Is the KVK balance sheet enough for my bank?

The short answer

Often not. A bank may need results, notes and current figures in addition to the public balance sheet. Ask about the file requirements.

Basis: art. 2:395a and 2:396 DCC; financing conditions

What does a public KVK balance sheet show?

A public KVK balance sheet is intended for statutory publication and can be heavily abridged. A bank also wants to be able to assess whether you can pay interest and repayments. For that it may require full annual figures and additional information. Which documents are needed depends on the financing, agreements and the assessment by the bank concerned.

For micro and small legal entities, art. 2:395a and 2:396 DCC limit the information that must be published. As a result, the publication may contain no profit and loss account, while that is precisely important for a credit analysis. Rabobank, for example, states that for financing applications and annual reviews it requests final annual figures and can receive the annual accounts in the bank's format via SBR. That example does not mean every bank prescribes the same route. Ask your own contact which reporting, periods and any statements are needed. A download from the Business Register therefore cannot simply settle the request.

Which additional figures can the bank ask for?

Ask whether the bank only needs historical figures or also information about the current year. Annual accounts with a balance sheet date in December may already be insufficient months later to assess current liquidity. Think of interim turnover, outstanding receivables, order position and financing obligations. Do not supply a forecast as if it were an adopted annual result. State the status and reference date of each overview. A short explanation of major changes can prevent the bank from interpreting a temporary difference as a structural decline. Support that explanation with figures and concrete events.

Also check whether an accountant product is required. A bank may accept figures supplied by the board or ask for a specific level of involvement. Have that requirement clarified before the year-end work. A compilation report is not an audit report, and merely the word 'accountant' in the file name does not make a report suitable. Agree with your adviser which information is provided and by which route. If you only had publication documents prepared, additional reporting may be needed. That explains a possible difference between a cheap publication engagement and a full financing file.

How do you supply the right file?

Limit the handover to what is needed for the specific request and use the agreed secure channel. Check the entity, financial year and final version before you send. In a holding structure the bank may need figures of several companies; coordinate that in advance. Keep a record of which files were shared and which questions are still open. A bank request is separate from the question whether you must file by law. A company without public annual accounts may also have to supply financial information for credit. The appropriate answer is therefore to ask the lender for its requirements, not merely to look at what the KVK has already made public.

Sources

• KVK: filing for micro and small
• KVK: what do the annual accounts consist of?

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