As a Dutch sole proprietorship (eenmanszaak), you prepare annual accounts because you need the numbers yourself, not because anyone else asks for them. Once you incorporate a BV, that changes completely: filing your annual accounts with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK) becomes a legal duty with a hard deadline, and depending on your company's size, an explanatory notes section or even a mandatory audit. Founders who switch from a sole proprietorship to a BV, or are weighing the move, usually run into this difference for the first time at their first year-end close. Here's what actually changes.
The difference at a glance
| Sole proprietorship | BV | |
|---|---|---|
| Required to prepare? | Yes, for your own tax return | Yes, by law |
| Filed with the KVK? | No | Yes, mandatory |
| Publicly visible? | No | Yes, for a small fee via the KVK |
| Notes section required? | No | Usually, depending on company size |
| Audit required? | Never | Only for medium and large BVs |
| Deadline | Tied to your income tax return | Must be filed within 12 months of year-end |
Why a sole proprietorship's annual accounts carry no filing duty
As a sole proprietor, you're required to keep complete, accurate, and verifiable records, from which a balance sheet and profit-and-loss statement follow. You use those figures yourself, for your own income tax return, reported as business profit. No authority requests or publishes this information: it's essentially an internal tool to get your own numbers right. This is the same territory we cover in more depth for the Dutch-language version of this topic, aimed at sole proprietors preparing their own year-end figures.
What changes once you have a BV
A BV is a legal entity, and Dutch company law (Book 2 of the Civil Code) applies to legal entities. That means your annual accounts stop being a private matter:
- Filing duty. Within 8 days of adoption by the shareholders, and no later than 12 months after the financial year ends, the annual accounts must be filed with the KVK's trade register.
- Public disclosure. Once filed, anyone can look up your BV's annual accounts, including competitors or prospective clients who want a sense of how the business is doing.
- Company size determines the detail. A micro BV (balance sheet total up to roughly €450,000, revenue up to roughly €900,000, no more than 10 employees) can file a heavily abbreviated balance sheet with no notes at all. A small BV, just above that, files a limited set of accounts with a brief notes section, but doesn't have to disclose the profit-and-loss statement publicly. Only medium and large BVs face a full notes section and a mandatory audit.
For most founders who recently incorporated from a sole proprietorship, the micro or small regime applies in practice: lighter than people often expect, but still a real obligation with a firm deadline, not something you get to on your own schedule.
A worked example: same numbers, different process
Say you make €60,000 profit in a year as a sole proprietorship. You prepare a balance sheet and profit-and-loss statement yourself, use it for your income tax return due May 1st, and that's the whole process. No one else sees those figures.
Make that same €60,000 profit as a BV, and the board prepares the annual accounts within 5 months of year-end (with up to 5 additional months possible via a shareholder resolution), the shareholders adopt them, and filing with the KVK follows within 8 days after that. Those accounts include a notes section alongside the balance sheet and profit-and-loss statement, and become public from that point on. Same result, a completely different process around it.
Does this factor into the sole proprietorship vs BV decision?
The annual accounts obligation is rarely the deciding factor: the tax comparison between income tax and corporate tax usually carries more weight, and that break-even point has been shifting in recent years under the Netherlands' 2027 tax plans. But the difference in administrative load and privacy is real and worth weighing: if you'd rather not have your figures publicly searchable, or don't want a yearly filing deadline stacked on top of your regular tax return, that matters. Still unsure which structure fits your numbers? Book a call and we'll help you think it through with your actual figures, not a rule of thumb.
New to setting up a company in the Netherlands?
At Sophy &Co. we support founders long before the paperwork is even filed, so questions like this one don't catch you off guard after incorporation. Book a call and we'll walk you through what a Dutch BV actually involves, filing duties included, no Dutch required. We can also connect you with our network of trusted partners, notaries, and banks, plus other expat founders who've been through the same process recently.
We're a woman-led, diverse team, proudly LGBTQIA-friendly, with bookkeepers speaking English, Dutch, Italian, Chinese, Spanish, Papiamento, German, and some French and Polish between us, so you can explain your situation in the language that feels most natural.
Frequently asked questions
Does a sole proprietorship ever have to file anything with the KVK? No. The filing duty for annual accounts applies only to legal entities like a BV or NV, not to a sole proprietorship or general partnership.
Can anyone see my BV's annual accounts? Yes, once filed they're public and available for a small fee through the KVK. For a micro or small BV, the profit-and-loss statement itself stays out of view though: only the (abbreviated) balance sheet and any notes get published.
Do I need an accountant for my small BV's annual accounts? Not by law. An audit is only mandatory from a medium-sized BV upward. A micro or small BV can prepare and file its accounts itself, or with help from a bookkeeper.
What happens if I file late? Filing late is a criminal offence under Dutch law and can affect director liability if the company later goes bankrupt. It's not something to treat casually.
How we handle this
For BV clients, Sophy &Co. prepares the annual accounts and makes sure they're filed with the KVK on time, with the notes section that matches your company's size. For sole proprietorships, we get the figures ready for your income tax return. Either way, the starting point is the same: share your purchase and sales invoices with us, and that's all you need to do.
Take a look at our services and pricing, see how it works, or get in touch to talk through what this means for your situation.
For the official filing rules and company size categories, see the Dutch Chamber of Commerce or the Netherlands Enterprise Agency.