A former company director has been convicted of intentionally failing to maintain and hand over company records during bankruptcy. The first-instance criminal judgment shows how inaccessible bookkeeping can obstruct the handling of an estate and expose directors to serious consequences.
Why this matters
Records show what customers owe, which supplier invoices remain, and whether bank, VAT and payroll figures match. A curator needs them to identify assets, debts and transactions. A company that hires a bookkeeper still needs access to its own files. Core Dutch records usually stay seven years. Certain property records generally stay ten years. Digital files must remain readable after software or a provider relationship ends.
Example
On 10 January 2025, the curator requested information and bookkeeping. The former director did not respond. The court found that the 2024 administration had not been properly kept and preserved. As a result, the curator could not establish a complete financial position from the records. The former director received a fully suspended two-month prison sentence, two years of probation, and 180 hours of community service. This criminal bankruptcy case concerned intentional conduct and its own facts.
XTROVERSO tips
- Test a complete export. Export the general ledger, open invoices, supplier balances, bank records, VAT files, payroll records and source documents. Check that another person can open and understand the files.
- List every system and access owner. Record who controls the accounting, banking, payroll, invoicing, tax and document platforms. Keep business administrator access outside private email accounts.
- Match records to cash. Compare the ledger with bank balances, customer invoices, supplier claims and VAT filings. Investigate unexplained differences instead of fixing folder names.
- Protect records when software changes. Before cancelling a subscription, save the data, documents and audit trail in a readable format. Confirm that the archive remains available throughout the retention period.
- Keep a handover file. Document the systems used, archive locations, access owners, export steps and latest reconciliations. Update it when a director, employee, bookkeeper or adviser leaves.
- Act earlier under financial pressure. Review the administration while staff, advisers and system access are still available. Reconstructing records becomes harder after accounts close or relationships end.
We can check whether your company files, system access and handover process remain available when a director or bookkeeper leaves
The data, sourcing, and analysis behind this article were conducted by Paolo Maria Pavan. AI was not used to identify sources, build the factual basis, or produce the analytical judgment contained here. AI was used only as a drafting aid. The final English text was personally reviewed, edited, and approved by Paolo Maria Pavan before publication.
