Accountants records are all sources of information and evidence that are used in preparing, verifying and or auditing financial statements. Accountants records can be in physical or electronic formats.
Accounting records can take on many forms and include:
- ledges, journals, bank statements
- contracts and agreements, verification statements
- transportation receipts, invoices, vouchers, etc.
When you make an antry, such as income, expenses and deductions on your tax return, you have what is known as the burden of proof for them.
It is also essential to record the number of hours worked (even those prior to the official launch of your company), as this number will determine whether you are eligible for certain income tax allowances. Costs incurred before the official start of your business may count as operating expenses as well.
The source documents for purchases for your business, such as:
- receipts, cash register tapes, purchase and sale invoices
- contracts, business calendars, email
- tax, statements of hour worked, partnership reports
- financial statements of subsidiaries, annual statements of bank accounts, the annual value of house property and other property, annual statements of employer-sand etc.
- what you make your accounting ledger and journal entries from.
They are also your documentation for tax deductions for your business that you take at the end of the tax year. Source documents, kept propertly, can take you a long way with good record keeping.
The original paper documents should be kept with the ledgers where you record the transactions.
Accounting records must in particular contain:
- entries showing all money received and expended by the company
- a record of the assets and liabilities.
- Also, where the company's business involves dealing in goods the records must contain:
- statements of stock held by the company at the end of each financial year
- all statements of stock takings from which you have taken or prepared any statements of stock
- statement of all goods sold and purchased, other than ordinary retail trade. This should list the goods, the buyers and sellers.
If you have a business in the Netherlands, you are legally obliged to keep accounts and to retain them for seven years. You must keep data related to immovable property for 10 years. The obligation also applies when your business ceases trading within the specified period.
