As an entrepreneur, you are required to keep records and save them for at least 7 years.
You can get a lot of information from good business records.
This can help you make the right decisions for your business at the right time.
Your records also form the basis for your tax returns.
Most business owners have to file quarterly returns for turnover tax...
also known as VAT (or btw in Dutch).
Depending on the product or service, you charge 21 per cent...
9 per cent, or 0 per cent VAT to your customer.
You also pay VAT on your purchases and expenses.
The difference between the VAT received and the VAT paid...
you either reclaim or pay to the Tax Administration.
You might be exempt from VAT…
or you might be able to make use of the Small Businesses Scheme.
You file your income tax return once a year…
before 1 May, for the previous year.
Use the Tax Administration's online tool “OndernemersCheck”…
to find out if you are an entrepreneur for income tax purposes.
If so, you can use the entrepreneur allowance to get additional tax benefits.
To do so, you have to spend at least 1225 hours per year on your business.
You keep a record of those hours in a timesheet.
You can outsource your administration and...
tax returns to a bookkeeper or accountant.
But it is still important to keep an overview yourself.
Let's see how these entrepreneurs handled this...
Administration is really Elke’s thing. I don't do that. Horrible.
I think it's terrible too, but I do it.
And nowadays there are very handy apps for that.
That you just scan a receipt and your accountant receives it right away.
I’m not good at it myself. My husband is.
But he always says: You should always keep up with your own records too.
Income tax, what should I set aside for it? What goes out?
So you know approximately what is expected of you at the end of the month.
We soon hired an accountant to manage our accounts.
Because we soon found that we didn't feel much like it ourselves...
and because we couldn't really deal with it in a structured manner.
Plus, it gives you more hours to do other things.
It is important that you outsource things in time.
Especially the things you're not good at or that others do better.
If you have a good bank, then you can just create a reserve.
So that when an amount of money is deposited into your account...
my bank automatically makes sure it goes straight into my VAT reserve.
So the VAT is automatically put into another account.
I didn't even know that. -Yes.
We do have set consultations every week. Once a month also the MT meetings...
in which we discuss the figures of the previous month.
Obviously important to get a good idea of how the business is running...
and also to be able to make timely adjustments, if necessary.
In terms of time-tracking, I didn't really do this in the beginning.
But at the end of the year I had to be able to prove it...
so it cost me a lot more work.
My advice is, just put the appointments in your diary, then it will always be there.
We use software in our salon...
that keeps all the time records of our staff and our clients.
That's very nice. It's really work that you can leave to the software.
So the most important thing is that it is entered properly.
And now it is time for action.
Decide whether to handle your administration and taxes yourself
or outsource it to a bookkeeper or accountant.
With your accountant, choose...
online accounting software that suits your business.
That way, you will save time and make fewer mistakes.
Schedule a set time for updating your records and make sure you carefully track your hours.
Check out all the information for a good start at belastingdienst.nl/starters.
About administration requirements, VAT, income tax...
deductibles, filing tax returns, and more.
Want to know more?
Visit KVK.nl/en/starting.