Changing your accountant in Bulgaria (2026): checklist

You can change your accountant in Bulgaria at any time in 2026. The law does not tie the switch to the end of the year. Ask your current accountant for the trial balance (оборотна ведомост), general ledger, payroll sheets, filed returns and all documents. Authorise the new accountant to work with the National Revenue Agency (NRA), and agree who files the returns for the last month: VAT is due by the 14th and payroll by the 25th. If the books have fallen behind, catch-up bookkeeping at Fiscala costs 30–50% of the monthly fee for each missed month.

Can you switch in the middle of the year?

Yes. The Accountancy Act (Закон за счетоводството, ЗСч) covers what happens to the records when the engagement of the person who keeps the books and prepares the statements ends. Under Art. 14(1) ЗСч, the accounting records are handed over to a person named by the company's manager. The handover takes place before a committee, in a procedure the manager sets (Art. 14(2)). The law sets no link to the end of the year.

The practical rule is different: switch from the 1st of a month and split the periods cleanly. Your current accountant closes the month for which they already have the documents and files the returns for it. The new accountant takes over from the following month.

What to request from your previous accountant

The accounting records belong to the company, not to the accountant. The manager is responsible for keeping them for the statutory periods (Art. 16(1)(8) ЗСч). The periods in Art. 12 ЗСч are 50 years for payroll sheets, 10 years for accounting registers and financial statements, and 3 years for all other records. Ask for:

Trial balance (оборотна ведомост) at the handover date and at 31 December of the previous year.
General ledger (главна книга) and the sub-ledgers: customers and suppliers, cash, bank, fixed assets with the depreciation schedule, inventory.
Payroll sheets (ведомости за заплати) and the personal data needed to insure the employees. Payroll sheets are kept for 50 years.
Filed returns with their NRA reference numbers: VAT returns with the purchase and sales ledgers, VIES returns, Form 1 and Form 6 declarations, annual corporate tax returns, and Art. 55 returns and Art. 73 statements under the Personal Income Tax Act if the company paid such income.
Annual financial statements and proof that they were published in the Commercial Register.
Source documents: invoices, contracts, bank statements, protocols. If they are kept only electronically, ask for an export.
An export from the accounting software in a format the new accountant can open, and a list of open matters: pending NRA audits, letters, VAT credits and tax losses carried forward.

Sign a handover protocol (приемо-предавателен протокол) that lists the documents handed over. This follows the procedure in Art. 14 ЗСч and gives you proof of what you received.

Access to the NRA: power of attorney and e-signature

A company can be represented before the NRA by an agent on the basis of a written power of attorney (Art. 10(4) of the Tax and Social Insurance Procedure Code, ДОПК). Returns are filed electronically by the company or its representative with a qualified electronic signature (QES) or a personal identification code issued by the NRA (Art. 102(1) ДОПК). In practice:

The manager signs a power of attorney for the new accountant to use the NRA's e-services, covering what is needed: filing returns, statements and correspondence.
The power of attorney is registered in the NRA e-services portal with a QES. The new accountant also works with their own QES.
Revoke the previous accountant's power of attorney. Under Art. 41 of the Obligations and Contracts Act (ЗЗД), a power of attorney ends when it is revoked. Revocation cannot be raised against third parties who dealt with the agent in good faith, so do not delay it.
Change the passwords and access to the bank, the invoicing software and any other system the previous accountant used.

Timing the handover around deadlines

The riskiest days are around the monthly deadlines:

By the 14th: the VAT return for the previous month (Art. 125(5) of the VAT Act, ЗДДС). Any VAT due is paid by the same date (Art. 89(1) ЗДДС). A VAT-registered company files a return even when it had no supplies (Art. 125(4) ЗДДС).
By the 25th: social security contributions and withheld tax on the previous month's salaries, with Form 1 and Form 6 (Art. 7(1) of the Social Security Code, КСО; Art. 65(11) of the Personal Income Tax Act, ЗДДФЛ).
1 March – 30 June: the annual corporate tax return and payment (Art. 92(2) of the Corporate Income Tax Act, ЗКПО).
By 30 September: publication of the annual financial statements in the Commercial Register (Art. 38(1)(1) ЗСч).

Example: you decide to change accountants in mid-October 2026. Your current accountant files the September VAT return by 14 October and the September payroll by 25 October. The new accountant takes over from 1 November: they process October and file its VAT return by 14 November and its payroll by 25 November. Record in the protocol who is responsible for each period. The full list of dates is in our tax calendar.

If you switch between January and June, agree explicitly who will prepare and sign the annual statements for the previous year. Statements are prepared by individuals employed or contracted by the company, or by accounting firms (Art. 17(1) ЗСч), who must meet the education and experience requirements in Art. 18 ЗСч.

Checklist for changing your accountant

Sign a contract with the new accountant and set the month from which they take over.
Notify the previous accountant in writing and give the handover date.
Agree who files the VAT return and payroll for the last month.
Collect the trial balance, general ledger, payroll sheets, returns and documents from the list above.
Sign a handover protocol.
Authorise the new accountant for NRA e-services and revoke the old power of attorney.
Change access to the bank and software.
Have the new accountant check the balances and filed returns and tell you if anything is missing.

If the books have fallen behind

Sometimes a switch reveals months of unbooked documents or unfiled returns. The fix is catch-up bookkeeping: the documents are booked retroactively and the gaps are corrected. At Fiscala, catch-up bookkeeping costs 30–50% of the monthly fee for each missed month, depending on the volume and state of the documents. Example: a company on the €17 plan with 6 missed months pays between 6 × €5.10 = €30.60 and 6 × €8.50 = €51.00 for the catch-up, on top of the regular monthly fee. Plans and prices are on our pricing page, and our services are described under accounting services.

Frequently asked questions

Can my previous accountant keep my documents?

The records belong to the company and the manager is responsible for keeping them (Art. 16(1)(8) and Art. 12 ЗСч). When the contract ends, the records are handed over to a person named by the manager (Art. 14(1) ЗСч).

Do I have to wait until the end of the year?

No. You can switch from any month. The easiest start is the 1st of a month, after the previous accountant has filed the returns for the month before.

Does the NRA access require a notarised document?

The ДОПК requires a written power of attorney (Art. 10(4)), and electronic filing needs a QES or an NRA personal identification code (Art. 102(1)). Check the exact form for registering an e-services power of attorney in the NRA portal.