Adjusted opening balance

While doing my jaaraangifte over 2022, I found out that the closing balance of 2021, was missing several mutations:

• In 2022, I received back a deposit for office rental that I payed in 2020
• I receicev several payments from the Belastingdienst, related to earlier years.

Combined, this is probably around a thousand euro.

How to correct this?

Just add as 'unexpected income'?

Just add these items as "unexpected income"? That would surely work without being much work. It doesn't distort my p&l account significantly, and it wouldn't be in my favour - so I'm unlikely to get in trouble with it.

However, this brings two issues:

1. It's not income - OK, but that's the price for me of not having an accurate bookkeeping
2. It means I have income with 0% VAT - I felt this was a rather creative solution. However, this does add accounts to my administration that are only needed for this + I am not sure if this is really correct: I don't generate any regular income with 0% VAT, so it is kinda strange, isn't it? On the other hand: I receive kickback fees from a PSP. Isn't that without VAT also?

Create an additional 'intermediary balance'?

After the opening balance - which would be the same as the 2021 closing balance, add an extra section in the spreadsheet, called 'corrected balance'? Insert there those mutations as "unexpected income"?

ChatGPT: Correct via opening balance of 2002

Handling corrections to your closing balance from previous years, particularly when they’ve already been submitted to the Dutch Belastingdienst (Tax Authority), can be a bit tricky. However, there is a generally accepted accounting method to handle these situations, without reopening and adjusting all your past annual accounts. Here's how you could approach this:

Correct via the opening balance of 2022

The easiest and most practical solution is to adjust your opening balance for 2022 to reflect the omissions in your 2021 accounts. This is common practice when an issue is discovered after past financial statements have been finalized and submitted.

• How: Adjust the opening balance of 2022 by including the omitted items (e.g., the payments from the Belastingdienst and the rent down payment refund). You don’t need to go back and correct prior years’ statements unless the errors were substantial or required by law
• Journal Entry: Record the missing receivables from previous years as part of your 2022 accounts, and adjust the balance sheet accordingly.

Explanation in the notes

In the notes to your 2022 financial statements, you should include an explanation of why the adjustments have been made. This provides transparency and prevents confusion if someone were to compare your 2021 closing balance to your 2022 opening balance.

Example

The opening balance for 2022 has been adjusted to include receivables related to previous years that were not recognized in the 2021 closing balance. These include [specific items such as Belastingdienst payments and rent refunds].

Do not classify as profit

Avoid classifying these as "unexpected profit" for 2022. These are not profits generated in 2022 but rather corrections to previous periods' balances. Classifying them as profit could distort your income and taxes for 2022. Instead, simply include them in the balance sheet adjustments as corrections to the opening balance.

Belastingdienst?

• I couldn't find online information whether this approach is accepted
• I do remember that when entering business information during IB submission, that the site asks if the opening balance of the current submission year, is different from the previous closing balance.