Annual accounts and accountants: when required?
This page isn't final yet: We're still double checking the relationship between the legal requirements on this page + described on Annual reporting for Dutch nonprofits: which reporting regime applies? .
Whether your Dutch foundation needs annual accounts, and whether an accountant must audit them is determined by the (1) Dutch civil code (Burgerlijk Wetboek) and your (2) founding documents and donor/grant/loan agreements. Besides that, it's als important to keep (3) ANBI requirements in mind (if you are or want to become an ANBI).
The law is not the only source of an audit requirement. Your articles of association (statuten), a donor, a grant provider, or a lender can require an audit too. So always check those documents and agreements as well before ruling an audit out.
Dutch civil code (Burgerlijk Wetboek) requirements
Does the Dutch civil code require your stichting to prepare annual accounts?
Yes:
Yes: The foundation (stichting) runs one or more enterprises that must be registered in the Dutch Commercial Register (Handelsregister). The Belastingdienst tests this with three criteria .
The net turnover of that enterprise (or combined enterprises) reaches at least €7.5 million in two consecutive financial years.
The foundation is not already required, by or under another (often sector specific) law, to publish an equivalent financial accountability report ( e.g. pension funds, housing corporations, healthcare institutions ). ⟶ Mostly not the case for the type of non profits Moral Fabric serves.
No: If your foundation does not meet these conditions. In that case, the Burgerlijk Wetboek (BW) does not require a jaarrekening.
No: If your foundation does not meet these conditions. In that case, the Burgerlijk Wetboek (BW) does not require a jaarrekening. Be aware: regardless of whether you need annual accounts under the BW, the bookkeeping duty ('administratieplicht', art. 2:10 BW ) applies to every legal entity regardless of size.
Is an audit of the annual accounts legally required (according to the Dutch civil code)?
Yes:
Yes: No:
No: If your stichting is considered as "small". You qualify as small by meeting at least two of these three criteria, tested on two consecutive balance sheet dates without a gap ( art. 2:396 BW ):
Balance sheet total ≤ €7.5 million (total assets, at acquisition or manufacturing cost).
Net turnover ≤ €15 million for the financial year.
< 50 employees on average over the financial year.
Which situation applies to your stichting according to the Dutch law?
No enterprise, turnover under €7.5 million, or sector specific obligation
Turnover over €7.5 million, but still 'small' under art. 2:396 (2 of the 3 criteria met)
Medium or large under art. 2:396 / 2:397
ANBI requirements
Does ANBI require annual accounts or involvement of an accountant?
No:
No: ANBI status doesn't require annual accounts or an accountant. It does, however, come with its own (far lighter) financial obligations. Your organization must:
Keep records showing, among other things, payments to policymakers, costs incurred, and the nature and size of its income, assets, and expenditures.
Publish a financial statement on its own website (or a shared one such as an umbrella organization's) within 6 months of the end of the financial year: a balance sheet, a statement of income and expenses, and notes.
- > Learn more (Belastingdienst)
- > Mandatory form to use for large ANBI's (definition or 'large' here )
For other (non financial) ANBI requirements, check the Belastingdienst website and ANBI requirements & FAQs .
Related pages
This page only answers whether you need a jaarrekening and whether it needs an accountant. A separate, income-based test then decides its required content and format, using the Richtlijnen voor de Jaarverslaggeving (RJ 650 vs RJk C2), with different thresholds than the BW test above. See:
https://slite.com/api/public/notes/313DQh1-77GwKE/redirect
Annual reporting for Dutch nonprofits: which reporting regime applies?