Booking a bank statement in Bulgaria: accounts and example

A bank statement shows every receipt and payment on the account for the period. Booking it means posting each line against the bank account, usually 503 "Current account", and against the account that explains the movement: customers, suppliers, staff, the budget, loans or expenses. At the end, the balance of 503 must equal the closing balance on the statement.

The bank statement as a document

A primary accounting document is the carrier of information about a business transaction recorded for the first time (Art. 4, para. 2 of the Accountancy Act, ЗСч), and it may be electronic (Art. 4, para. 5). The Payment Services and Payment Systems Act requires the bank to state, for each transaction, the reference, the amount, all fees by type and amount, the exchange rate and the value date, and on request to provide this at least monthly and free of charge (Arts. 65 and 66). For companies, the contract with the bank may provide otherwise (Art. 46, para. 5). So in practice the statement is the document from which movements on 503 are posted.

• 01The statement proves the payment, not the supply. An expense is deductible for tax when it is documented by a primary document for the transaction itself, such as the supplier's invoice (Art. 10, para. 1 of the Corporate Income Tax Act). Income is documented by the invoice you issue.
• 02For taxes and social contributions paid under a law, the payment document is enough (Art. 6, para. 7 of the Accountancy Act).
• 03The bank need not issue an invoice for its fees (Art. 113, para. 3, item 2 of the VAT Act), so the fee is booked from the statement.
• 04Statements are kept in practice for at least 10 years: the Accountancy Act puts documents for tax control in the 10-year category (Art. 12, para. 1), and the Tax and Social Insurance Procedure Code requires keeping them 5 years after the limitation period expires (Art. 38, para. 1).

Account numbers are convention

Each company applies an individual chart of accounts approved by its manager (Art. 11, para. 1, item 5 and Art. 16, para. 1, item 1 of the Accountancy Act). The National Chart of Accounts, adopted by Council of Ministers Decree No. 65 of 1998, was repealed from 1 January 2002, but accountants and software still use its numbers. The numbers in this guide follow that practice. Where practice differs, it is noted.

Since 1 January 2026, account 503 is the account in euro, the national currency, and 504 is for accounts in other currencies, such as US dollars. The old names "in leva" are no longer accurate.

How the most common lines are booked

Example: a statement for September 2026

Primer OOD is VAT-registered and has an account in euro. The opening balance at 1 September 2026 is €12,480.00. The contribution and tax amounts are illustrative, not calculated at 2026 rates.

Receipts total €8,900.85 and payments €5,619.50. The closing balance of account 503 is €12,480.00 + €8,900.85 - €5,619.50 = €15,761.35, and it must equal the statement's closing balance. If it does not, look for a line that was not posted; how to check is covered in bank reconciliation in Bulgaria.

The advance of 5 September requires an advance invoice by 10 September (Art. 113, para. 4 of the VAT Act). More on charging and deducting VAT on advances in advance payment invoices in Bulgaria.

Fees and receipts net of fees

Bank fees are usually booked to account 629 "Other financial expenses". The former National Chart of Accounts put commissions paid there, with sub-account 6291 "Commissions in leva". Some companies book routine account fees to 602 "External services". Both practices exist: pick one, write it into the accounting policy and apply it consistently (Art. 26, para. 1, item 2 of the Accountancy Act).

When a receipt arrives net of a fee, for example a card payment, a transfer from abroad or a payout from a payment platform, the full invoice amount and the fee are recorded separately, without offsetting (Art. 26, para. 1, item 7 of the Accountancy Act). A customer pays an invoice of €217.40, and €213.53 reaches the account:

Stripe payment processing fees are usually exempt from VAT, but a VAT-registered business issues an Art. 117 protocol for them, without tax; details in the Art. 117 protocol.

Accounts in currencies other than the euro

Foreign-currency amounts are converted to euro at the European Central Bank reference rate published by the Bulgarian National Bank on the transaction date (Art. 5, para. 1 of the Accountancy Act). The difference between the rate at the invoice and the rate at payment is financial income (724 "Foreign exchange gains") or expense (624 "Foreign exchange losses").

A company invoices a US customer $1,000.00 on 20 August at $1.1700 per euro, that is €854.70. Payment arrives on 8 September at $1.1600, that is €862.07. The entry is Dr 504 €862.07 / Cr 411 €854.70 and Cr 724 €7.37. Had the rate moved the other way, the difference would have been an expense on 624. The rates in the example are illustrative. Usually every month, and necessarily at the reporting date, the currency account balance is revalued at the rate on the last day.

The euro account is no longer a currency account: a euro receipt for a euro invoice creates no exchange difference.

The euro changeover and the chart of accounts

Before 2026, euro cash was usually on 502 "Cash in foreign currency" and a euro bank account on 504. From 1 January 2026 these balances are in the national currency and are usually moved to 501 and 503. Leva balances were converted on 1 January 2026, and differences from converting individual assets and liabilities are current income or expenses recognised for tax (Art. 48, para. 4 of the Act on the Introduction of the Euro).

Common mistakes

• 01Recording a receipt net of a fee at the net amount. The receivable is settled with the full amount, and the fee is a separate expense (Art. 26, para. 1, item 7 of the Accountancy Act).
• 02Keeping the euro account on 504 and calculating exchange differences. Since 1 January 2026 the euro is the national currency.
• 03Recording an unidentified receipt as revenue (Art. 9, item 2 of the Accountancy Act). It stays on a suspense account, such as 499, until the payer is identified.
• 04Booking the VAT payment to 4532 instead of 4539. Account 4539 holds the liability from the VAT return for the period.
• 05Leaving out the owner's personal payments from the company account. Every movement on the account is booked (Art. 3, para. 2 of the Accountancy Act).
• 06Recognising an expense from the statement alone, without an invoice. The statement proves the payment, not the expense, except for taxes and contributions (Art. 6, para. 7 of the Accountancy Act) and bank fees, for which the statement itself is the document.

In smetni.app

With accounting enabled (Business plan), payments of invoices and expenses confirmed in the Bank module are posted automatically: a customer receipt as Dr 503 / Cr 411, with exchange differences to 624 or 724; a supplier payment as Dr 401 / Cr 503. An outgoing line with no document can be recorded as an expense, by default a bank fee, posted to 629, and an incoming line, or the rest of a receipt, placed explicitly as a customer credit is posted to 412. The rest of a receipt larger than the invoice does not go to 412 by itself: it stays open on the line until you place it. Salaries, taxes, contributions, tax advances, dividends and transfers between own accounts are marked in Bank but not posted automatically: you post a manual entry for them. When Personnel entries state the contributions separately, they are posted to Cr 455, so use Dr 455 for the manual payment to clear the account. All bank payments are posted to 503, including those from currency accounts. The chart of accounts in the app can be extended with your own accounts. See the guides to bank and accounting, and plans and pricing.