Bookkeeping for a foundation
What the law asks of you, what public-benefit status adds, and how to keep it up without it becoming a second job.
What the law requires
Article 2:10 of the Dutch Civil Code applies to every foundation, including one with three board members and no staff. The board must keep records from which the rights and obligations can be established at any moment. Not at the end of the year: at any moment.
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A balance sheet and a statement of income and expenditure
Within six months of the end of the financial year. This is not the annual accounts a company files; it is an overview of assets, debts, income and expenditure.
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Keep it for seven years
The records and the supporting documents. Receipts, bank statements, contracts. Also when the board has changed three times since.
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Substantiation per entry
Every entry needs a document behind it. A transfer without an invoice or receipt is a gap, and that gap comes back the moment somebody asks where the money went.
A foundation does not have to file its figures with the Chamber of Commerce, unless it has commercial activities of some size. That does not make the article 2:10 obligation any softer; it only means nobody checks until something goes wrong.
And if you have public-benefit status
A recognised public-benefit organisation must publish every year on the internet what came in and what went out, with a balance sheet or a statement of income and expenditure and an explanatory note. That sits alongside the record-keeping duty; it is an extra requirement.
If you do not publish, the tax authority can withdraw the status. That hits not only you but your donors, because their tax relief lapses retroactively. That is the kind of letter no board wants to write.
In practice foundations rarely trip over unwillingness but over scattered files: the treasurer has the figures, the secretary runs the website, and in March nobody knows which version is right.
Where a foundation differs from an association
Administratively the difference is smaller than people think. The bookkeeping works the same; the distinction is on the income side.
No members, so no membership fees
A foundation has donors, benefactors or participants, but no members with voting rights. What is automatic fee collection at an association is a donation or a per-project invoice at a foundation.
Accounting per grant or project
If money comes from a fund or a municipality, they want to know what it was spent on. That calls for labelling expenditure, not just a total.
Still a board, still an audit
A foundation has its books checked too, even though there is no general meeting granting formal discharge. That is done by an audit committee or a supervisory board.
How Ledenboek handles this
Ledenboek is built for associations, and a foundation uses the same parts. What you switch on and what you leave alone differs.
- ✓ Import bank statements via MT940 or CAMT, with labels per project or grant
- ✓ Send invoices to donors, funds or participants, with reminders that go out by themselves
- ✓ Expense claims from board members and volunteers, with approval on them
- ✓ Annual figures and a balance sheet you can carry straight into your public-benefit publication
- ✓ Digital audit committee review, recording who saw what and when
- ✓ Keep documents with the foundation, so articles and contracts sit with the figures
What you do not use, you switch off. A foundation without members leaves the membership side alone and keeps the financial part.
What it costs
Our price depends on the number of active relations, not on what you use. A foundation with a small file and a handful of donors sits in the lowest plan of €99 per year. Everything is included; there are no separate modules and no transaction fees from us.
If you are weighing up providers, also look at the overview of ten packages.
Support und Ihre Daten
Zwei Dinge, auf die Sie sich bei Software für Ihren Verein verlassen können müssen: dass jemand antwortet, wenn Sie nicht weiterkommen, und dass Ihre Mitgliederliste bleibt, wo sie hingehört.
Wenn Sie eine Frage haben
- ✓ Sie schreiben eine E-Mail und ein Mensch antwortet, innerhalb eines Werktags
- ✓ Wer antwortet, hat es gebaut. Melden Sie einen Fehler, ist er manchmal noch am selben Tag behoben
- ✓ Kein Bot, der automatisch antwortet. Was Sie lesen, hat ein Mensch geschrieben
- ✓ Keine Warteschlange, keine Ticketnummer, kein Chatbot, der erst fünf Fragen stellt
- ✓ Mitdenken, wie Sie es einrichten möchten, gehört dazu und kostet nichts extra
Anrufen können Sie Montag bis Freitag zwischen 9.00 und 17.00 Uhr unter 084 833 2125. Keine Warteschleife und kein Sprachmenü; Sie erreichen die Person, die es gebaut hat. Sind wir im Gespräch, sprechen Sie auf die Mailbox; Sie hören noch am selben Werktag von uns. Außerhalb der Bürozeiten und im Urlaub gibt es keine Vertretung, dann läuft es per E-Mail.
Wo Ihre Daten liegen
- ✓ Alles innerhalb der EU. Die Server stehen bei Hetzner in Deutschland
- ✓ Auch jeder Dienstleister, der etwas für uns erledigt, sitzt in der EU, in den Niederlanden, Deutschland oder Irland. Keine Übermittlung außerhalb davon
- ✓ Mitgliederlisten werden nicht verkauft, nicht vermietet und nicht genutzt, um Ihren Mitgliedern etwas anzubieten
- ✓ Mitgliedsbeiträge gehen direkt auf das Konto des Vereins, nicht über uns
- ✓ Ihre vollständige Mitgliederliste können Sie jederzeit selbst exportieren
Der Auftragsverarbeitungsvertrag steht online, mit allen sechs Dienstleistern namentlich und ihrem Sitz. Den sollte ein Verein haben; Sie müssen nicht danach fragen.
Try it for thirty days
Put your bank statements in and see whether it fits. No credit card, and if it does nothing for you, you do nothing.
Try for freeAlso read bookkeeping for an association and how the audit committee review works.