Ahmed Ghattour & Co

In Libya, the law mandates that companies must maintain their accounting books and records on a daily basis. However, the reality is that most companies tend to update their books monthly, using daily transaction summaries as the foundation for the monthly entries. Despite this common industry practice of monthly bookkeeping, Libyan law also requires companies to keep a detailed journal ledger for tax inspection purposes. This creates a situation where companies must adhere to the daily record-keeping requirement for the journal ledger, while the main accounting books are typically updated monthly. The discrepancy between the legal obligations and the prevalent business practices suggests a need to enforce the daily record-keeping requirement more strictly or consider revising the regulations to accommodate better the realities faced by companies in Libya. Maintaining the proper journal ledger for tax inspections remains mandatory regardless of the frequency of the primary accounting book updates. In summary, the Libyan legal framework dictates daily bookkeeping. However, the majority of companies adopt a monthly approach while still being required to keep a detailed journal ledger for tax authorities.