ERP and accounting software in Rotterdam

Doing business in Rotterdam

Rotterdam has about 673,000 residents, and CBS counted around 109,600 business establishments in the municipality in 2025. The port shapes everything: ship repair yards and agents in the Waalhaven and Eemhaven, distribution centres and terminals out on the Maasvlakte, refineries and chemical plants along the river, and offices on the Kop van Zuid and in the Centrum for the traders, insurers and engineers who serve them.

Companies register with the KVK, file btw returns with the Belastingdienst and often deal with customers abroad, so foreign currencies, intra-EU deliveries and reverse charge invoices are daily work. Many also run large projects for industrial clients. Skyline Nexus ERP keeps jobs, stock, contracts and the general ledger together, so a Rotterdam firm can show any client what a job really cost.

Modules Rotterdam businesses start with

• Accounting and branches
• Inventory and warehouses
• CMMS and maintenance
• Projects and job costing
• CRM

Port, logistics and maritime services

Ship repair yards, marine engineers and ship suppliers in the Waalhaven and Eemhaven work vessel by vessel, often with only days in port. Skyline Nexus ERP opens a work order for each job, linked to the shipowner and the agreed contract, with technicians, parts, permits and downtime recorded as the work happens, so the invoice reflects the job rather than a reconstruction afterwards.

Distribution centres on the Maasvlakte and around the city hold goods for many owners. In Skyline Nexus each warehouse is a stock location, customs warehouses can be flagged as Free Zone or Bonded, and transfers between sites keep a carrier and status. Shipping invoices are often in dollars, which the system records at the entered rate while the ledger stays in euros.

Petrochemicals and the energy transition

The refineries and chemical plants of the Rotterdam port area rely on maintenance contractors for inspections, repairs and planned shutdowns. In Skyline Nexus ERP a shutdown or turnaround becomes a project with a budget, milestones and material requisitions, while each task becomes a CMMS work order with its permit to work, hazards, controls and reusable task lists that carry safety notes.

Contractors working on the port's energy-transition projects run similar engineering jobs, with long durations, staged payments and the same safety demands. The EHS area of Skyline Nexus records incidents, hazards, risk assessments and corrective actions, and asset criticality helps decide which equipment gets attention first.

Construction and architecture

Builders, installers and architecture practices are busy across Rotterdam, from housing renewal to new towers on the Kop van Zuid. Skyline Nexus ERP runs each building project with a budget, milestones, a contract and material requisitions, and once auto-posting of material issues is on, materials issued to the site post to work in progress, so cost overruns show up long before handover.

Architects and engineering consultancies track fee projects the same way, with costs and invoices tagged by project and cost centre. Plant, scaffolding and vans sit in the asset register with depreciation, and their servicing runs through CMMS work orders. Where the reverse charge applies to a subcontract, the invoice from Skyline Nexus carries btw verlegd and the customer's VAT ID.

Compliance for a Rotterdam business

As of October 2026, Dutch btw is 21% standard and 9% reduced, and Wet OB art. 35a sets the invoice details: btw-id, KVK number, sequential number, rate and amount. An intra-EU delivery of goods from Rotterdam is taxed at 0% with both VAT IDs and a reference to Article 138(1) of Directive 2006/112, and invoices are due by the 15th of the next month.

Records are kept for 7 years, and 10 for real estate. The Netherlands requires no QR code or fiscal till. Only suppliers to central government must send e-invoices, over Peppol; Skyline Nexus ERP can generate Peppol BIS files but cannot send them over Peppol yet, so PDF invoices remain the route for private customers. EU digital reporting for intra-EU B2B trade is due from 1 July 2030.

Getting started from Rotterdam

A Rotterdam company moving to Skyline Nexus ERP imports its chart of accounts, customers and suppliers with btw-ids and open balances, and stock per warehouse from spreadsheet templates. Opening GL balances are typed into a screen that will not save until both sides agree. Contractors then set up running projects with their remaining budgets and load equipment through the asset import.

The free trial is enough to run one vessel job, one shutdown work package or one building project with real data. Support is by WhatsApp, phone and e-mail in English, and Skyline Nexus ERP has no office in Rotterdam. Contractors with large crews and many sites, and suppliers to central government who need Peppol delivery, should book a demo first.

1. Create the business in EUR with btw-id and KVK number, and set btw rates of 21%, 9% and 0%.
2. Set up each yard, warehouse or site as a location and flag customs warehouses as Free Zone or Bonded.
3. Load cranes, vans and plant as assets and create permit types and task lists with safety notes in the CMMS.
4. Create running shutdowns or building projects with budgets, then switch on auto-posting of material issues.

Questions from Rotterdam businesses

Can a Rotterdam ship repair company manage jobs per vessel in Skyline Nexus ERP?

Yes. Skyline Nexus ERP lets a Rotterdam ship repair company open a work order for each vessel job, linked to the shipowner and contract, with technicians, parts, permits and downtime. Costs are collected as the work happens, and invoices in dollars or euros are issued from the same system while the ledger stays in euros.

Can maintenance contractors at Rotterdam's petrochemical plants manage permits to work in Skyline Nexus ERP?

Yes. Skyline Nexus ERP links a permit to work, with hazards, controls and validity dates, to each CMMS work order, and reusable task lists carry safety notes. Shutdowns run as projects with budgets and material requisitions, and the EHS area records incidents, risk assessments and corrective actions for contractors in the Rotterdam port area.

Can a Rotterdam construction firm track project budgets and materials in Skyline Nexus ERP?

Yes. Skyline Nexus ERP runs each building project with a budget, milestones, a contract and material requisitions. With auto-posting of material issues switched on, materials issued to a site post to work in progress, so a Rotterdam construction firm sees overruns early. Equipment sits in the asset register with depreciation and maintenance.

How should a Rotterdam company invoice an intra-EU delivery of goods?

A Rotterdam company invoices an intra-EU delivery of goods at 0% btw, shows its own and the customer's VAT IDs, and refers to Article 138(1) of the VAT Directive or the matching Dutch provision. As of October 2026 the invoice is due by the 15th of the following month. Skyline Nexus ERP stores VAT IDs on contacts.

Is e-invoicing mandatory for Rotterdam businesses?

Only for suppliers to central government, who must invoice over Peppol. Between businesses, e-invoicing in the Netherlands is voluntary as of October 2026, and PDF invoices are valid. Skyline Nexus ERP can generate Peppol BIS files but cannot send them over Peppol yet, so a Rotterdam supplier to central government needs another route for now.

Is Skyline Nexus ERP available in Dutch, and can it invoice in dollars?

Skyline Nexus ERP comes in English and Arabic and offers interface translations for many further languages, Dutch among them; any screen not yet translated appears in English. A Rotterdam company keeps its books in euros and can invoice shipping customers in US dollars at an exchange rate entered on each document.

What should a Rotterdam contractor test during the Skyline Nexus ERP trial?

During the Skyline Nexus ERP trial a Rotterdam contractor should run one real job end to end: create the project or work order, attach a permit, issue materials, book labour, invoice the client and check the trial balance. One complete cycle shows whether the set-up fits before crews and sites are migrated.

Skyline Nexus ERP is a cloud service run by Skyline Industrial Solution. We have no office in Rotterdam; support is by WhatsApp, phone and e-mail.

Figures and rules on this page change. This is general information, not tax or legal advice: confirm the current position with the authority named above or your adviser.