Preparing annual accounts: costs and process

Preparing tax annual accounts for a BV is not a fill-in-the-blanks exercise. It requires the entire financial administration to be correct, corrections to be processed and the annual accounts to meet the statutory requirements for your size category. We distinguish three size categories: micro, small and medium-sized. Most of our clients' BVs fall into the micro or small category, but the classification determines which items you must disclose and which exemptions you may apply.

Example annual accounts for a micro BV usually consist of an abridged balance sheet and limited notes. By law, a micro BV may file a heavily simplified model. Example annual accounts for a small BV contain more mandatory components, including a profit and loss account and more extensive notes on the accounting policies applied. So the content of your annual accounts depends directly on the size of your BV.

The process at Nummerix works as follows. We start by closing the bookkeeping for the past year: we check whether all transactions have been recorded correctly, process any correction entries and draw up the trial balance. Next we prepare the commercial annual accounts: balance sheet, profit and loss account and notes. After that we handle the tax processing for the corporate income tax return. The tax annual accounts differ from the commercial annual accounts on a number of points, for example due to tax depreciation rules or the treatment of provisions. Once you approve, we file the corporate income tax return and file the annual accounts with the Chamber of Commerce.

Wondering whether you can prepare the annual accounts yourself? That is legally permitted, but in practice we advise against it for BVs with any complexity. Preparing the annual accounts yourself requires knowledge of the Dutch Accounting Standards (Richtlijnen voor de Jaarverslaggeving), the calculation of taxable profit and the correct size category. Incorrectly prepared annual accounts lead to an incorrect corporate income tax return and possibly also to director's liability if it later turns out the figures were wrong. On top of that, you run the risk of missing the filing deadline, with serious consequences as a result.

The cost of preparing annual accounts at Nummerix is part of the fixed monthly fee we agree in advance. There is no separate rate for the annual accounts, no additional billing for extra hours and no surprise at the end of the financial year. If you request a quote, you will see within one working day what your monthly fee will be, based on the size and complexity of your BV. For BVs that only want to outsource the annual accounts and the corporate income tax return (without ongoing bookkeeping), we offer a stand-alone service. That too comes at an amount fixed in advance, excl. VAT.