How to register your BIR books of accounts

Three kinds of books BIR accepts

BIR's Secondary Registration page lists three ways to keep books. Manual books are a new set of permanently bound books, the columnar journals sold in school and office supply stores. Loose-leaf books are printed pages that you bind, which need a Permit to Use Loose Leaf Books. Computerized books come from an accounting system and need an Acknowledgement Certificate or Permit to Use the system, plus the books on storage media in Standard Audit File format.^[1]

Most sari-sari stores, carinderias and small online sellers start with manual books because they are cheap and need no permit. Move to loose-leaf or computerized books when you write so many entries that the bound books fill up every few months.

Registering books online in ORUS

BIR states that on successful registration, the system generates the QR Stamp, which you paste on the first page of your books of accounts. There is no fee.^[1]

1. Log in to ORUSUse the same account you used to register the business at orus.bir.gov.ph.
2. Choose books registrationPick the type of books (manual, loose-leaf or computerized) and enter the books you will use, such as a journal and a ledger.
3. Print the QR StampWhen the registration succeeds, ORUS generates a QR Stamp. Print it.
4. Paste it on page onePaste the QR Stamp on the first page of each book. That page is what an examiner checks first.

Registering at the RDO instead

For manual books, bring two originals of BIR Form 1905 and the new set of permanently bound books. For loose-leaf books, bring Form 1905, your Permit to Use Loose Leaf Books, the bound loose-leaf pages, and an affidavit on the completeness and correctness of the entries and the number of loose leaves used for the period. For computerized books, bring Form 1905, the Acknowledgement Certificate or Permit to Use, the storage media, and an affidavit.^[1]

When to register and who must keep books

BIR issues your Certificate of Registration together with your registered books of accounts, so plan to register them as part of opening the business, not months later.^[2]

Choosing the 8% income tax does not excuse you from books. BIR's rules on the 8% option still require those taxpayers to maintain books of accounts and issue invoices.^[3]

Example: a home-based seller of kakanin in Batangas who chose 8% still writes each day's sales in her cash receipts journal. At the end of each quarter she totals the pages to fill in her 1701Q, and the books back up the figures if BIR asks.

What each type of book needs

Questions people ask

How much does it cost to register books of accounts?

Nothing. BIR lists no fee to register books, whether manual, loose-leaf or computerized.

Can I register books online?

Yes. In ORUS, a successful registration produces a QR Stamp that you paste on the first page of each book.

Do 8% taxpayers need books?

Yes. Taxpayers who choose 8% are still required to maintain books of accounts and issue invoices.

What books should a small store keep?

Ask your RDO which books it expects for your size and type of business when you register. Many small stores start with a journal and a ledger, then add more as entries grow.