RJ 222 Receivables and the provision for non-collectability

The short answer

RJ 222 governs the valuation and presentation of receivables: trade receivables, loans granted and other monetary claims. You recognise them at fair value and afterwards at amortised cost, in practice the nominal amount minus a provision for non-collectability. Under the RJ you determine that provision at the balance sheet date, not as a percentage of turnover; the RJk does allow that.

Updated 30 October 2026

Key facts

What RJ 222 is about

A receivable is a right to money from another party at the balance sheet date. RJ 222 deals with the receivables in the category loans granted and other receivables, both under current assets and under financial fixed assets: trade receivables, loans you grant yourself, damages you are owed (RJ 222.101 and 103). If the amount is not yet fixed, for instance because of a dispute, and cannot be estimated reliably, it is an asset not recognised on the balance sheet (RJ 222.107; RJ 252). Prepaid costs are not a receivable but a prepaid expense.

In the classification the law asks, per group of receivables, for the part with a term longer than one year:

For each of the groups of receivables mentioned in paragraph 1, the amount is stated to which the remaining term is longer than one year.

What changed in 2026

Up to and including financial year 2025, RJ 222.203 mentioned the early-payment discount and the credit surcharge: these were deducted from or added to the receivable, in line with the determination of net turnover. From financial year 2026, RJ 222.203 says only that the provision for non-collectability is deducted from the receivable. An early-payment discount you now account for through the revenue rules of RJ 270: as a financing component if that is significant, otherwise as variable consideration that you estimate. The RJk deleted the comparable sentence from B5.103 as of the same date (RJ-Uitingen 2025-3A and 2025-3B). Financial year 2027 brings nothing new for receivables.

The provision for non-collectability: static or dynamic

At every balance sheet date you check whether there is objective evidence that a receivable or group of receivables will not be received in full: payment arrears, bankruptcy or suspension of payments of the customer, a terminated payment arrangement (RJ 222.204, referring to RJ 290.534 and following). Large receivables you first assess one by one. The rest may be assessed individually or as a group, for instance with an ageing analysis where you apply a loss rate from historical figures to each age band. That is called the static method.

A fixed percentage of turnover as an annual charge, the dynamic method, is not allowed by RJ 222.204. The RJk does allow it: a small entity may work dynamically, statically or with a combination, provided it tests the dynamically built-up provision for adequacy, usually with a static calculation, and increases it if it falls short (RJk B5.104).

If you in effect finance a regular customer, because a permanently high balance for that customer is a substantial part of its credit, you look at that permanent core and at the customer's financial position for the provision (RJ 222.205). And the provision is deducted from the receivable, never shown as a ‘provision for trade receivables’ on the liabilities side (art. 2:374(2) DCC).

Presentation: what must be separate

• Receivables from group companies and from participating interests appear separately from ordinary trade receivables (art. 2:370(1) DCC; RJ 222.302). Medium-sized and large entities also disclose the receivables from participating interests with significant influence, split into short and long term (RJ 222.313).
• Loans and advances to holders of registered shares you disclose separately; trade receivables from those shareholders do not fall under that (RJ 222.305 and 310). See also the current account with the DGA.
• Loans, advances and guarantees for directors and supervisory directors: amount, outstanding balance, write-downs, waiver, interest, conditions and repayments (art. 2:383(2) DCC; RJ 222.311). Unlike with remuneration, you may not omit this because it is traceable to one person.
• Prepayments on inventories belong with the inventories, on tangible fixed assets with those assets; for services you choose other receivables or prepaid expenses (RJ 222.307).
• A drawn but undiscounted bill of exchange remains a trade receivable. Whoever discounts while the risk stays with them keeps the receivable and recognises a liability to the bank (RJ 222.309).

Per size class

Case: dynamic under the RJk, static under the RJ

Tegelgroothandel Zuidwest BV (fictitious) has € 5.000.000 turnover and at 31 December 2026 € 500.000 of outstanding trade receivables (amounts excluding VAT). The provision stood at € 18.000 on 1 January 2026. In 2026 the BV wrote off € 11.000 of definitively uncollectible invoices, leaving € 7.000 before the year-end closing. Its fixed policy is a charge of 0,4% of turnover: € 20.000.

As a small entity under the RJk Zuidwest may keep its dynamic charge: € 7.000 + € 20.000 = € 27.000. That balance is higher than the statically calculated € 24.200 and therefore adequate; the trade receivables stand at € 473.000.

If Zuidwest follows the RJ, as a medium-sized entity or as a small one that opts for the full RJ, the provision must be the statically determined € 24.200. The charge is € 24.200 − € 7.000 = € 17.200, the trade receivables stand at € 475.800 and the result is € 2.800 higher than under the dynamic method.

In addition, on 1 July 2026 Zuidwest lent € 30.000 to its director, at 4% interest and with a repayment of € 6.000 a year from 1 July 2027. Because the money largely comes back only after more than a year, the loan is under financial fixed assets; the € 6.000 that falls due within twelve months, Zuidwest explains separately (RJ 190.207). The notes of small, medium-sized and large entities state the outstanding amount of € 30.000, the interest of 4%, the repayment schedule, that nothing has been written down or waived and that nothing was repaid in 2026 (art. 2:383(2) DCC). As a micro-entity Zuidwest need not disclose this.

Common mistakes

• Under the RJ, continuing with a fixed turnover percentage, although the provision must match the state of the receivables at the balance sheet date.
• Presenting the provision as a liability item instead of deducting it from the trade receivables.
• Not disclosing a loan to the DGA as director, arguing that it concerns one person; for loans that exception does not apply.
• After financial year 2025, still accounting for an early-payment discount as a deduction from the receivable without following the revenue rules of RJ 270.
• Forgetting that part of a long receivable falls due within a year, or conversely not disclosing the part after one year.

How it works at Jaarrekening.io

In the Bookkeeping of Jaarrekening.io, the overview of open items shows the trade receivables in ageing bands (not overdue, 1-30, 31-60, 61-90 and more than 90 days), the starting point for a static test. A separate page finds the sales invoices whose payment term expired a year or more ago: you reclaim the VAT on those in the VAT return (art. 29 Dutch VAT Act (Wet OB)). The loss rate per band and the judgement on individual customers remain your decision.

Sources

• Art. 2:370 DCC on the kinds of receivables and their term (wetten.overheid.nl)
• Art. 2:383 DCC: loans to directors and supervisory directors
• Art. 2:374 DCC: no provision for impairment of assets
• RJ-Uiting 2025-3A: early-payment discounts in RJ 222, 270 and 273 (rjnet.nl)
• RJ-Uiting 2025-3B: early-payment discounts in RJk B5 and B13 (rjnet.nl)

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