Table of Contents
What Holded does well for any business
Where Holded fails in managing a dealership
Holded and REBU: the specific problem
Holded and Verifactu: what is covered and what is not
The usual model of someone using Holded in a dealership
What specific dealership software needs that Holded does not provide
Dealcar and REBU invoicing integrated with stock management
Frequently asked questions
What Holded does well for any business
Holded is business management software designed for small and medium-sized enterprises. It covers accounting, invoicing, basic CRM, project management, and treasury control. For a service or general trade business, it is a reasonable tool that integrates into a single place features that would otherwise have to be managed in several programs.
Its interface is modern, it has integrations with banks for automatic reconciliation, allows you to generate invoices in seconds, and has a financial reporting module that gives a clear picture of the company's status. For many self-employed individuals and small businesses in Spain, Holded complies well with basic tax obligations: Form 303, Form 347, accounting in accordance with the General Plan.
All of that is valid. The problem starts when the business is a used car dealership.
Where Holded fails in managing a dealership
Holded does not understand that the vehicle is the business unit. For Holded, a car is an inventory item like any other product. It has no concept of a vehicle file, does not manage the margin per car natively, does not track days in stock, nor does it allow preparation expenses to be associated with a specific vehicle.
In practice, a dealer using Holded needs to build that logic manually: create a product reference for each car, keep a separate record of the expenses associated with each vehicle, and recalculate the margin by hand at the close of each deal. With 5 or 10 cars a month, it is manageable. With 20 or 30, it is a constant source of errors and wasted time.
Read also how to prepare the accounting documentation for each vehicle.
Publishing on portals, lead management, transfer agency management, and post-sales follow-up are features that Holded does not have and that a dealership needs to manage with additional tools. The result is the usual patchwork model: Holded for accounting, a generic CRM for leads, portals managed manually, and Excel for the margin per car.
Holded and the REBU: the specific problem
The REBU (Special Scheme for Second-Hand Goods) is the tax scheme that allows second-hand dealerships to pay tax on the margin of each transaction rather than on the full selling price. Its correct management requires the invoicing software to do three things natively.
The first is to issue correct REBU invoices: total price without breakdown of VAT, with the express mention of the scheme applied in accordance with Article 138 of the VAT Regulations. The second is to link the purchase price of each vehicle to the sales transaction to calculate the margin automatically. The third is to generate and keep the REBU registry book updated with all the mandatory fields per transaction.
Read what the REBU registry book must include and how to organise it.
Holded can issue invoices without itemised VAT with a manual configuration, but it is not designed for the REBU natively. The user has to manually configure the invoice type, add the mention of the scheme, and calculate the margin on their own, because Holded does not have the purchase price of the vehicle as data linked to the sales transaction.
The REBU registry book does not exist in Holded as a standard feature. It has to be built manually in Excel or in an external document from the invoices issued, which adds work and risk of error.
The result is that many dealerships using Holded submit Form 303 with errors in the REBU box or with the tax base poorly calculated, because the program does not help them make that calculation correctly.
Holded and Verifactu: what is covered and what is not
From 1 July 2025, self-employed individuals and companies in Spain must use certified invoicing software in accordance with the Electronic Invoicing Regulation (Verifactu). Holded is adapting its platform to the Verifactu requirements, with a progressive implementation that covers the generation of the billing record and submission to the AEAT.
Check what a REBU billing program for dealerships must comply with.
In terms of compliance with Verifactu, Holded is working in the right direction for its general clients. The specific problem for dealerships is that Holded's Verifactu certification covers the general VAT scheme, but REBU management remains a manual configuration that the user has to maintain correctly. A Verifactu-certified program that manages REBU poorly is still a program that generates incorrect REBU invoices, even if it sends them to the AEAT in real time.
The usual model of someone using Holded in a dealership
Most dealerships that arrive at Dealcar using Holded have the same pattern: they started with Holded when the business was small because it was what their agency used or because it was the most well-known tool. Over time, the volume grew and they started to need things that Holded did not provide.
The usual patchwork is: Holded for invoices and accounting, Excel for stock control and margin per car, portals manually for publishing, WhatsApp for leads, and agency by email for transfers. With that model, you can operate, but each buy-sell transaction touches four different systems and the risk of error in the REBU is high.
The moment of change comes when the owner realises that they spend more time reconciling data between systems than buying and selling cars, or when a tax inspection detects inconsistencies in the REBU registry book that no one had maintained correctly.
Read also the special cases of the REBU and the errors that cause problems with the Tax Agency.
What specific dealership software needs that Holded does not provide
Software designed for car dealerships has to solve natively what Holded cannot: the file per vehicle with its purchase cost, associated expenses, and sale price; the automatic calculation of the REBU margin; the correct REBU invoice generated from that file; the updated REBU registry book with each transaction; and multi-publishing on portals from the same system where the stock is held.
That is not what a general accounting program does. It is what an industry-specific DMS (Dealer Management System) does.
Check what a DMS is in the automotive sector and what it should include.
Dealcar and REBU invoicing integrated with stock management
Dealcar integrates REBU invoicing directly into stock and file management. When the purchase of a vehicle and its subsequent sale are registered, the system automatically generates the correct invoice under the corresponding scheme, updates the REBU registry book with all the mandatory fields, and calculates the quarterly totals for Form 303.
There is no double data entry, no separate margin Excel, and no registry book to build by hand. Dealcar is certified for Verifactu.
If you want to see how it works, visit dealcar.io/en/dealership-software or request a demo at dealcar.io.
Frequently asked questions
Can Holded be used alongside Dealcar?
It makes no sense to use both simultaneously for the same operations. Dealcar covers REBU invoicing, the registry book, and accounting per vehicle. If your agency uses Holded for the company's general accounting, Dealcar can export the data in the format they need, without the need to maintain both systems in parallel.
Is Holded suitable for a dealership with very low volume?
For a dealership that sells 3 or 4 cars a month and does the accounting with their agency, Holded can work if the agency correctly manages the REBU manually. The problem comes when the volume rises or when there is no agency to closely supervise the tax side.
How much does it cost to migrate from Holded to Dealcar?
The migration of active stock and CRM contacts is included in Dealcar's onboarding. The usual process takes between 2 and 5 working days. Historical data from Holded (previous invoices, past accounting) does not need to be migrated: it is kept in Holded for historical reference if needed.
What happens to the accounting I already have in Holded?
You don't have to delete or migrate it. Dealcar generates billing data and the REBU registry book from the activation date. The agency can continue to use Holded for the accounting close of previous financial years and work with the exported data from Dealcar for new periods.
Table of Contents
What Holded does well for any business
Where Holded fails in managing a dealership
Holded and REBU: the specific problem
Holded and Verifactu: what is covered and what is not
The usual model of someone using Holded in a dealership
What specific dealership software needs that Holded does not provide
Dealcar and REBU invoicing integrated with stock management
Frequently asked questions
What Holded does well for any business
Holded is business management software designed for small and medium-sized enterprises. It covers accounting, invoicing, basic CRM, project management, and treasury control. For a service or general trade business, it is a reasonable tool that integrates into a single place features that would otherwise have to be managed in several programs.
Its interface is modern, it has integrations with banks for automatic reconciliation, allows you to generate invoices in seconds, and has a financial reporting module that gives a clear picture of the company's status. For many self-employed individuals and small businesses in Spain, Holded complies well with basic tax obligations: Form 303, Form 347, accounting in accordance with the General Plan.
All of that is valid. The problem starts when the business is a used car dealership.
Where Holded fails in managing a dealership
Holded does not understand that the vehicle is the business unit. For Holded, a car is an inventory item like any other product. It has no concept of a vehicle file, does not manage the margin per car natively, does not track days in stock, nor does it allow preparation expenses to be associated with a specific vehicle.
In practice, a dealer using Holded needs to build that logic manually: create a product reference for each car, keep a separate record of the expenses associated with each vehicle, and recalculate the margin by hand at the close of each deal. With 5 or 10 cars a month, it is manageable. With 20 or 30, it is a constant source of errors and wasted time.
Read also how to prepare the accounting documentation for each vehicle.
Publishing on portals, lead management, transfer agency management, and post-sales follow-up are features that Holded does not have and that a dealership needs to manage with additional tools. The result is the usual patchwork model: Holded for accounting, a generic CRM for leads, portals managed manually, and Excel for the margin per car.
Holded and the REBU: the specific problem
The REBU (Special Scheme for Second-Hand Goods) is the tax scheme that allows second-hand dealerships to pay tax on the margin of each transaction rather than on the full selling price. Its correct management requires the invoicing software to do three things natively.
The first is to issue correct REBU invoices: total price without breakdown of VAT, with the express mention of the scheme applied in accordance with Article 138 of the VAT Regulations. The second is to link the purchase price of each vehicle to the sales transaction to calculate the margin automatically. The third is to generate and keep the REBU registry book updated with all the mandatory fields per transaction.
Read what the REBU registry book must include and how to organise it.
Holded can issue invoices without itemised VAT with a manual configuration, but it is not designed for the REBU natively. The user has to manually configure the invoice type, add the mention of the scheme, and calculate the margin on their own, because Holded does not have the purchase price of the vehicle as data linked to the sales transaction.
The REBU registry book does not exist in Holded as a standard feature. It has to be built manually in Excel or in an external document from the invoices issued, which adds work and risk of error.
The result is that many dealerships using Holded submit Form 303 with errors in the REBU box or with the tax base poorly calculated, because the program does not help them make that calculation correctly.
Holded and Verifactu: what is covered and what is not
From 1 July 2025, self-employed individuals and companies in Spain must use certified invoicing software in accordance with the Electronic Invoicing Regulation (Verifactu). Holded is adapting its platform to the Verifactu requirements, with a progressive implementation that covers the generation of the billing record and submission to the AEAT.
Check what a REBU billing program for dealerships must comply with.
In terms of compliance with Verifactu, Holded is working in the right direction for its general clients. The specific problem for dealerships is that Holded's Verifactu certification covers the general VAT scheme, but REBU management remains a manual configuration that the user has to maintain correctly. A Verifactu-certified program that manages REBU poorly is still a program that generates incorrect REBU invoices, even if it sends them to the AEAT in real time.
The usual model of someone using Holded in a dealership
Most dealerships that arrive at Dealcar using Holded have the same pattern: they started with Holded when the business was small because it was what their agency used or because it was the most well-known tool. Over time, the volume grew and they started to need things that Holded did not provide.
The usual patchwork is: Holded for invoices and accounting, Excel for stock control and margin per car, portals manually for publishing, WhatsApp for leads, and agency by email for transfers. With that model, you can operate, but each buy-sell transaction touches four different systems and the risk of error in the REBU is high.
The moment of change comes when the owner realises that they spend more time reconciling data between systems than buying and selling cars, or when a tax inspection detects inconsistencies in the REBU registry book that no one had maintained correctly.
Read also the special cases of the REBU and the errors that cause problems with the Tax Agency.
What specific dealership software needs that Holded does not provide
Software designed for car dealerships has to solve natively what Holded cannot: the file per vehicle with its purchase cost, associated expenses, and sale price; the automatic calculation of the REBU margin; the correct REBU invoice generated from that file; the updated REBU registry book with each transaction; and multi-publishing on portals from the same system where the stock is held.
That is not what a general accounting program does. It is what an industry-specific DMS (Dealer Management System) does.
Check what a DMS is in the automotive sector and what it should include.
Dealcar and REBU invoicing integrated with stock management
Dealcar integrates REBU invoicing directly into stock and file management. When the purchase of a vehicle and its subsequent sale are registered, the system automatically generates the correct invoice under the corresponding scheme, updates the REBU registry book with all the mandatory fields, and calculates the quarterly totals for Form 303.
There is no double data entry, no separate margin Excel, and no registry book to build by hand. Dealcar is certified for Verifactu.
If you want to see how it works, visit dealcar.io/en/dealership-software or request a demo at dealcar.io.
Frequently asked questions
Can Holded be used alongside Dealcar?
It makes no sense to use both simultaneously for the same operations. Dealcar covers REBU invoicing, the registry book, and accounting per vehicle. If your agency uses Holded for the company's general accounting, Dealcar can export the data in the format they need, without the need to maintain both systems in parallel.
Is Holded suitable for a dealership with very low volume?
For a dealership that sells 3 or 4 cars a month and does the accounting with their agency, Holded can work if the agency correctly manages the REBU manually. The problem comes when the volume rises or when there is no agency to closely supervise the tax side.
How much does it cost to migrate from Holded to Dealcar?
The migration of active stock and CRM contacts is included in Dealcar's onboarding. The usual process takes between 2 and 5 working days. Historical data from Holded (previous invoices, past accounting) does not need to be migrated: it is kept in Holded for historical reference if needed.
What happens to the accounting I already have in Holded?
You don't have to delete or migrate it. Dealcar generates billing data and the REBU registry book from the activation date. The agency can continue to use Holded for the accounting close of previous financial years and work with the exported data from Dealcar for new periods.
