RJ 271: employee benefits and pensions in the annual accounts

The short answer

RJ 271 governs how you account for benefits to staff: during employment, after it ends (pension), on early retirement and on dismissal. For a Dutch pension scheme the premium payable is the expense; you form a provision only for what you also already owe at the balance sheet date. Micro and small entities follow RJk B14.

Updated 30 October 2026

Key facts

Four kinds of benefits, one starting point

RJ 271 distinguishes benefits during employment (wages, holiday pay, holiday days, bonuses, jubilee awards, sabbaticals, vitality schemes, continued payment during illness), benefits after it ends (pension), early retirement schemes and severance payments. Shares and options for staff are covered in RJ 275.

The starting point: the expense belongs to the year in which the work was done (RJ 271.202). If an employee builds up rights that he later takes or cashes in, such as holiday days, there is a liability at the balance sheet date. For a conditional right, such as a jubilee payment, you take into account the chance that someone leaves earlier (RJ 271.203). A right that is not built up, such as continued payment during pregnancy leave, is charged to the period for which it is owed (RJ 271.204). An obligation that follows only from established practice also counts (RJ 271.102).

Pensions: the premium is the expense, unless

A Dutch employer must place pension commitments with a pension fund, an insurer or a premium pension institution. Because the risks lie there, you account for the scheme on the basis of the agreements with that provider: the premium for the year is the expense, and what has not yet been paid is a liability (RJ 271.306). A provision is added only if at the balance sheet date you owe more, that outflow is probable and the amount can be estimated reliably (RJ 271.307). Examples:

• an agreed additional payment because the fund's funding ratio falls below the limit in the implementation agreement (RJ 271.311);
• an indexation that has already been granted, is at the employer's expense and has not yet been funded (RJ 271.307);
• the unfunded part of a salary increase already promised in a final-salary scheme (RJ 271.314);
• in an insured scheme, for example, a retrospective premium charge under the contract (RJ 271.313).

With a premium pension institution only the premium exists (RJ 271.313a). You recognise a pension asset if you can dispose of the surplus, the benefit will probably flow to you and the amount can be determined reliably (RJ 271.308). You measure a provision at the best estimate, discounted at the rate on high-quality corporate bonds if the time effect is material (RJ 271.315 and 271.316). A foreign scheme that does not resemble the Dutch system you measure actuarially or under IFRS or US GAAP (RJ 271.320 and 271.321).

Future of Pensions Act: what changes in the annual accounts

The Future of Pensions Act (Wet toekomst pensioenen) has applied since 1 July 2023. By 1 January 2028 all schemes must fit the new system; the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment confirmed that final date on 2 July 2026 in a letter to the Senate (Eerste Kamer). The Council adapted RJ 271 in RJ-Uiting 2024-18 (29 August 2024), included in the edition for financial years from 1 January 2025. Two rules have mattered since:

• A compensation you only pay as long as the employee stays employed is a reward for future work. You form no provision for it at the balance sheet date; the expense falls in the years in which the work is done (RJ 271.314a).
• If at the balance sheet date you are already obliged to pay a one-off amount into the fund, for example for the reserve that shares risks between participants, you do recognise that liability (RJ 271.311).

The transition itself does not change the balance sheet of an employer with a fund as long as nothing extra is owed. The general pension fund (algemeen pensioenfonds) has also been listed as a provider in the guideline since the amendment.

Case: installation company in an industry-wide pension fund

Installatietechniek Vechtdal BV has 120 employees in an industry-wide pension fund. The premium for 2025 is € 840.000, of which € 70.000 was still unpaid on 31 December. Under a collective agreement that was already in place at the balance sheet date, every employer pays € 1.250 per active participant in March 2026 for the transition to the new system. Employees who are worse off receive ten years of extra premium from 2026 as long as they stay employed. After 25 years of service an employee receives one month's salary; the estimated obligation, taking turnover into account, is € 36.000.

The pension expense in the profit and loss account for 2025 is € 840.000 + € 150.000 = € 990.000. With 120 employees the BV cannot be a micro-entity. A micro-entity with a pension scheme accounts for the same kinds of items (RJk M1.301), unless it applies tax-based policies, but gives no notes and does not state pension costs separately (art. 2:395a(5) DCC).

The DGA's pension

Since the Act phasing out own-management pensions (Wet uitfasering pensioen in eigen beheer, 1 April 2017), many BVs have a retirement obligation instead of a pension provision. It is shown under liabilities, at the tax book value (RJ 271.318b; RJk B14.110a). If the DGA kept his pension in own management, a provision remains, calculated actuarially with a market interest rate and without conditional indexations (RJ 271.318 and 271.318a). A small BV then discloses the calculation bases and the discount rate (RJk B14.110).

Example: the tax book value of the retirement obligation of Ter Heide Holding BV rises from € 204.230 on 31 December 2024 to € 212.400 on 31 December 2025. The liability becomes € 212.400 and the increase of € 8.170 is charged to the 2025 result. You do not use an actuarial amount or another interest rate here.

Vitality schemes, early retirement and dismissal

Since financial year 2025, RJ 271 and RJk B14 expressly address vitality schemes. If an employee may work less after a number of years of service while keeping part of his pay, he builds up that right during those years and you form a liability over that period (RJ 271.204a to 204c). You account for an early retirement scheme (RVU) under RJ 271.4. You recognise a severance payment as soon as you have committed yourself unconditionally, for example with an irrevocable offer, or as part of a reorganisation provision (RJ 271.503; RJk B14.124). The small entity may also recognise conditional rights such as jubilee awards, sabbaticals and vitality leave only on payment or when taken (RJk B14.106a).

Per size class

Common mistakes

• Forming a pension provision for the funding ratio of an industry-wide fund when the employer does not have to pay anything in.
• Recognising a compensation premium under the Future of Pensions Act that depends on continued employment as a provision in one go.
• Measuring the retirement obligation actuarially instead of at the tax book value.
• Forgetting untaken holiday days and accrued holiday pay at the balance sheet date.
• Disclosing the remuneration of a sole director, although art. 2:383(1) DCC allows omission if the amount is traceable to one person.

Sources

• Art. 2:383 BW: remuneration of and loans to directors and supervisory directors (wetten.overheid.nl)
• Art. 2:396 BW: exemptions for the small entity
• RJ-Uiting 2024-18: amendments to RJ 271 due to the Future of Pensions Act (rjnet.nl)
• Letter from the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment to the Senate, 2 July 2026 (Kamerstukken I 2025/26, 36 067, CS): final transition date 1 January 2028
• Dutch Accounting Standards Board: the Guidelines and the compendia (rjnet.nl)
• Dutch Accounting Standards Board: Forewords per annual edition, with the changes per financial year

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