Each operation commander shall provide Athena's accounting officer by 31 March following the end of the financial year, or within four months following the end of the operation which he or she commands, whichever is the earlier, with the necessary information to establish the annual accounts for common costs, the annual accounts for expenditure pursuant to Article 28 and the annual activity report.

The administrator, with the assistance of the accounting officer and each operation commander, shall establish and provide to the Special Committee and the College of Auditors, by 15 May following the end of the financial year, the financial statements and the annual activity report.

The Special Committee shall be provided, within eight weeks of the transmission of the financial statements, by the College of Auditors with an audit opinion and, by the administrator, assisted by the accounting officer and each operation commander, with Athena's audited financial statements

The Special Committee shall be provided, by 30 September following the end of the financial year, with the audit report by the College of Auditors, and shall examine the audit report, the audit opinion and the financial statements with a view to granting a discharge to the administrator, the accounting officer and each operation commander.

In a manner consistent with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 or any other Regulation which may replace it, all accounts, inventories and related documents shall be retained, each at its level, by the accounting officer, each operation commander and when applicable by the administrator for a period of five years from the date on which the corresponding discharge was granted. When an operation is terminated, the operation commander shall ensure transmission of all accounts and inventories to the accounting officer.

The Special Committee shall decide to enter the balance of the budget outturn for a financial year for which the accounts have been approved in the budget for the following financial year, as revenue or expenditure depending on the circumstances, by means of an amending budget. The Special Committee may, however, decide to enter the balance of the abovementioned budget outturn after having received the audit opinion from the College of Auditors.

The part of the balance of the budget outturn for a financial year which comes from the implementation of appropriations intended to cover common costs incurred in preparation for, or further to, operations, shall be entered against the next contributions from participating Member States.

The part of the balance of the budget outturn which comes from the implementation of appropriations intended to cover the operational common costs of a given operation shall be entered against the next contributions from the Member States which have contributed to that operation.

If reimbursement cannot be done by deduction from the contributions due to Athena, the balance of the budget outturn shall be repaid to the Member States concerned according to the GNI key of the year of reimbursement.

Each Member State participating in an operation may provide information by 31 March each year to the administrator, where appropriate through the operation commander, on the incremental costs it has incurred for the operation during the previous financial year. This information shall be broken down to show the main items of expenditure. The administrator shall compile this information in order to provide the Special Committee with an overview of the incremental costs of the operation.