Bookkeeping for personal trainers and sports coaches

9% or 21%: the location decides

The reduced 9% rate applies to providing the opportunity to practise sport in or from a sports facility. If you train clients in a gym, sports hall or your own training space equipped for it, your service generally falls under 9%. A bootcamp starting from a facility can also qualify.

If you train purely at the client's home or in the park, without any sports facility involved, the standard 21% rate applies. The same goes for nutrition advice, lifestyle coaching and online coaching without a physical training component. If you combine both, you work with two rates and split them in your records and on your invoices.

Session cards, packages and subscriptions

Many trainers sell ten-session cards or monthly packages. For VAT purposes: at the moment you invoice or receive payment, the VAT is due. Even if the client uses the sessions later. So process the sale of a session card in your return immediately, and separately track how many sessions remain open.

If you work with direct debits or payment requests, link them to invoices or a revenue overview. Loose payment requests without substantiation make your turnover hard to justify if the tax authorities take a look.

Travel costs and training on location

If you drive to clients' homes, to the park or to the gym you rent, those are business kilometres. With a private car you record 0.25 euros per kilometre in 2026. Track date, destination and kilometres; with many separate appointments per day a watertight log matters even more, because those trips add up.

Costs you may deduct

Renting hall space or a spot in a gym, your equipment such as kettlebells and resistance bands, sportswear with your business logo, your liability insurance, professional courses and certifications such as a trainer's licence: all business costs. Software for planning, nutrition schedules and your website also count. Generic sportswear without a logo and your own gym membership are private and therefore not deductible.

If you meet the 1,225-hour criterion, the self-employed deduction of 1,200 euros and possibly the starter's deduction of 2,123 euros come on top. Count all your hours: training sessions, but also writing schedules, administration, acquisition and further training.

Starting small? Consider the KOR

If you start alongside a job and your turnover stays below 20,000 euros per year, the small business scheme can be attractive: no VAT to charge, no VAT returns. For private clients you effectively become cheaper. Note: you also cannot reclaim VAT on equipment, hall rent and courses, and the choice in principle binds you for three years. So run the numbers before you sign up.