Affärshändelse

Affärshändelse is a term used in Swedish accounting to denote any event that affects a company’s financial position and can be measured in monetary terms. It is the fundamental unit of bookkeeping, since every affärshändelse is recorded as a journal entry and posted to the ledger. Only events with financial impact qualify as affärshändelser; routine matters without monetary value are not.

Examples of affärshändelser include the sale or purchase of goods, receipt or payment of cash, accrual of salaries, depreciation of assets, taking on or repaying loans, investments, tax payments, provisions, write-downs, and changes in equity such as new share issues or distributions. Each example alters one or more of the company’s assets, liabilities or equity, or income and expenses.

Recording and measurement are based on double-entry bookkeeping. For every affärshändelse there must be at least one debit entry and one corresponding credit entry, so that the accounting equation remains balanced. Entries are made in appropriate accounts (tillgångar, skulder, eget kapital, intäkter och kostnader) and the resulting totals feed the company’s financial statements.

In practice, the recognition, timing and measurement of affärshändelser follow applicable Swedish accounting standards and法规, including Bokföringslagen and guidance from Bokföringsnämnden, and may also align with international frameworks such as IFRS or Swedish GAAP (K3 or K2) depending on the entity. Overall, affärshändelser are the building blocks of the income statement and balance sheet.