the difference: it revealed it.
• What to do: review the accounts the message lists with the certified accountant. An account without a taxonomy is corrected as in How to assign the SNC taxonomies to accounts; a previous fiscal year not yet closed is corrected in that year's closing.