Self-employed, companies and non-profits · Accounting
Prepare my year end: closing, accounts and filing, step by step
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Self-employed, company or non-profit (ASBL): what to do after the financial year closes, in order, with your dates and the official links. A natural person does not file annual accounts. A company files them with the National Bank; a non-profit keeping simplified accounts files them free of charge at the registry of the enterprise court.
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Your year end, step by step
Choose your situation and enter your figures: Indexo calculates your dates and the size of your company or non-profit, and guides you step by step. Tick each step once done: your boxes stay in this browser.
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Who files what, and where?
| You are | Annual accounts | Where to file | Filing cost in 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-employed or liberal profession (natural person) | Nothing to publish: three journals and an inventory up to €500,000 turnover | Nowhere | — |
| Micro company | Micro model | National Bank (Filing) | €67.00 in XBRL, €137.30 in PDF |
| Small company | Abridged format | National Bank (Filing) | €89.40 in XBRL, €159.50 in PDF |
| Other company | Full format, management report | National Bank (Filing) | €379.50 in XBRL, €449.70 in PDF |
| General or limited partnership (SNC or SComm) whose partners are all natural persons | Drawn up, approved | No filing | — |
| Non-profit with simplified accounting | Income and expenditure, statement of assets, budget | Registry of the enterprise court | Free |
| Other non-profit | Micro, abridged or full format, budget | National Bank (Filing) | €67.00 (micro) or €89.40 in XBRL |
A company is small if it exceeds no more than one of these criteria: 50 employees, €11,250,000 turnover, €6,000,000 balance sheet total; micro with 10 employees, €900,000 and €450,000, if it is neither a subsidiary nor a parent company. A non-profit keeps simplified accounts if it exceeds no more than one of these criteria: 5 employees, €391,000 income, €1,562,000 assets, €1,562,000 debts. A size only changes if the criteria are exceeded two financial years in a row.
The dates for a financial year closed on 31 December 2026
| When | What | Who it’s for |
|---|---|---|
| 20 January 2027 | December VAT return | Monthly return |
| 25 January 2027 | Q4 VAT return | Quarterly return |
| 31 March 2027 | Annual listing of VAT-registered clients (even ‘nil’ under the exemption scheme) | VAT-registered businesses |
| 31 March 2027 | Annual assets tax, if assets exceed €50,000 | Non-profits |
| 30 June 2027 | Approval of the accounts by the general meeting | Companies and non-profits |
| 30 days after the meeting | Filing the accounts | Non-profit (registry or NBB) |
| 31 July 2027 | Last day for filing with the NBB | Companies |
| 1 September 2027 | Start of the late-filing surcharge (€151 for a small company in 2026) | Companies |
| To be confirmed | Corporate tax or legal entities tax return (in principle, the last day of the 7th month) | Companies and non-profits |
| To be confirmed | Personal income tax return, part 2 | Self-employed |
Filing with the National Bank, step by step
- Log in to Filing, the Central Balance Sheet Office’s filing application, with your electronic identity card (reader and PIN) or itsme.
- Choose how to file: import the XBRL file prepared by your accountant, send a single PDF, or enter the accounts online, screen by screen, if you have no accounting software.
- Validate and send. A PDF is checked by the National Bank first.
- Pay by card or by transfer with the structured reference: the amount must arrive within 6 working days of the ‘ready for payment’ status, or the filing is refused.
- Keep the proof. The official filing date is the date it was sent. The accounts become public in the National Bank’s ‘Consult’ application.
If late, a company pays a surcharge from the first day of the 9th month after closing: €151, €227 then €453 for a small company, €504, €755 then €1,510 for the others (2026 amounts). A non-profit pays no surcharge, but its court actions can be suspended.
Filing at the registry, for a non-profit with simplified accounting
- Have the accounts approved: the year’s accounts and the next year’s budget, by the general meeting, no later than 6 months after closing.
- Print the approved accounts on white A4 paper, on one side, in black, with a blank strip of 2 cm at the top of each page and, at the top, the non-profit’s name, its legal form, the full address of its registered office and its enterprise number; have them signed by hand by the people who represent it, with their name and capacity.
- Hand them in at the registry of the enterprise court for the non-profit’s registered office, within 30 days of the meeting, with your identity card. Filing is free; bring two copies (the Belgian Official Gazette asks for one, the circular of the Minister of Justice for two). Sending by post is only provided for documents that are published: ask your registry whether it accepts it.
- Confirm the UBO register in MyMinfin, at least once a year.
To prepare everything, from bank statement to accounts printed in the legal format: my non-profit’s annual accounts.
What you can do yourself, and when to call an accountant
No rule requires you to use an accountant, except the statutory auditor (a registered auditor) for a company or non-profit that is not small.
- On your own: keep a self-employed person’s three journals and take the inventory, file the VAT returns and the client listing on Intervat; for a non-profit with simplified accounting, keep the single book, draw up the statement of income and expenditure and the budget, and file at the registry.
- On your own, with some effort: enter the micro format for a micro company or micro non-profit in Filing, if its double-entry accounts are already correct.
- Better with an accountant: the tax return with depreciation and expenses, any double-entry accounting, the corporate tax or legal entities tax return, the abridged or full format, the social balance sheet, a change of size.
How long should you keep the books and documents?
Accounting law requires 7 years from 1 January after closing; tax law, 10 years since 2023. In practice, keep everything for 10 years.
Frequently asked questions
Does a self-employed person have to file annual accounts?
No. A natural person does not publish accounts. They keep their books (three journals and an inventory up to €500,000 turnover excluding VAT), file their VAT returns and their tax return.
Can I file the accounts with the National Bank myself?
Yes, with your electronic identity card or itsme, in the Filing application. For a micro company, you can enter the micro format online; for the others, the accountant usually prepares the XBRL file.
Does a non-profit that files late pay a fine?
No financial surcharge for a non-profit. But as long as its accounts are not filed, its court actions can be suspended, and a judicial dissolution can be requested.
Where is the registry of the enterprise court?
The one for the judicial district of the non-profit’s registered office, at the legal entities department. Filing there is free; the list of registries, with their addresses and opening hours, is on the page My non-profit’s annual accounts.
Why are some dates ‘to be confirmed’?
The dates of the 2027 tax returns had not yet been published by the FPS Finance on 23 October 2026. Indexo does not make them up: they will be added as soon as they are published.
What next?
- My bookkeepingInvoices, expenses, bank and VAT: the basis of your accounts.
- A non-profit’s obligationsThe size of the non-profit and the year’s calendar.
- Tax and social calendarAll the deadlines, in your calendar.
- Depreciation scheduleThe yearly depreciation of each investment.
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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.
- Code of Companies and Associations, art. 3 :1 (consolidated text), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Code of Companies and Associations, art. 3 :10 (consolidated text), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Code of Companies and Associations, art. 3 :9 and 3 :11 (consolidated text), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Code of Companies and Associations, art. 3 :13 (consolidated text), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Code of Companies and Associations, art. 1 :24 (consolidated text), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Code of Companies and Associations, art. 1 :25 (consolidated text), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Code of Companies and Associations, art. 3 :4 (consolidated text), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Code of Companies and Associations, art. 3 :72 (consolidated text), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Code of Companies and Associations, art. 3 :47 (consolidated text), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Code of Companies and Associations, art. 1 :28 (consolidated text), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Royal Decree implementing the CCA, art. 3 :177 to 3 :185 (consolidated text), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Opinion 2019/12 (non-profits: sizes, formats, budget; updated on 9 September 2026), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Opinion 2019/11 (simplified accounting), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Opinion 2024/07 (new company thresholds), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Code of Economic Law, art. III.85 (consolidated text), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Code of Economic Law, art. III.88 (consolidated text), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Code of Economic Law, art. III.89 (consolidated text), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Royal Decree of 21 October 2018, art. 1 to 4 (consolidated text), Accounting Standards Commission.
- Breakdown of fees for companies 2026 (PDF), National Bank of Belgium.
- Filing fees for associations and foundations 2026 (PDF), National Bank of Belgium.
- Surcharges for late filing, National Bank of Belgium.
- Filing application: filing procedure, National Bank of Belgium.
- Access to Filing (eID, itsme), National Bank of Belgium.
- Paying for a filing, National Bank of Belgium.
- Associations and foundations: using the forms (version 2024), Belgian Official Gazette (FPS Justice).
- The annual accounts of very small non-profits (10 October 2024), IBR (secondary source).
- Notice on the annual confirmation of the UBO register (13 April 2021), FPS Finance.
- UBO register: annual confirmation (6 March 2026), Jubel (secondary source).
- Deadline for legal entities tax returns, UCM (secondary source).
- Biztax and the corporate tax return deadline (2026), Securex (secondary source).
- Personal income tax return 2026: deadlines (29 April 2026) and extension to 31 October (25 September 2026), ITAA (secondary source).
- Technical note: archive retention period (26 February 2025), IBR (secondary source).
- Annual listing for exempt businesses, even ‘nil’ (31 March 2026), OECCBB (secondary source).
- Combien de cotisations sociales dois-je payer ?, NISSE.
- Circular 2024/C/20 (tax in lieu of inheritance duties), Forum for the Future (secondary source).
- La nouvelle chaîne TVA (31 January 2025): the 25th of the following month for quarterly filers, with no postponement; postponement to the next working day for monthly filers, FPS Finance.