Company asset stocktaking in the Czech Republic: a step-by-step guide

3 November 2026, 8 min read

The year is ending and your accountant wants the inventory lists. There is an Excel sheet of laptops from last year. Half the team works from home. Nobody is sure who has which monitor or where the old projector went. This is how an asset stocktake often starts in a Czech company. Below is what the law says and how to run the count in practice.

What stocktaking is and who must do it

Through stocktaking (inventarizace), a company establishes the actual state of all its assets and liabilities. It then checks whether that matches the accounting records (Section 29(1) of the Accounting Act). The duty applies to accounting entities (Section 6(3)). Without a completed stocktake, the accounts are not considered verifiable (Section 8(4)).

Accounting entities are listed in Section 1(2) of the Act. They mainly include legal entities seated in the Czech Republic, such as s.r.o. and a.s. companies. They also include foreign entities doing business in Czechia if their home law treats them as accounting entities, entrepreneurs registered in the Commercial Register, and entrepreneurs whose turnover exceeded CZK 25 million in the previous calendar year.

Self-employed persons who keep tax records (daňová evidence) instead of full accounts are not governed by the Accounting Act. They must still establish the actual state of stock, tangible assets, receivables and debts as of the last day of the tax period and record it (Section 7b(4) of the Income Tax Act). Any differences adjust the tax base.

Periodic and continuous stocktaking

The default is periodic stocktaking. It is carried out as of the moment the company prepares its ordinary or extraordinary financial statements. For a company with a calendar financial year, that is 31 December.

The Act allows continuous stocktaking during the year for only two groups (Section 29(2)). One is stock recorded by type, storage location or materially responsible person. The other is movable tangible fixed assets that are constantly moving and have no fixed place. Each type must be counted at least once per accounting period.

A company must be able to prove the stocktake was done for 5 years (Section 29(3)). Inventory lists are kept for 5 years from the end of the period they relate to (Section 31(2)).

Physical vs. documentary inventory

The actual state is determined in two ways (Section 30(1)). A company may run one or more counts. It must always check that the result matches the accounts.

	Physical inventory	Documentary inventory
Used for	Assets whose existence can be verified visually	Liabilities and assets whose existence cannot be verified visually
Examples	Laptops, furniture, machinery, cars, stock, cash on hand	Receivables, payables, bank balances, software and licences, off-balance-sheet items
How it is done	Counting, measuring, weighing and similar methods; accounting records proving existence may also be used (Section 30(3))	Matching against documents such as bank statements, contracts, balance confirmations
Provision	Section 30(1)(a)	Section 30(1)(b)

Deadlines: when to start and finish

A periodic count may start no earlier than four months before the balance-sheet date (Section 30(6)(a)).
It must be completed no later than two months after the balance-sheet date (Section 30(6)(b)).
For a calendar year, that means from 1 September at the earliest to the end of February at the latest.
A company may set a cut-off date before the balance-sheet date. It then rolls the count forward using records of additions and disposals (Section 30(4)).

Required contents of the inventory list

The inventory list (inventurní soupis) is a verifiable accounting record. Under Section 30(7) it must contain:

The findings, in a way that identifies each asset and liability unambiguously. An asset tag or serial number helps.
The signature of the person responsible for the findings and of the person responsible for the count.
The method used to establish the actual state, for example physical or documentary.
The valuation of assets and liabilities as of the balance-sheet date, or also as of the cut-off date.
For continuous stocktaking, the valuation as of the day the count ended, or the cut-off date.
The moment as of which financial statements are prepared.
The cut-off date, if the company set one.
When the count started and when it ended.

Inventory differences: shortages and surpluses

An inventory difference is a gap between reality and the accounts that cannot be explained by records (Section 30(10)). If the actual state is lower, it is a shortage (manko). For cash and stamps or vouchers it is called a deficit (schodek). If the actual state is higher, it is a surplus (přebytek).

Differences must be booked in the period being verified (Section 30(11)). For tax purposes, shortages exceeding compensation are generally not tax-deductible. The Income Tax Act has exceptions, though (Section 25(1)(n) together with Section 24). Discuss the exact booking and tax impact with your accountant.

How to run an asset stocktake step by step

Detailed organisational rules are set by Decree No. 270/2010 Coll. It applies only to selected accounting entities, mainly the public sector. A regular company sets its own procedure, ideally in an internal directive. The steps below are good practice, not a statutory list.

Issue a stocktaking order. State the scope, dates, cut-off date and responsible people.
Appoint a stocktaking committee. It is not legally required for companies, but it helps split work and responsibility.
Prepare the inputs. Post all documents and export the current state from the accounts and asset register.
Establish the actual state. Count and locate physical items, verify the rest against documents. Also mark third-party assets you only use.
Draw up inventory lists with all required contents and signatures.
Compare the lists with the accounts and identify shortages and surpluses.
Settle the differences. Find the causes, and any employee responsibility, and book them in the right period.
File the documentation. You must be able to prove the stocktake for 5 years.

Common problems in practice

Items are at employees' homes. A laptop, monitor or chair used for remote work cannot simply be counted in the office.
Nobody knows who has what. Items move between colleagues without any record.
The Excel list is out of date. Someone created it once and then stopped updating it.
No unique identification. Ten identical laptops without asset tags cannot be matched to the list.
Employees leave. Items are not returned, or are returned without a record.

For home-office equipment, the Act allows a physical count to rely on accounting records that prove an asset exists (Section 30(3)). Assets without a fixed place may also fall under continuous stocktaking (Section 29(2)). Check with your accountant or auditor whether, for example, an employee's confirmation with the serial number is enough for such items.

A laptop costing up to CZK 80,000 is usually not tangible fixed assets for income tax purposes (Section 26 of the Income Tax Act). Companies then often keep it as a low-value asset in an operational register. How to count such items is best described in your internal directive.

Handover records and employee liability

Items entrusted to employees should have a written handover record. An employee must compensate the loss of tools and similar items received against written confirmation (Section 255(1) of the Labour Code). For an item worth over CZK 50,000, a written agreement on liability for the loss of entrusted items is required (Section 255(2)). Signed records also make the stocktake easier, because they show who has what. More in our article on handover records.

Speeding up the count: QR labels and a who-has-what register

Most of the time in a physical count goes into finding items and matching them to the list. It helps when every item has a QR label and sits in a single register. For each item, the register should show who has it, since when and where.

The committee scans the label with a phone and immediately sees whether the item matches the register.
Employees can confirm items they keep at home themselves. A responsible person then reviews the result.
Missing and surplus items show up at once, not after manual comparison.
An export then serves as input for the inventory list. Signatures and valuation must still meet Section 30(7).

This article is a general overview, not legal or accounting advice. It reflects Czech law as of 3 November 2026. Consult your accountant, tax adviser or auditor on the specific procedure, booking of differences and tax impact.

Sources

Want to know who has which company item without a spreadsheet? Svěřeno tracks entrusted assets and access, generates handover records and speeds up stocktaking with QR labels. Free for up to 10 employees, paid plans from CZK 690 per month.

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