Submitting Financial Statements in Belgium

Updated on Wednesday 10th August 2016

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Companies with commercial activities set up in Belgium are required to file the financial statements at the local authorities, following specific regulations. The same rule is also available for associations and foundations. For each of these two main categories there are specific rules in which the filing of the financial statements is required. Our team of Belgian lawyers can offer legal assistance to the investors who need to prepare the financial statements of their companies in Belgium.

Submit the books of accounts in Belgium

Foreign investors operating on the Belgium market should know that the main institution which regulates the accounting activity of a business set up here is the National Bank of Belgium. The accounting documents have to be submitted at the Central Balance Sheet Office. The documents have to be made available for the local authorities in a period of maximum seven months after the end of the financial year.

Prepare the financial documents as a very small company in Belgium

As a general rule, the very small companies are not required to keep the books of accounts in the same conditions available for other types of companies. They can keep a simplified set of books and the filing of the financial statements is not compulsory if the company’s turnovers is below EUR 500,000; our team of Belgian attorneys can offer more details on this matter.

Prepare the financial statements for small and large companies in Belgium

Small and large companies are required to file the full set of the financial statements, which refers to the following documents:

• sales books;

• purchases books;

• cash books and others;

• inventory books.

The Belgian legislation for accounting standards follows the rules and regulations of the Royal Decree of the 30 January 2001.

A company in Belgium is considered a large one in two situations:

• the company employs an average of 100 persons/year;

• the company has more than 50 employees/year and an annual turnover of EUR 7,300,000.

Businessmen interested in receiving further information on how to submit the financial statements of a company in Belgium can address to our Belgian law firm.