Non-profit · Simplified accounts
My non-profit’s annual accounts, from A to Z
Updated on
For a non-profit with simplified accounts: the book for the year, the statement of income and expenditure, the statement of assets and debts, the budget, the minutes of the meeting, then the accounts printed in the legal format, ready to sign and file at the registry.
You import your bank statement or enter each line yourself; Indexo guides you step by step. Everything stays in your browser: nothing is sent.
Your accounts, in six steps
For which non-profit?
For a non-profit that does not exceed more than one of these thresholds: 5 workers in full-time equivalents, €391,000 of income (excluding VAT and exceptional income), €1,562,000 of assets, €1,562,000 of debts. It may keep simplified accounts: a single book in which every amount of money coming in and going out is recorded by date, and annual accounts in a short format. Above that, the non-profit keeps double-entry accounts and files them with the National Bank: this tool is then not suitable.
What the accounts contain
The accounts of a non-profit with simplified accounts consist of the statement of income and expenditure and the notes; they form a whole, in euros, without decimals, and follow the format of annex 8 to the Royal Decree implementing the Code of Companies and Associations. No offsetting between income and expenditure is allowed.
The statement of income and expenditure
It follows directly from the book. Expenditure:
- Goods: what the non-profit buys to resell or process: drinks for the bar, meals, items for a shop.
- Pay: net wages, social security (ONSS/RSZ) contributions and withholding tax paid for the staff.
- Services and sundry goods: rent, energy, insurance, phone, supplies, bank charges, fees, travel, expense allowances.
- Other expenditure: purchases of long-lasting equipment, loan repayments, taxes and duties, and anything that does not fit elsewhere.
Income:
- Membership fees: the members’ membership fees.
- Donations and legacies: donations received, in money, and legacies.
- Grants: grants from the municipality, the region, the community or the federal state.
- Other income: sales, admissions, rentals, interest, loans received, and anything that does not fit elsewhere.
The examples for each category are Indexo’s suggestions: the format only gives the headings.
The notes
- The summary of the valuation rules: assets are valued at their acquisition value, and the rules stay the same from one year to the next.
- Changes to the valuation rules, if a rule changes, with the reason.
- Additional information.
- The statement of assets and debts at closing, taken from the inventory: assets (property, machinery, installations and equipment, furniture and vehicles, stocks, amounts receivable, cash investments, cash at bank and in hand, other assets), debts (financial debts, debts to suppliers, debts to members, debts for taxes, pay and social security, other debts), rights (promised grants, promised donations, other rights) and commitments (mortgages and mortgage promises, guarantees given, other commitments).
- Significant rights and commitments that cannot be quantified.
The budget for the next financial year is submitted to the general meeting with the accounts, in no set form. It is not filed at the registry.
Filing the accounts at the registry
- After the meeting: the accounts and the budget are approved no later than 6 months after closing.
- On paper: white, A4 size, written on the front only, in black, in one language, with a blank strip of at least 20 mm at the top of each page. At the top: the full name, the legal form, the exact address of the registered office and the enterprise number.
- Signed by hand by the people who have the power to represent the non-profit, with their name and capacity.
- Handed in at the registry of the enterprise court for the registered office, within 30 days after the meeting. Filing is free; there is no form, no publication in the Belgian Official Gazette and no formality at the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises. The registry checks the identity of the person filing: bring your identity card.
- One copy or two? The Belgian Official Gazette (2024) mentions one copy, the circular of the Minister of Justice (2023) two: bring two, and ask for a receipt.
By post? The Royal Decree implementing the Code provides for handing the documents in at the registry; sending by post is reserved there for documents that are published, which is not the case for these accounts. Guides for associations write that sending by post happens in practice; no registry confirms it on its website. Phone yours before sending anything.
Online? Not yet: the FPS Justice’s JustAct platform, opened in June 2026, does not cover annual accounts. An announced reform would move this filing to the National Bank, free of charge for small non-profits; it is not in force.
Legal entities registries
The competent registry is that of the enterprise court (and its division) for the non-profit’s registered office. The FPS Justice’s ‘territorial jurisdiction’ tool looks it up from the address; it describes itself as purely indicative. Many registries only open in the morning. In Brussels there is a French-speaking and a Dutch-speaking court: Indexo has not found any text saying which one receives your non-profit’s accounts; ask either of them.
| Registry | Address | Hours | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brussels · French-speaking enterprise court · Legal entities registry | Avenue du Pont de Luttre 74, 1190 Forest | working days, 8:30 to 12:30 | 02 682 03 36 |
| Brussels · Dutch-speaking enterprise court · Legal entities and non-profits service | Luttrebruglaan 74, 1190 Vorst | 8:30 to 12:30 | 02 682 03 37 |
| Walloon Brabant (Nivelles) · Legal entities registry | Rue Clarisse 115, 1400 Nivelles | mornings, 8:30 to 12:30 | 067 28 39 10 |
| Liège (Liège division) · Register of legal entities | Place Saint-Lambert 30/003 (Palais de justice, annexe sud), 4000 Liège | closed on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons | 02 682 07 74 |
| Liège (Huy division) · Register of legal entities, in Liège | Place Saint-Lambert 30/003, 4000 Liège | 02 682 07 66 | |
| Liège (Verviers division) · Register of legal entities | Rue du Tribunal 4, 4800 Verviers | 8:30 to 12:30 and 13:30 to 16:00 | 02 682 03 28 |
| Liège (Namur division) · Register of legal entities | Rue Général Michel 10, 5000 Namur | closed on Monday and Friday afternoons | 02 682 04 27 |
| Liège (Dinant division) · Registry | Rue Arthur Defoin 215B, 5500 Dinant | closed on Tuesday afternoons | 082 21 14 00 |
| Liège (Arlon, Marche-en-Famenne and Neufchâteau divisions) · Register of legal entities, in Arlon | Place Schalbert, bâtiment A, 6700 Arlon | 063 21 45 80 | |
| Hainaut (Charleroi division) · Legal entities registry | Boulevard A. de Fontaine 10, 6000 Charleroi | 8:30 to 12:30 and 13:30 to 16:00 | 071 27 92 04 |
| Hainaut (Mons division) · Legal entities registry | Rue des Droits de l’Homme 1, 7000 Mons | 8:30 to 12:30 | 065 37 91 31 |
| Hainaut (Tournai division) · Legal entities registry | Rue du Château 47, 7500 Tournai | 02 682 03 01 | |
| Eupen · German-speaking enterprise court | Rathausplatz 4, 4700 Eupen | 8:30 to 12:30 and 13:30 to 16:00 | 02 682 08 45 |
| Antwerp (Antwerp division) · Legal entities service | Bolivarplaats 20 bus 7, 2000 Antwerpen | 8:30 to 12:30 and 13:30 to 16:00 | 02 682 05 28 |
| Antwerp (Hasselt division) · Legal entities and non-profits service | Parklaan 25/6, 3500 Hasselt | 02 682 07 93 | |
| Antwerp (Mechelen division) · Legal entities service | Voochtstraat 7, 2800 Mechelen | 02 682 07 23 | |
| Antwerp (Tongeren-Borgloon division) · Legal entities service | Kielenstraat 22, 3700 Tongeren-Borgloon | 012 39 97 12 | |
| Antwerp (Turnhout division) · Legal entities and non-profits service | Wezenstraat 7, 2300 Turnhout | 02 682 17 64 | |
| Leuven · Legal entities and non-profits service | Vaartstraat 5, 3000 Leuven | 8:30 to 12:30 | 02 682 15 23 |
| Ghent (Bruges division) · Legal entities service | Kazernevest 3, 8000 Brugge | 8:30 to 12:30 | 050 47 30 40 |
| Ghent (Dendermonde division) · Legal entities service | Noordlaan 31/1, 9200 Dendermonde | 8:30 to 12:30 | 02 682 06 81 |
| Ghent (Ghent division) · Legal entities service | Opgeëistenlaan 401/E, 9000 Gent | 8:30 to 12:30 | 02 682 01 58 |
| Ghent (Ypres division) · Legal entities service | Grote Markt 1, 8900 Ieper | 8:30 to 12:30 | |
| Ghent (Kortrijk division) · Legal entities service | Beheerstraat 41, 8500 Kortrijk | 8:30 to 12:30 | 02 682 17 31 |
| Ghent (Ostend division) · Legal entities service | Canadaplein 1, 8400 Oostende | 059 55 36 46 | |
| Ghent (Oudenaarde division) · Legal entities service | Bekstraat 14, 9700 Oudenaarde | 8:30 to 12:30 | 02 682 05 12 |
| Ghent (Veurne division) · Legal entities service | Peter Benoitlaan 2, 8630 Veurne | 8:30 to 12:30 | 02 682 17 18 |
What to keep
The original book is kept for seven years from 1 January following closing; supporting documents (statements, invoices, till receipts, receipts) for seven years too. The minutes of the meeting are kept at the registered office, with the others. Also remember to confirm the UBO register details in MyMinfin every year.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need an accountant for a small non-profit’s accounts?
No. No rule requires one for a non-profit with simplified accounts. The book must be kept up to date, the documents kept, an inventory drawn up at closing and the accounts prepared in the legal format.
Are the budget and the minutes filed with the accounts?
No. The circular of the Minister of Justice states that apart from handing in a typed or printed document, this filing involves no other formality. The budget and the minutes are kept at the registered office.
Can the accounts be sent by post?
The rule is handing them in at the registry. Sending by post is provided for documents that are published, which is not the case for simplified accounts. Some registries accept it in practice: ask yours.
What about buying equipment, such as a computer?
In the statement of income and expenditure, it counts as an expense in the year it is paid. In the statement of assets and debts, it appears among the assets at its acquisition value, reduced each year by a value adjustment (depreciation) explained in the valuation rules.
Is withdrawing money for the cash box an expense?
No: the money moves from the bank to the cash box. Classify it as an ‘internal transfer’; it appears neither in income nor in expenditure.
What next?
- Prepare my year endAll the year-end steps, with your dates.
- A non-profit’s obligationsThe size of the non-profit and the year’s calendar.
- Annual tax on non-profit assetsThe amount and the return each year.
The whole Non-profits section
Volunteers and workers
Money and obligations
- My non-profit’s annual accounts
- The year’s obligations
- Donations and tax reduction
- Annual tax on non-profit assets
- Taxes and VAT
Sources
Parameters in force on 1 October 2026. Each parameter links to its source, the official one where it exists; a secondary source is flagged as such.
- Annex 8 to the Royal Decree implementing the CCA: format of the annual accounts of associations with simplified accounts (consolidated text, 18 June 2025), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Bijlage 8 bij het KB tot uitvoering van het WVV: schema van de vereenvoudigde jaarrekening (gecoördineerde tekst, 18 juni 2025) (Dutch text), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Royal Decree implementing the CCA, art. 3 :177 (euros without decimals, the statement and the notes form a whole), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Royal Decree implementing the CCA, art. 3 :178 to 3 :180 (valuation rules, acquisition value), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Royal Decree implementing the CCA, art. 3 :181 to 3 :185 (statement of income and expenditure, statement of assets, no offsetting), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Code of Companies and Associations, art. 3 :47 (accounts, budget, meeting within six months, thresholds), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Opinion 2020/05: associations with simplified accounts, valuation rules (22 April 2020), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Opinion 2019/12: size criteria, format of the accounts, budget (updated on 9 September 2026), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Royal Decree of 21 October 2018, art. 6 and 8 (single book, kept for seven years), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Code of Economic Law, art. III.86 (supporting documents, seven years), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Royal Decree implementing the CCA, art. 1 :9 (A4 paper, front side, 20 mm blank strip, signature, details at the top), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Royal Decree implementing the CCA, art. 1 :10 (filing by handing in at the registry; post for published documents), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Disclosure of deeds and documents of companies, associations and foundations, section XI.6 (Belgian Official Gazette of 23 October 2023), FPS Justice (ministerial circular).
- Associations and foundations: using the forms (2024): filing of annual accounts free of charge, one copy, Belgian Official Gazette (FPS Justice).
- Opinion 25-013: publication of the annual accounts of a very small non-profit (20 May 2025), ICCI (secondary source).
- Enterprise courts: divisions, legal entities registries, addresses and opening hours (consulted on 23 October 2026), Courts and tribunals.
- Territorial jurisdiction: finding the competent court (indicative tool), FPS Justice.
- Digitalisering voor vzw’s: wat komt eraan? (7 avril 2026), Vereniginginfo (secondary source).
- The annual accounts of very small non-profits are hardly ever published and remain inaccurate (10 October 2024), IBR (secondary source).