Non-calendar financial year and the annual accounts

The short answer

A non-calendar financial year is a financial year that does not coincide with the calendar year, for example 1 July up to and including 30 June. It applies only if the articles of association designate it (art. 2:10a DCC). The content of the annual accounts does not change; the deadlines for preparing and filing run from the end of your own financial year, and the corporate income tax return follows that same financial year.

Updated 30 October 2026

Key facts

The articles of association determine the financial year

The law starts from the calendar year and lets the articles of association designate a different financial year (art. 2:10a DCC). A choice in the bookkeeping software is therefore not enough. If you want to change the financial year, the general meeting resolves to amend the articles and the notary records this in a deed; without a deed the amendment is void (art. 2:234(1) DCC).

The Dutch Accounting Standards (Richtlijnen voor de jaarverslaggeving) have no separate chapter for the non-calendar financial year. All rules on valuation, notes and comparative figures apply in full. You do have to check for each new rule from which financial year it applies. The increased limits for the size classes, for example, apply to financial years that began on or after 1 January 2024; for a financial year from 1 July 2023 up to and including 30 June 2024 the old amounts still applied, unless you voluntarily applied the new ones earlier.

The deadlines for a non-calendar financial year

The deadlines for preparing and filing count from the last day of the financial year. For a BV (private limited company) that looks as follows (art. 2:210(1) and art. 2:394 DCC):

An extension for the return changes nothing about the deadline for the Chamber of Commerce (KVK). You calculate your own dates with the filing deadline calculator; the rules are in publication period and extension.

What runs differently in practice

• Payroll and VAT follow the calendar. You file the VAT return per month, quarter or year and the payroll tax return has its own periods. The payroll costs in the profit and loss account therefore do not reconcile with the payroll data of one calendar year; make a reconciliation over two years.
• Group. The consolidated annual accounts have the same balance sheet date as the company-only accounts of the group head; figures of a subsidiary may deviate by at most three months (art. 2:412 DCC). For a fiscal unity the financial years must coincide (art. 15(4) Corporate Income Tax Act 1969 (Wet Vpb 1969)).
• Tax values per calendar year. Some tax data are tied to the calendar year. For depreciation of a building, the WOZ value (property valuation) of the calendar year in which the financial year ends counts (art. 3.30a(4) Income Tax Act 2001 (Wet IB 2001)).
• Comparative figures. If the previous financial year is shorter or longer, the figures are not simply comparable. It is wise to state in the notes the reason for the deviating length, and that the figures are therefore not comparable (RJk A1.305).

Worked example: switching with a short financial year

A BV whose financial year is the calendar year wants to report from 1 April up to and including 31 March from now on. The articles are amended in 2025. The 2025 financial year remains a calendar year; then comes a short financial year from 1 January up to and including 31 March 2026 and from 1 April 2026 the new rhythm.

The journal entries: Depreciation costs € 3.000 to Accumulated depreciation € 3.000, and Prepayments € 3.600 to Insurance costs € 3.600. The turnover over three months stands next to that over twelve months in 2025; the notes state the difference in length. The Dutch Tax Administration follows the financial year under the articles, but does not allow a financial year to be changed solely to obtain an incidental tax advantage.

Non-calendar financial year per size class

The non-calendar financial year does not change the size class, but it does change the moment at which you test: the balance sheet date is the end of your own financial year. For a financial year that began on or after 1 January 2024, these are the limits. You test at least two of the three criteria on two such balance sheet dates in a row; a new legal entity uses the first balance sheet date in the first and second financial year (art. 2:398(1) DCC).

Common mistakes with a non-calendar financial year

• Shifting the financial year in the books without amending the articles of association.
• Setting the last filing date at 31 December out of habit.
• Taking over payroll costs from the annual statements without correcting the months of the other calendar year.
• Applying new limits or guidelines to a financial year that began before the effective date.
• Including a subsidiary with a different financial year in a fiscal unity or consolidation without interim figures.

Financial years and deadlines in Jaarrekening.io

In Jaarrekening.io every financial year has its own start and end date. The app calculates the deadlines for preparing, adopting and filing per legal form from the end of the financial year. When importing an audit file or trial balance, it checks whether the file covers the period of the financial year. The XBRL file exists for every size class and for financial years beginning in 2023 up to and including 2026; the starting year determines the taxonomy. It is a validation candidate that you have validated externally; you submit it yourself.

Sources

• Art. 2:10a DCC: financial year (wetten.overheid.nl)
• Art. 2:234 DCC: notarial deed amending the articles
• Art. 2:210 DCC: preparation and adoption at the BV
• Art. 2:394 DCC: publication
• Dutch Tax Administration: the financial year in corporate income tax
• Dutch Tax Administration: filing the corporate income tax return, due date
• KVK: deadlines for filing at a BV
• RJ-Uiting 2024-4: increase of limits in annual accounts law (rjnet.nl)
• Art. 3.30a Income Tax Act 2001: WOZ value with a non-calendar financial year
• Dutch Tax Administration: VAT return period

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