Checklist: preparing your annual accounts

Work through your checklist from top to bottom before you start filling in. What you have ready now saves you searching later — and it prevents you from discovering halfway that a depreciation schedule or an inventory count is missing. If you are still at the beginning, first read preparing your annual accounts yourself in eight steps.

1. Your records

• •All bank transactions of the financial year, reconciled against your records.
• •The cash statement, if you receive or pay in cash.
• •Sales invoices and purchase invoices, including the receipts without an invoice.
• •The VAT returns of the year, or an overview of the VAT paid and reclaimed.
• •Payslips or the payroll journal if you employ staff.

2. Your opening position

• •The closing balance sheet of the previous financial year — or, if there is none, an overview of your business equity on 1 January.
• •The equity at the start of the year, split into capital or reserves.
• •Open items carried over from last year: trade receivables, trade payables and running loans.

3. Your assets and debts

• •A list of business assets with the purchase date, purchase price and the depreciation per year.
• •The inventory count on the balance sheet date, with an estimate of obsolete stock.
• •Outstanding trade receivables on the balance sheet date, with an estimate of irrecoverable amounts.
• •All loans: principal, remaining debt, interest and this year's repayment.
• •Provisions you have built up, with the substantiation.

4. Decisions you have to take

Doubting the order? Then first go through drawing up annual accounts.

• •Which depreciation period you use per business asset (and whether it is the same as last year).
• •How you value your inventory: purchase price, FIFO or average.
• •Whether you include a provision, and on what basis.
• •Whether you include comparative figures and whether you take them from last year.
• •For a BV: which dividend you propose and how it appears on the balance sheet.

5. Checks before you close

1. 1.Does the balance sheet balance? Assets and liabilities must be exactly equal.
2. 2.Does the equity reconcile? Opening plus result minus withdrawals must be your closing position.
3. 3.Do the totals match your records? Re-add the revenue and the largest expense items.
4. 4.Are the comparative figures equal to what you reported last year?
5. 5.Are all mandatory parts present: balance sheet, profit and loss account, notes, accounting policies, signature?

6. Finishing and keeping

Sign the annual accounts with place and date, and keep them with your records. If you are a legal person, the adoption by the general meeting and the filing with KVK follow. Also keep the confirmation of that: you need it if someone asks about it later.