Books of Accounts: How to Register Them With the BIR

Yes. Under Section 232 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), every person or entity subject to any internal revenue tax must keep books of accounts that record its transactions, and those books must be registered with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) at the Revenue District Office (RDO) where the taxpayer is registered. This applies to sole proprietors, professionals, partnerships, and corporations alike — registration of books is a condition of doing business, not an optional step.

Books of accounts are the official record of your income, expenses, assets, and liabilities. The BIR uses them to verify the figures on your tax returns during an audit. Keeping unregistered books, or none at all, is a compliance violation that can trigger penalties and complicates any future examination.

You choose one of three accepted formats — manual, loose-leaf, or computerized (a Computerized Accounting System, or CAS). Each format has a different registration mechanic, but all three are now declared through the BIR Online Registration and Update System (ORUS) at orus.bir.gov.ph, per Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 3-2023.

Lead answer: the three BIR-accepted formats are manual, loose-leaf, and computerized (CAS). Manual suits very small or low-volume taxpayers; loose-leaf suits those who keep records in spreadsheets but want bound print copies; computerized suits businesses running accounting software at scale.

Manual books are pre-printed, bound journals and ledgers you buy at a bookstore — the general journal, general ledger, cash receipts book, cash disbursements book, and (for VAT taxpayers) subsidiary sales and purchase journals. You handwrite entries.

Loose-leaf books let you keep entries in a computer (typically a spreadsheet), then print, bind, and register the printed volumes. They require a Permit to Use (PTU) loose-leaf before adoption.

Computerized books — a Computerized Accounting System (CAS), Computerized Books of Accounts (CBA), or their components — are generated by accounting software. Since RMC No. 5-2021, you no longer secure a Permit to Use a CAS; you register the system and the BIR issues an Acknowledgement Certificate (AC) within three working days of complete documents.

Which format fits your business

• Manual — best for freelancers, small sole proprietors, and low-transaction businesses that prefer no software and minimal cost.
• Loose-leaf — best for taxpayers who already track transactions in Excel or similar but want compliant bound copies; requires a PTU.
• Computerized (CAS) — best for medium and large businesses, those with high transaction volume, multiple branches, or that issue thousands of invoices and need software-generated books.
• Mixed — you may register different formats for different books, but each component is declared and registered with the BIR.

Lead answer: manual books are registered and stamped before first use, and you only register a new set when the pages of the old set are fully consumed — there is no fixed annual re-registration.

Buy the bound books required for your registration (your Certificate of Registration / BIR Form 2303 lists the books you committed to keep). Declare them in ORUS under Secondary Registration > Books of Account, then present the physical books for stamping or apply the system-generated QR stamp on the first page, per RMC No. 3-2023.

A long-standing point of confusion: manual books do NOT need to be re-registered every January. RMC No. 82-2008 clarified that newly registered manual books are used until fully exhausted; you register a fresh set only when the previous books run out of usable pages. This remains the rule in 2026.

Make your entries in ink, keep them current, and do not skip or erase pages. When a book is full, register its replacement before continuing to record transactions.

Manual books — common set

• General Journal — chronological record of all transactions.
• General Ledger — accounts summarized by category.
• Cash Receipts Book — money received.
• Cash Disbursements Book — money paid out.
• Subsidiary Sales Journal and Subsidiary Purchase Journal — required for VAT-registered taxpayers.

Lead answer: loose-leaf books need a Permit to Use (PTU) loose-leaf before adoption, and the printed pages must be bound and registered annually — typically within 15 days after the close of the taxable year.

First, apply for the PTU loose-leaf at your RDO (now initiated through ORUS), submitting sample formats of the books and other accounting records you intend to print. The BIR issues the PTU authorizing the loose-leaf method.

Throughout the year you keep entries in your computer. After year-end, print the entries, permanently bind the pages into volumes, and register/submit them — for calendar-year taxpayers the practical deadline is January 15 of the following year. Affix the ORUS QR stamp and have the bound volumes recorded.

Because the binding is annual, loose-leaf carries a recurring yearly compliance task that manual books do not.

Lead answer: a CAS is registered with the BIR — not permitted — and the RDO or Large Taxpayers office issues an Acknowledgement Certificate (AC) within three working days of receiving complete documents, per RMC No. 5-2021 and RMO No. 9-2021.

Before RMC No. 5-2021, taxpayers had to secure a cumbersome Permit to Use (PTU) CAS that involved system demonstrations and long evaluation. That requirement was removed: you now submit documentary requirements (company profile, system description, sample reports, screenshots, and a sworn statement on the system's features and standard functionalities), and the BIR issues an AC.

After year-end, you submit the electronic copies of the computerized books and accounting records — saved to storage media (e.g., a USB flash drive) with a transmittal letter carrying the ORUS QR stamp, per RMC No. 3-2023. The CAS must be able to generate the equivalent of the manual journals and ledgers.

If you are evaluating accounting software or planning a custom system, see our Computerized Accounting System guide for what the BIR expects a CAS to do, the documentary requirements, and how registration fits a build.

Lead answer: log in to ORUS, open Secondary Registration, select Book of Account, declare the type and volume details, then apply the generated QR stamp to your books.

ORUS (orus.bir.gov.ph) is the BIR's Online Registration and Update System. RMC No. 3-2023 directed taxpayers to register books of accounts and generate QR stamps through ORUS rather than over-the-counter stamping.

ORUS book-registration steps

1. Create or log in to your ORUS account and enroll your TIN if you have not yet done so.
2. Go to the dashboard and click Secondary Registration, then choose Book of Account.
3. Select the type — Manual, Loose Leaf, or Computerized — and enter the book details (type of book, number of volumes, date, page count where applicable).
4. Submit to generate the QR stamp for the registered books.
5. For manual books, paste/print the QR stamp on the first page; for loose-leaf, affix it on the permanently bound volumes; for computerized books, attach it to the transmittal letter accompanying the storage media.

Lead answer: the three formats differ mainly in how they are registered, how often, and the volume of business they suit — manual is registered once until consumed, loose-leaf needs a PTU plus annual binding, and CAS needs an Acknowledgement Certificate plus annual electronic submission.

Lead answer: keep books of accounts and accounting records for ten (10) years, with the first five years in hard copy (original) under Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 17-2013.

RR No. 17-2013 sets the preservation period at ten years from the day following the deadline for filing the return (or the date of filing, if late) for the taxable year of the last entry. The first five years must be kept in original hard copy; for the remaining five years, the BIR allows an exclusively electronic copy of the originals.

The Ease of Paying Taxes Act (RA No. 11976, 2024) and RR No. 7-2024 streamlined several registration mechanics — for example, removing the annual registration fee and easing transfer of registration — but the prudent retention practice remains keeping complete records for the full prescriptive period, since the BIR can assess within that window. Keep records organized and retrievable for the entire retention period.

Lead answer: failing to register, keep, or preserve books invites compromise penalties and weakens your position in an audit — register before you transact and keep entries current.

Frequent errors include: starting operations before declaring books in ORUS; assuming manual books must be re-registered every January (they need not be — register only when consumed); letting a loose-leaf taxpayer miss the post-year-end binding; and operating accounting software without securing a CAS Acknowledgement Certificate.

Other pitfalls: keeping books that do not match the formats committed on your Certificate of Registration (BIR Form 2303), skipping the VAT subsidiary journals when VAT-registered, and discarding records before the ten-year retention period lapses. When in doubt, match your books to your COR and confirm timing with your RDO.