Bookkeeping, invoices and record keeping in Suriname

Anyone who runs a business or works as a self-employed professional in Suriname must keep records and keep them for ten years. If you are VAT registered, strict rules also apply to your invoices. An NV (limited company) must prepare annual accounts within six months after the financial year, and larger companies must have them audited.

Who must keep records?

The new Civil Code took effect on 1 May 2025. The old rules in the Commercial Code (articles 2 to 4) moved to article 15i of Book 3. That article says: anyone who runs a business or works independently in a profession keeps records, and keeps the books, documents and other data carriers so that their rights and obligations can be known at all times.

Two things are new compared with the old Commercial Code:

• Liberal professions are now covered too, such as lawyers, notaries, doctors and other self-employed people.
• Electronic files are named explicitly. Accounting software, Excel or an app is a valid record, as long as you can retrieve everything.

For legal entities (NV, foundation, association, cooperative) the same duty is in article 15 of Book 2. The board must also prepare annual accounts and a directors' report within six months after the end of the financial year. The financial year is the calendar year unless the articles of association say otherwise.

What the tax office requires

The Income Tax Act 1922 (article 42(3)) requires companies to keep books that show the annual profit. Other business owners keep records from which net profit can be calculated once profit or turnover passes the (old, low) thresholds in the act; in practice that covers almost every active business. Books are kept in Dutch. With your final return you attach a dated and signed balance sheet and profit and loss statement (article 44(5)). The inspector may inspect and copy your books, notes and computer files (article 82a).

How long to keep records, and may they be digital?

You may scan paper documents and keep them only in digital form, provided the transfer is correct and complete, the data stay available for the full retention period and you can make them readable within a reasonable time (art. 2:15(4) Civil Code). The exception: the balance sheet and statement of income and expenses drawn up on paper (profit and loss account). Keep those on paper, signed.

In practice: back up every month to a second place (external drive or cloud), and once a year check that old files still open. A file in software you will not have in eight years does not count as "readable within a reasonable time".

What must be on an invoice?

The VAT Act (article 27) requires a VAT registered business to issue dated invoices numbered in sequence to customers that are businesses, including for advance payments. You issue the invoice within 15 days after the end of the month in which you supplied. For an advance payment you issue the invoice before the payment falls due. You keep a copy of every invoice. Article 28 and the tax office VAT brochure list these mandatory details:

• the date of issue and a unique, sequential invoice number
• name, address and tax identification number (FIN) of you as supplier
• name, address and FIN of your customer
• quantity and nature of the goods, or extent and nature of the services
• the date of supply
• the amount excluding VAT per rate, the rate applied (0%, 5%, 10% or 25%) and the VAT amount
• for an exempt supply: a note that it is exempt
• for reverse charge: the words "BTW verlegd"
• the total including VAT
• for vehicles extra details such as make, model, engine capacity and chassis number

Not invoicing, invoicing late or issuing an incorrect invoice is an offence. The VAT Act sets fines of up to SRD 50,000 (articles 58 and 59). And your customer can only deduct VAT with a correct invoice, so a sloppy invoice costs them money and costs you customers.

Not VAT registered (turnover under SRD 1,000,000 a year)? Then you charge no VAT. A clear, numbered invoice with your name, address, FIN, date, description and amount is still the basis of your records. More on the threshold and rates in VAT in Suriname.

Numbering

• One continuous series without gaps, for example 2026-001, 2026-002. A new series each year is fine, as long as every number is unique.
• You do not throw away or reuse the number of a cancelled invoice: you issue a credit note against it.
• Proformas and quotes get their own series, separate from your invoices. See Proforma invoice.

Invoice generator → · Quote generator · Delivery note

Credit notes, receipts and till receipts

Credit note

If you give a discount afterwards, take goods back or the contract is cancelled, you issue a credit note (the law calls it a kredietnota, art. 23 VAT Act). The credit note has its own number, refers to the original invoice and shows the amount and VAT you reverse. The VAT on the credit note reduces the VAT you owe in the month you issue it. Then you issue a new, correct invoice if needed. Credit note

Receipt (kwitantie)

A kwitantie is a proof of payment: "I received this amount". It is not an invoice and does not replace one when your customer is a business and you are VAT registered. It is useful for rent, cash payments and deposits. Put on it: number, date, name of the payer, the amount in figures and in words, what it is for, and a signature. Keep a copy in your records. Receipt maker · Amount in words

Till receipt (kassabon)

If you sell to consumers, you may use a cash register system instead of invoices (art. 27(7) VAT Act). The customer must be able to get a copy of the receipt and you keep one. According to the tax office a till receipt shows: a sequential number, your name, address and FIN, the date, what you sold (quantity and nature), the total excluding VAT, the VAT amount and the total including VAT, the rate and, where relevant, a note of an exemption. If you sell to a business, an invoice is still required.

Annual accounts and audit for an NV

Book 2 of the Civil Code refers to the Annual Accounts Act (Wet op de Jaarrekening, S.B. 2017 no. 84, in force since 6 October 2017) for what annual accounts must contain. The act applies to the NV, the cooperative and the mutual insurance society, to foundations and associations that run a business entered in the trade register, to formally foreign companies and to institutions supervised by the Central Bank (CBvS). A sole trader is not covered, but does have the record keeping duty of Book 3.

The act classifies legal entities by size. You fall in a class if you meet at least two of the three criteria on two consecutive balance sheet dates:

Note: these amounts have been fixed in SRD since 2017. Because the SRD has lost value, SRD 6 million turnover is worth far less now than then (see current Exchange rates today). Many businesses that call themselves small are medium-sized under this act.

The accounts contain at least the balance sheet, profit and loss account, cash flow statement, statement of changes in equity and notes, in Dutch or English. All directors (and supervisory board members) sign; in an NV the general meeting of shareholders adopts the accounts. The audit is done by an independent certified accountant. Public interest entities (banks, insurers, pension funds, listed NVs and state-owned companies) must always be audited.

Fines. The Ministry of Economic Affairs can impose a fine of up to SRD 10,000 if the accounts are not prepared on time, and up to SRD 100,000 if you do not file or make them available, or skip a mandatory audit.

Payroll records

If you have staff, you are the withholding agent for wage tax and AOV (old age pension contribution). The Wage Tax Act (article 37) requires you to keep payroll records. The Wage Tax Implementing Order makes this concrete:

1. Employee statement. Have every new employee fill in and sign a werknemersverklaring before the first pay. Keep it until five years after the year in which employment ended.
2. Pay record per employee. Before the first pay in a calendar year, open a loonstaat (pay record) for each employee and keep it up to date: wage, wage tax and AOV withheld per payment.
3. Payslip. Give your employee a clear payslip with each payment. Payslip generator
4. Pay monthly. File and pay the tax and contribution you withheld on time. The dates are in Tax deadlines.
5. After the year. Within one month after the end of the calendar year, submit the summary pay record (verzamelloonstaat) and the wage tax cards of your employees to the inspector. Give employees a statement of their annual wage and tax withheld on request.

Payroll records belong at the place where you have your office in Suriname. Also keep employment contracts, time records and leave records; you need them in a dispute or audit. Timesheet and weekly pay · Annual leave and leave allowance · Employer costs

A simple monthly routine

A small business does not need expensive software. What matters is doing the same thing every month. Plan for one to three hours a month.

1. Daily or weekly: everything in one place. Sales invoices, purchase invoices, receipts and kwitanties in one folder (paper or digital) per month. Photograph receipts right away; thermal paper fades.
2. Count the cash. At the end of the day or week, count the till and compare it with your cash book. Write down differences with a reason. Cash counter
3. Reconcile the bank. Match every credit and debit on your bank statement with an invoice or receipt. Investigate anything you cannot explain at once.
4. Update the VAT register. Record sales and purchases per rate and calculate the VAT due. File and pay before the 16th of the following month, even if the balance is zero. VAT register and cashbook
5. Chase receivables. Which invoices are past due? Send a reminder. Unpaid invoices tracker · Payment reminder
6. Stock. Count or check your stock, at least the expensive items. Stock tracker
7. Look ahead at cash flow. What comes in and goes out over the next three months? Cash flow planner
8. Back up. Copy the month folder to a second place.

Chart of accounts: the basics

A chart of accounts is the list of "buckets" you post each entry to. For a small business this is enough:

Choosing an accountant or bookkeeper

The title accountant is protected. Under the Suriname Chartered Accountants Institute Act (S.B. 2018 no. 92) only people entered in the accountants register may call themselves accountant; registered members use the title Chartered Accountant (CA). The register is kept by the Suriname Chartered Accountants Institute (SCAI), the successor of SUVA. A statutory audit of annual accounts needs an independent certified accountant. A bookkeeping firm without that title may keep your books and file returns, but may not issue an audit opinion.

SCAI: Tapanahonystraat 2, Paramaribo, phone +597 895 5707, info@scai.sr. Ask them whether someone is registered.

Questions to ask a firm:

• Is the accountant registered with SCAI, or is it a bookkeeping office?
• What does the fixed monthly fee cover: postings, VAT return, payroll, annual accounts, income tax return?
• When must your documents be in, and when do they file the return?
• Do you get access to your own records, and who owns the files if you switch?
• Do they know your sector and bookkeeping in several currencies?

Common mistakes

• Mixing private and business money. One account for everything makes your records unreadable. Open a business account: Opening a business bank account.
• Invoices without the customer's FIN or without a supply date. Your business customer then cannot deduct the VAT.
• Changing or renumbering an invoice instead of issuing a credit note.
• Invoicing late. The deadline is 15 days after the end of the month of supply.
• Cash purchases without a receipt. No proof means no expense deduction and no VAT deduction.
• No nil VAT return in a month without sales. You must still file.
• Mixing currencies. Record USD and EUR amounts separately and note the exchange rate you used.
• Thinking you are "small" under the Annual Accounts Act while your turnover is above SRD 6 million.
• Throwing documents away after five years. The period is ten years.

What if...

...I invoice in USD? That is common in practice, but state the currency clearly. Ask the tax office or your accountant which exchange rate to use to convert the VAT in your return, and note that rate with the invoice.

...I have kept no records for years? Start now. Request bank statements from your bank, collect supplier invoices and rebuild year by year. An accountant can help with a statement of assets and liabilities. Do not wait for an audit.

...my cash register breaks down? Record sales by hand until it is fixed, with receipts numbered in sequence, and keep the old cash register data.

...does my kwitantie need a stamp? The Stamp Duty Act of 1872 still mentions stamp duty on receipts, with amounts in old guilders. Ask the tax office whether it applies to you.

Sources

• Burgerlijk Wetboek Boek 3 (S.B. 2024 no. 164), art. 15i
• Burgerlijk Wetboek Boek 2 (S.B. 2024 no. 164), art. 15 en 16
• Aanpassingswet nieuw Burgerlijk Wetboek (S.B. 2024 no. 168)
• Frielink: nieuw Boek 2 BW Suriname (in force 1 May 2025)
• Wet op de Jaarrekening (S.B. 2017 no. 84)
• De West: amendment of the Annual Accounts Act (30-10-2022)
• Wet Belasting over de Toegevoegde Waarde (current text), art. 23, 26 tot 30, 58 en 59
• Belastingdienst: VAT brochure (version 28-04-2025)
• Inkomstenbelasting 1922, art. 42, 44 en 82a
• Wet Loonbelasting and Implementing Order
• Wet Suriname Chartered Accountants Institute (S.B. 2018 no. 92)
• Suriname Chartered Accountants Institute (SCAI)
• Zegelwet 1872

Checked on 21 October 2026. General information, not legal advice.