Entrepreneurs are required to keep accounts. Your accounts must include:
• The invoices you send
• Receipts for everything you buy for your company (not everything though – they must be for purchases you make for your business)
• Your bank statements
• A record of what you spend and receive in cash each day
• Your business diary
• Rough calculations and quotes you send
• Your stock
You are required to keep your accounts for a period of seven years following the end of the calendar year. Therefore you must keep your accounts for 2014 until 1 January 2022.
Invoices
Dutch law requires that certain details are stated on invoices. These are:
- Your full name and address
- Your customer’s full name and address
- Your VAT number
- Your CoC number
- The invoice date
- A unique serial number (this must be complete and preferably include the year)
- A description of the goods or services (with quantities)
- The amount EXCLUDING VAT
- The VAT rate (remember that VAT rates differ, so it has to be clear which items fall under which rate. You may never write 0% if a service is exempt from VAT – you may however use the term “exempted”)
- The VAT amount
- The total amount
There are additional invoice requirements for businesses that operate internationally. Find out what these are before sending your invoice.