What should a fixed price for year-end work (jaarwerk) cover?
A description of the work, assumptions and exceptions. Only compare fixed amounts once it is clear which documents you will receive.
Short answer
A description of the work, assumptions and exceptions. Only compare fixed amounts once it is clear which documents you will receive.
Basis: art. 2:362 DCC; NBA Standard 4410 and engagement terms
Which files fall under the fixed price?
With a fixed price, the limits of the engagement above all need to be clear. Ask which entities and financial years are covered and what quality of bookkeeping is expected. Have preparation, tax return, publication and discussion named separately. Without further agreements, the term year-end work (jaarwerk) has no fixed content that is the same for every provider.
Describe your file honestly when requesting a quote. State backlogs, missing invoices, foreign activities, participations and loans to the DGA. Indicate whether earlier years still need to be corrected. A price based on a simple, reconciled bookkeeping may change if an extensive reconstruction later proves necessary. Therefore ask how the provider determines that there is extra work. Have it stated when they report the additional work, what budget you will get and who may approve it. That way you can make a choice before the costs have already been fully incurred.
When is work charged as extra work?
Check the deliverables. Do you receive only a publication balance sheet or also the full internal annual accounts and supporting schedules? Is a compilation report part of the engagement, or is no accountant's product agreed? NBA Standard 4410 requires agreements on purpose, scope and responsibilities for a compilation engagement. Such a concrete description is practical with another adviser too. Art. 2:362 DCC determines the required view for the annual accounts, but does not prescribe a universal commercial package. An attractive price must therefore be linked to the actual documents your company and any financier need.
Ask about recurring additional costs. Software licences, portal use, extra users, rush work and corrections after completion may be priced differently. Verify these items in the quote itself rather than assuming every provider charges for them. Compare all amounts excl. VAT when that is the chosen basis of comparison. Also look at the term, renewal and cancellation conditions. An amount per month may represent an annual contract and is not simply equal to payment for one separate set of annual accounts. Calculate the total agreed period with the services required.
Which deliverables do you get?
Finally, tie the price to the planning and the duty to provide information of both parties. Record when you supply documents, when the draft is discussed and who monitors the formal submission. Ask how many rounds of correction or discussion fall under the normal engagement and how errors in supplied data are handled. Keep the quote and confirmed additions with the file. In case of a difference of opinion you can then discuss concretely which work was or was not agreed. A fixed price mainly offers certainty when the engagement is well described; the amount alone does not prevent unexpected work or unclear expectations.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Is the corporate income tax return automatically included?
No. Ask whether that service is explicitly part of the engagement.
What if the bookkeeping is behind?
Have the quote state which recovery work falls under the price.
Do you also receive publication documents?
Record whether the internal annual accounts, the publication version and the filing are part of the price.
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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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