How to export the financial statements as a PDF ready to sign

What is it for?

The year-end financial statements are signed by the manager and by the certified accountant. Export PDF ready to sign gives you the PDF ready for that: the entity header, the statement title, the amounts, the signature space and a fingerprint of the content. Each export is logged, to prove what was handed over for signature.

When to use it?

• When the statement is closed and is going to be signed: balance sheet, income statement, cash flows or changes in equity.
• To know, later, what was exported, by whom and when.
• Do not use it for checks: for that, use Export PDF or the spreadsheet (see How to filter, compare periods and export a report). The trial balance, for example, does not have this option.

Where to find it?

• The option: in each statement, Export › Export PDF ready to sign. In the example, Accounting › Review › Financial statements › Cash flows.
• The log: Accounting › Declare › Annual declarations › What is there to do with the annual declarations? and, under Maps and files, PDF exports ready to sign.

Before you start

• Your profile is Accountant. With it you can do every step of this article (tested with the Accountant profile). The Auditor can too (tested up to the last step): they enter the Audit app and open Accounting from the apps menu. The PDF and the log line carry the name of whoever exports.
• The fiscal year is complete: the PDF shows today's amounts.
• The example is the Demonstração dos Fluxos de Caixa (SNC) (statement of cash flows) of Empresa Demonstração, Lda, in 2026, on 03/11/2026.

How to use it

1. Open the statement, for example Accounting › Review › Financial statements › Cash flows, and check the period in the top bar.
2. Click Export. The list has Export with options…, Export XLSX, Export PDF ready to sign, Export CSV (PT format), Export CSV (technical) and Print. It is available in the Balance sheet, the Income statement, Cash flows and Changes in equity.
3. Choose Export PDF ready to sign. The PDF downloads with the name of the company, the statement and the period (Empresa_Demonstracao_Lda_Demonstracao_dos_Fluxos_de_Caixa_SNC_2026-01-01_2026-12-31.pdf).
4. Open the PDF. In the example it has one page, with the entity and the title “DEMONSTRAÇÃO INDIVIDUAL DE FLUXOS DE CAIXA PERÍODO FINDO EM 31 DE DEZEMBRO DE 2026”, the company, the tax number (NIF), the period, the currency unit (euro), the issue date and the user, the lines with the amounts on screen, the Signatures block (Gestor 1 (nome e assinatura), Gestor 2 (nome e assinatura) and Contabilista certificado (n.º OCC) (nome e assinatura)) and, in the footer, the Content SHA-256.
5. To see what was exported, open Accounting › Declare › Annual declarations › What is there to do with the annual declarations? and, under Maps and files, click PDF exports ready to sign. Each export is a line: Exported on, Report, Exported by, File name, Pages and File SHA-256.
6. Open a line to see the form, with the Format, the Pages and the PROOF OF WHAT WAS HANDED TO BE SIGNED block: the File SHA-256 and the Content SHA-256. The content one is the one in the PDF footer (in the example, dfa32c53…).

Expected result

• A PDF with the entity, the amounts on screen and the signature space. The balance sheet, the income statement and the cash flows come out with the formal title; the changes in equity come out with the screen title (see “Important notes”).
• A new line in PDF exports ready to sign for each export.
• The PDF is not signed by Odoo: it carries the spaces to sign.

Important notes

• Each export creates a log entry, even when repeated. In the example, two exports of the cash flows in a row gave two lines, with different File SHA-256 values. Hand over for signature the file whose code is in the log.
• A statement at zero can also be exported. In a company without journal entries, the PDF comes out with the amounts at €0.00 and the line stays in the log. The on-screen warnings do not go into the PDF: check the statement before exporting.
• The number of pages varies. In the example: cash flows and income statement, 1 page; balance sheet and changes in equity, 2 pages. The signatures are at the end of the last one.
• The changes in equity do not have the formal header yet. The PDF comes out with “Demonstração das Alterações no Capital Próprio (SNC)”, without the “Entidade:” line or the “DEMONSTRAÇÃO INDIVIDUAL…” of the other three. Confirm with the certified accountant before using it as a final document.
• The statement must be right before you export. A signed and delivered PDF cannot be corrected: if the amounts change, export another one. Pending validation by a certified accountant: the format of the header and signatures against the official financial statements template.

Common problems

I do not see “Export PDF ready to sign”

• Cause: you are in a report that is not a financial statement, such as the trial balance.
• What to do: open the balance sheet, the income statement, the cash flows or the changes in equity.