Knowledge base

Receivables on the balance sheet

An invoice that has not been paid yet is on the balance sheet as a receivable. How much of it actually comes in, you must estimate at the balance sheet date.

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The short answer

Receivables are amounts the legal entity still has to receive: trade debtors, receivables from group companies and other receivables (art. 2:370(1) DCC). You value them at amortised cost, with a short term usually the invoice amount, and deduct what you expect not to collect.

Updated 30 October 2026

Key facts

Legal basis	art. 2:370 DCC (current receivables), art. 2:367 DCC (receivables under financial fixed assets), art. 2:387(2) DCC (lower value)
Guideline	RJ 222 Receivables and RJ 290 Financial instruments; for micro and small RJk B5 Receivables and prepaid expenses and accrued income
Term	Per group the amount with a remaining term of more than one year (art. 2:370(2) DCC)
Current value	Not permitted for loans granted and receivables to be collected outside a trading portfolio (Besluit actuele waarde, art. 10(3))

Receivables in the law and in the RJ

Article 2:370(1) DCC names five groups: receivables from trade debtors, from group companies, from participating interests and participants, called-up payments on issued capital, and other receivables. Loans and advances to shareholders you disclose separately within other receivables. Prepaid expenses and accrued income, such as rent paid in advance, are shown separately if you do not include them under receivables (art. 2:364(3) DCC).

A receivable intended to serve the business on a lasting basis, such as a multi-year loan to a participating interest, belongs under financial fixed assets (art. 2:367 DCC). The rest is current. Offsetting against liabilities to the same party is not allowed if the law prescribes separate items (art. 2:363(2) DCC).

According to the RJ you recognise a receivable initially at fair value and thereafter at amortised cost. For an ordinary trade receivable that is the invoice amount. If the value at the balance sheet date is lower, you write down (art. 2:387(2) DCC). That write-down is a correction on the asset and not a provision on the liabilities side: an impairment of an asset is not expressed through a provision (art. 2:374(2) DCC). The term provision for doubtful debtors is therefore colloquial usage.

Assessing debtors at the balance sheet date

Per item or per group. Large and deviating items you assess individually: is there a dispute, a payment arrangement or a bankruptcy? For the rest a percentage per age group works, supported by your own experience.
Events after the balance sheet date. If a customer goes bankrupt in January, that usually says something about the situation on 31 December. You process it if the annual accounts have not yet been prepared; see events after the balance sheet date.
Credit balances. A debtor with a credit balance is a liability and belongs under current liabilities.
Shareholder and director-major shareholder (DGA). A current account with a debit balance is a receivable from the shareholder; see current account DGA.
Interest. A long-term interest-free receivable you recognise at present value; the difference from the nominal amount is interest income over the term (RJ 290).

Worked example: the debtors item at 31 December

A BV has € 242.100 in outstanding invoices on 31 December 2025. One customer, accounting for € 12.100 including € 2.100 VAT, is bankrupt; the trustee has confirmed that no payout will follow.

Age	Outstanding	Expected loss	Write-down
Not yet due	€ 150.000	0%	–
1 to 30 days overdue	€ 50.000	2%	€ 1.000
31 to 90 days overdue	€ 30.000	10%	€ 3.000
Bankrupt customer	€ 12.100	100%, of which € 2.100 VAT reclaimable	€ 10.000
Total	€ 242.100		€ 14.000

The journal entry: Bad debt expense € 14.000 and VAT receivable € 2.100 to Impairment of debtors € 16.100. On the balance sheet, trade debtors stand at € 242.100 − € 16.100 = € 226.000. The BV reclaims the VAT in the return for the period in which the uncollectibility is established.

Receivables per size class

How much detail you show for receivables depends on the class. The amounts in the first column are the limits for financial years from 1 January 2024. At least two of the three criteria are decisive, tested on two consecutive balance sheet dates; art. 2:398(1) DCC provides the exception for the first and second financial year.

Class	Balance sheet and notes	Particularity
Micro (balance sheet total ≤ € 450.000, net turnover ≤ € 900.000, < 10 employees)	Only the total of current assets; called-up payments separately (art. 2:395a(4) DCC)	Prepaid expenses and accrued income for other operating costs may be omitted, with a statement at the foot of the balance sheet (para. 3). Tax-based principles are allowed (para. 7)
Small (balance sheet total ≤ € 7,5 mln, net turnover ≤ € 15 mln, < 50 employees)	Receivables as one item; called-up payments separately; one total amount with a term longer than one year (art. 2:396(3) DCC)	The tax basis is an alternative (art. 2:396(6) DCC)
Medium-sized (balance sheet total ≤ € 25 mln, net turnover ≤ € 50 mln, < 250 employees)	All groups in the prepared annual accounts; publicly at least the receivables from group companies and participating interests and the called-up payments (art. 2:397(5) DCC)	Term longer than one year for the total and for the separately shown items
Large (balance sheet total > € 25 mln, net turnover > € 50 mln, ≥ 250 employees)	All groups with term per group	Full disclosure on financial instruments (RJ 290)

Tax: profit and VAT

For profit tax, valuation follows sound business practice (art. 3.25 Wet IB 2001, the Income Tax Act 2001). Therefore support a write-down per receivable or with your own experience figures.

For VAT a separate rule applies. If you apply the invoice basis, you reclaim the VAT paid over as soon as it is certain that the receivable is uncollectible. It counts as uncollectible in any case one year after the final payment date; without an agreed term that is thirty days after receipt of the invoice. You process the refund in the return for the period in which that moment falls. If the customer pays after all later, you report the VAT again on the part received.

Common mistakes with receivables

Presenting the write-down for doubtful debtors as a provision under liabilities.
Netting receivables and liabilities with group companies without the balances being agreed.
Letting a loan to the shareholder merge into other receivables without separate disclosure.
Not disclosing the term longer than one year for a loan that is repaid in instalments.
Forgetting the VAT refund, or booking it as a turnover correction in the wrong period.

Open items in Jaarrekening.io

The bookkeeping of Jaarrekening.io shows the open items per debtor and flags invoices whose payment term expired a year or more ago, with the VAT you can reclaim. You book the write-down itself as a memorandum entry; the app does not propose an impairment. In the notes you fill in an overview of the receivables by term.

Sources

Legal notice: this information is general in nature and does not replace tax or legal advice or an accountant's audit. The substantive correctness and completeness of the annual accounts remain the responsibility of the board.

Frequently asked questions

When do I definitively write off a receivable?

When it is certain that nothing more will come in: after a final distribution list without payout, a waiver or a time-barred receivable. Until then you keep the receivable in the bookkeeping and correct its value with a write-down that you can reverse if the customer pays after all (art. 2:387(4) DCC).

How do I treat a loan to my own holding or to the director-major shareholder (DGA)?

As a receivable, with separate disclosure of loans and advances to shareholders (art. 2:370(1)(e) DCC, or art. 2:367(f) for a long-term loan). Record interest, repayment and security in writing and assess each year whether the debtor can repay.

May I offset a receivable and a liability with the same customer?

In the annual accounts not if the law prescribes separate items (art. 2:363(2) DCC). A customer who is also a supplier therefore in principle appears under both debtors and creditors; offsetting is only allowed with an enforceable right of set-off and the firm plan to settle net or simultaneously (RJk A2.115). Setting off at the payment itself is a different matter; that is governed by the law of obligations.

What is the difference between debtors and accrued income?

Debtors are invoiced amounts. Accrued income and prepaid expenses are costs paid in advance and amounts still to be received for which no invoice has been sent, such as an insurance premium paid in advance or turnover still to be invoiced.

Do I have to charge interest on an interest-free loan to a subsidiary?

For the annual accounts you recognise the loan under RJ 290 at fair value and subsequently at amortised cost; with a long term and no interest, the present value differs from the nominal amount. For tax, profit is determined as if related parties had agreed arm's-length terms (art. 8b Wet Vpb 1969, the Corporate Income Tax Act). Therefore record the terms.

Term: debtors →Prepaid expenses and accrued income →Current account director-major shareholder (DGA) →Current account DGA above € 17.500? →Financial fixed asset →Working capital →Provisions →RJ 222 Receivables and the allowance for uncollectibility →Articles 2:369 up to and including 2:372 DCC: inventories, receivables, securities and cash →

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