Dutch GAAP explained: the law, the decrees and the RJ

The short answer

Dutch GAAP is not one rulebook. It combines Book 2 Title 9 of the Dutch Civil Code, a few government decrees and the Dutch Accounting Standards (Richtlijnen voor de jaarverslaggeving): the RJ for medium-sized and large entities and the RJk for micro and small ones. The standards are not statute, but you depart from them only for good reasons.

Updated 30 October 2026

Key facts

Three layers, three kinds of question

The law sets the duties: who prepares accounts, which items appear, how assets may be measured, which notes each size class gives, and how the accounts are adopted and filed. Title 9 of Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek, BW) is the core, with corporate articles such as art. 2:210 DCC alongside it. The decrees (besluiten) supply delegated detail: the formats, how current value is set, and how micro and small entities may use tax bases.

The Dutch Accounting Standards explain how to apply the law to real transactions: when a lease is a finance lease, when revenue on a project is earned, when a provision is needed. They come from the Raad voor de Jaarverslaggeving (RJ), the board of a foundation set up in 1981 by employers' organisations, trade unions and the accountancy profession, with members who prepare, use or audit financial statements. The RJ describes its standards as a more detailed reading of the norms the law refers to (RJk A1.201).

Are the Dutch Accounting Standards binding?

Not in the way a statute is. Article 2:362(1) DCC requires the accounts to give an insight according to norms regarded as acceptable in society (normen die in het maatschappelijk verkeer als aanvaardbaar worden beschouwd). The RJ bundle is the most detailed written statement of those norms, but the RJ itself says that even its bold-printed firm statements (stellige uitspraken) lack the force of law. It expects preparers to depart from them only for good reasons (goede gronden), for example because the departure genuinely improves the picture the accounts give (RJ 100.407; for small entities RJk A1.203).

Text in normal type is a recommendation (aanbeveling). The RJk prints nothing in bold; its wording shows the status. Mandatory wording (moet, must) usually marks a legal requirement, while ‘kan overwegen’ (may consider) marks an optional disclosure, because the EU Accounting Directive caps what member states may demand from small companies in the notes (RJk foreword).

The final word lies with the courts. Any interested party, and the advocate general in the public interest, can ask the Enterprise Chamber (Ondernemingskamer) of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal to order a company to revise its accounts, normally within two months after adoption (arts 2:447–2:449 DCC). The RJ incorporates published decisions of the Enterprise Chamber and the Supreme Court that have general relevance (RJ 100.303).

RJ or RJk: which bundle applies

Micro and small entities, as defined in arts 2:395a and 2:396 DCC, use the RJk bundle. Its parts are A (general principles, such as recognition, errors, events after the balance sheet date, related parties and publication), B (the line items, from intangible assets in B1 to the notes in B18), C (small non-profit organisations, fundraising organisations and care providers) and M (micro entities: M1, plus M2 for micro care and youth-care providers from financial year 2026). For less common topics the RJk refers to the full RJ (RJk A1.202).

Medium-sized and large entities apply the RJ bundle: general chapters in the 100 series, balance sheet items in the 200s, the profit and loss account and specific topics from 270 to 292, notes and other documents from 300 to 430, and sector chapters from 600 to 660 for banks, insurers, pension funds, investment entities, cooperatives, commercial and non-profit foundations, housing associations, fundraising organisations, care providers and schools (RJ 100.302). A small entity can choose to follow the full RJ instead of the RJk.

Editions and the financial years they cover

Both bundles appear in a new edition every year. Since edition 2025, published in 2024, each edition carries the name of the financial year it applies to: edition 2027 covers financial years starting on or after 1 January 2027. A new standard normally applies from 1 January of the year after publication unless it states otherwise, and earlier application is recommended (RJ 100.206).

The overview of changes in 2026 and 2027 (in Dutch) lists amendments per chapter, and the RJ publishes a Ten geleide with each edition.

Worked example: one cost, three layers

A fictitious small BV develops and sells its own software; development is its main activity. In 2025 it spends €120,000 on a new module. The first €30,000 goes on research and early design, before the company can show technical feasibility, the intention and ability to finish and sell the module, a market for it, the resources to complete it and reliable cost measurement. The remaining €90,000 is spent after all of those points are demonstrated.

• Law. Article 2:365(1)(b) DCC lets development costs appear as an intangible fixed asset. If they are capitalised, the company must hold a legal reserve of the same amount (art. 2:365(2) DCC) and amortise the asset over its expected useful life, or over at most ten years if that life cannot be estimated reliably (art. 2:386(3) DCC).
• Standards. For a small entity the RJk makes capitalisation a choice, except where internal development is the entity's main activity: then costs that meet the criteria must be capitalised (RJk B1.105). For a medium-sized or large entity capitalisation is compulsory once the criteria are met (RJ 210.224).
• Outcome. The BV expenses €30,000 and capitalises €90,000. With a five-year expected life from first use, amortisation is €18,000 a year. Equity contains a legal reserve of €90,000, which the general meeting cannot distribute (art. 2:216(1) DCC); the reserve shrinks as the asset is amortised.

Had development been a side activity, the BV could have expensed all €120,000. Under IFRS the €90,000 must be capitalised; see Dutch GAAP vs IFRS.

Dutch GAAP in English: what exists and where to read it

‘Dutch GAAP’ and ‘NL GAAP’ are English labels, not legal terms. The statute speaks of Title 9 of Book 2, and the standards are called Richtlijnen voor de jaarverslaggeving; the glossary pairs the Dutch terms with their English renderings. What is available in English depends on the layer.

The rjnet.nl pages present the English bundle as a purchase through the publisher, with no free download and no price or date on the pages. Be careful with an unofficial PDF found elsewhere: the bundles are reissued every year, so a copy can describe a financial year that is no longer the one you are preparing. If a foreign parent asks for ‘Dutch GAAP in English’, the practical answer is usually the combination of the guides on this site, the English bundle for the RJ-level questions and the Dutch article for any legal reference; see Dutch GAAP vs IFRS when the parent reports under IFRS.

Misunderstandings that cause rework

• ‘Dutch GAAP means the RJ.’ The statute and decrees come first, and a standard cannot override a legal rule.
• ‘Small companies can ignore the standards.’ The RJk is written for them, and Division 6 (afdeling 6) of Title 9 still governs measurement.
• ‘The RJ approved this software or this firm.’ The RJ issues standards; it does not certify tools or advisers.
• ‘The commercial accounts are the tax accounts.’ Only micro and small entities may adopt tax bases, and then for every item (arts 2:395a(7) and 2:396(6) DCC).

How Jaarrekening.io applies the framework

Jaarrekening.io prepares Dutch annual accounts under Title 9 and applies the RJk to micro and small entities and the RJ to medium-sized and large ones, in the edition for the financial year concerned. Legal requirements are compulsory questions; disclosures the RJk only suggests are your choice, and a small entity can switch to the full RJ. The application is available in English, the annual accounts it prepares are in Dutch, and the RJ has not reviewed it. The first set of annual accounts in an account is free for every size class; after that one set costs micro €250, small €500, medium-sized €2,000 and large €5,000, once per financial year and excluding VAT.

Sources

• Dutch Civil Code, art. 2:362 (in Dutch)
• Dutch Civil Code, art. 2:447 (in Dutch)
• Raad voor de Jaarverslaggeving: the standards
• Raad voor de Jaarverslaggeving: Ten geleide per edition
• Raad voor de Jaarverslaggeving: English-language bundle
• Raad voor de Jaarverslaggeving: English page (read 30 October 2026)

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