What is a non-calendar financial year and what does it mean for the deadline?
A financial year that does not coincide with the calendar year. The deadlines stay the same, but they are counted from your own balance sheet date, not from 31 December.
Short answer
A financial year that does not coincide with the calendar year. The deadlines stay the same, but they are counted from your own balance sheet date, not from 31 December.
Basis: art. 2:210 and 2:394 DCC
How do you recognise a non-calendar financial year?
If your financial year runs, for example, from 1 July to 30 June inclusive, the board prepares the annual accounts within five months after 30 June, and the final filing date is twelve months after that balance sheet date.
A financial year may, for example, run from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025 inclusive. The balance sheet date is then 30 June 2025, while the profit and loss account covers the twelve months in between. Check the articles of association, the registration and the bookkeeping before you choose a reporting period. A calendar-year report for 2025 is no substitute for that statutory reporting period. For a first financial year, deviating start and end dates may apply; that is a separate question from the fixed annual cycle. Describe the period unambiguously on every version of the annual accounts.
How do you calculate the annual accounts deadlines?
A non-calendar financial year is not an exception you have to apply for; it follows from the articles of association. You do, however, have to work with it consistently in the bookkeeping and in the tax return.
In the example with end date 30 June 2025, the ordinary preparation period for a BV in principle runs until the end of November 2025. An extension due to special circumstances can shift the preparation period, but the absolute publication limit is twelve months after the balance sheet date. After adoption, the eight-day period also applies. Therefore count with several dates, not only with 30 June 2026 as the end point. When all shareholders are also directors, signing may under the articles of association mean adoption at the same time; check this before you count the eight days.
What does the deviating period mean for your figures?
The first financial year can be longer or shorter than twelve months. For the first and second financial year, art. 2:398(1) DCC contains a special rule for applying the size criteria; test the actual balance sheet date of the first financial year.
A non-calendar financial year also affects the comparison: the earlier results column must relate to the actual preceding reporting period. If the first financial year has eighteen months and the second twelve months, turnovers of €1.8 million and €1.2 million are not directly comparable without explanation. Look at the opening balance sheet, inventories, depreciation and interest over the chosen dates. Align the corporate income tax return with the financial year under the articles of association, according to the Dutch Tax Administration. Keep the calculation of the deadlines with the file, so that the next preparer does not automatically assume 31 December.
Example of a complete timeline
Take a BV with a statutory reporting period of 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 inclusive. The balance sheet date is 31 March 2026. Without extension, the board in principle prepares the annual accounts at the latest five months later, so around the end of August 2026. After adoption, they must be filed within eight days. The absolute limit is 31 March 2027. Put these dates in the calendar with responsible persons and room for a check or corrections. A standard reminder on 31 December would give this BV the wrong priorities, because that date is not a balance sheet date.
Also check tax periods and other returns. The Dutch Tax Administration states that the financial year for corporate income tax corresponds to the financial year under the articles of association. That does not mean that all practical return dates equal the KVK filing dates. Make two separate calendars and use the correct start and end date in both. If the articles of association are amended, a transitional year may be shorter or longer; deal explicitly with the comparability of turnover and costs. Keep the resolution amending the articles with the records and state the actual period in the annual accounts. That keeps it visible why the figure covers a different number of months.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Is a financial year from July to June allowed?
Yes, if the legally valid reporting period is set up that way; verify the dates in the articles of association.
Does the eight-day period shift because of a non-calendar financial year?
No. It still starts after adoption of the annual accounts.
Must I report a non-calendar financial year to the Dutch Tax Administration?
Check the registration and tax return period with the Belastingdienst; the tax period follows the applicable rules.
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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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