Notes for Guidance - Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016 (as amended)

A trustee can ask the commissioner(s), or the Accountant, to bring the end date of an account forward, or extend to a later date.

The first account cannot be extended. However, it can be brought forward to less than 12 months, but not less than six months, if the trustee considers the ingathered funds are sufficient to pay a dividend after making allowance for future contingencies.

A subsequent account can be brought forward if the trustee is in a position to pay a dividend and is submitting a scheme of division or a final account.

A subsequent account can be extended if there have been no significant transactions during the period or for some other reason as agreed between the trustee and the Commissioner(s) or AiB.

Applications to extend or accelerate an accounting period must be made to the commissioners or the accounts team, as appropriate, before the end of the accounting period to be extended. Any agreement will not have effect unless it was made before the day on which the accounting period would otherwise end.

Applications to commissioners should be made and confirmed in writing. A copy of the confirmation must be uploaded to BASYS to be included in the electronic Sederunt Book.

Application to the accounts team should be made using the BASYS system. An explanation should be provided for consideration. A formal determination of the application will be issued on BASYS and will be included in the Sederunt Book.

The accounts team will reject any applications to extend the accounting period if they are not satisfied that the application was submitted within the relevant timescale.