120 hours of structured cooperative education

This module establishes the legal context in which cooperatives operate. Participants examine the Spanish cooperative legal tradition and the framework established by national and regional cooperative legislation. The focus is on understanding what a worker cooperative is, what distinguishes it from other business forms, and how one is formally constituted.

Particular attention is given to the cooperative's foundational documents — the statutes — and the range of choices available to founding members in drafting them. The module covers the constituent assembly, registration requirements, and the obligations that arise immediately upon constitution.

The fiscal treatment of cooperatives is a specialised field. This module examines the special tax regime that applies to protected and specially protected cooperatives under Spanish law. Participants study how cooperative results are categorised, how the different types of income are taxed, and what specific obligations cooperatives have that differ from those of conventional companies.

VAT considerations relevant to cooperative activities, local tax obligations, and the relationship between cooperative fiscal requirements and social security obligations for worker-members are also covered in this block.

Democratic governance is fundamental to the cooperative model. This module examines the internal governance structure of a worker cooperative in detail. The general assembly, as the supreme governing body, is studied in terms of its competences, how it must be convened, how it deliberates, and what majority thresholds apply to different types of resolution.

The governing council — the executive body responsible for management between assemblies — is examined alongside the roles of individual administrators. Optional bodies such as audit committees and intervention bodies are also addressed.

The General Cooperative Accounting Plan adapts the Spanish General Accounting Plan to the specific characteristics of cooperatives. This module works through the structure and content of cooperative annual accounts, including the balance sheet, income statement, statement of changes in equity, statement of cash flows, and notes to the accounts.

Specific accounting treatments for cooperative capital, mandatory funds, results allocation, and inter-cooperative transactions are examined. The module also addresses audit obligations and the approval and deposit of annual accounts with the Cooperative Registry.