Resources

Philippine bookkeeping & BIR compliance, explained

Clear, practical guides to the work that actually keeps a Filipino business compliant — from VAT and withholding to DAT files, books of accounts, and registration. Written to connect the concept to your books, not just define a term.

Browse by topic

BIR compliance

Registration, books of accounts, returns, and the BIR filing calendar — explained.

9 guides

VAT & business taxes

VAT vs Non-VAT, percentage tax, the 8% option, output/input VAT, 2550Q, and SLSP.

8 guides

Withholding tax

EWT, CWT, FWT, Form 2307, SAWT, QAP, and the alphalist — reconciled to your books.

6 guides

DAT files & e-filing

What DAT files are, how SLSP/SAWT/QAP/alphalist are built, common errors, and XML.

9 guides

Bookkeeping

Double-entry basics, trial balance, month-end checklists, and choosing software.

7 guides

Business registration

The DTI/SEC → BIR → SSS/PhilHealth/Pag-IBIG workflow, and setting up your books.

4 guides

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Pillar guides

BIR compliancePillar guide

BIR Compliance Guide for Small Businesses in the Philippines

BIR compliance isn't a stack of unrelated forms — it's one system that runs from registration to year-end. Here's the whole lifecycle, in order, and how your books hold it together.

10 min readRead

VATPillar guide

VAT Filing Guide for Philippine Businesses

VAT filing isn't really about the form — it's about records that reconcile. Here's the end-to-end flow from output and input VAT through the 2550Q and SLSP, records first.

9 min readRead

WithholdingPillar guide

Withholding Tax Guide in the Philippines

If you pay suppliers, rent, or professional fees, you probably have to withhold. Here's what withholding tax is, the kinds you'll meet, the certificates and support files, and how it all reconciles to your books.

11 min readRead

DAT filesPillar guide

BIR DAT File Guide for the Philippines

DAT files are how the BIR ingests your summaries — SLSP, SAWT, QAP, alphalist. Here's what they are, how validation and submission work, the errors that bite, and why clean books make all of them fall out at once.

9 min readRead

BookkeepingPillar guide

Bookkeeping Software for Filipino Businesses: A Practical Buyer's Guide

Most tools are built for the US or generic SMEs. Here's what actually matters for a Philippine business — real double-entry books, BIR-ready outputs, and an audit trail you can trust at filing time.

7 min readRead

RegistrationPillar guide

Business Registration Workflow in the Philippines (DTI/SEC, BIR, SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG)

Registering a business in the Philippines is a sequence, not a single counter. Here's the order — name, BIR, then employer agencies — and exactly what each step produces.

10 min readRead

More guides

VAT

The 8% Income Tax Option for Sole Proprietors and Professionals

The 8% option lets eligible small self-employed taxpayers and professionals swap percentage tax plus graduated income tax for a single rate. Here's what it covers, the trade-offs, and how to elect it.

10 min readRead

Withholding

Alphalist Guide for Employers in the Philippines

The alphalist is the year-end roll-up of everyone you withheld from — employees and payees. Here's what it is, how it ties to your 1604C/1604E, why it's a DAT file, and how it reconciles to your payroll and books.

9 min readRead

DAT files

BIR DAT Files Explained for Filipino Businesses

First time hearing 'submit a DAT file'? This is the plain-language explainer: what a .DAT file is, why the BIR uses one, which submissions need it, and why building one by hand is so error-prone.

10 min readRead

Registration

BIR Form 2303 (Certificate of Registration) Explained

Your Certificate of Registration isn't just framed paper on the wall — it's the configuration sheet for your entire tax life. Here's how to read it, line by line, and what to do when it changes.

9 min readRead

Withholding

BIR Form 2307 Explained (Certificate of Creditable Tax Withheld)

BIR Form 2307 is the certificate that turns a withheld deduction into a tax credit. Here's who issues it, who claims it, what goes on each line, and how it reconciles to your books and your SAWT.

9 min readRead

VAT

How to Prepare for BIR Form 2550Q (Quarterly VAT Return)

The 2550Q is the quarterly VAT return, and it's only as clean as the books behind it. Here's what goes into it and the records that must reconcile first so filing isn't a scramble.

8 min readRead

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