RGS mapping for the annual accounts

The short answer

RGS mapping is linking your ledger accounts to the reference codes of the Referentie GrootboekSchema (RGS, the Dutch reference chart of accounts). Each code has a fixed place in the balance sheet or the profit and loss account and is linked to the SBR taxonomy. Software uses it to convert your trial balance into annual accounts line items without retyping. There is no legal obligation to use RGS.

Updated 30 October 2026

Key facts

How RGS is built

The core of RGS is the reference code: a letter code built from coarse to fine. The first letter says whether it concerns the balance sheet (B) or the profit and loss account (W); each following block of three letters adds a level.

The reference ledger number is an example number; you may keep your own account numbers and descriptions. You may not change or extend the reference codes themselves as long as you refer to RGS as the standard. The reversal code is meant for accounts that can have either a debit or a credit balance: it points to the code on the other side of the balance sheet.

RGS, the law and SBR

Title 9 of Book 2 DCC prescribes which line items appear in the balance sheet and the profit and loss account (art. 2:364 up to and including 2:377 DCC), not what your ledger looks like. The law only requires bookkeeping from which rights and obligations are apparent at all times (art. 2:10(1) DCC). RGS bridges that gap: it translates your own chart of accounts into a common classification.

The RGS Taxonomy contains the link between RGS codes and the data that the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst), the KVK, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and banks request through SBR. According to the managing organisation, there are links with 56 reports from the Dutch Taxonomy and the Banks Taxonomy. That makes RGS the hinge between bookkeeping and SBR and XBRL. The classification remains your responsibility: a code that does not fit the substance of the account results in incorrect annual accounts, however neat the technology.

Mapping in practice

1. Export the trial balance or audit file for the whole financial year and check that debit equals credit; see exporting and checking the trial balance.
2. Link each account to the most specific code that fits the substance. If in doubt, look at the level above: many codes have the same description.
3. Solve the difficult cases (see the table).
4. Check the outcome: does the balance sheet total add up, are there no negative items and has no account been left unlinked?
5. Keep the mapping table and reuse it next year.

Worked example: from trial balance to line items

An extract from the trial balance of a small BV (private limited company) at 31 December 2025, with the RGS code and the line item where the balance ends up:

The bank account shows why the reversal code matters. Without the reversal, € 8.500 would appear as a negative under cash and cash equivalents: the balance sheet total would then be € 8.500 too low and so would the current liabilities. With the reversal, the amount appears as a debt to the bank on the liabilities side. For VAT it works the other way round: a receivable balance flips from BSchBepBtw to BVorVbkTvo.

What the mapping delivers per size class

The codes are the same for everyone; what differs is how finely the annual accounts are classified. If a micro or small legal entity chooses tax-based valuation principles (art. 2:395a(7) and art. 2:396(6) DCC), the valuation changes, not the mapping. The threshold amounts apply to financial years that began in 2024 or later. Classification in a size class requires at least two of the three criteria on two consecutive balance sheet dates; the first and second financial year have the exception of art. 2:398(1) DCC.

Common mapping mistakes

• Linking an account with mixed content, such as ‘sundry costs’ or a clearing account with a balance, to a single code.
• Forgetting the reversal code for bank, VAT and current accounts.
• Going by the description of the code without reading the higher level.
• Reusing last year's mapping without going through new accounts.
• Assuming that RGS delivers the functional profit and loss account. RGS classifies costs by nature; you make the split into cost of sales, selling expenses and general administrative expenses yourself.

RGS mapping in Jaarrekening.io

Jaarrekening.io reads the RGS codes from an XAF audit file. If an account has a usable code, the annual accounts line item follows from that code. Without a code, the AI makes a proposal with reasoning per account, which you check and adjust. A mapping you recorded yourself earlier takes precedence. If you report the profit and loss account functionally, the app does not assign the cost accounts from the RGS code. You can practise with the RGS mapping tool.

Sources

• Referentie GrootboekSchema: structure of RGS
• Referentie GrootboekSchema: about RGS and governance
• Referentie GrootboekSchema: final version RGS 3.8 (Excel)
• Referentie GrootboekSchema: alpha version RGS 3.9
• Referentie GrootboekSchema: getting started, link with SBR and audit file
• Referentie GrootboekSchema: points of attention when linking
• Art. 2:10 DCC: bookkeeping obligation (wetten.overheid.nl)
• KVK: filing declarations, digital filing per business class

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