SIE4 Due Diligence Checklist: 7 Checks Before You Sign
Getting the SIE4 file out of a Swedish target is the easy part. Almost every Swedish accounting system — Fortnox, Visma, Bokio, Björn Lundén and the rest — exports one in a few clicks. The harder part is knowing what to do with it before you rely on it. A file that does not cover the right periods, does not tie to the filed accounts, or mixes year-end adjustments into the monthly run-rate will give you a clean-looking databook built on the wrong numbers.
This is the checklist we run on every SIE4 file before a single number goes into a databook. If you want the background on what the SIE format is and why it matters, start with Reading a Swedish SIE file in diligence. This article assumes you already have the file and want to know what to test.
1. Confirm what the file actually covers
An SIE4 file is a tagged text file, and the first few lines tell you what you have been sent. Before anything else, read the header:
- #SIETYP should be 4. A type 1, 2 or 3 file has balances but no transactions, and cannot support voucher-level questions.
- #ORGNR and #FNAMN identify the legal entity. A group needs one file per company — there is no consolidated SIE file, so a missing subsidiary is easy to overlook.
- #RAR lists the fiscal years in the file (0 is the current year, -1 the prior year). Check the dates match the period in scope. Swedish companies often have non-calendar fiscal years, so do not assume January to December.
- #OMFATTN, where present, shows the date the balances run to. On a part-year export this tells you whether the latest month is complete.
- #PROGRAM and #GEN show which system produced the file and when. A file generated before the last month was closed will not match the management accounts.
- #KPTYP shows the chart of accounts, usually a version of BAS. Custom account plans need a mapping step before analysis.
Ten minutes on the header saves days later. The most common problem we see is a file that covers one fiscal year when the diligence period needs three, followed by a second data request a week into the engagement.
2. Prove the file is complete and internally consistent
SIE4 carries both balances and the transactions behind them, which means the file can be tested against itself. Three tests catch almost every export problem:
- Every voucher balances. The #TRANS lines under each #VER should sum to zero. A voucher that does not balance usually means a truncated or corrupted export.
- Opening balance plus movements equals closing balance. For every balance sheet account, #IB plus the sum of transactions in the year should equal #UB. Differences point to missing vouchers or entries posted outside the voucher trail.
- Years roll forward. The closing balance for year -1 should equal the opening balance for year 0, account by account. When it does not, the prior year was usually re-opened and adjusted after the next year began.
On the profit and loss side, the #RES results should equal the sum of transactions per account. If these tests pass, you have a complete ledger. If they fail, stop and ask why before building anything on top.
3. Tie it to the filed annual report and the tax account
Every Swedish limited company files an årsredovisning with Bolagsverket, and it is public. Reconcile net sales, operating result, net result and equity in the SIE file to the filed report for each closed year. Differences are normal — late audit adjustments that were never posted back into the ledger are the usual cause — but every one needs an explanation, because the buyer's lenders will read the filed accounts.
Two other reconciliations are worth doing early:
- The tax account. Swedish companies settle VAT, payroll taxes and corporate tax through a single tax account at Skatteverket, normally mirrored on account 1630 in the ledger. Compare it to the statement from Skatteverket. Unpaid balances here are debt-like and belong in net debt.
- VAT. The VAT settlement account (typically 2650) should clear each reporting period. A balance that grows over time can mean late filings or unresolved differences.
4. Read the voucher series and posting dates
Each voucher in SIE4 carries a series, a number, a transaction date and often a registration date. This is where the file becomes more useful than any Excel export, because it shows how the books were kept, not just the result.
- Posting after period-end. Compare the registration date to the transaction date. Large entries registered weeks after a month or year closed, but dated inside it, deserve a question.
- Manual journals near year-end. Most systems use separate series for supplier invoices, customer invoices, bank and manual entries. Filter the manual series for the last two weeks of each year and the first weeks of the next.
- Gaps in numbering. A missing voucher number is usually a deleted draft, but a pattern of gaps in one series is worth asking about.
None of these is a red flag on its own. Owner-managed Swedish companies often close their books with an outside accountant weeks after year-end. The point is to know which entries are operational and which are adjustments, before you calculate a run-rate.
5. Separate year-end entries from the run-rate
Many smaller Swedish companies post some accruals only at year-end. Holiday pay is the classic example: the accrued holiday liability (typically account 2920) and the related social security charges are often adjusted once a year rather than monthly. The effect is that monthly personnel costs look lower for eleven months and jump in the closing month.
For a buyer this matters twice:
- LTM EBITDA. A last-twelve-months figure that ends mid-year may carry only part of the true holiday pay cost. It needs a pro-forma accrual.
- The working capital peg. Monthly net working capital will swing at year-end for reasons that have nothing to do with trading. A peg set on unadjusted months will be wrong. Our Nordic working capital work starts by restating the monthly balances for these entries.
The same pattern shows up with bonuses, inventory counts and depreciation in some companies. The voucher trail from check 4 is how you find them.
6. Pull out untaxed reserves and appropriations
Swedish tax rules let companies defer tax through untaxed reserves, and they sit in the legal-entity accounts in a way international buyers often do not expect:
- Tax allocation reserves (periodiseringsfonder, usually accounts 2110–2129) let a company set aside part of its taxable profit and reverse it within six years.
- Accelerated depreciation (överavskrivningar, usually account 2150) records tax depreciation above the book amount.
- Movements in both run through appropriations (bokslutsdispositioner, the 88xx accounts), below operating profit.
Three things follow. First, make sure appropriations sit below EBITDA in the databook, not mixed into operating costs. Second, the reserves carry a deferred tax liability at the Swedish corporate tax rate, which the buyer should consider in the equity bridge. Third, if the target has reserves that must be reversed soon, taxable income in the forecast period will be higher than book profit suggests. How this interacts with K2 and K3 reporting is covered in K2 and K3 in due diligence.
7. Trace owner and related-party flows
In founder-owned Swedish businesses, the line between the owner and the company is often thinner than in a sponsor-backed target. The SIE4 file lets you see every entry, so search for them directly:
- Shareholder accounts — receivables from or liabilities to the owner. Swedish company law restricts loans to shareholders, so a receivable from the owner needs an explanation, not just a reclassification.
- Personal costs through the company — cars, travel, property and family salaries that a new owner will not continue. These are normalisation adjustments to EBITDA.
- Management fees and intra-group charges — recharges between the target and the owner's other companies, which may stop or change after completion.
If the target uses cost centres or projects, the #DIM and #OBJEKT records let you split results by segment, customer group or site from the same file — often faster than asking the seller for a segmental analysis. Our note on founder-led Swedish businesses covers the wider picture.
What to request alongside the SIE4 file
The SIE4 file does most of the work, but not all of it. For each legal entity in scope, ask for:
- SIE4 exports for every fiscal year in the diligence period, plus the current year to the latest closed month
- The filed årsredovisning for each closed year, and the audit report where there is one
- The Skatteverket tax account statement for the same period
- Bank statements at each year-end and the latest month-end
- Accounts receivable and accounts payable ageing at the same dates
- Confirmation of the reporting basis — K2, K3 or IFRS
Our due diligence data request checklist has the full list.
How long this takes
With the files in hand, the seven checks above take us about a day per legal entity, and they run in parallel with building the databook. That is why a first-cut databook on a Swedish target lands in 48 to 72 hours: the file does the reconstruction work that normally eats the first week. You can see what the output looks like in our sample FDD databook.
Frequently asked questions
What is an SIE4 file?
SIE4 is the Swedish standard export format for full accounting data. It contains the chart of accounts, opening and closing balances, and every voucher and transaction for each fiscal year in the file. Almost every Swedish accounting system can produce one.
Is an SIE4 file enough for financial due diligence?
It is enough to rebuild the ledger, the monthly profit and loss and the balance sheet. It is not enough on its own: you still need the filed annual reports, the tax account statement, ageing reports and management's explanations of adjustments.
What are the most common problems in SIE4 files?
The file covering the wrong fiscal years, prior years that were adjusted after the next year opened, year-end accruals that distort monthly results, and differences from the filed annual report caused by late audit adjustments.
Do I need one SIE4 file per company in a group?
Yes. SIE files are produced per legal entity. For a Swedish group, request one file per company for every year in scope, and do the consolidation and elimination work in the databook.
Swedish target on your desk? Send the data room index or the SIE4 file itself. We will run these checks and tell you what the first-cut databook will cover within 72 hours. Discuss a deal.