Are annual accounts mandatory for a VvE (owners' association)?
A Dutch owners' association (vereniging van eigenaars, VvE) must show every year what happened to the money: that is mandatory. Annual accounts within the meaning of Title 9 Book 2 DCC they usually are not, and an ordinary VvE has no obligation to file with the KVK.
The short answer
Yes, but not as Title 9 annual accounts: an ordinary Dutch VvE (owners' association) submits every year within six months after the financial year a balance sheet and a statement of income and expenditure with notes to the meeting for approval (art. 5:135 in conjunction with 2:48 DCC). It does not have to file with the KVK; the records are kept for seven years.
Updated 30 October 2026
Key facts
| Legal entity | The owners' association (vereniging van eigenaars) is a legal entity (art. 5:124(1) DCC); Title 1 Book 2 applies to it (paragraph 2), with some exceptions |
| Accountability | art. 5:135 DCC declares art. 2:45(4) and art. 2:48 DCC applicable: balance sheet and statement of income and expenditure with notes, to the meeting within six months |
| Title 9 | Only through art. 2:360(3) DCC: if the VvE maintains an enterprise that must be in the Business Register and the turnover threshold is exceeded, and it need not prepare an equivalent public financial accountability. That is not the case for an ordinary VvE |
| Business Register | Every VvE must be registered (KVK). Registering is not filing: an ordinary VvE submits no annual accounts there |
| No VvE product | Jaarrekening.io has no VvE module and no VvE legal form |
Why a VvE does not prepare Title 9 annual accounts
The rules for annual accounts in Title 9 Book 2 DCC apply to the cooperative, the mutual insurance society, the NV and the BV, to certain general and limited partnerships, and to foundations and associations that maintain an enterprise with a turnover above a threshold (art. 2:360(1) to (3) DCC). An owners' association is not among them. It manages a building for the owners and runs no enterprise. It therefore does not have to prepare annual accounts under Title 9 and does not file. If the VvE is registered in the Business Register, that changes nothing about this conclusion.
Note a common reference: in some sources art. 5:111 DCC is given as the basis. That article regulates what the deed of division must contain, not the accountability of the VvE. The relevant articles are art. 5:124, 5:126 and 5:135 DCC.
What the VvE must do
The law makes the owners' association a legal entity and applies the general rules on legal entities to it (art. 5:124(1) and (2) DCC). That includes the record-keeping duty of art. 2:10 DCC: the board keeps records from which the rights and obligations can be known at all times, every year within six months after the financial year prepares a balance sheet and a statement of income and expenditure, and keeps the documents for seven years. Article 10 is not in the list of exceptions of art. 5:124(2).
In addition, art. 5:135 DCC declares art. 2:48 DCC applicable. That article requires the board, within six months after the end of the financial year, unless extended by the meeting, to report to a meeting on the course of affairs and to submit the balance sheet and the statement of income and expenditure with notes for approval. The documents are signed by the directors and supervisory directors. If there is no supervisory board and the board submits no auditor's statement, the meeting appoints every year a committee of at least two members who are not directors, the well-known audit committee (kascommissie). It examines the documents, gets access to cash, books and documents and reports to the meeting (art. 2:48(2)).
For the money itself the law has extra rules: the VvE maintains a reserve fund for costs other than the ordinary annual costs (art. 5:126(1)), pays the reserve fund contributions into a separate account in the name of the association (paragraph 3) and, for residential buildings, reserves every year a minimum amount that follows from a maintenance plan or a percentage of the rebuilding value (paragraph 2); how exactly that minimum works is under How much must the VvE reserve every year. According to art. 5:112, the regulations regulate, among other things, the operating statement to be prepared every year and the contributions.
How much must the VvE reserve every year?
For a building intended wholly or partly for residential use, art. 5:126(2) DCC sets a lower limit for the annual reservation for the reserve fund. The reservation is at least one of two amounts, and the law links them with the word 'or':
- Maintenance plan (under a): the amount the meeting has determined to carry out a maintenance plan. The plan may be at most five years old, must cover at least ten years, contains the necessary maintenance and repair work and planned renewals with a cost calculation, and allocates those costs evenly to the years.
- Percentage of the rebuilding value (under b): at least 0,5% of the rebuilding value of the building, per year.
The law therefore does not mention a 'higher of the two': the meeting can adopt a current maintenance plan or fall back on the percentage. A meeting without a valid plan ends up with the percentage. The third paragraph adds that the contributions are in a separate current or savings account in the name of the VvE. This can only be deviated from by the regulations, by a decision with at least four fifths of the votes of the apartment owners, or by a bank guarantee in the name of the VvE.
Whether the addition in a year meets the lower limit you see by putting the addition in the operating statement next to the amount from the maintenance plan, or next to 0,5% of the rebuilding value. Which rebuilding value the VvE uses is not in the law; ask the board where it comes from. The case below calculates the percentage.
What belongs in the documents for the meeting
The law names three components: a balance sheet, a statement of income and expenditure and notes (art. 5:135 DCC in conjunction with art. 2:48 DCC). It prescribes no fixed layout for an ordinary VvE, because the provisions of Title 9 on content and layout do not apply here. Therefore first read the deed of division and the regulations: they can set requirements for the documents, for the period within which owners receive them and for the name they carry, for example operating statement instead of statement of income and expenditure.
- Report on the course of affairs: what happened in the year, such as damage, a dispute, a tender or postponed maintenance.
- Statement of income and expenditure: the actual costs next to the budget, with an explanation for the large differences.
- Balance sheet: the balances of current and savings account, the reserve fund, contributions still to be received and invoices not yet paid.
- Notes: how contributions and amounts received in advance have been processed, which obligations are open and which major maintenance is planned.
A budget for the coming year is a different document from the accountability for the past year; one looks ahead, the other answers the question where the money went. A bank statement, moreover, shows what has been paid, not which costs belong to the financial year. A balance sheet should therefore also show the receivables and liabilities that have not yet been settled at the balance sheet date.
Registering in the Business Register is not filing
Two things are often confused. A VvE must be in the Business Register: the KVK writes on its page on registering an owners' association that every VvE must be registered (page updated on 6 July 2026, read on 28 October 2026). That is about the registration itself, with details such as name, address and board. Filing is a second act: submitting annual accounts, which the law requires only from those who fall under Title 9 (art. 2:394 DCC). An ordinary VvE is therefore in the register, but submits no annual accounts there.
Whoever still wants to see figures of a VvE, such as a buyer or a bank, asks the VvE or the manager. You will not find them in the Business Register, unless the VvE falls under the exception below.
When Title 9 does apply
If the VvE itself maintains an enterprise that must be in the Business Register, for example by supplying energy or parking spaces to third parties on a large scale, and the net turnover in two consecutive financial years is half or more of the amount named in art. 2:396(1)(b), it falls under art. 2:360(3) DCC and Title 9 and the filing obligation apply. See must an association or foundation file the annual accounts for the exact turnover threshold. Ordinary contributions from owners are not net turnover of an enterprise.
Case: VvE Zevenbomen
A VvE with 24 apartments collects in 2025 a contribution of € 4.000 per apartment: € 96.000. The costs are € 71.000 (energy for the common areas, insurance, cleaning, management, minor maintenance). The rest, € 25.000, goes to the reserve fund.
| Operating statement 2025 | Amount |
|---|---|
| Owners' contributions (24 × € 4.000) | € 96.000 |
| Costs of management and maintenance | € 71.000 |
| Addition to the reserve fund | € 25.000 |
| Balance | € 0 |
| Balance sheet at 31 December 2025 | Amount | Amount | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Savings account reserve fund | € 140.000 | Reserve fund | € 140.000 |
| Current account | € 18.000 | General reserve | € 6.000 |
| Contributions still to be received | € 4.000 | Accounts payable | € 16.000 |
| Total | € 162.000 | Total | € 162.000 |
The meeting had approved a budget of € 67.000 in costs for 2025. In the documents the board puts the actual amounts next to it, so that the owners see where it deviated:
| Budget and actual 2025 | Budget | Actual | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owners' contributions | € 96.000 | € 96.000 | € 0 |
| Energy common areas | € 14.000 | € 17.000 | € 3.000 higher |
| Insurance | € 12.000 | € 12.500 | € 500 higher |
| Cleaning | € 9.000 | € 9.000 | € 0 |
| Management | € 16.000 | € 16.000 | € 0 |
| Minor maintenance | € 16.000 | € 16.500 | € 500 higher |
| Total costs | € 67.000 | € 71.000 | € 4.000 higher |
| Addition to the reserve fund | € 29.000 | € 25.000 | € 4.000 lower |
The higher costs of € 4.000 come entirely at the expense of the addition to the reserve fund: € 96.000 minus € 71.000 is € 25.000, against € 29.000 budgeted. The notes state why the energy turned out € 3.000 more expensive (higher rates after a new contract) and that four owners had not yet paid the fourth quarter of € 1.000; that is the item contributions still to be received of € 4.000 on the balance sheet.
In May 2026 the board submits these documents with notes to the meeting, accompanied by a report of the audit committee. The meeting approves. Filing with the KVK does not follow; the VvE keeps the documents for seven years. The reserve fund of € 140.000 is in an account in the name of the VvE, separate from the current account. The lower limit of art. 5:126(2) DCC is also met: at a rebuilding value of € 4.800.000, 0,5% equals € 24.000, and the addition of € 25.000 is above that. If the meeting also wants to grant the board discharge, it records that as a separate decision: art. 2:48 DCC regulates the report, the submission of the documents and the audit committee, not the discharge, and the regulations can say something about it.
What Jaarrekening.io does and does not do here
Jaarrekening.io has no product for VvEs: no membership administration, no contribution management and no maintenance plan, and a VvE is not a legal form that you can choose. We therefore cannot help a VvE with the documents for the meeting. Jaarrekening.io prepares annual accounts under Title 9 for BVs, NVs, cooperatives and foundations and associations under art. 2:360(3). For the administration of a VvE you look for software or a manager who knows the statutory framework for VvEs.
Sources
- KVK: registering an owners' association (kvk.nl, page updated 6 July 2026, read 28 October 2026, in Dutch)
- Art. 5:112 DCC: content of the regulations (wetten.overheid.nl, in Dutch)
- Art. 2:394 DCC: who must file the annual accounts (wetten.overheid.nl, in Dutch)
- Art. 5:124 DCC: owners' association as a legal entity (wetten.overheid.nl, in Dutch)
- Art. 5:126 DCC: reserve fund (wetten.overheid.nl, in Dutch)
- Art. 5:135 DCC: applicable provisions of Book 2 (wetten.overheid.nl, in Dutch)
- Art. 2:48 DCC: accountability, audit committee (wetten.overheid.nl, in Dutch)
- Art. 2:10 DCC: keeping and retaining records (wetten.overheid.nl, in Dutch)
- Art. 2:360 DCC: scope of Title 9 (wetten.overheid.nl, in Dutch)
Frequently asked questions
Must a VvE prepare annual accounts?
Not under Title 9 Book 2 DCC. The board must, however, every year within six months after the financial year submit the balance sheet and the statement of income and expenditure with notes to the meeting for approval (art. 5:135 DCC in conjunction with art. 2:48 DCC) and keep records (art. 2:10 DCC).
Must a VvE file its annual accounts with the KVK?
No, an ordinary VvE does not. The filing obligation of art. 2:394 DCC applies to those who fall under Title 9. A VvE only comes under it through art. 2:360(3) DCC if it maintains an enterprise above the turnover threshold.
What does the audit committee of a VvE do?
It examines the balance sheet and the statement of income and expenditure, can inspect the cash and the books and reports to the meeting (art. 2:48(2) DCC). It is mandatory if there is no supervisory board and no auditor's report is submitted; at least two members, not a director.
How long must a VvE keep the records?
The books, documents and other data carriers must be kept for seven years; that follows from art. 2:10(3) DCC.
Is art. 5:111 DCC the basis for the annual accounts of a VvE?
No. Art. 5:111 DCC is about the content of the deed of division. The accountability of the VvE follows from art. 5:124, 5:126 and 5:135 DCC and art. 2:48 DCC.
Is a VvE in the Business Register and must it then file?
A VvE must be registered in the Business Register, but that is something different from filing. The filing obligation of art. 2:394 DCC applies only to those who fall under Title 9. An ordinary VvE therefore submits no annual accounts to the KVK.
Is there an example of VvE annual accounts or an operating statement?
Yes, in the case above: a VvE with 24 apartments, € 96.000 in contributions, € 71.000 in costs and € 25.000 added to the reserve fund, with balance sheet and a table of budget against actual. The figures are fictional and balance. The law prescribes no fixed layout for an ordinary VvE, so also follow the regulations and the practices of your manager.
Is a VvE a micro-entity?
No, an ordinary VvE falls in no size class. Micro, small, medium-sized and large exist only within Title 9, and an ordinary VvE does not fall under it. Only if it does come under Title 9 through art. 2:360(3) DCC do the limits of art. 2:395a, 2:396 and 2:397 DCC determine its class.
How much must a VvE add to the reserve fund every year?
For a residential building at least the amount from a maintenance plan adopted by the meeting (at most five years old, covering at least ten years ahead, allocated evenly), or at least 0,5% of the rebuilding value per year (art. 5:126(2) DCC). The law says 'or', not 'the higher of the two'.
Must the reserve fund of a VvE be in a separate account?
For a residential building, yes: in a separate current or savings account in the name of the VvE (art. 5:126(3) DCC). Deviation is only possible by regulations, by a decision with at least four fifths of the votes, or with a bank guarantee in the name of the VvE.
Is approval of the annual documents the same as discharge for the board?
Not automatically. Art. 2:48 DCC regulates the report, the submission of the documents and the audit committee, but not the release of the board. If the meeting wants to grant discharge, record that as a separate decision and read the regulations.
May the manager prepare the annual documents of the VvE?
The work may be outsourced, but the legal duty rests on the board of the VvE (art. 2:10 and 2:48 DCC). If the manager is a director himself, he cannot sit on the audit committee: it consists of at least two members who are not directors.
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