What Files Do I Need to Prepare Financial Statements in Luca?

Required documents

To generate complete and accurate financial statements, Luca requires the following documents:

1. Prior Year Opening Trial Balance — This should be the trial balance as at the beginning of the comparative year.

2. Prior Year General Ledger — The full-year general ledger (summary or detail) for the comparative year.

3. Current Year General Ledger — The full-year general ledger (summary or detail) for the reporting year.

Example: If you are preparing financial statements for the financial year ended 31 December 2024:

• Prior Year Opening Trial Balance: as at 31 December 2022
• Prior Year General Ledger: from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023
• Current Year General Ledger: from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024

Why these are needed

These documents provide the full data required for proper disclosures in your financial statements, including:

• Movement schedules (e.g. cash flow statement, property, plant and equipment)
• Comparative numbers
• Supporting notes and breakdowns

Luca uses this information to automatically generate the necessary disclosures.

For example, the ending balance of a balance sheet account in the current year is derived by summing the prior year opening trial balance, the prior year general ledger, and the current year general ledger.

Where to find the relevant dates for the documents required

You can find the relevant dates for each document on the Document Upload screen in Luca. The system will show the expected date range for each file based on your selected financial year. Look for the red circled section — it will guide you on the relevant dates for the files to be uploaded.

This ensures you upload the correct documents for accurate reporting.

FAQ: What if the reporting entity is newly incorporated?

• First-year company: Only the current year general ledger or trial balance is required.
• Second-year company: Current and prior year general ledgers are required.
• Third year and beyond: All three files are required — Prior Year Opening Trial Balance, Prior Year General Ledger, and Current Year General Ledger.