Accounting software for a business in Bangladesh has to do nine things, and the list is not a matter of taste. The VAT Act fixes the fields on the invoice (section 51), makes the return due within 15 days of the tax period (section 64) and keeps every record for 5 years (section 107). The VAT Rules keep the VAT-6.1, 6.2 and 6.2.1 books “in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software System” (Rule 40(1)(bbb), in force 1 July 2025). The Income Tax Act 2023 disallows salaries and rent paid other than by bank transfer and any other sum above Tk 50,000 paid in cash (section 55), counts a mobile-wallet transfer as a bank transfer (section 2(72)), raises the withholding rate by 50 per cent when a payee is not paid through bank transfer (section 142), and wants CA-certified IAS/IFRS statements from every person other than an individual (section 73). Every section is quoted from NBR's own published text and linked at the end.
Four numbers to test any system against: the buyer's BIN on every invoice above Tk 25,000; the return within 15 days; no cash payment above Tk 50,000 that the books cannot explain; and every voucher still readable 5 years later. Ask the vendor to show you where each one lives.
The Nine Features, the Rule Behind Each, and the Tier It Lives In
The table is ordered by how often the feature is missing in the systems we are asked to replace. The first five belong in the smallest tier because the VAT officer and the tax assessor ask for them regardless of company size; the last four are where a mid-sized company's money goes.
| Feature | Rule | What it prevents | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mushak 6.3 tax invoice with the statutory fields and a fiscal-year serial | VAT Act section 51; VAT Rules Rule 40(1)(c) | An invoice without the buyer's BIN above Tk 25,000 is one the buyer cannot claim input credit on (section 51(2)), so a customer who buys on credit loses the VAT and blames the supplier. A serial that restarts or skips is the first thing an inspector tests. | Basic Accounts |
| Purchase and sales books VAT-6.1, 6.2 and 6.2.1 kept as live ledgers, not exports | VAT Rules Rule 40(1)(a), (b), (bb) and (bbb) | Since 1 July 2025 the Rules say the books are preserved "in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software System". A spreadsheet rebuilt at month end from bank statements is not that. The books have to be the by-product of posting the invoice, not a separate job. | Basic Accounts |
| VAT-9.1 return pack and the VAT-6.10 large-invoice file, ready before day 15 | VAT Act section 64; VAT Rules Rule 47 and Rule 42 | The return for a tax period is due within 15 days of the period ending, and every invoice above Tk 2 lakh, issued or received, goes to the VAT Computer System in Form VAT-6.10. A late return carries a fixed Tk 10,000 penalty under section 85. The software should show the return figures on day one of the month, not after the accountant has finished reconciling. | Basic Accounts |
| Payment channel recorded on every expense voucher: bank, mobile wallet or cash | Income Tax Act section 55(k) to (n); section 2(72) | Salaries and rent paid other than by bank transfer are not deductible at all; raw materials above Tk 5 lakh and any other sum above Tk 50,000 paid in cash are disallowed too. The Act's definition of bank transfer includes a transfer "by mobile financial services", so a bKash or Nagad merchant payment counts, but only if the voucher records that it was one. A cash-tagged expense above the cap should be flagged the day it is posted. | Basic Accounts |
| Bank and mobile-wallet reconciliation from imported statements | No statutory rule; it is how the payment-channel evidence above is proven | A bank statement, a bKash merchant statement and a Nagad statement imported and matched line by line is the evidence that an expense really went by bank transfer. In our scoping calls the wallet receipts are usually the unreconciled part: they sit in a notebook or a phone gallery while the ledger shows a single "cash sales" line. | Basic Accounts |
| Tax deducted at source on supplier bills, with the return-proof and channel checks | Income Tax Act section 142(1) and (2) | Where the payee cannot produce proof of filing their return, or is not paid through bank transfer, the deduction rate is 50 per cent higher than the normal rate. The bill-approval screen needs a place for the supplier's return proof and the payment channel, and the deduction, the challan and the certificate should come out of the same posting. | Corporate Finance |
| A chart of accounts that produces IAS/IFRS financial statements a chartered accountant will certify | Income Tax Act section 72(4) and section 73 | A company must keep its accounts under IAS and IFRS, and every person other than an individual files the income statement and financial statement certified by a chartered accountant with the return (firms, trusts and associations with gross receipts up to Tk 5 crore are exempt). The company Tax Day is the 15th day of the seventh month after the income year ends. A ledger the auditor has to re-map costs a second audit fee in time. | Corporate Finance |
| Five-year immutable audit trail on every voucher | VAT Act section 107 | Every taxpayer keeps all accounts, documents and records of their economic activity for 5 years, including every tax invoice, credit and debit note and withholding certificate issued or received. A voucher that can be edited without a trace, or a database that is purged when the disk fills, fails that test. Edits should create a new version and keep the old one. | Basic Accounts |
| Cost centres, multi-branch or multi-entity consolidation, and a live profit and cash position | No statutory rule; this is what the owner buys the system for | The compliance features above are why the auditor and the VAT officer stop asking questions. This row is why the owner stops calling three people to learn the cash position. One ledger per branch that someone combines in Excel at month end is the usual failure. | Corporate Finance or Enterprise Treasury |
The Mushak 6.3 field list, the NBR-enlisted-software threshold and the EFD programme are covered field by field in the NBR VAT compliance guide; this page covers the accounting side that guide leaves out, which is mostly the Income Tax Act.
The Bank-Transfer Rule Is the Feature Most Systems Miss
section 55 of the Income Tax Act 2023, in NBR's authentic English text of 8 October 2025, lists the payments a business cannot deduct. Four clauses are about the payment channel rather than the expense: any salary (clause k) and any rent (clause l) paid other than by bank transfer, raw materials above Tk 5 lakh paid other than by bank transfer (clause m), and any other sum above Tk 50,000 paid other than by bank transfer (clause n). section 2(72) then defines bank transfer to include a crossed cheque, any other means Bangladesh Bank approves, and a transfer “from one account to another account by mobile financial services”.
Two consequences for the software. First, the expense voucher needs a payment-channel field that is mandatory, not optional, so that a cash-tagged salary or a cash-tagged Tk 50,000 supplier payment is flagged the day it is posted. Second, the wallet statements have to be reconciled, because a bKash merchant payment is only bank-transfer evidence if the books show the transfer and the statement matches it. section 142(2) adds the same test to withholding: where a payee is not paid through bank transfer, the rate of tax deducted at source is 50 per cent higher, and section 142(1) applies the same uplift where the payee cannot produce proof of filing their return. The bill-approval screen therefore needs the supplier's return proof and the channel before the deduction is computed.
None of this is in a generic accounting product built for another market, and it is the reason the payment-channel column is the first thing we add to a client's chart of accounts. In our scoping calls it is also the most common disallowance in the assessment orders clients show us; we do not have a public figure for how common, and we are not going to invent one.
Signs the Books Have Outgrown Excel
Excel is a legitimate ledger for a very small business. It stops being one when it cannot produce the evidence a rule above asks for. These are the signs we hear on the first call:
- A salary, rent or supplier payment above Tk 50,000 is paid in cash and nobody can show which ones, which is a disallowance waiting for the next assessment.
- VAT-6.1 and VAT-6.2 are rebuilt from the bank statement at month end instead of being posted as each invoice is issued.
- The VAT-9.1 figures are known on day twelve, leaving three days for corrections.
- bKash and Nagad receipts live in a separate notebook from the ledger, so a reconciliation is a screenshot exercise.
- Last year's vouchers were overwritten by this year's, so the five-year record is really a one-year record.
What the Software Does Not Do
- It does not replace the chartered accountant. The software produces the statements; the CA certifies them under section 73, and that signature is theirs.
- It does not decide tax positions. Which expense is deductible, which rate of TDS applies and whether a supply is exempt are questions for a tax adviser; the software records the answer and flags the exceptions.
- It does not file the return. The VAT-9.1 figures come out of the ledger; someone still submits them on the NBR portal and pays.
- It does not make cash payments legal. A cash-paid rent is still non-deductible; the software can only stop it going unnoticed.
What the Nine Features Cost in 2026
These are the three accounting packages on BengalTech's 2026 price list, one-time, built in Dhaka. The first five features in the table are in every tier; the tier changes with entities, branches and the depth of the TDS and consolidation work. The four pricing models, including off-the-shelf tools, are compared in the accounting software price guide.
| Tier | Price | Delivery | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Accounts | $5,900 – $9,500 | 6–10 weeks | One entity. Mushak 6.3, the VAT books, the return pack, payment-channel vouchers, statement reconciliation, five-year trail. |
| Corporate Finance | $12,500 – $21,000 | 14–20 weeks | Several branches or a company with many suppliers. Adds TDS with challans and certificates, cost centres, IAS/IFRS statements ready for the CA, consolidation. |
| Enterprise Treasury | Per quote | Depends on scope | A group with several legal entities, intercompany balances, bank integrations and treasury reporting. |
| Support contract | $1,800 – $3,000/year | Annual | Rate and form changes after each Finance Act, backups, the audit-season questions. |
A retail business that also needs the counter side should read the POS price guide; a single-counter POS that prints the Mushak 6.3 starts at $2,200 and posts its sales into the ledger here. The full service description is on the accounting software service page.
Sources
External references behind the figures and claims on this page. Rate bands and vendor pricing move — check the source before quoting a number.
- The Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act, 2012 (Act No. 47 of 2012), English text
National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh
Section 51: a serially numbered tax invoice with the date and time, the supplier's name, address and BIN, the buyer's name, address and BIN where the supply exceeds Tk 25,000, description and quantity, value exclusive of VAT, rate, VAT payable and the total; section 51(2): no input tax credit against an invoice missing the buyer details. Section 64: the return for each tax period is filed within 15 days after the period expires. Section 85: a fixed Tk 10,000 penalty for not filing the return in time. Section 107: every taxpayer keeps all accounts, documents and records of economic activity for 5 years, including all tax invoices, credit notes, debit notes and withholding certificates issued and received.
- Authentic English text of the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Rules, 2016 (as amended to the 10 November 2025 gazette)
National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh
Rule 40(1)(a), (b) and (bb): purchase book VAT-6.1, sales book VAT-6.2 and purchase-sale book VAT-6.2.1; Rule 40(1)(bbb), inserted by SRO 158-Law/2025/286-VAT with effect from 1 July 2025: those books are preserved in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software System; Rule 40(1)(c): the VAT-6.3 invoice fields and fiscal-year serial; Rule 42(1): every invoice above Tk 2 lakh, issued or received, sent to the VAT Computer System in Form VAT-6.10; Rule 47(1): the VAT return in Form VAT-9.1.
- Authentic English text of the Income Tax Act, 2023 (SRO 404-Law/2025, published 8 October 2025)
National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh
Section 2(23): the company Tax Day is the 15th day of the seventh month following the end of the income year. Section 2(72): bank transfer includes a crossed cheque or other means approved by Bangladesh Bank, a transfer from one account to another by mobile financial services, and a government challan. Section 55: no deduction for any salary (clause k) or rent (clause l) paid other than by bank transfer, any raw-material purchase above Tk 5 lakh paid other than by bank transfer (clause m), or any other sum above Tk 50,000 paid other than by bank transfer (clause n). Section 72(4): a company maintains accounts and prepares financial reports under IAS and IFRS. Section 73 (as amended by the Finance Act 2024): any person other than an individual or Hindu undivided family files the income statement and financial statement certified by a chartered accountant, audited under ISA, except firms, trusts, associations, foundations, societies and cooperatives with gross receipts up to Tk 5 crore. Section 142(1) and (2): the rate of tax deducted or collected at source is 50 per cent higher where the payee fails to produce evidence of filing the return or is not paid through bank transfer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What accounting software features does a business in Bangladesh actually need?
Nine, and each one is tied to a section of law: a Mushak 6.3 tax invoice with the fields in section 51 of the VAT Act; the VAT-6.1, 6.2 and 6.2.1 books kept in the system under Rule 40(1)(bbb) of the VAT Rules; a VAT-9.1 return pack ready within 15 days (section 64) with the VAT-6.10 file for invoices above Tk 2 lakh (Rule 42); a payment channel on every expense so the Tk 50,000 bank-transfer rule in section 55 of the Income Tax Act 2023 can be proven; bank and mobile-wallet reconciliation; TDS with the 50 per cent uplift checks in section 142; an IAS/IFRS chart of accounts for the CA certification in section 73; a 5-year audit trail (section 107); and cost centres with consolidation for the owner.
Does a bKash or Nagad payment count as a bank transfer under the Income Tax Act?
Yes. section 2(72) of the Income Tax Act 2023 defines bank transfer to include a crossed cheque, any other means approved by Bangladesh Bank, and a transfer from one account to another "by mobile financial services". That is why the software has to record the channel on the voucher: a bKash merchant payment is deductible evidence only if the books say it was one and the wallet statement reconciles to it.
Which expenses are disallowed if paid in cash?
Under section 55 of the Income Tax Act 2023 as published by NBR on 8 October 2025: any salary (clause k) and any rent (clause l) paid other than by bank transfer, any raw-material purchase above Tk 5 lakh paid other than by bank transfer (clause m), and any other sum above Tk 50,000 paid other than by bank transfer (clause n). The software should flag a cash-tagged voucher in those categories when it is posted, not when the assessment notice arrives.
Does the software handle NBR VAT and the Mushak forms?
It has to. The Mushak 6.3 invoice fields are fixed by section 51 of the VAT Act and Rule 40(1)(c) of the VAT Rules, the VAT-6.1, 6.2 and 6.2.1 books are kept in the system under Rule 40(1)(bbb), the VAT-9.1 return is in Rule 47 and is due within 15 days of the tax period under section 64, and every invoice above Tk 2 lakh goes out in Form VAT-6.10 under Rule 42. The full field list and the enlisted-software threshold are in our NBR VAT compliance guide.
How much does custom accounting software cost in Bangladesh?
According to BengalTech's 2026 price list: $5,900 – $9,500 for a single-entity SME ledger, $12,500 – $21,000 for a multi-branch company with cost centres and TDS, and per quote for a group. A support contract runs $1,800 – $3,000/year. Off-the-shelf tools cost less up front; the comparison of the four pricing models is in our accounting software price guide.
Do I need custom accounting software, or is an off-the-shelf tool enough?
An off-the-shelf tool is enough for a single-entity service or retail business with one revenue stream, provided it prints a compliant Mushak 6.3 and keeps the VAT books inside the system. A business with several branches, distributor commissions, TDS on many supplier bills, or industry costing (manufacturing, construction, import) usually outgrows a generic chart of accounts, because the statements the CA has to certify no longer map to how the business earns. In our scoping calls the trigger is normally the second branch or the first audit query, not the software licence.
Want the payment-channel field, the TDS checks and the VAT books built into the ledger from the first voucher? BengalTech Solutions builds custom accounting software in Dhaka with the three Acts as the schema, not as reports bolted on later. Ask for a fixed quote.