Accounting & Bookkeeping in Belize | Rules Explained

Accounting and Bookkeeping Obligations in Belize: An OverviewCopy link to section

Every company registered in Belize must keep accounting records, and since a 2023 reform those records must be held inside the country. Accounting and bookkeeping in Belize are governed mainly by the Accounting Records (Maintenance) Act and the Belize Companies Act, 2022, with the Financial Services Commission and the Belize Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry overseeing compliance. The obligation reaches the company structures most often used by foreign owners, including the former International Business Companies now known as Belize Business Companies, limited liability companies, and trusts.

This article explains what records you must keep, where and how long to keep them, which accounting standards apply, when audits become mandatory, and what happens if you fall short. It is written for non-resident owners and their advisers who control a Belize entity from abroad and rely on a local registered agent to stay compliant. The governing record-keeping statute is published in full by the regulator and can be read at the FSC.

The Legal Framework: The Accounting Records (Maintenance) Act and the Belize Companies Act, 2022Copy link to section

Two statutes carry most of the weight. The Accounting Records (Maintenance) Act, Chapter 261:01, sets out what records an entity must keep and for how long, while the Belize Companies Act, 2022 (Act No. 11 of 2022) governs the corporate structures themselves, having replaced the older International Business Companies Act and Companies Act.

A 2023 amendment changed the rules materially. The Accounting Records (Maintenance) (Amendment) Act No. 39 of 2023 came into force on 28 August 2023 and shifted the location requirement, a point covered in detail below.

The reform did not arise in isolation. The original record-keeping law was adopted under pressure from the OECD, and its design mirrors legislation in comparable offshore centres such as the British Virgin Islands and Seychelles.

Oversight is split. The Financial Services Commission supervises non-bank financial services and licensed entities, while the Belize Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry administers the Companies Act and runs the Online Business Registry System, the portal through which corporate filings are made.

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Which Companies and Entities the Record-Keeping Rules Apply ToCopy link to section

The 2023 amendment is broad by design. It provides that, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other law, every entity registered in the jurisdiction must maintain accounting records at its registered office.

In practice this captures the full range of structures created under the Companies Act:

• Companies limited by shares, the most common form
• Companies limited by guarantee, with or without shares
• Unlimited companies, with or without shares
• Special Purpose Companies and Segregated Portfolio Companies
• Limited Liability Companies under the separate LLC regime

International Business Companies and the Belize International Trust are named expressly in the Act. Former IBCs now carry the label Belize Business Companies, but the record-keeping duty travels with them unchanged. Non-profit organisations registered under the Non-Profit Organizations Act were brought into scope by the same 2023 reform.

One structural point matters for foreign owners. A non-Belizean without a valid Social Security ID cannot register or run an entity directly and must act through a licensed registered agent, who becomes the practical anchor for record-keeping.

Accounting Records You Must KeepCopy link to section

The law sets a functional test rather than a fixed checklist: your records must accurately represent and explain the entity's transactions and allow its financial position to be determined with reasonable accuracy at any time. They must be kept in English.

"Accounting records" is defined widely. It covers financial statements, general and subsidiary ledgers, sales slips, contracts, and invoices, along with documentation of the company's assets and liabilities, all money received and spent, all sales and purchases, and all financial transactions.

The standard to aim for is reconstruction. Each transaction should be documented well enough that a third party could rebuild and understand it, and the underlying records should support preparation of a full set of financial statements.

Three categories form the minimum for an LLC or Belize BC alike:

1. Financial statements, audited or unaudited, approved, signed, and dated by a director
2. General and subsidiary ledgers recording all transactions
3. Sales slips, contracts, and invoices evidencing business activity

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Applicable Accounting Standards: IFRS, IFRS for SMEs, and US GAAPCopy link to section

There are no national accounting standards in the jurisdiction. Companies may prepare financial statements under International Financial Reporting Standards or under US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

IFRS is the default for regulated activity. Because there is no local stock exchange, IFRS is required by law for domestic banks and permitted for other companies; smaller entities may instead use IFRS for SMEs, which carries simplified principles and lighter disclosure. US GAAP is accepted as an alternative.

Two rules narrow the choice in specific cases. Where an audit is mandatory, the financial statements must be audited in accordance with IFRS, and a Belize-resident parent of a group must prepare consolidated statements, which may follow IFRS.

Where Accounting Records Must Be Kept in BelizeCopy link to section

This is the rule that changed most. Effective 28 August 2023, accounting records must be held at the company's registered office in the country or, if it has none, at the office of its registered agent. The earlier system, under which records could sit anywhere in the world so long as the agent knew the location, is gone.

For a foreign owner, the registered agent therefore becomes the storage point. If a company fails to deliver its records, the agent must notify the Financial Services Commission and warn that it will resign as registered agent unless the information arrives within five days of that notice.

Where full records are still kept abroad in the limited circumstances the law allows, the registered office must hold accounts and returns sufficient to show the company's transactions and financial position with reasonable accuracy, plus a written note of the physical address where the complete records sit. Any relocation under the older off-site arrangement had to be notified to the agent within 14 days.

Authorities expect prompt production. When a competent Belize body requests records, the registered agent must be able to produce them in a timely manner. The regime is otherwise discreet: financial information held this way is not open to the public.

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How Long Records Must Be RetainedCopy link to section

Records must be kept for at least five years. The clock runs from the date of the transaction, the closing of the account, or the end of the business relationship, whichever applies, and the period covers any Belize entity, whether the dealing was one-off or habitual.

A transitional deadline, now passed, required entities to hold records for the 2019 to 2023 period by 31 December 2023, under Public Notice FSC/LC/66/144/23.

Preparing Annual Financial StatementsCopy link to section

The duty to produce financial statements is tied to tax. Once IBCs were required to hold a Tax Identification Number and file an annual tax return, the obligation to prepare and file financial statements followed.

Two deadlines sit at the centre of the annual cycle. The annual tax return, the financial statements, and any auditor's opinion are due by 31 March of the year following the reporting period, while the Annual Return is filed through the Online Business Registry System and falls due by 30 June.

A full IFRS set runs to the balance sheet, the statement of comprehensive income, the cash flow statement, the statement of changes in equity, a description of accounting policies, and the supporting notes. Tax returns must be filed electronically with the Belize Tax Service Department for periods ending on or after 31 March 2023. The Annual Return is a separate corporate filing and is treated fully in its own article; here it matters only because it confirms the period to which your statements relate.

Audit Requirements and ThresholdsCopy link to section

Most foreign-owned companies will not need an audit. A Belize Business Company is not required to audit its financial statements unless it crosses the income threshold set in law.

That threshold sits at USD 6,000,000 in annual income. Under Section 32A of the Income and Business Tax (Amendment) Act 2018, an audit and an auditor's opinion become mandatory where annual income exceeds that figure and at least two further conditions are met, such as the company being in reorganisation, liquidation, or sale of all property at public auction, or being regulated by the International Financial Services Commission.

Where the threshold is crossed, the audit must follow IFRS. Companies below it may file statements audited in-house. The split is worth stating plainly:

• Income at or below USD 6 million: in-house statements accepted, no external audit

• Income above USD 6 million with the further conditions met: external IFRS audit required

Licensed financial entities face a stricter regime. A foreign licensee carrying on financial activity must appoint an approved auditor each year, approved by the Central Bank of Belize and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Belize holding a practising certificate, and licensed banks submit signed, audited statements with the auditor's full report.

Bookkeeping in Practice: Day-to-Day ComplianceCopy link to section

For a non-resident owner, sound bookkeeping is mostly a matter of feeding the registered agent on time. The agent's office is the compliance hub: records sit there, requests are answered from there, and a gap in your documentation quickly becomes the agent's problem and then yours.

Build the routine around a few fixed points:

• Obtain a Tax Identification Number by submitting the TIN form and fee to the registry
• Keep ledgers, invoices, contracts, and sales slips current so statements can be prepared on demand
• Have a director approve, sign, and date the financial statements before filing
• Use the Online Business Registry System for annual returns, share allotments, charges, amendments, and dissolutions

Other filings sit alongside the accounting duty without forming part of it. Economic substance reports are due within nine months of the period end, and beneficial ownership registers must be filed with the Registrar via OBRS under Section 93(1) of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2023; both are covered in their own articles, and UBO information filed this way stays confidential. The jurisdiction's standing here is sound, having received "Compliant" or "Largely Compliant" ratings across every FATF measure in January 2025.

Penalties for Failing to Keep Proper Books and RecordsCopy link to section

The headline sanction is removal from the register. Where a company defaults on its record-keeping duty it is struck off, though it can be restored if the default is cured within a reasonable time.

Monetary exposure is real. The Accounting Records (Maintenance) Act allows a penalty of BZ$100,000, while a parallel route under the Income and Business Tax Act provides for a penalty not exceeding USD 10,000 together with revocation of the licence and the certificate of incorporation.

A further layer arrived on 1 January 2025, when new late filing penalties for business tax returns took effect; to avoid them, the 2024 annual returns must be filed by 31 December 2025. The exact quantum of these newer penalties has not been published in detail, so confirm the current schedule directly with the Belize Tax Service Department at bts.gov.bz. Enforcement is active: an FSC notice of 22 September 2023 confirmed that registered agents, licensees, and other reporting entities will face measures for non-compliance.

ConclusionCopy link to section

Keeping clean books in Belize is no longer a paperwork formality you can run from a filing cabinet abroad. Since August 2023 the records must physically reside with your registered agent inside the country, the duty reaches every entity type a foreign owner is likely to use, and the sanctions for slipping run from strike-off to a six-figure penalty and loss of your incorporation.

The single thing to settle first is the flow of documents to your agent: agree how and when ledgers, invoices, and signed statements reach their office, because that arrangement, more than any threshold or standard, is what keeps the company in good standing.

How Expanship Can Help Your Business in BelizeCopy link to section

Expanship maintains your Belize accounting records to the standard the law expects, preparing financial statements under IFRS or US GAAP, coordinating any required audit, and ensuring everything reaches your registered agent and the registry on time. The same team handles the wider obligations a foreign-owned entity carries, from formation through to annual filing.

• Company formation for Belize Business Companies, LLCs, and other structures
• Registered agent and registered office services in Belize
• Ongoing compliance and management of statutory filings
• Accounting, bookkeeping, and preparation of annual financial statements
• Economic substance and beneficial ownership filing support
• Introductions to banking partners

To discuss your record-keeping and reporting needs, contact Expanship Belize.

Frequently Asked QuestionsCopy link to section