Sign the annual report digitally

Streamline your annual report with Scrive

The annual report has long been seen as a heavy, technical document that companies produce to meet legal requirements. But in today’s digital landscape, it serves a much broader function.

Digital developments also mean that companies can increasingly present their figures in a more accessible and narrative way.

At the same time, many organisations are facing the transition to electronic signing, especially in Sweden where today’s processes are still partly divided between different formats and flows. This guide therefore summarises the most important insights and provides practical guidance on why qualified electronic signatures (QES ) are becoming increasingly important – and how Scrive offers a secure way to sign your annual report with maximum security and compliance.

1. The annual report in a digital context

Historically, annual reports have been difficult-to-interpret PDF files filled with numbers and audit language. But as digitalisation increases, the way companies use and share them is changing. Modern annual reports are not just based on columns of numbers, they explain what the numbers mean and how the business is developing. This makes them an increasingly important document for owners, investors and other stakeholders who are looking for clarity and credibility.

Digital signing is therefore becoming a natural part of the process. It creates traceability, reduces the risk of errors and enables the document to be shared and verified in a completely new way.

2. Common obstacles to digital signing in Sweden

Although much of the work on the annual report is already digital, there are some clear challenges:

• Multiple people need to sign the document
  Board members and auditors need to sign, often from different locations. Traditional flows create manual steps and waiting times.
• The PDF version is not submitted to the Companies Registration Office
  Even if the company has a fully signed PDF, the Companies Registration Office (Bolagsverket) does not accept this version yet. They receive the figures in a digital format (iXBRL) and a digitally signed certificate of approval – i.e. not the actual document signed by the board.
• Risk of discrepancies between the signed document and the one submitted
  Since two different files are handled (PDF + iXBRL data), differences may arise that make control difficult and increase the risk of manual errors.
• Digitalisation is slowing down
  Companies that do not have a program or service that supports digital submission need to print the annual report and then submit it to the Swedish Companies Registration Office. This means that the benefits of digital signing are sometimes lost altogether.

Knowing these obstacles makes it easier to design a more efficient and future-proof workflow.

3. Why signature standard is crucial (AES vs QES)

The EU’s eIDAS regulation sets clear requirements for how electronic signatures should work. The two most common levels are:

Annual reports are therefore a typical example of documents where the choice of QES makes a difference.

4. How QES simplifies the process

Signing the annual report with QES entails several concrete advantages:

• All signatures can be executed digitally – even when the board is geographically dispersed.
• The document becomes immediately verifiable by third parties, including authorities.
• The risk of error, forgery and misunderstanding is dramatically reduced.
• The process is faster, cheaper and significantly safer than manual handling.

For companies that want to future-proof their way of signing documents, QES is the clearest way forward.

5. Scrive – qualified signing with BankID

Scrive is currently the only provider in Sweden that offers the ability to create a qualified electronic signature directly with BankID. This makes the process much easier compared to traditional QES solutions that often require hardware keys or time-consuming identity checks.

With Scrive companies get:

• Easy multi-signing
• Qualified signatures via BankID
• Full audit trails and documentation
• EU-approved legal force
• Future-proof working method for eIDAS 2.0 and EU Digital Identity Wallet.

6. The development of the EU: how it will affect future annual reports

Two important changes are about to shape the future:

eIDAS 2.0

Tightens standards and makes QES the norm when exchanging documents with authorities.

EU Digital Identity Wallet

Makes it possible to sign qualified with one and the same digital identity across Europe.

When these changes are fully established, the process of signing annual reports – often with multiple signatories – will become significantly faster and smoother. Viktor Wrede believes that this could also pave the way for Sweden to eventually allow full digital submission of signed PDFs.

7. What should companies check before signing?

Check that:

• The signing solution supports qualified electronic signatures
• All signing parties can sign digitally
• The process follows the applicable government guidance (e.g. the Swedish Companies Registration Office’s requirements on how the certificate of determination should be submitted)
• The document that is signed is the final version that the board must approve.

If a previous submission was rejected:

Rejections are almost always due to the flow not following the correct process, not because signatures are invalid.

The solution is to:

• Ensure QES from the start
• Follow the Companies Registration Office’s instructions point by point
• Double check that numbers and documents match exactly

8. Conclusion

Digitally signing annual reports is not just a modernisation, it is a way to minimise errors, increase security and improve the entire reporting process.

By using qualified electronic signatures and the right workflow, companies can eliminate manual steps and create a more cohesive, secure and efficient annual report.