Legal & professional services
Backup for bookkeepers who look after other people's records
Mindtime makes unalterable copies of the mailboxes, shared folders, laptops and office servers where your clients' records arrive and get processed. They are stored in its own data centres in the Netherlands and Germany, with an extra copy kept air-gapped.
In Dutch, German or English.
- NL · DEStored only in our own Tier III data centres in the Netherlands and Germany
- ImmutableObject Lock storage plus an air-gapped copy; every backup job is checked
- ISO 27001 · NEN 7510Audited security, with a data processing agreement in every contract
- NL · DE · ENSupport from people, no offshore call centres or chatbots
In short
Bookkeepers need off-site backups because they hold records their clients must be able to produce for seven years, and because the Wwft obliges administratiekantoren to keep client due diligence files. Mindtime protects the mail, files, laptops and servers you work from with immutable copies in its own Dutch and German data centres.
What's at stake
The data bookkeepers can't afford to lose
Receipts and source documents
Purchase invoices, bank statements and receipts arrive by mail, upload or scan. They are the evidence behind every booking, and clients rely on you to still have them when the tax inspector asks.
VAT and payroll submissions
Quarterly VAT returns and monthly wage tax filings run on fixed deadlines. If the working files disappear mid-quarter, you redo the work under pressure.
Client identification files
The ID copies and UBO checks you collect under the Wwft prove you knew who you worked for. They must survive a laptop theft or a mailbox wipe.
Rules and obligations
What the rules ask of bookkeepers
Summarised from the sources listed at the bottom of this page. This is general information, not legal advice.
Administratiekantoren fall under the Wwft
BFT's guidance counts bookkeeping offices as Wwft institutions when they work on annual accounts, keep records, give tax advice or file returns. The related data must be recorded and kept on file for five years after the transaction or the end of the client relationship. [1]
BFT is your Wwft supervisor
Bureau Financieel Toezicht supervises Wwft compliance by administratiekantoren, alongside accountants, tax advisers and notaries. [2]
Your clients' seven-year duty
Businesses must keep their records for seven years, and the general ledger, debtors, creditors and purchase and sales records always fall under that period. Real estate data must be kept for ten years. [3]
You are often a processor
The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens lists payroll administration and accountancy firms handling accounts as typical processors. A processor needs a processing agreement with the client and must secure the personal data appropriately. [4]
NIS2 does not list bookkeeping
Bookkeeping offices are not in the sector list of the Cyberbeveiligingswet, in force in the Netherlands since 15 August 2026. Most offices are also too small to meet the NIS2 size threshold, which starts at medium-sized organisations. [5]
When it goes wrong
A stolen laptop in the VAT week
Illustrative example: a self-employed bookkeeper's laptop is stolen from a car during the week VAT returns are due. Several clients' scanned receipts and spreadsheets were stored only on that device. Because Mindtime backed up the laptop to its data centres, the files are restored to a new machine from the last checked backup. The bookkeeper then records the theft as a possible data breach and informs the affected clients, who are the controllers of that data.
How Mindtime protects it
Backup for bookkeepers, workload by workload
- Microsoft 365 backupShared receipt inboxes and client folders are the heart of a modern bookkeeping office.
- Laptop and endpoint backupIndependent bookkeepers often keep client spreadsheets and scans on one laptop.
- NAS backupOffice NAS devices hold years of scanned paperwork that exists nowhere else.
- Google Workspace backupOffices that work in Gmail and Drive need a copy outside Google's own environment.
The software you use, and what we protect around it
| e-Boekhouden.nl | Online bookkeeping with a workflow for bookkeepers and administratiekantoren. It is a SaaS service, so check its export and retention terms; Mindtime protects the mail and documents you handle around it. |
|---|---|
| SnelStart Accountant | Cloud bookkeeping where bookkeepers and clients work in the same administrations. Keep the exports you rely on in a mailbox or folder that Mindtime backs up. |
| Loket | Online payroll and HR platform used by administratiekantoren. Payslips and payroll reports you download and send to clients sit in your own mail and folders, which Mindtime protects. |
| Receipt inbox in Microsoft 365 | Many offices run a shared mailbox where clients send invoices and receipts. Mindtime backs up that mailbox outside Microsoft's environment. |
| Scans and spreadsheets on a NAS | Year-end spreadsheets and scanned paperwork often live on a Synology or QNAP NAS in the office. Mindtime backs it up to its own data centres. |
Before you switch
What bookkeepers ask us first
All my clients' bookkeeping is online already.
The bookkeeping package keeps its own data, but the receipts, mails, payroll reports and spreadsheets you collect around it are yours to protect. That is the part Mindtime backs up.
I work alone. Is this worth it?
A one-person office has no colleague with a second copy. Mindtime runs and checks the backups for you, and a free 15-minute demo shows whether it fits the way you work.
Will my clients' data end up outside Europe?
No. Mindtime keeps backups only in its own Tier III data centres in the Netherlands and Germany. You receive a data processing agreement you can reference in your own agreements with clients.
FAQ
Questions about backup for bookkeepers
Does a bookkeeper need a processing agreement with Mindtime?
Yes, and Mindtime provides one with every contract. As a bookkeeper you often act as a processor for your clients, so Mindtime becomes a sub-processor. Check that your client agreements allow sub-processors and name where data is stored: in Mindtime's own data centres in the Netherlands and Germany.
How long should we keep backups of client records?
Align backup retention with the duties your clients and you have: seven years for most business records, ten years for real estate data, and five years after the relationship ends for Wwft files. Decide which of those you hold yourself and which stay in the client's own package.
What happens to backups if ransomware reaches our office?
The attacker cannot change or delete them. Mindtime stores backups immutably with Object Lock and keeps an air-gapped copy, and backups are scanned for malware before a restore. Restores can run in an isolated environment so the infection does not return.
Who helps us if a restore is needed?
Mindtime's own support team, reachable in Dutch, German or English, with no offshore call centre or chatbot in between. The platform is monitored 24/7 and every backup job is checked, so problems usually surface before you need the data. If you want to see a restore first, book the free 15-minute demo.
See it with your own data
Book a 15-minute demo
We show you a backup and a restore, and answer your questions in Dutch, German or English. No offshore call centres, no chatbots.