Showing shareholders the money in Iowa corporations

Matt McKinney is an attorney at BrownWinick Law Firm.

As a shareholder in a small business, family business, or other Iowa corporation, you may ask yourself: what kind of financial information is my corporation required to provide me?  Thankfully, Iowa law on this topic is relatively straightforward.  Iowa law requires Iowa corporations to provide certain financial information to their shareholders.

In particular, Iowa Code Section 490.1620 mandates that Iowa corporations provide their shareholders with “annual financial statements.”  As you may suspect, “annual financial statements” should include a balance sheet, an income statement, and a statement of changes in shareholder equity, if any. Further, if financial statements are prepared for the corporation on the basis of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the annual financial statements provided to shareholders must also be prepared on that basis.

If you have questions about your corporation's compliance with these requirements, you should consider contacting a licensed attorney.