RJ 640 and RJk C1: not-for-profit organisations

The short answer

RJ 640 is the guideline for foundations and associations with a social purpose; small organisations follow RJk C1. Title 9 formally does not apply to them; the law asks only for a balance sheet and statement of income and expenses (art. 2:10 DCC). The RJ strongly recommends the chapters: income by type, free and committed equity, budget and a management report.

Updated 30 October 2026

Key facts

Who RJ 640 and RJk C1 are meant for

A not-for-profit organisation has a social main purpose, such as culture, religion, science or care for others, and may supply products or services in doing so (RJ 640.101). Think of a music school, a nature association or a museum foundation.

2. Without prejudice to the provisions of the following titles, the board is obliged to prepare annually, within six months after the end of the financial year, the balance sheet and the statement of income and expenses of the legal entity and to put them in writing.

The law requires no more. According to RJ 640.102, it deserves a "strong recommendation" to follow the provisions anyway, together with the other chapters of the RJ; the special rules of 640 take precedence. Title 9 thus works indirectly, without the sections on audit, filing, legal entities of different nature, banks and insurers. Statutory reserves are not required; a separate reserve for increases in value that have not yet passed through the statement of income and expenses is.

If the organisation falls under Title 9 because its enterprise reaches the turnover threshold, the law and RJ 630 apply, and RJ 640 remains strongly recommended where it fits (RJ 640.103). Specific statutory or subsidy rules always take precedence; what RJ 640 asks in addition then goes in the notes (RJ 640.104).

RJ 640 or RJk C1: the threshold

An organisation is small if on two consecutive balance sheet dates it meets two of three criteria: assets at cost up to € 7,5 mln, income up to € 15 mln and fewer than < 50 employees (RJk C1.102). These are the amounts for a small legal entity, with one difference: where Title 9 looks at net turnover, here the total of income counts, so including gifts and subsidies. Those who are small follow RJk C1; the rest follow RJ 640. A micro class for not-for-profit organisations does not exist.

Recognising income

An inherited house may be stated at the last known WOZ value (Dutch property tax valuation), a usufruct at its tax value. If income is earmarked for a purpose and not used up at year end, the remainder goes through the appropriation of result to a designated fund; later spending is first an expense and then a withdrawal (RJ 640.212 and 640.213).

If the organisation itself gives subsidies or gifts, the commitment is a liability and an expense as soon as the competent body has decided and has communicated this in writing, even if payment is spread over several years (RJ 640.202).

Presentation, notes and management report

• Documents. Balance sheet and statement of income and expenses with comparative figures, notes and management report (RJ 640.301).
• Budget. Alongside the actual figures, with an analysis of the differences, unless the budget is not a steering instrument (RJ 640.305 and 640.402).
• Classification. Categorical or functional (RJ 640.308); in the categorical form you separate, among others, income from supplies, subsidies, sponsoring, gifts and financial income, and on the expense side staff, depreciation and subsidies granted.
• Equity. Freely available and committed separately, with a movement schedule per item (RJ 640.311 and 640.317). Funds and reserves are not provisions.
• Notes. Subsidies by main group of grantors, incidental or structural, with conditions and open settlements; the allocation of costs; remuneration of board and supervisory body and, where needed, the WNT details (RJ 640.409-640.413).
• Management report. Purpose, policy and results in words, composition of the board and management, volunteers, policy on free equity and investments, and the budget for the next year (RJ 640.512-640.519).

RJ 640 strongly recommends a cash flow statement; RJk C1 recommends it. Outside Title 9, publication is usually not required. An ANBI (public benefit organisation recognised by the Dutch Tax Administration) does have its own publication obligation; see annual accounts of a foundation and ANBI.

Groups and the trust office foundation

Foundations have no shareholders, but they do have groups. If an organisation determines the policy of another foundation through articles or agreements and bears its benefits and risks, it consolidates (RJ 640.501-640.505): combining and eliminating intra-group items. The same people on two boards do not in themselves make a group. A small organisation may refrain from consolidation if art. 2:407 DCC is satisfied (RJk C1.401).

A trust office foundation (stichting administratiekantoor) holds shares and issues depositary receipts, but rarely has the economic interest. Shares and depositary receipts may therefore be shown pro memoria on the balance sheet and dividends passed on are not income and expenses; the notes describe the shares, receipts, conditions and pass-through payments (RJ 640.522-640.529; RJk C1.413-C1.419).

Case: Stichting Natuurwerkplaats Veenoord

Stichting Natuurwerkplaats Veenoord (fictitious) provides nature education to primary schools. It has € 280.000 of assets, six employees and forty volunteers, and income of just over € 400.000. It is therefore small and follows RJk C1. In 2026 the following happens:

• The province pays a structural subsidy of € 310.000 for the teaching programme.
• A capital fund gives € 90.000 for the Waterlab project, with a budget, a final settlement and repayment of what is not spent. That is in essence a subsidy. In 2026 € 60.000 was spent: the income is € 60.000, the other € 30.000 is on the balance sheet as an amount received in advance.
• A company donates € 20.000 for an orchard, with no obligation to repay. € 8.000 was spent. The whole gift is income; the € 12.000 left goes to a designated fund.
• In November a notary reports a bequest; the executor estimates it at € 45.000. The deed of distribution follows in February 2027.

Which column applies depends on the method the foundation chooses and maintains every year; the notes state it, and with the deed method also the bequest that comes in after the balance sheet date. The forty volunteers do not appear in the figures, but do in the management report. The remuneration of directors is a recommended disclosure for Veenoord (C1.315); under RJ 640 it is mandatory (640.413).

Which version for which financial year

• Financial year 2025: the rules on income, non-government subsidies and scope revised in 2024 (RJ-Uitingen 2024-9 and 2024-19).
• Financial year 2026: RJ 640 amended 2025; the core on income, equity and reporting stays the same.
• Financial year 2027: the special provisions of RJ 640 and RJk C1 expressly take precedence over the other chapters (RJ-Uiting 2026-5A and 5B). RJk C1.303b now recommends stating that the Guidelines have been applied in full; in RJ 640.401 that statement is a firm requirement.

Common mistakes

• Taking a subsidy with an obligation to repay fully as income in the year of receipt.
• Recognising a bequest on notification in one year and on the deed in another.
• Writing spending from a designated fund off against the fund outside the statement of income and expenses.
• Taking a three-year commitment to another foundation as an expense per year instead of at once.

How it works in Jaarrekening.io

For the ordinary foundation or association outside Title 9, Jaarrekening.io does not yet produce annual accounts under RJ 640 or RJk C1; you can keep its bookkeeping in the app, however. If it falls under art. 2:360(3) DCC, it follows the annual accounts route and there you choose whether to apply RJ 640. If yes, the app asks about bequests, gifts in kind, committed subsidies, cost allocation, budget and earmarked income, and warns if spending is written off directly against a fund.

Sources

• Art. 2:10 DCC: records, balance sheet and statement of income and expenses (wetten.overheid.nl)
• Art. 2:48 DCC: accountability in the association
• RJ-Uiting 2024-9: scope for not-for-profit organisations and fundraising organisations
• RJ-Uiting 2024-19: finally amended paragraphs RJ 640, RJ 650, RJk C1 and C2
• RJ-Uiting 2026-5A: amendments to the RJ bundle, including the precedence of RJ 640 and 650
• Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst): publishing the financial accountability of an ANBI

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