SME stands for "small and medium- sized enterprises" and is a collective term for enterprises that do not reach certain size factors.
Brief description
Assignment of an enterprise to the SME sector occurs regardless of the legal standard chosen. The basis for assignment is criteria such as the number of employees, annual turnover and total balance sheet.
The European Commission proposes the following distinctions:
Company
Employment
Turnover and balance sheet total
Medium
< 250 i
≤ 50 million € turnover or ≤ 43 million € total balance sheet
Small
< 50 i
≤ 10 million € turnover or ≤ 10 million balance sheet total
Micro
< 10 i
≤ 2 million € turnover or ≤ 2 million € total balance sheet
All companies lying above these criteria are referred to as large enterprises.
