Compilation report (samenstellingsverklaring): meaning
A statement by an accountant who has compiled the annual accounts from data supplied by the client, without an audit. Provides no assurance about true and fair presentation.
What does compilation report (samenstellingsverklaring) mean?
A statement by an accountant who has compiled the annual accounts from data supplied by the client, without an audit. Provides no assurance about true and fair presentation.
An accountant helps to compile financial information from data provided by the board. This engagement gives no audit opinion and no review conclusion. The board remains responsible for complete and correct information supplied.
How does it work?
If an accountant compiles the annual accounts, this is done in accordance with NBA Standard 4410, which is mandatory for annual accounts under Title 9 Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code (paragraph 2). The accountant works with the records and explanations of the board and proposes adjustments if the figures contain a material misstatement. If the board refuses them, the accountant withdraws from the engagement (paragraphs 34 and 35).
The report itself is no opinion and no conclusion (paragraph 39). Among other things it states that it was compiled on the basis of information from management, which reporting framework was used and that the accountant did not have to verify the information supplied (paragraph 40). The law asks for it nowhere: micro and small entities are exempt from an accountant’s examination (art. 2:396(7) DCC).
Example
A small BV supplies its accountant with a trial balance showing € 600,000 turnover and € 420,000 costs. While compiling, the accountant sees that a van of € 36,000 was booked entirely as a cost. He proposes capitalising the van and depreciating it over six years; the board agrees. Costs fall by 36,000 − 6,000 = € 30,000 and the result before tax rises from € 180,000 to € 210,000. The report then says that the annual accounts were compiled from the data supplied, not that the other items were audited.
In the annual accounts
May occur with annual accounts of any size class; does not replace a mandatory audit.
Difference from an auditor’s report
With an auditor’s report the accountant has gathered audit evidence himself and gives an opinion on the true and fair view of the annual accounts (art. 2:393(5) DCC). When compiling he does not. The compilation report says what the accountant did, the auditor’s report what he thinks of it.
Common mistakes
- Attributing assurance to the report
- Not reconciling the figures supplied
What to watch for
- Read the report: does it refer to Standard 4410 and is it signed by an accountant? See also may a bookkeeper issue a compilation report.
- You remain responsible yourself: the accountant asks you to acknowledge that you take the final version on your own account (paragraph 37).
- The report may be absent from the filed publication documents (paragraph 41A); anyone who wants to see it requests the full annual accounts.
Legal basis and sources
NBA Standard 4410
Frequently asked questions
Must a BV have a compilation report?
No. No law prescribes it. It belongs to the engagement given to an accountant; a BV that prepares its annual accounts itself or with a bookkeeper does not have one.
What assurance does a compilation report give?
None. Standard 4410 says that a compilation engagement is not an assurance engagement. The value lies in the expertise with which the figures were processed, not in an opinion on those figures.
Read more
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.
Get started