Dutch annual accounts in Excel or with software?
Excel is allowed: Dutch law sets requirements for the content, not for the program. For a micro BV (private limited company) with a simple balance sheet, a spreadsheet can be enough if you know the layout. Software tests the size class, prepares the annual accounts from the trial balance and produces a publication version and an XBRL file as a validation candidate. At Jaarrekening.io the first annual accounts are free.
The short answer
Excel is allowed: Dutch law sets requirements for the content, not for the program. For a micro BV (private limited company) with a simple balance sheet, a spreadsheet can be enough if you know the layout. Software tests the size class, prepares the annual accounts from the trial balance and produces a publication version and an XBRL file as a validation candidate. At Jaarrekening.io the first annual accounts are free.
Updated 30 October 2026
Excel and software side by side
| Excel or another spreadsheet | Annual accounts software | |
|---|---|---|
| Layout | You set up the line items yourself according to the models | The statutory line items per class are fixed |
| Size class | You test it yourself over two balance sheet dates, with the group figures | Calculated from your figures |
| Notes | You must know what your class requires | Questions and drafts per class |
| Amounts in the text | You create the cell references yourself and keep them up to date | Draft texts use the recorded figures; after a later change you update the amounts in the text |
| Comparative figures | A column you fill yourself or link to the prior year | Taken over from the prior year: KVK filing, pdf or trial balance |
| Publication version | A second version that you shorten yourself | Compiled per class |
| XBRL | Not without separate software; in the KVK portal you enter the figures yourself | Validation candidate for every class, for financial years starting in 2023 through 2026 |
| Collaboration | Joint editing and version history in the versions of Excel that support it | Roles, comments and approval per section |
| Costs | No extra licence if you already have Excel; but your time | At Jaarrekening.io the first one is free, then per financial year |
When Excel is enough
A spreadsheet suits a micro BV without staff, with a handful of balance sheet items and a director who knows the rules for micro entities. For micro entities the Dutch Decree on annual accounts models does not apply (art. 1(3) of the Decree): what the annual accounts contain is determined by art. 2:395a(3) to (6) DCC. Only a limited balance sheet with a few notes below it is made public.
Anyone with such a BV who files in the KVK portal retypes the public figures there anyway. The spreadsheet is then mainly a working paper to arrive at those figures. A written-out model to copy is in the annual accounts template; what the law asks of annual accounts in Excel is in may I prepare the annual accounts in Excel?
Where a spreadsheet falls short
- From small upwards there are notes, including the accounting policies art. 2:384(5) DCC and, for liabilities, the term and the security given art. 2:396(3) DCC. A spreadsheet does not tell you what is missing.
- With a holding company the group figures count towards the size class. Anyone who only tests their own balance sheet easily picks the wrong class.
- With a change of class the content of the annual accounts changes, but your spreadsheet does not.
- With medium-sized and large the accountant wants to be able to trace every amount. A spreadsheet in which origin and corrections are not recorded makes that work slower.
- With corrections late in the process you adjust the same amount in several places without continuous cell references: in the balance sheet, the notes, the publication version and the portal.
A balance sheet that balances in Excel does not mean every item is right. A wrongly classified loan leaves debit and credit equal, but gives the reader a wrong picture of what falls due within a year.
From Excel to software
- Export the trial balance from your bookkeeping as Excel or CSV, or use the trial balance template.
- Import it into Jaarrekening.io; the app proposes the mapping to the annual accounts line items.
- Take over the prior-year figures from the KVK filing, the pdf of the previous annual accounts or the prior-year trial balance.
- Put your old spreadsheet next to it and check the balance sheet total, result and equity.
The spreadsheet does not have to go: keep it as a working paper in the file. The first annual accounts in a new account are free, so you can compare the outcome with your own spreadsheet before you pay anything. If you hesitate between doing it yourself and outsourcing, read do it yourself or outsource.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Are annual accounts made in Excel valid?
Yes, if the content meets Title 9 Book 2 DCC. The law does not say which program you use. The board prepares and signs the annual accounts, and the competent body, for a BV the general meeting, adopts them, regardless of the program they were made in.
Can I file from Excel with the KVK?
Not directly. Micro and small entities retype the public figures in the KVK portal. Via SBR you submit an XBRL file; for that you need software that produces such a file in addition to Excel.
Where do I find a free model for Excel?
This site has an annual accounts template with a written-out model of a small BV, to copy into Excel or Word. It does not calculate and checks nothing.
Can I import my trial balance from Excel into Jaarrekening.io?
Yes. Jaarrekening.io reads a trial balance in Excel or CSV, and also an XAF audit file. If the file contains RGS codes, those codes determine the mapping; if they are missing, the AI proposes a mapping that you review.
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Preparing Dutch annual accounts?
Your first set of annual accounts is free, for every size class. Create an account and prepare the annual accounts of your Dutch company under Title 9 of Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code.
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