A tapas bar in Valencia
Lucía Navarro opened her tapas bar in Valencia as a self-employed trader (autónoma): a six-metre bar, a small kitchen and a potato omelette already famous in the neighbourhood. From day one her adviser asked for two things: keep every invoice, and note down every income and every expense. That was enough.
Three years later her brother Pablo wants to join the business, and the bank offers to finance the terrace if they set up a limited company. The adviser sums it up in one sentence: “As a company, noting things down is no longer enough. You need proper accounts”. This guide explains what that sentence means.
The self-employed: record books
A self-employed person under the simplified direct assessment regime, which most small businesses use, is not required to keep accounts under the Commercial Code. The record books required by the income tax regulations are enough:
- The record book of sales and income.
- The record book of purchases and expenses.
- The record book of capital goods.
If the business charges VAT, the record books of invoices issued and invoices received are added. The simplified regime applies as long as the previous year's net turnover does not exceed 600,000 euros. Under the normal direct assessment regime, a self-employed person with a commercial activity does keep accounts under the Commercial Code.
The company: the Commercial Code and the General Accounting Plan
When Lucía and Pablo set up their SL (sociedad limitada), article 25 of the Commercial Code requires orderly accounts suited to their activity, with two mandatory books: the journal book and the book of inventories and annual accounts. The company also keeps a minute book and a register of members.
The rules for those accounts are in the General Accounting Plan (Royal Decree 1514/2007) and, for smaller companies, in the General Accounting Plan for SMEs (Royal Decree 1515/2007). Every account has its number: 570 is cash, 700 is sales, 400 is suppliers. At year-end the company draws up its annual accounts: the balance sheet, the profit and loss account and the notes, plus whatever statements its size requires.
The calendar of an SL whose year ends on 31 December
| What | Deadline | Last day |
|---|---|---|
| Draw up the annual accounts | Three months after year-end | 31 March |
| Legalise the books at the Commercial Registry, online | Four months after year-end | 30 April |
| Approve the accounts at the general meeting | Six months after year-end | 30 June |
| File the accounts at the Commercial Registry | One month after approval | 30 July, if approved on 30 June |
The books and the documents behind them are kept for six years from the last entry (article 30 of the Commercial Code).
A night at the bar, in entries
In Spain, hospitality is taxed at the reduced VAT rate of 10%. A night's takings of 1,100 euros include 100 of output VAT; a purchase of kitchen supplies on credit for 550 euros includes 50 of input VAT.
| Transaction | Debit | Credit | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| The night's takings | 570 Cash | 1,100 | |
| 700 Sales | 1,000 | ||
| 477 Output VAT | 100 | ||
| Kitchen supplies | 600 Purchases | 500 | |
| 472 Input VAT | 50 | ||
| 400 Suppliers | 550 |
In the quarterly VAT return (form 303), the difference between output and input VAT, 50 euros in this example, is what is paid to the tax agency.
Verifactu: the invoice nobody can touch
The Regulation on invoicing computer systems (Royal Decree 1007/2023), known as Verifactu, requires the software used to invoice to record every invoice in a chained, unalterable way. Under the calendar set by Royal Decree-law 15/2025, companies must comply from 1 January 2027 and everyone else, the self-employed included, from 1 July 2027. The Basque Country and Navarre have their own systems.
The underlying idea is old: what is recorded is not erased, it is corrected with a new record. Good books of account have always followed that same rule.
What Lucía did
The adviser opened the SL's books with the opening balances: the cash, the kitchen equipment and the terrace loan. Since then Lucía records the takings and the invoices every week, and the adviser reviews each quarter, files the taxes and prepares the annual accounts. At the first year-end, the trial balance balanced at the first attempt. Pablo, who came from a large company, asked who kept the books. Lucía showed him the books.
Where Aconta Online comes in
Aconta Online keeps each company's journal book, general ledger, trial balance and statements by double entry, in euros. You can add to the chart of accounts the General Accounting Plan accounts your company uses. What Aconta calls the balance sheet is the Spanish balance de situación, and its income statement is the profit and loss account. It refuses an entry that does not balance and never edits a posted one: a mistake is corrected with a reversal. It is not invoicing software, and it does not legalise books or file taxes: that stays with your adviser. The first company is free, no card required.
Questions
Do the self-employed have to keep accounts in Spain?
Under the simplified direct assessment regime they do not keep accounts under the Commercial Code, but they do keep the record books of sales and income, purchases and expenses and capital goods, and the invoice books if they charge VAT.
Which accounting books must a Spanish limited company keep?
The journal book and the book of inventories and annual accounts, under article 25 of the Commercial Code, plus the minute book and the register of members.
When must accounting books be legalised in Spain?
Online at the Commercial Registry, within four months after the end of the financial year: by 30 April if the year ends on 31 December.
When does Verifactu become mandatory?
Under the calendar of Royal Decree-law 15/2025, from 1 January 2027 for companies and from 1 July 2027 for everyone else, the self-employed included. The Basque Country and Navarre have their own systems.