Your Company Still Holds Stablecoins at Year-End: What Should You Prepare for the Accounts?
At year-end, your company still holds stablecoins in two wallets and with a service provider. Treasury has a balance report; the accounting team needs supporting evidence. Can a screenshot explain which assets the company owns, the reporting date and the amount to recognise?
A useful closing file connects the exact asset, the company’s rights, reporting-date quantities, reconciliation and the applicable accounting policy. It gives the person responsible for the accounts a reviewable basis for judgement, beyond a converted wallet balance.
1. Define the reporting boundary first
Start with the legal entity, reporting date and accounting framework. A group operating across countries may prepare local accounts and consolidated statements under different rules. Neither the software language nor the stablecoin’s reference currency determines those rules.
Name the preparer and reviewer, and identify the dataset version. Set a reference time and time zone: a Paris midnight cut-off and a UTC export need an explicit reconciliation.
SCOPE — Which wallets, networks, provider accounts and entities are included?
COMPLETENESS — Which inactive addresses and restricted balances still need review?
SEPARATION — Which assets belong to the company, a customer or another group entity?
CUT-OFF — Which transactions around year-end are completed, pending or disputed?
2. Identify the asset and the rights behind it
For each position, retain the asset name, issuer, network, official token identifier where relevant and custody arrangement. An identical ticker can conceal a native token and a bridged representation with different exposures.
Include the documents describing redemption rights, access conditions and known restrictions. A stated peg establishes neither a bank deposit nor an immediately available conversion route for this company.
Ownership evidence combines on-chain information with account-holder records, custody agreements, provider statements, an internal address register and access governance. Never place private keys or recovery phrases in the closing file. Any technical demonstration should follow an approved secure procedure.
3. Reconcile quantities before assigning value
Prepare a schedule by asset, network and custody location. Retain original exports and the relevant block or statement reference. Today’s visible balance is not evidence of the balance at the reporting date.
The quantity bridge is opening balance + inflows − outflows = closing balance. Match internal transfers so they do not become duplicate acquisitions or disposals. Identify bridges, fees and transactions in progress separately.
Illustrative example, entirely fictional: wallet A holds 60,000 units, wallet B 25,000 and a provider holds 15,000 for the company. The total is 100,000 units if the rights over all three positions are established. An internal transfer of 10,000 units already received in B does not add another 10,000 units.
If the ledger records 98,500 units, explain the 1,500-unit difference with transactions and evidence. An unsupported balancing adjustment conceals the issue. Fees paid in the network’s native asset require their own reconciliation.
4. Distinguish carrying amount from available liquidity
Document acquisitions and disposals: dates, quantities, consideration, fees and conversion rules. For year-end measurement, identify the price source, time, currency pair, exchange-rate direction and consistency checks.
A dollar-referenced stablecoin can remain close to USD 1 while its euro value changes. Using fictional assumptions, 100,000 units priced at USD 1 and EUR 0.90 per dollar produce EUR 90,000. This illustrates the required inputs; it is neither a current quotation nor a prescribed journal entry.
Carrying amount and immediately usable cash answer different questions. Record restrictions, collateral, lending, exit delays and incidents without applying an arbitrary “crypto risk discount”. Their accounting consequences depend on the facts and the selected framework.
5. French reporting: distinguish 2026 closing from the ANC transition
ANC Regulation 2026-01, adopted on 9 January 2026, was endorsed by an order dated 12 August 2026 and published in the French Official Journal on 3 September 2026. Article 9 makes it applicable to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027, with early application permitted for the year in progress at publication. It therefore does not automatically govern a 31 December 2026 closing.
The file should state whether the company uses the previous rules or adopts the new regulation early, with the consequences reviewed by the professional responsible for the accounts. Under the new text, Article 619-8 specifically addresses MiCA electronic money tokens through account 513. Other crypto-assets follow rules reflecting their characteristics and use. The commercial label “stablecoin” is insufficient to select an accounting treatment.
Depending on the provisions applied, disclosure inputs include quantities and amounts, valuation methods, lending, borrowing and collateral positions. An asset-by-asset schedule supports the assessment without deciding the final disclosure in advance.
6. Keep the evidence portable and the accounting conclusion local
French rules do not automatically apply in the United States or African jurisdictions. For entities within the relevant OHADA scope, the AUDCIF and SYSCOHADA framework needs consideration. It does not cover every African country or every reporting situation.
For IFRS reporting, the June 2019 IFRIC agenda decision concerns a defined subset of cryptocurrencies without contractual rights against another party. It does not classify every stablecoin. Analyse the rights attached to the particular asset before selecting a treatment.
The evidence base can travel across reporting frameworks; the accounting conclusion must reflect the applicable one. Accounting, taxation and foreign-exchange controls also require separate assessments.
7. Hand over a file that can be reviewed
The BECTRA sequence is SCOPE → RIGHTS → QUANTITIES → RECONCILIATION → VALUE → RESTRICTIONS → DISCLOSURES → APPROVAL.
INVENTORY — One position per asset, network and custody location, with evidence references.
SUPPORT — Original exports, statements, contracts and commercial records with dates.
RECONCILIATION — A bridge between quantities, movements and ledger balances, with explained and unresolved differences.
POLICY — Framework, effective date, proposed classification and measurement sources.
EXCEPTIONS — Restrictions, subsequent events, missing evidence, owner and deadline.
REVIEW — Traceable decisions, journal entries and approvals.
Conclusion — Make the closing position explainable
A strong closing file allows a reviewer to understand the position without rebuilding the year. It establishes rights, quantities, value and uncertainty, then supports the accounting judgement required under the relevant framework.
How BECTRA can help
BECTRA supports data organisation, on-chain reconciliation and the design of evidence and control files. This advisory and research work helps finance teams communicate with the professionals responsible for their accounts.
Further reading
Sources
Primary sources consulted on 9 October 2026. Examples are fictional; the closing-file preparation method is a BECTRA construction.
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