Accounts payable
Suppliers who still have to be paid (crediteuren); the trade payables item under current liabilities on the balance sheet.
What do accounts payable mean?
Suppliers who still have to be paid (crediteuren); the trade payables item under current liabilities on the balance sheet.
Accounts payable are amounts owed to suppliers for goods or services delivered. The invoice may arrive after the balance sheet date while the obligation already exists. The term is usually short.
How does it work?
Accounts payable are the debts to suppliers and trade credits of art. 2:375(1)(d) DCC. The debt arises at the moment the supplier has performed, not when the invoice arrives. If delivery took place on the balance sheet date but has not yet been invoiced, you book an invoice still to be received; it appears under accruals. A prepayment to a supplier is not a negative payable but a receivable.
You measure trade payables at initial recognition at fair value and afterwards at amortised cost (RJ 254); with an ordinary payment term that is the invoice amount including VAT. If you have not paid a purchase invoice one year after it became due, you owe the deducted VAT again (art. 29(7) Wet OB 1968, the Dutch VAT Act).
Example
On 31 December 2025 a BV has € 64.000 of unpaid purchase invoices according to the open-item list. At closing it finds three deviations. A pallet of € 4.800 was delivered on 29 December and invoiced on 6 January: invoice still to be received € 4.800. One supplier shows a debit balance of € 2.500 due to a double payment: that is a receivable and not a deduction from the debts. An invoice of € 1.200 was booked twice and is removed. Accounts payable on the balance sheet: 64.000 + 2.500 − 1.200 = € 65.300. In addition € 4.800 of accruals and € 2.500 of other receivables.
In the annual accounts
Current liabilities on the balance sheet; micro entities often show combined items.
Difference from accounts receivable
Accounts payable are suppliers you still have to pay; accounts receivable are customers from whom you will still receive money. The first are under current liabilities, the second under current assets. If the same company is both customer and supplier, receivable and debt are still shown separately, unless you have a sound right of set-off and also intend to settle the balance as a single amount (RJ 115).
Common mistakes
- Taking the invoice date as the only booking moment
- Confusing a supplier advance with a trade payable
What should you watch for?
- Ask your largest suppliers for a statement of balance at the balance sheet date and put it next to your books.
- Go through the purchase invoices and bank payments of January and February for deliveries from before the balance sheet date. See Annual accounts while invoices have not yet arrived.
- In a micro balance sheet all liabilities are in one item, split into shorter and longer than one year (art. 2:395a(4) DCC). A small legal entity does not have to split its liabilities by type either (art. 2:396(3) DCC). Medium-sized and large entities show trade payables separately in the prepared annual accounts.
Legal basis and source
art. 2:375 DCC
Frequently asked questions
Are accounts payable shown including VAT on the balance sheet?
Yes. The debt to the supplier is the invoice amount including VAT. The VAT you may deduct appears as input VAT in the VAT account.
What do you do with a payable that has been open for years?
Find out whether the debt still exists: has it been paid, offset, disputed or become time-barred? A debt that no longer has to be paid is released in favour of the result. Do not leave an item standing without support.
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Preparing Dutch annual accounts?
Your first set of annual accounts is free, for every size class. Create an account and prepare the annual accounts of your Dutch company under Title 9 of Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code.
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