> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.payreque.st/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Bookkeeping > Set up your bookkeeping, record sales and purchases, match payments, review Dutch VAT and export reports from PayRequest. Bookkeeping brings your sales invoices, supplier documents, bank transactions and financial reports into a separate workspace in PayRequest. Review each posting before it enters the ledger, then use the reports to understand your business and prepare your quarter-end review. > [!NOTE] > > The current Bookkeeping beta requires a **Business account**. Free access is planned but is not enabled yet. The ledger currently supports **Dutch bookkeeping in EUR using the invoice basis**. A translated interface does not add another country's accounting or tax rules. ## Open the workspace Choose **Bookkeeping** in the PayRequest sidebar, or open [payrequest.app/bookkeeping](https://payrequest.app/bookkeeping). The sidebar link opens a separate tab. The top navigation contains **Overview**, **Bank transactions**, **Purchases**, **Sales** and **VAT overview**. Open **More** for payment matching, quarter review, reports, administration settings, bank accounts, the expense tracker and historical bank VAT. On mobile, use the navigation button. Use the account menu on the right to return to PayRequest or switch between light and dark mode. Access is currently for the account owner; team-member sessions do not have access to this workspace. ## Start your administration Choose your start date and opening balances before posting documents. Opening Bookkeeping does not automatically convert your historical transactions or activate a new ledger. **1. Choose a start date** Open **More → Administration settings**, select your start date and confirm that you use the invoice basis in EUR. Check which earlier periods have already been reported before activating the administration. The activated start date cannot be changed through the settings form. **2. Record the opening balances** Enter debit balances as positive amounts and credit balances as negative amounts. Their total must be exactly zero. Add the source of the opening balance, review the proposed journal and confirm it. For a new business with no assets, liabilities, receivables or bank balances on the start date, explicitly confirm a zero opening balance instead. If that confirmation proves incorrect, revoke it with a reason before recording the opening balances. **3. Bring in the source documents** Review existing sales invoices under **Sales**, add supplier documents under **Purchases**, and match the relevant bank transactions under **More → Match payments**. Only confirmed postings enter the ledger. Older invoices that were still outstanding on the start date can be brought in as opening receivables or payables after explicit confirmation. These opening items do not create new revenue, costs or VAT. Avoid also including the same amounts in an aggregate opening receivables or payables balance. ## Record purchases and evidence Use **Purchases** for supplier invoices and supplier credit notes. A saved draft remains outside the ledger until you review and confirm its posting. 1. Enter the supplier, invoice number, invoice date, received date and document type. 2. Attach the original document, or record a specific location where you retain the external evidence. 3. Add the net amount, VAT treatment, actual VAT amount, deductible percentage and ledger account for each line. 4. Save the draft, then choose **Controleren & boeken** to review it. 5. Check the source, dates, amounts and proposed debit and credit entries. Tick the confirmation and choose **Definitief boeken**. Attachments support PDF, JPG, PNG and WebP, with a maximum of **10 MB per file** and **200 MB of document uploads per administration**. Uploaded evidence is stored privately and can be downloaded from the purchase inbox. The supported purchase treatments are Netherlands 21%, Netherlands 9%, no deductible VAT, and domestic, EU or non-EU reverse charge at 21%. You can also record partial VAT deduction and classify a purchase as a fixed asset. Choose the treatment from the actual supplier document and your circumstances; a supplier name or bank description does not determine it. Purchase posting uses the later of the invoice date and received date. Supplier credit notes reverse the relevant amounts. The purchase inbox displays the latest 100 documents. ## Bring sales invoices into the ledger Open **Sales** to review your existing PayRequest invoices and credit notes. Search by invoice number when you need an older document. The list shows up to 100 invoices not yet imported through the end of the selected quarter. For a supported EUR invoice, review its posting proposal and confirm it. The proposal uses the saved invoice lines, amounts and VAT rather than deriving revenue from a bank payout. For zero-rated lines, choose the relevant supported reporting section. Correct an unsupported rate or inconsistent source total before trying again. > [!NOTE] > > Importing an invoice into Bookkeeping does not send it, change its payment status or trigger service provisioning. A credit note retains its negative amounts. ## Match payments without counting revenue twice Open **More → Match payments** after the relevant sales or purchase documents have been posted. Select a final EUR bank transaction and enter the allocation against the intended invoice postings. * A partial payment can settle part of an outstanding ledger item. * One bank transaction can cover several selected invoice postings when the amounts reconcile. * Enter receipts as positive amounts and outgoing payments as negative amounts. Credit notes use the opposite sign. * The invoice posting must be dated on or before the bank transaction. Advance payments require separate review. ### Record a withheld payment-provider fee Record the fee separately when a provider pays out less than the invoice amount. For example, with a fictional **EUR 121 invoice**, **EUR 3 fee** and **EUR 118 bank receipt**, allocate EUR 121 to the invoice and record EUR 3 as the withheld fee. The payout is not another sale. Enter any actual deductible VAT on the fee separately and provide the cost-invoice reference. If the cost invoice is unavailable, enter zero VAT rather than inferring it from the payout. ### Handle transfers and clearing accounts Other processing options include transfers, owner/private movements, bank costs without VAT, and Mollie, Stripe or PayPal clearing accounts. Add a clear explanation. A transfer or provider payout is not automatically revenue; the underlying documents remain the source for revenue, costs and VAT. Choose **Aansluiting controleren**, review the complete proposal and explicitly confirm the posting. Previews expire after ten minutes. If records change or the preview expires, prepare a fresh proposal. > [!WARNING] > > Bookkeeping matching updates the ledger only. It does **not** mark the original PayRequest invoices paid or stop their reminders. To settle eligible open invoices from a received bank payment, use the separate [Allocate to invoices workflow](https://docs.payreque.st/payment-processing/reconcile-bank-payments.md). Check existing ledger allocations before recording any further accounting entry. ## Review VAT and close a quarter **VAT overview** shows the VAT figures from confirmed ledger postings for the selected year and quarter. It includes signed credit-note amounts and the corresponding reverse-charge entries where applicable. The dashboard uses the ledger VAT figures after you activate the administration. **More → Historical bank VAT** retains the earlier bank-date report. Do not add the two reports together or assume the historical report proves that a return was submitted. Bank cash flow also includes transfers and is not the same as profit or the balance of your accounts. Open **More → Quarter review** to check unposted sales invoices, purchase drafts, unmatched bank transactions, changed source records, the opening balance and outstanding clearing or transfer balances. Checks cover the period from the administration's start through the selected quarter-end. Resolve the blocking items before preparing the closing preview. Closing requires a completed quarter, no blocking review items, reconciled clearing balances and your explicit confirmation. A saved snapshot and the action history preserve the closing record. > [!NOTE] > > Closing a quarter does not submit a VAT return or initiate a tax payment. Submit the return separately. A clear review list cannot identify documents you have not supplied or guarantee that every tax choice is correct. ## Reports, exports and corrections Open **More → Reports** for the balance sheet, profit and loss, trial balance, current open ledger items, recent journals and action history. | Report or CSV export | Period covered | | - | - | | Journal, profit and loss, VAT sections | Selected quarter | | Balance sheet and trial balance | Cumulative through the selected quarter-end | | Current open items | Current outstanding ledger items across all dates | CSV exports can be shared with your accountant. They are not XAF files, and a dedicated accountant login is not included in this module. To correct a posted entry, add a reason and prepare a reversal in **Reports**. Posted journals are retained rather than edited or deleted. If a document already has bank allocations, reverse those allocations first. A purchase draft can be edited before posting; a reversed purchase can be revised and posted again after review. Closed periods must be reopened with a reason before affected entries can be changed. Reopen later closed quarters first, since closing a quarter also freezes earlier posting dates. Reopening preserves the original snapshot. ## Current scope Bookkeeping currently supports a Dutch administration in EUR using the invoice basis. It does not include payroll, automatic depreciation, multi-currency bookkeeping, cash-basis accounting, XAF export or direct tax filing. The expense tracker and historical bank categories remain separate from confirmed ledger postings. ## Related guides * [Connect and sync your bank with Ponto](https://docs.payreque.st/payment-processing/bank-sync-ponto.md) * [Allocate a bank payment to invoices](https://docs.payreque.st/payment-processing/reconcile-bank-payments.md) * [Create invoices](https://docs.payreque.st/invoices/creating-invoices.md) * [Expense Tracker](https://docs.payreque.st/analytics-and-reporting/expense-tracker.md) * [PayRequest plans](https://docs.payreque.st/business-settings/payrequest-plans.md) This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.