Where do I find my Dutch annual accounts?
Where your own Dutch annual accounts are kept, which version you find with which party, and what to do if they can no longer be found anywhere.
The short answer
Start with your own archive and your bookkeeper: the complete, signed annual accounts are there. At the KVK you find the filed version up to seven years back, but that is the publication version and, for a micro or small BV, contains no profit and loss account. If it is nowhere to be found, you prepare it again from the accounting records.
Updated 30 October 2026
Key facts
| Complete version | Own archive, bookkeeper or accountant, accounting package |
| Filed version | KVK, up to seven years back, downloadable per document |
| Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) | Not an archive of annual accounts; you file your corporate income tax return there |
| Retention obligation | Seven years, for the board of the entity (art. 2:10(3) DCC) |
Which version are you looking for?
One set of annual accounts usually exists in three forms, and they are kept in different places:
| Version | What it is | Where you find it |
|---|---|---|
| Prepared | The annual accounts the board has prepared, before adoption. The figures can still change. | With the board, your bookkeeper or in the accounting package |
| Adopted and signed | The final annual accounts, with the resolution of the general meeting and the signatures. | Your own archive and that of your bookkeeper or accountant |
| Filed | The publication version for the Business Register. For a micro or small entity that is a limited balance sheet. | KVK, downloadable per document |
That difference matters when searching. Parts that the law does not make public, such as a voluntary cash flow statement of a small BV, belong in the prepared annual accounts and not in the version for the register. If you are looking for the complete document, the KVK will therefore not always help you.
Five places to look, in this order
- Your own archive. Search your email and shared folders for "annual accounts", "jaarrekening", "jaarstukken", "adoption" and "publication documents", and for the financial year. Also look for the adoption resolution or the minutes of the general meeting: they state which version was adopted.
- Your bookkeeper or accountant. If a bookkeeper or accountant prepared or audited your annual accounts, they usually keep the file. Ask in writing for the adopted annual accounts and the publication documents of the financial years you are missing.
- KVK. That is where you find what has been filed. The steps, the fees and what you get to see per size class are in requesting annual accounts from the KVK.
- Your accounting package or annual accounts software. The figures and often the draft are there, even if the PDF file is lost. Export the trial balance or the ledger movements of the financial year if you have to prepare the annual accounts again.
- The bank or financier. Only if you ever supplied the annual accounts for a credit or loan; they keep what you sent in, no more.
And the Dutch Tax Administration?
That is not an archive for annual accounts. You file your corporate income tax return there, via Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk, tax software or a service provider. That return is a different document from the annual accounts; if you are looking for one, do not look in the other.
What the KVK version is and is not
- It is the document the board had filed, not necessarily your complete annual accounts.
- For a micro or small BV without a profit and loss account, that is expected behaviour: you prepared it for the shareholders, not for the register.
- If "not adopted" is on the first page, you filed the prepared version; the adopted one then has to follow.
- Downloading costs money per document; the fee and the steps are at requesting annual accounts from the KVK.
Can't find it anywhere? Prepare it again
Missing documents are annoying but rarely fatal. The books and records of an entity must be kept for seven years (art. 2:10(3) DCC); see also how long do I have to keep the annual accounts?. If the accounting records and the trial balance still exist, you can put the annual accounts together again.
- Take the trial balance of the financial year from your accounting package.
- Get the filed balance sheet of the financial year from the KVK, if there is one, and put the figures next to it. A newly prepared version must arrive at the balance sheet that is already public.
- Prepare the annual accounts for your size class. If your result differs from what has already been filed, find out why before you submit anything.
If the board loses the accounting records and the BV later goes bankrupt, that weighs heavily: the board is then deemed to have performed its task improperly and an important cause of the bankruptcy is presumed (art. 2:248(2) DCC; see article 2:248 DCC). So keep the documents even if the business is dormant.
Reusing an old set of annual accounts for the new one
If you have found the previous annual accounts, you do not have to retype the figures. In Jaarrekening.io you retrieve last year's filed annual accounts from the KVK, upload the previous annual accounts as a PDF or import only last year's trial balance. Those figures become the comparative figures of your new annual accounts (art. 2:363(5) DCC). Always check them; for the first financial year you choose that there is no prior year.
For your first annual accounts in an account you pay nothing, whatever the size class. How that works in practice is on make free annual accounts.
Sources
- KVK: Requesting annual accounts
- Art. 2:10 DCC: accounting records and retention (wetten.overheid.nl)
- Art. 2:394 DCC: publication of the annual accounts
- Art. 2:363 DCC: comparative figures, paragraph 5
- Art. 2:248 DCC: liability of directors in bankruptcy
- Dutch Tax Administration: Filing a corporate income tax return
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find my annual accounts from last year?
Start with your own archive and your bookkeeper or accountant: the complete, signed version is there. You can obtain the filed version from the KVK, up to seven years back. If it is nowhere to be found, you prepare it again from the accounting records and the trial balance.
Can my annual accounts be found publicly?
The filed part can: anyone can request from the KVK what your BV has filed. For a micro or small BV that is a limited balance sheet. The complete annual accounts, with the profit and loss account and any extra statements, stay with you and your bookkeeper.
My bookkeeper has stopped. How do I get the documents?
Ask in writing for the file, stating the financial years and the documents you are looking for, and keep the request. The board remains responsible for the accounting records itself (art. 2:10 DCC), so also record which financial years you are missing and when you asked for them.
Can I request my annual accounts from the Dutch Tax Administration?
The Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) is not meant for that. You file your corporate income tax return there, but you find the annual accounts themselves in your own archive, with your bookkeeper or, for the filed part, at the KVK.
What if the KVK does not have my annual accounts?
Then they have not been filed, or the deadline is still running. A BV files no later than twelve months after the end of the financial year (art. 2:394(3) DCC). If the deadline has passed, the board is breaking the law and runs a risk of liability in a bankruptcy (art. 2:248(2) DCC).
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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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