Annual accounts and balance sheet: requirement to lay financial statements at annual meeting, with liability for wilful non compliance. Companies must present a balance sheet and profit and loss account (or an income and expenditure account for non profit companies) at each annual general meeting for the prescribed period; the statute defines the relevant period as the financial year with specified limits and Registrar extension. Directors and persons charged by the board with ensuring compliance are criminally liable for defaults, with imprisonment only for wilful offences and a defence where a competent reliable person was charged with the duty.