Which annual accounts software suits one BV?
A simple reporting package can serve a single BV. Choose based on your file, the notes you need and the route for publication.
The short answer
A simple reporting package can serve a single BV. Choose based on your file, the notes you need and the route for publication.
Basis: art. 2:362, 2:395a and 2:396 DCC
Which package suits a simple BV?
For a single simple BV (private limited company), a program with many office functions is often not needed. Start with the documents you must deliver: internal annual accounts for the shareholder and the right publication documents. A package only fits when it supports your financial year, size class and special balance sheet items. The price alone says little about that.
First make a list of the items in your own bookkeeping. A BV with only advisory turnover, one business bank account and a few payables has different needs than a holding company with participating interests, a pension obligation or a large loan to the director-major shareholder (DGA). Ask for a demonstration with an anonymised version of that list. See whether you can follow the origin of an amount from ledger account to balance sheet item. Also check where you book corrections. If amounts change only in the report, a difference with the bookkeeping arises that you have to sort out again next year. A visible overview of corrections helps prevent this.
What must the software be able to deliver?
For a micro or small BV, the publication route can lie outside the chosen program. For these classes the KVK (Dutch Chamber of Commerce) offers a portal for filing single-entity annual accounts yourself. A package therefore need not have its own submission function to be usable in your situation. It must, however, make clear which data belong in the publication. Art. 2:395a and 2:396 DCC offer simplifications, but a short publication is not the same as the full file for the board and shareholders. Ask for both output files and compare the amounts before you take out a subscription.
Next, assess how much explanation you need yourself. Software that only offers empty fields is mainly suitable if you know how depreciation, tax positions and accruals work. If you have little experience with those, a bookkeeper who completes the annual work may fit better. If you doubt the value of a participating interest or the repayment of a loan, substantive advice matters more than an extra report button. The true-and-fair requirement of art. 2:362 DCC concerns the financial information, not the brand used. A polished report can still be incomplete in substance.
How do you compare total costs?
Finally, compare the total costs for this one file. Note the licence, support, any export costs, access to earlier financial years and costs on cancellation. Have it confirmed whether a correction within the same financial year is invoiced again. After completion, keep the source export, corrections, final annual accounts, the adoption resolution and the filing receipt together in your own archive. Choose the package with which you can deliver and later retrieve these documents. You need not buy an office platform if you process one clear file a year, but you must be able to understand and support the results. That is a more useful selection criterion than a general ranking.
How it works at Jaarrekening.io
For a single BV, Jaarrekening.io works with an export from your own bookkeeping package (trial balance or XAF audit file). The app derives the size class, prepares the annual accounts and the publication version, and for every size class an XBRL file as a validation candidate; you file it yourself. The first annual accounts in your account are free; after that you pay once per financial year, € 250 for a micro BV and € 500 for a small BV, excl. VAT.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Is a publication balance sheet the same as the internal annual accounts?
No. The board and the shareholders need more information than a limited publication provides.
Must the software file with the KVK itself?
No. For micro and small entities the KVK portal is also available; do check which output you get.
When is a bookkeeper the wiser choice?
With complex valuations or missing expertise, substantive guidance can weigh more heavily than software features.
Read more
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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