The Belgian balance sheet: fixed assets, current assets, equity and debts explained
Tips
The short answer
A Belgian balance sheet has two sides that always add up to the same figure. The assets side (activa) holds formation expenses (code 20), fixed assets (21/28: intangible, tangible and financial) and current assets (29/58: long-term receivables, stocks, receivables within one year, investments, cash and deferred charges). The liabilities side (passiva) holds equity (10/15), provisions and deferred taxes (16) and debts (17/49), split into debts due after more than one year (17) and within one year (42/48). Total assets (20/58) is the balance sheet total. Since 2024, a total above 6 million euros is one of the three criteria that can make a company large and push it onto the full filing model. For a seller, three lines say the most: trade receivables (40), cash (54/58) and short-term debts (42/48).
The codes come from the National Bank's current standard models for companies and its ratio definitions, the thresholds from the National Bank's size criteria page, all read on 1 October 2026. English labels are our translation of the Dutch and French models. This is general information, not accounting or financial advice.
Activa and passiva at a glance
Belgian balance sheets are filed "after appropriation", with the year's result already divided between reserves, profit carried forward and any dividend. The headings and codes are the same in the full, abbreviated and micro models; the smaller ones drop some sub-lines.
Activa (assets) | Code | Passiva (liabilities) | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
Formation expenses | 20 | Equity | 10/15 |
Fixed assets | 21/28 | Provisions and deferred taxes | 16 |
Current assets | 29/58 | Debts | 17/49 |
Total assets | 20/58 | Total liabilities | 10/49 |
Fixed assets (21/28)
Fixed assets are kept and used for longer than a year. Formation expenses (20) sit just above them, outside the 21/28 total.
Intangible fixed assets (21): development costs, concessions, patents and licences, goodwill.
Tangible fixed assets (22/27): land and buildings (22), plant, machinery and equipment (23), furniture and vehicles (24), leasing and similar rights (25), other tangible assets (26), assets under construction and advance payments (27).
Financial fixed assets (28): shareholdings in and loans to other companies; the full model splits them into affiliated companies (280/1), participating interests (282/3) and other (284/8). A large 28 usually points to a holding or group structure.
Current assets (29/58)
Current assets are what turns into cash in the normal operating cycle.
Heading | Code | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
Amounts receivable after more than one year | 29 | Trade (290) and other (291) receivables not due within the year |
Stocks and contracts in progress | 3 | Stocks (30/36) and contracts in progress (37) |
Amounts receivable within one year | 40/41 | Trade receivables (40), other receivables (41) |
Current investments | 50/53 | Own shares (50) and other short-term investments (51/53) |
Cash at bank and in hand | 54/58 | Bank balances and cash |
Deferred charges and accrued income | 490/1 | Costs paid in advance, income earned but not yet invoiced |
Code 29 sits inside current assets, but the National Bank leaves it out of its liquidity ratios because it is not due within the year. Liquidity ratios in Belgian accounts show exactly which codes go in.
Equity (10/15) and provisions (16)
Equity is what belongs to the owners: contributions (10/11, split into capital 10 and contributions outside capital 11), revaluation surpluses (12), reserves (13), profit or loss carried forward (14) and investment grants (15). An advance to partners on the distribution of net assets (19) is deducted. What each line means since the 2019 company code, and why a BV has no capital at all, is in equity in Belgian annual accounts.
Provisions and deferred taxes (16) cover known future costs of uncertain amount, such as pensions (160), major repairs (162) or other risks (164/5), plus deferred taxes (168). They are neither equity nor debt.
Debts: over and under one year (17 and 42/48)
Debts (17/49) are split by when they fall due, not by creditor.
Debts after more than one year (17): financial debts such as bank loans and leasing (170/4), trade debts (175), advance payments received (176) and other debts (178/9).
Debts within one year (42/48): the part of long-term debt that falls due within the year (42), short-term financial debts (43), trade debts to suppliers (44), advance payments received on orders (46), taxes, remuneration and social security (45) and other debts (47/48).
Accrued charges and deferred income (492/3): costs incurred but not yet invoiced, income invoiced in advance.
Code 42 is easy to miss: each year end, the next year's repayments on a long loan move from 17 to 42, so short-term debt rises without new borrowing.
Balance sheet total and the size criteria
The balance sheet total is total assets, code 20/58, which always equals total liabilities, 10/49. It is one of three criteria in articles 1:24 and 1:25 of the Code of Companies and Associations, next to average headcount and turnover excluding VAT. For financial years starting on or after 1 January 2024:
Criterion | Micro (micro model) | Small (abbreviated model) |
|---|---|---|
Average headcount (FTE) | 10 | 50 |
Turnover excl. VAT | €900,000 | €11,250,000 |
Balance sheet total | €450,000 | €6,000,000 |
A company is small if it exceeds no more than one of the three, and micro if it exceeds no more than one micro threshold and is neither a parent nor a subsidiary. A change only counts when it happens two financial years in a row. Before 2024 the balance sheet limits were 4,500,000 and 350,000 euros.
So the balance sheet total is a growth signal: a company above 6 million euros in assets and 11.25 million in turnover for two years must switch to the full model, where turnover is no longer optional. The European SME definition uses balance sheet total too, with its own ceilings (up to 43 million euros for a medium-sized enterprise); the Belgian SME definitions set the two side by side.
What a seller can read from it
You do not need to be an accountant for this. Read at least three years side by side.
Trade receivables (40). What its customers owe. With turnover filed, receivables divided by turnover times 365 gives days sales outstanding (slightly high, as receivables include VAT). Receivables growing faster than turnover means cash is getting stuck. Credit management and DSO explains the calculation.
Trade debts (44). What it owes suppliers, soon perhaps you. A sharp rise can mean it is paying more slowly.
Cash (54/58) against short-term debts (42/48). The quickest check on whether next month's bills are covered. Working capital in Belgian accounts takes this further.
Taxes, remuneration and social security (45). An unusual jump is worth a question: it can include unpaid tax or social security.
Equity (10/15). Negative equity means debts exceed assets. Equity divided by total liabilities is the National Bank's solvency ratio.
Tangible fixed assets (22/27). A jump means new buildings, machines or vehicles: a company that is investing.
The balance sheet is a snapshot on the closing date, filed up to seven months later. For what the company earned, read it with the income statement.
A worked example
An illustrative Mechelen wholesaler with 35 FTE and 9 million euros turnover, which it discloses voluntarily, files the abbreviated model:
Activa | Code | Amount | Passiva | Code | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fixed assets | 21/28 | €1,150,000 | Equity | 10/15 | €1,400,000 |
Stocks | 3 | €900,000 | Provisions | 16 | €100,000 |
Trade receivables | 40 | €1,200,000 | Debts after one year (bank loan) | 17 | €800,000 |
Other receivables | 41 | €150,000 | Debts within one year | 42/48 | €1,650,000 |
Cash | 54/58 | €550,000 | of which trade debts | 44 | €850,000 |
Deferred charges | 490/1 | €50,000 | Accrued charges | 492/3 | €50,000 |
Total | 20/58 | €4,000,000 | Total | 10/49 | €4,000,000 |
Size: 35 FTE, 9 million turnover and a 4 million balance sheet total exceed no small-company threshold.
Solvency: 1,400,000 / 4,000,000 = 35%.
Current ratio: (900,000 + 1,350,000 + 550,000 + 50,000) / (1,650,000 + 50,000) = 1.68.
Days sales outstanding: 1,200,000 / 9,000,000 x 365 = about 49 days, VAT included in the receivables.
A sound picture on its own. The real questions are in the trend: did receivables and trade debts outgrow turnover over three years, and where did cash go?
Four years of balance sheets next to each other
One company by hand is fine; a list of prospects or customers is not. Bizzy shows, on each Belgian legal entity's Financials tab, four years of figures from the accounts filed with the National Bank, with the change from year to year: a solvency block with total assets, equity and debt split into long and short term, and a liquidity block with cash, net working capital, current ratio and quick ratio. The filed PDF per year sits alongside. You can start for free; the plans are on the pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between fixed and current assets? Fixed assets (21/28) are kept and used for more than a year, such as buildings, machines and shareholdings. Current assets (29/58) turn into cash in the operating cycle: stocks, receivables, investments and cash.
What is the balance sheet total in Belgian accounts? Total assets, code 20/58, equal to total liabilities, 10/49. Since 2024 the small-company threshold is 6,000,000 euros and the micro threshold 450,000 euros.
Where are trade receivables in a Belgian balance sheet? Code 40 for amounts due within one year, code 290 for trade receivables due after more than one year.
Why is there no profit for the year on the balance sheet? Belgian balance sheets are presented after appropriation of the result, so the year's profit has already been moved to reserves (13), profit carried forward (14) or a dividend.
Photo: the former abbey palace in Gembloux, Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons