Do Your Own Accounting with Firmify — What You Can and Cannot Do
Do Your Own Accounting with Firmify — What You Can and Cannot Do (2026)
Author: Firmify Team Date: July 2026
Every EOOD owner or freelancer in Bulgaria eventually asks: "Can I do my own accounting?"
The short answer: yes, the law allows it. The Bulgarian Accountancy Act doesn't require you to hire an accountant. It requires you to maintain double-entry bookkeeping, file an annual financial statement (GFO), and pay your taxes on time. Who does it — you or an accountant — is not specified.
The long answer: it depends on how complex your business is. Let's look at exactly what you can do yourself with Firmify and where it makes sense to hire a professional.
What Is Firmify Accounting?
Firmify Accounting is a cloud accounting platform built specifically for Bulgarian businesses. Unlike Xero, QuickBooks, and FreshBooks — which have zero Bulgarian localization — Firmify includes:
- ✅ Full Bulgarian National Chart of Accounts (NSC) — 38 accounts per Bulgarian accounting standards
- ✅ VAT ledgers, declarations, and protocol — auto-generated from your invoices
- ✅ Annual Financial Report (GFO) in DOCX — ready to submit to the Commercial Register
- ✅ NAP XML exports — VAT declarations, annual tax, D1, D6
- ✅ SEF e-invoicing — integration ready before the mandate becomes law
- ✅ Payroll with social security — automatic net salary and insurance calculation
- ✅ Bank import — BNB XML and Fibank CSV
- ✅ Reports — trial balance, general ledger, income statement, balance sheet, cash flow
- ✅ Budgets — plan vs actual with variance percentages
- ✅ Recurring entry templates — monthly, quarterly, yearly
- ✅ REST API — integrate with e-commerce platforms, CRMs, ERPs
And most importantly: journal entries are created automatically. When you issue an invoice, the system automatically posts:
Debit 411 (Receivables) / Credit 701 (Revenue) ± Credit 4532 (VAT payable)
You don't write "debit" and "credit." You fill in the invoice details, and the system does the double-entry for you.
Concrete Scenarios: Who Can and Who Shouldn't
✅ Scenario 1: Freelancer / Sole Proprietor (No VAT Registration)
Example: Ivan is an IT consultant working as a freelancer. He issues 2-3 invoices per month, has no employees, and is not VAT-registered.
What Ivan does with Firmify:
- Self-setup — runs the setup wizard, selects "Freelancer." The system creates a simplified chart of accounts (14 accounts instead of 38), a current accounting period, and a compliance deadline calendar.
- Issues invoices — fills in client details, description, amount. Clicks "issue." The system posts the journal entry automatically.
- Records expenses — internet bills, office supplies, external services. The system records them in the purchase ledger.
- Tracks deadlines — the dashboard shows: "📅 April 30 — annual tax declaration," "📅 25th — quarterly advance tax payment."
- At year-end — clicks "Generate GFO" and gets a ready-to-submit DOCX file for the Commercial Register.
Ivan's taxes (actual numbers for 2026):
| Parameter | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual revenue | €60,000 |
| Normatively recognised expenses (25%) | €15,000 |
| Taxable income | €45,000 |
| Personal income tax (10%) | €4,500 |
| Social security (min base €550.66/mo × 27.8%) | ~€3,600/yr |
| Total tax + insurance | ~€8,100/yr |
Ivan can do his own accounting. The calculations are simple, there's no VAT, the GFO is short. Firmify saves him ~€1,200-2,400/year in accountant fees.
⚠️ Scenario 2: VAT-Registered EOOD, No Employees
Example: Maria runs an e-commerce EOOD. She's VAT-registered (exceeded the €51,130 turnover threshold). No employees.
What Maria does with Firmify:
- Everything from Scenario 1, plus:
- Monthly VAT declaration — the system auto-populates the sales and purchase ledgers from issued invoices. Generates the VAT return with one click. Exports XML for NAP.
- Monitors VAT threshold — the dashboard shows current taxable turnover and warns when thresholds are approaching.
- Generates SEF — when issuing invoices to business clients, the system generates UBL 2.1 XML and tracks submission status.
Maria's taxes (actual numbers for 2026):
| Parameter | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual revenue | €250,000 |
| Expenses | €120,000 |
| Accounting profit | €130,000 |
| Corporate tax (10%) | €13,000 |
| Net profit | €117,000 |
| Dividend tax (5%) | €5,850 |
| Total taxes | €18,850 |
Maria can handle this herself, but needs to be careful with VAT. Monthly VAT filing is routine, but a mistake in the VAT ledger can trigger a tax audit. Firmify reduces risk by auto-populating ledgers from invoices — but Maria must verify all invoices are entered before the 14th of each month.
Recommendation: Maria can use Firmify for day-to-day bookkeeping and hire an accountant only for the annual closing and GFO (~€200-400/year instead of €200-300/month).
⚠️ Scenario 3: EOOD with 5 Employees and VAT
Example: Peter runs a digital agency with 5 employees. VAT-registered.
What Peter does with Firmify:
- Everything from Scenarios 1 and 2, plus:
- Payroll for 5 people — the system calculates net salary, social security contributions (Social Security 14.12%, Health Insurance 4.8%, Pension Fund), and generates the journal entries. Fills in D1 and D6 declaration data.
- Budget — sets an annual budget by account (salaries: €120,000, marketing: €30,000, external services: €40,000) and tracks variances monthly.
- AR Aging — sees which clients haven't paid and how overdue they are.
Peter's payroll costs (example for 1 employee at €2,500 gross):
| Component | Employer | Employee |
|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | €2,500 | - |
| Social Security (14.12% / 10.58%) | €353 | €264.50 |
| Health Insurance (4.8% / 3.2%) | €120 | €80 |
| Accident Fund (0.5%) | €12.50 | - |
| Income tax (10%) | - | ~€195 |
| Net salary | - | ~€1,960 |
| Total employer cost | ~€2,986 | - |
Peter is at the borderline. With 5 employees, VAT, and payroll, complexity increases significantly. Any error in social security declarations carries fines. Firmify helps with automation, but:
- ❌ Peter can't track all regulatory changes himself — if the minimum wage increases, he needs to know and update the amounts
- ❌ Nobody warns him about edge cases — business trips, sick leave, maternity leave, which have specific tax treatment
- ❌ Year-end closing involves inventory, depreciation, provisions — Firmify supports depreciation, but interpreting accounting policies is expert work
Recommendation: Peter can use Firmify for operational accounting (invoices, payroll, VAT) but should have a subscription accountant who reviews monthly reports and handles year-end closing.
❌ Scenario 4: Large EOOD / OOD with 20+ Employees, Inventory, International Trade
This is not for self-service. Reasons:
- Inventory management — Firmify doesn't yet have an inventory module (in development)
- International trade — intra-community acquisitions, exports, triangulation require deep VAT expertise
- Tax audits and inspections — a professional accountant knows how to communicate with NRA and prepare documentation for audits
- Transfer pricing — for related parties and international transactions
Recommendation: Hire a professional accountant.
What Firmify CANNOT Do (Yet)
| Limitation | Why | When It's Coming |
|---|---|---|
| Inventory management | No stock/inventory module yet | In development |
| Automatic bank reconciliation | Bank import works, but no automatic matching engine | Planned Q4 2026 |
| Mobile app | Web-only access currently | Planned 2027 |
| Direct NAP filing | XML export works; filing is manual through NAP portal | After NAP e-services integration |
| English-only accounting | Interface is bilingual (BG/EN), but GFO and official documents are in Bulgarian (required by law) | - |
| Multi-currency (beyond EUR) | Supports €and EUR; USD, GBP, RON coming | Planned 2027 |
| Consolidated reports | For groups of companies | Not in short-term plan |
Cost Comparison: Firmify vs an Accountant
| Option | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost | What You Get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firmify Self-Service | €29-49/mo | €348-588/yr | Full accounting platform + you manage it |
| Accountant for micro-business | €100-200/mo | €1,200-2,400/yr | Accountant does everything; you just provide documents |
| Accountant for small VAT-registered business | €200-400/mo | €2,400-4,800/yr | Full accounting service + payroll |
| Firmify + accountant (GFO only) | €29-49/mo (Firmify) + ~€300/yr (GFO) | ~€650-900/yr | You handle daily operations; accountant does year-end closing |
The best strategy for most small businesses: Use Firmify for day-to-day bookkeeping and hire an accountant only for year-end closing and consulting. This saves 60-80% of accountant costs without risking errors in the annual financial statement.
How to Get Started
- Sign up for Firmify
- Run the Self-Setup wizard — select your company type (EOOD / Freelancer / Other) and VAT status. The system automatically creates your chart of accounts, accounting period, and VAT period
- Enter your first invoice — the system guides you step by step
- Monitor your dashboard — it shows what's due this month
- At year-end — generate your GFO with one click
📘 Full step-by-step guide: How to Use Firmify Accounting → — from initial setup to year-end closing, including advanced features (budgets, depreciation, SEF, templates).
If it ever gets too complex — you can always invite an accountant. Firmify supports multi-company access: your accountant can log in with their own profile and see everything you've entered. You lose nothing by starting on your own.
This article is current as of July 2026. Tax rates and thresholds are based on official sources: PwC Bulgaria, NRA (NAP), NSSI (NOI), and the State Gazette. Consult an accountant for specific tax situations.
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