Annual accounts with AI: what the AI does, what the rules do and what you decide
Where AI helps with Dutch annual accounts, where fixed calculation rules do the work and which decisions stay with the board, worked out per section.
The short answer
Preparing annual accounts with AI is allowed: Title 9 governs what they contain, not what you make them with. In Jaarrekening.io the AI suggests the mapping of accounts when RGS codes are missing, writes editable drafts for the notes and the management report, and checks texts in the AI check. The amounts come from fixed calculation rules; the judgements stay with the board.
Updated 30 October 2026
Key facts
| Is it allowed? | Yes. The board prepares the annual accounts and signs them, with whatever tool (art. 2:210(1) and (2) DCC) |
| What the AI does | Mapping accounts where RGS codes are missing, drafts for the notes and the management report, the AI check and reading PDFs |
| Where the amounts come from | From fixed calculation rules on your trial balance: the same input gives the same result every time |
| Which language model | Models from Anthropic via the commercial API, which does not use input for training by default |
| What stays with the board | Valuation, provisions, events after the balance sheet date, going concern and signing |
May annual accounts be prepared with AI?
Yes. Title 9, Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code says nothing about the tool. The law asks for annual accounts that, according to standards acceptable in society, allow a sound judgement on assets and result (art. 2:362(1) DCC). For the BV, the board prepares the annual accounts and all directors and supervisory directors sign them (art. 2:210(1) and (2) DCC); the general meeting then adopts them (art. 2:210(3) DCC). If all shareholders are also directors, signing by all directors and supervisory directors counts at the same time as adoption, unless the articles of association exclude this (art. 2:210(5) DCC). Anyone who lets a language model co-write therefore bears responsibility for every sentence and every amount.
KI and AI are the same: kunstmatige intelligentie in Dutch, artificial intelligence in English. Very different techniques fall under that label. For annual accounts, what matters most is the difference between a language model, which predicts text, and a calculation rule, which always gives the same result for the same input. A useful AI tool for annual accounts uses the first for language and the second for numbers.
Calculating, writing and judging: three kinds of work
Preparing annual accounts consists of three kinds of work, each with its own tool.
- Calculating. Adding up balances into line items, subtotals, the result, the size class and what becomes public. Here one answer is correct. That work belongs with fixed calculation rules: a language model may give a different number to the same question.
- Writing. The accounting policies, the notes to the line items, the management report. A language model helps here: it turns recorded figures and your answers into readable text, which you then adjust.
- Judging. Is a receivable collectible, is a provision needed (art. 2:374(1) DCC), can the business continue (art. 2:384(3) DCC), what has happened after the balance sheet date (art. 2:380a DCC)? The board decides that. A model can ask questions and point out matters for attention, but knows your business only from what you enter.
Per section: what the AI does, what the rules do and what you decide
The table shows, per section of the annual accounts, what role the AI has in Jaarrekening.io, what is calculated with fixed rules and what remains your decision. The name of each section links to the explanation of that section itself.
| Section | AI | Fixed rules | Your decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balance sheet | Nothing to do with the amounts. The line items are filled from the mapping of the accounts; see the trial balance and RGS mapping rows | Add up the mapped balances into the line items of the Besluit modellen jaarrekening (Decree on annual accounts formats), calculate the subtotals and test whether assets and liabilities are equal in whole euros | Valuation of assets, write-down of receivables and the completeness of liabilities |
| Profit and loss account | Nothing; the same mapping provides the line items | Fill the by-nature or the by-function format (art. 2:377(3) and (4) DCC) and calculate the result after tax | The choice of format, which you only change with sound reasons (art. 2:363(4) DCC) |
| Notes | Writes an editable draft per section with the recorded figures and your confirmed answers, and can pre-fill the questionnaire from last year's notes | Determine which sections belong to your legal form and size class, and do not save a draft if the app finds an amount in it that it cannot trace to your figures or answers | Review and complete every draft. Micro has no notes (art. 2:395a(6) DCC), only disclosures below the balance sheet (paragraphs 3, 4 and 7); small has limited notes (art. 2:396(3) and (5) DCC) |
| Management report | Draft per section of art. 2:391 DCC from your confirmed answers; can pre-fill the questions from last year's report | Determine whether a management report is needed; compare amounts for recognised key items, such as turnover, result and equity, with the annual accounts and reject a deviation | Course of business, risks and expectations. Micro and small are exempt (art. 2:395a(6) DCC, art. 2:396(7) DCC) |
| Cash flow statement | No role | Derive a proposal using the indirect method from the balance sheet movements and the profit and loss account | Split investments and loans gross, remove non-cash transactions. Under the RJ mandatory for medium-sized and large, except under the exemptions of RJ 360.104, such as for an art. 2:403 DCC group company; not for micro and small |
| Accounting policies | For small, medium-sized and large: draft of the accounting policies per line item (art. 2:384(5) DCC), only for line items that occur in your figures. Micro does not have to explain the accounting policies (art. 2:395a(6) DCC) | Place every valuation choice you confirm in the questionnaire as a fixed paragraph in the text | The choices themselves, and a change of accounting policy compared with last year (art. 2:384(6) DCC) |
| Trial balance | Reads a trial balance that you supply as a PDF | Read XAF audit files, Excel and CSV without AI; test a PDF reading against the printed totals and recount debit and credit | Check that the trial balance is the closing position after all closing entries |
| RGS mapping | Makes a suggestion with a certainty level for accounts that do not yet have a line item; below 70% the app marks it for review | RGS codes from the file, your earlier choices per account number and fixed Dutch rules take precedence over the AI | Review the suggestions with low certainty and all large amounts; your choice also applies in the next financial year |
| Size class | Can read balance sheet total, turnover and employees from last year's annual accounts if you upload them when creating the entity | Test the three criteria on two consecutive balance sheet dates (art. 2:395a up to and including 2:398 DCC), including the rule for the first financial year | Confirm the figures and, for a group, include the group companies that would have to be included in the consolidation, unless the entity applies art. 2:408 (art. 2:395a(2), 2:396(2) and 2:397(2) DCC) |
| Comparative figures | Reads the balance sheet, profit and loss account and notes from last year's annual accounts as a PDF; you confirm the takeover | Take over the filed figures from the KVK open dataset, or calculate last year's trial balance through with your own mapping | Check that the figures agree with last year's adopted annual accounts; you explain an adjustment (art. 2:363(5) DCC) |
| Publication documents | No role | Compile the publication version: for micro only the balance sheet (art. 2:395a(8) DCC), for small balance sheet and notes (art. 2:396(8) DCC). For medium-sized, the XBRL file follows the balance sheet of art. 2:397(5) DCC; the PDF publication version still contains the full balance sheet | File, yourself or through your accountant; the app sends nothing to the KVK |
| SBR and XBRL | No role | Build an XBRL file as a validation candidate for every size class, for financial years starting in 2023 through 2026 | Have the file validated with SBR software or by your accountant; for large, the accountant submits it with the auditor's report |
| Consolidation | No role; the AI does not suggest eliminations | The Consolidation add-on adds up the locked annual accounts of the group and eliminates the intra-group positions that you record; it is not yet in the app menu | The scope of consolidation (art. 2:406(1) DCC) and whether an exemption applies (art. 2:407(1) and (2) DCC, art. 2:408(1) DCC) |
| Key figures | On request writes a short interpretation in the Key figures analysis add-on | Calculate current ratio, quick ratio, solvency and profitability from the mapped figures | Keep the definitions the same as what your bank uses in covenants |
A rule of thumb follows from the table: wherever an amount arises, the app calculates with fixed rules; the AI only comes into play when classifying accounts, reading documents and writing text.
How the app stops invented amounts
The best-known risk of a language model is a plausible number that rests on nothing. Jaarrekening.io catches that in four places.
- The AI receives the figures as you have recorded them and writes text around them. If the app finds an amount in a draft for the notes that it cannot trace to those figures or your answers, it does not save the draft; you get a message about which section.
- For the management report, the app compares the amounts for recognised key items, such as turnover, result and equity, with the annual accounts and rejects a draft with a deviation. Other amounts in the report it does not test.
- If a piece of data is missing, the AI writes [NOG AANVULLEN] instead of assuming something. A text from the AI that you have not yet adjusted carries the label AI draft, please review.
- The AI check goes through the notes and the management report against the requirements of Title 9, Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code and for completeness. Per section you can also have a figures check and a style check done. What comes out of that are points for attention: you decide what to change.
These safeguards make a draft more reliable, not automatically correct: check every amount yourself. Whether a text agrees with what has happened in your business is something only someone who knows the business can see.
Automating annual accounts: what goes away and what stays
Anyone who wants to automate annual accounts mainly saves time on the work that is the same every year.
- Largely goes away: classifying accounts into the statutory line items (from the second year your own choices per account number take precedence), adding up and reconciling, testing the size class, compiling the publication version, calculating the deadlines and building the XBRL file.
- Goes faster, but still needs your attention: the notes and the management report. The draft is there quickly, but you have to read every paragraph, and some facts only you know: guarantees, lease contracts, disputes.
- Remains manual work: closing the bookkeeping itself (clearing transit accounts, accruals and deferrals), the valuation judgements and the discussion with shareholders and, where there is an audit requirement, with the accountant.
If you keep the bookkeeping in Jaarrekening.io yourself, the export also falls away: you take over the trial balance in the financial year. What the AI does in that bookkeeping is described under AI and bookkeeping.
Assessing AI annual accounts software: five questions
These questions show what is behind the AI in annual accounts software.
- Where do the amounts come from? Ask whether the balance sheet and result come from fixed calculation rules. Read in the same trial balance twice: the result should be equal to the euro.
- What happens if the AI writes down a wrong number? Good software compares numbers in generated text with the figures and stops a deviation, instead of letting it through to the filing.
- Do you recognise every suggestion? A mapping or text from the AI should be visible as a suggestion, with a history of who adjusted or approved it afterwards.
- Does the software follow your size class? A small BV should not receive text about a management report or cash flow statement that it does not have to prepare.
- Which data goes to which model, and where? That should be in the privacy statement and the data processing agreement. See financial data in AI and the GDPR.
The types of annual accounts software, with and without AI, are set side by side in the buyer's guide; what software in general should be able to do, you can read under annual accounts software.
How it works in Jaarrekening.io
- You create an entity and a financial year and pay for the financial year, or activate the free first annual accounts.
- You read in the trial balance as an XAF audit file, Excel, CSV or PDF, or take it over from your own bookkeeping.
- The mapping to the annual accounts line items follows from RGS codes, your earlier choices and fixed rules; only for the remaining accounts does the AI suggest a line item, which you review.
- The app calculates the balance sheet and profit and loss account and you record the figures. The notes and the management report work with those recorded figures.
- You answer the questions for the notes and, if your size class requires it, for the management report. The AI writes the drafts; you adjust them.
- In the Review & approve step you approve the sections. You then export the annual accounts as PDF, Word or Excel, with the publication version and the XBRL file, and file them yourself or through your accountant.
After the free first one in your account, a set of annual accounts costs a fixed amount per financial year, depending on the size class: € 250 for micro, € 500 for small, € 2.000 for medium-sized and € 5.000 for large, all amounts excl. VAT. The mapping, the drafts, the AI check and the figures and style check are included; a subscription is not needed. Add-ons such as the Key figures analysis are purchased separately. More on the pricing page.
When AI does not get you further
- An incomplete set of records. A transit account with a balance, a private expense among the costs or a current account with the director-major shareholder (DGA) that does not reconcile is resolved in the bookkeeping. A draft about wrong figures remains a wrong draft.
- Audit requirement. For a medium-sized or large entity an accountant must audit the annual accounts (art. 2:393(1) DCC). Software prepares the file; the accountant signs the report. See does AI replace the accountant?
- A legal form outside Title 9. A sole proprietorship, partnership (maatschap) and ordinary general partnership (vof) do not fall under Title 9 and do not have to file anything; the app's annual accounts route is not intended for them. Banks and insurers follow their own formats, which the app does not prepare.
- A general chatbot. It lacks everything listed above as a fixed rule. What goes wrong then, you can read under can ChatGPT prepare my annual accounts?
Sources
- Art. 2:210 DCC: preparation, signing and adoption for the BV (wetten.overheid.nl)
- Art. 2:362 DCC: true and fair view requirement (wetten.overheid.nl)
- Art. 2:363 DCC: format and comparative figures (wetten.overheid.nl)
- Art. 2:384 DCC: accounting policies and going concern (wetten.overheid.nl)
- Art. 2:393 DCC: audit requirement and auditor's report (wetten.overheid.nl)
- Art. 2:395a DCC: micro entity (wetten.overheid.nl)
- Art. 2:396 DCC: small entity (wetten.overheid.nl)
- Besluit modellen jaarrekening (Decree on annual accounts formats) (wetten.overheid.nl)
- Referentie GrootboekSchema (RGS)
- KVK: Filing your annual accounts yourself
Frequently asked questions
May I prepare my annual accounts with AI?
Yes. Title 9 sets no requirements for software or other tools. The board prepares the annual accounts, signs them and remains responsible for the true and fair view they give (art. 2:210(1) and (2) and art. 2:362(1) DCC), including for text that a language model has suggested.
Does the AI calculate the balance sheet?
No. In Jaarrekening.io the balance sheet, profit and loss account, size class, the cash flow statement proposal and the key figures come from fixed calculation rules. The AI suggests the mapping of accounts, reads documents, writes drafts and checks texts.
What is an annual accounts AI tool?
A program that uses a language model when preparing annual accounts. Look at what the model is allowed to do: text and suggestions are useful, amounts should come from fixed calculation rules. Also ask the supplier which data goes to which model and where.
Are annual accounts with KI different from those with AI?
No. KI is the Dutch abbreviation of kunstmatige intelligentie (artificial intelligence), AI the English one. They are the same techniques.
Do I still need an accountant with AI?
Where there is an audit requirement, yes: for medium-sized and large entities the audit by an accountant is required by law (art. 2:393(1) DCC). A micro or small entity may prepare and file its annual accounts itself; an accountant is a choice there, for example for advice or because the bank asks for a compilation report.
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Preparing Dutch annual accounts?
Your first set of annual accounts is free, for every size class. Create an account and prepare the annual accounts of your Dutch company under Title 9 of Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code.
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