Article 2:363 DCC: layout, netting and comparative figures
According to article 2:363 DCC, the layout of the annual accounts serves the view. Items that must be shown separately you do not strike against each other; items of negligible significance may be absorbed into others. The layout changes only for a good reason and for every item the amount for last year is shown. Paragraph 6 is the basis of the Decree on annual accounts models.
The short answer
According to article 2:363 DCC, the layout of the annual accounts serves the view. Items that must be shown separately you do not strike against each other; items of negligible significance may be absorbed into others. The layout changes only for a good reason and for every item the amount for last year is shown. Paragraph 6 is the basis of the Decree on annual accounts models.
Updated 30 October 2026
Key facts
| Place | Division 2 of Title 9 |
| Current text since | 1 November 2015 (Stb. 2015, 349) |
| Decree on annual accounts models | In force from 1 November 2015; mandatory for the NV and BV, not for micro (art. 1(3)) |
| Financial years | Statutory text unchanged for 2025 to 2027. New from financial year 2027: qualitative criteria for separate disclosure (RJ 115.213a, RJk A2.113a) and for micro and small the recommendation to apply the Decree also where it is not mandatory (RJk A2.114a) |
Paragraph 1: layout in the service of the view
1. The combining, breaking down and arranging of the data in the annual accounts and the notes to those data are aimed at the view that the annual accounts are intended to give under article 362(1). The rules under paragraph 6 and the other divisions of this title are observed. The notes follow the order in which the items are presented.
What this means
You combine, break down and arrange with one purpose: the reader must get the picture that art. 2:362(1) DCC asks for. Within that freedom you stick to the models and to the items that divisions 3 and 4 prescribe. The last sentence is practical: the notes follow the order of the balance sheet and the profit and loss account, so that the reader finds the explanation of each item in the same place (RJk A1.309, B18.103).
Paragraph 2: no netting
2. It is not permitted in the annual accounts to let assets and liabilities or income and expenses offset each other, if under this title they must be included as separate items.
What this means
A receivable and a debt remain side by side on the balance sheet, even at the same bank or with the same customer. RJ 115.301 makes a distinction. Set-off in the legal sense makes the receivable and the debt really cease to exist; they are then no longer on the balance sheet. Netting concerns presentation only. It must meet two conditions together, and is otherwise not permitted: you have an enforceable right to settle on a net basis, and you also really intend to settle the net amount or both items simultaneously (RJ 115.305; for micro and small RJk A2.115).
Typical mistakes: striking a current account with the shareholder that is debit one year and credit the next against a loan from the same shareholder; letting turnover and purchase costs of recharged costs offset each other; showing a positive and a negative bank balance at different banks as one amount.
Paragraph 3: items of negligible significance
3. An item need not be disclosed separately if it is of negligible significance in the annual accounts as a whole for the view required by law. Disclosures required under this title may be omitted to the extent that, taken on their own and together with similar disclosures, they would be of negligible significance for this view. Disclosures under articles 378, 382 and 383 may not, however, be omitted.
What this means
This is the statutory basis of materiality. A small item may be absorbed into another, and a disclosure may be dropped if, even added to similar disclosures, it adds nothing. Three disclosures never fall under it: the movement in equity (art. 2:378), the number of employees (art. 2:382) and the remuneration of directors (art. 2:383); RJ 115.211 confirms this.
For practice the RJ gives figures as an aid. On the balance sheet: show an item separately if it is more than 5% of the balance sheet total or 10% of its heading, and feel free to combine it if it stays below 1% of the balance sheet total (RJ 115.214). In the profit and loss account the thresholds are 5% of the gross operating result and 10% of the heading (RJ 115.215). From financial year 2027 a qualitative test is added: you also assess whether items differ so much in nature, function, valuation, uncertainty or maturity that they must be shown separately (RJ 115.213a; RJk A2.113a).
Paragraphs 4 and 5: the same layout and last year's figures
4. The layout of the balance sheet and of the profit and loss account may deviate from that of the preceding year only for well-founded reasons; the differences are indicated in the notes and the reasons that led to the deviation are explained.
5. As far as possible, the amount for the preceding financial year is stated for each item of the annual accounts; to the extent necessary, this amount is revised for the sake of comparability and the deviation resulting from the revision is explained.
What this means
Consistency: a reader must be able to put two years side by side. A different layout is allowed, but only for a good reason, such as a new activity or a switch from the by-nature to the by-function profit and loss account. In the notes you say what changed and why (RJk A3.114).
For every item the amount for last year is shown. If you have changed the layout, made a change in accounting policy or corrected a material error, you adjust the comparative figures and explain the difference (RJk A3.111 and A3.307; RJ 140 and RJ 150). In the first financial year there is no previous year; the column then stays empty. See also must I include comparative figures.
Paragraph 6: the Decree on annual accounts models
6. By order in council, models and further rules may be laid down for the layout of the annual accounts, which apply to the legal entities described therein. In applying them, the layout, names and descriptions of the items occurring in them are adapted to the nature of the business of the legal entity, to the extent permitted under the order in council.
1. The balance sheet of a public or private limited company must be arranged in accordance with model A or model B, the profit and loss account in accordance with model E or model F. These models are attached as an annex to this decree.
2. If article 396 of Book 2 of the Civil Code applies, the company may also choose model C or model D for the balance sheet and model I or model J for the profit and loss account. These models are attached to this decree.
3. This decree does not apply to a legal entity as referred to in article 395a of Book 2 of the Civil Code.
What this means
On the basis of paragraph 6 the Decree on annual accounts models exists. It is mandatory for the BV and NV. Models A and C set out the balance sheet one below the other, with as subtotal the current assets less the current liabilities; models B and D set assets against liabilities. Model E classifies the profit and loss account by nature of costs, model F by function. C, D, I and J are the abbreviated models for small; I and J begin with the gross margin.
A few rules of the Decree that are often forgotten: the names fixed assets, current assets, current liabilities, non-current liabilities, provisions and equity are fixed (art. 5(1)); items without an amount you leave out, unless there was an amount last year (art. 4(3)); and a series of numbered items may go to the notes, if the total stays on the balance sheet (art. 8).
For those to whom the Decree is not mandatory, such as the cooperative, the commercial foundation and the micro-entity, the RJ and the RJk recommend following it as far as possible anyway (RJ 115.216; RJk A2.114a, new from financial year 2027).
Case: recharged costs and bank accounts
Hoeksteen Projectinrichting BV (fictional, small) fits out offices. It buys furniture for customers and invoices it on with a mark-up. Its draft 2025 annual accounts show as net turnover only the mark-up of € 180.000; the invoiced-on purchases of € 1.420.000 have been struck against the purchase costs. In addition it shows a single item cash and cash equivalents of € 35.000: a balance of € 95.000 at bank A and an overdraft of € 60.000 at bank B.
| Item | Draft | After correction |
|---|---|---|
| Net turnover | € 180.000 | € 1.600.000 |
| Cost of sales | – | € 1.420.000 |
| Gross margin | € 180.000 | € 180.000 |
| Cash and cash equivalents (bank A) | € 35.000 | € 95.000 |
| Debts to banks (bank B) | – | € 60.000 |
Because Hoeksteen buys the furniture itself and bears the risk, the sale and the purchase are turnover and costs; they may not offset each other. For the banks it has no agreement under which the balances are legally enforceably settled against each other, so they are shown separately. The gross margin stays the same; balance sheet total and turnover rise. Note: turnover counts towards the size class. At € 1,6 million Hoeksteen stays well within the turnover threshold for small (€ 15 million).
Small may begin the profit and loss account at the gross operating result (art. 2:396(4) DCC) and does not make it public. The difference is then mainly in the balance sheet, where bank A and bank B are shown separately, in the turnover that Hoeksteen uses for the size test and in the full profit and loss account that the bank asks for.
By size class
| Class | What article 2:363 and the Decree mean for you |
|---|---|
| Micro | Paragraphs 1 to 5 apply; the Decree on models does not (art. 1(3) of the Decree). The balance sheet contains only the items of art. 2:395a(4) DCC, with comparative figures (RJk M1.201). |
| Small | All paragraphs apply. Choice of model A or B and E or F, or the abbreviated models C or D and I or J. Little mandatory breakdown, so paragraph 3 matters mainly for the question whether something must be shown separately. |
| Medium-sized | All paragraphs apply, model A or B and E or F. In the published version items may be combined under art. 2:397(3) and (5) DCC. |
| Large | All paragraphs and the full models; the disclosures of art. 2:378, 2:382 and 2:383 remain even if they are small. |
Common mistakes
- Combining debit and credit balances at different banks into one amount of cash and cash equivalents.
- Introducing a new layout without adjusting last year's figures or explaining the difference.
- Processing a change in accounting policy or correction of an error only in the current year, while the comparative figures must be adjusted.
- Replacing the mandatory names of the Decree, for example 'reserves' instead of 'equity'.
- Omitting the number of employees or the directors' remuneration by invoking materiality; paragraph 3 rules that out.
How it works in Jaarrekening.io
Jaarrekening.io arranges the balance sheet according to model B and the profit and loss account according to model E or F. You take last year's figures from the previous financial year in the app, last year's trial balance or the PDF of the previous annual accounts; in the first financial year that column stays empty. The app tests whether the balance sheet balances in both columns.
Sources
- Art. 2:363 DCC, text in force from 1 July 2026 (wetten.overheid.nl, in Dutch)
- Overview of amendments to art. 2:363 DCC (wetten.overheid.nl, in Dutch)
- Decree on annual accounts models, in force from 1 November 2015 (wetten.overheid.nl, in Dutch)
- RJ-Uiting 2026-6: draft Guidelines following IFRS 18, final on 1 July 2026 (rjnet.nl, in Dutch)
- Dutch Accounting Standards Board (RJ): Introductions to the bundles (in Dutch)
Frequently asked questions
What is the ban on netting?
According to art. 2:363(2) DCC, you may not let assets and liabilities, or income and expenses, that the law prescribes as separate items offset each other. Only if you have an enforceable right to settle on a net basis and really intend to do so do you show the net amount; then you even must (RJ 115.305, RJk A2.115). A balance at one bank and an overdraft at another bank are therefore shown separately.
Must I include last year's figures in the annual accounts?
Yes, as far as possible for every item (art. 2:363(5) DCC), including for a micro-entity. If the figures are not comparable because of a different layout, a change in accounting policy or a corrected error, you adjust them and explain the difference. In the first financial year there are no comparative figures.
Must a small Dutch BV follow the Decree on annual accounts models?
Yes. The Decree applies to every BV and NV, except a micro-entity. A small BV may choose between the full models A or B and E or F and the abbreviated models C or D and I or J.
When is an item of negligible significance?
When it adds nothing to the view of the annual accounts as a whole (art. 2:363(3) DCC). The RJ gives as a rule of thumb that a balance sheet item above 5% of the balance sheet total or 10% of its heading is probably significant. From financial year 2027 you also weigh characteristics such as nature, function and maturity. The disclosures on the movement in equity, the staff and the directors' remuneration may never be omitted.
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