Guides: reading Belgian accounts

Understand what a Belgian company's annual accounts say, heading by heading, with worked examples and official sources.

10 guides, from the first glance to the finest ratio.

Guide 1How to read the annual accounts of a Belgian companyBalance sheet, income statement, notes: what Belgian annual accounts filed with the NBB contain, who must file, the three formats (full, abridged, micro) and their 2024 thresholds, and a five-line reading method.
Guide 2The NBB heading codes explainedWhat do 10/15, 17/49, 20/58, 50/58, 70, 9900, 9901 or 9904 mean in Belgian annual accounts? The heading codes of the balance sheet, income statement and notes, and how the NBB combines them in its official ratios.
Guide 3The solvency ratio: calculation and readingSolvency as the National Bank defines it (10/15 ÷ 10/49), the prudent version that removes intangible assets, the thresholds the NBB itself uses, the CCA notion of net assets and the reading by sector.
Guide 4Liquidity ratios: paying short-term debtsBroad and strict liquidity as the National Bank defines them, the threshold of 1, customer and supplier credit days, months of cash and what a balance sheet does not show.
Guide 5Working capital and working capital requirementNet working capital, net working capital requirement and net cash: the IBR-IRE definitions with balance sheet codes, the relation that explains cash, and the NBB customer and supplier days.
Guide 6Cash flow and self-financing capacityCash flow as the National Bank computes it from Belgian annual accounts (full, abridged and micro formats), the simplified version, and the coverage of debts by cash flow according to the IBR-IRE.
Guide 7Profitability: ROE, ROA, margins and value addedThe official profitability ratios of the National Bank (net return on equity, return on total assets, gross and net margin on sales, value added), their formulas by code, and the leverage effect.
Guide 8Negative equity: what the law saysWhat negative equity means in a Belgian balance sheet, how the CCA defines net assets, and what the alarm bell procedure requires: art. 5:153 for the BV/SRL (including the liquidity test), 7:228 and 7:229 for the NV/SA, according to CBN opinion 2021/14.
BCE
- The Crossroads Bank for Enterprises gives free of charge the number, status, legal form, address, activities and functions of any enterprise.
- The latest filing of accounts is read in five lines: closing date, equity, cash, result, amounts payable within one year.
- A missing or late filing is a signal in itself: the law presumes that the damage of third parties results from it (CCA, art. 3:10).
Illustration of the guide Checking a customer or supplier before signing
Guide 9Checking a customer or supplier before signingThe checklist to verify a Belgian customer or supplier before a contract: identity at the CBE, annual accounts at the NBB, warning signs, withholding obligation in construction and cleaning, Official Gazette and insolvency register.
CBSO
- The National Bank's Consult application gives free access to every set of accounts filed since 1 January 1999, in PDF, in XBRL since 2 April 2007 and in CSV since 4 April 2022.
- Accounts are approved within six months of the year end (art. 3:1) and filed within thirty days of approval, at the latest seven months after the year end (art. 3:10).
- In 2025: 593,323 accounts filed, 567,501 entities, 46% in XBRL, 4.3 million consultations.
Illustration of the guide Where and when to find the annual accounts of a Belgian company
Guide 10Where and when to find the annual accounts of a Belgian companyWhere to consult the annual accounts of a Belgian company free of charge (Consult, Central Balance Sheet Office of the NBB), the legal filing deadlines, the 2026 fees, late contributions, who is exempt, and the sector statistics.