The short answer
Belgium's Code of Companies and Associations (WVV in Dutch, CSA in French) has applied to new companies since 1 May 2019 and cut the list of legal forms. In a BV/SRL, NV/SA or CV/SC, shareholders risk only their contribution, and the company files annual accounts with the National Bank. In a VOF/SNC every partner is personally and jointly liable; in a CommV/SComm the managing partners are. Those partnerships usually file no accounts. A VZW/ASBL shields its members, and only the larger ones file with the National Bank. A sole trader is personally liable and files nothing. A BV needs no minimum capital; an NV needs at least 61,500 euros. The old BVBA/SPRL and CVBA/SCRL are gone: statutes had to be aligned by 1 January 2024, and the last abolished forms were converted by law that day.
This is general information for sales and credit teams, not legal advice. The rules below come from the Code on Justel, the FPS Justice reform brochure, business.belgium.be, the National Bank and Statbel, read on 30 September 2026.
The Belgian legal forms at a glance
Form (Dutch / French) | What it is | Liability | Files accounts with the National Bank | Minimum capital |
|---|---|---|---|---|
BV / SRL | Private limited company, one founder is enough | Limited to the shareholder's contribution | Yes | None; starting equity must be sufficient, backed by a financial plan |
NV / SA | Public limited company | Limited to the shareholder's contribution | Yes | 61,500 euros, fully subscribed |
CV / SC | Cooperative company, at least three founders | Limited to the shareholder's contribution | Yes | None; starting equity must be sufficient |
VOF / SNC | General partnership with legal personality | All partners unlimited and jointly liable | Only if large and a legal person is among the unlimited partners | None |
CommV / SComm | Limited partnership with legal personality | Managing partners unlimited and jointly liable; silent partners up to their contribution | Only if large and a legal person is among the unlimited partners | None |
Maatschap / société simple | Partnership without legal personality | Partners unlimited | No | None |
VZW / ASBL | Non-profit association, profit distribution forbidden | Members are not liable for the association's obligations | Only larger ones; small ones file at the enterprise court registry | None |
Sole trader (natuurlijke persoon / personne physique) | A self-employed person registered as an enterprise | Unlimited, with personal assets | No | None |
Sources: articles 1:5, 4:22, 5:3, 6:3, 7:2 and 9:1 of the Code, business.belgium.be and the National Bank's page on who must file.
How common each form is
Statbel's latest count of active VAT-liable enterprises by legal form is for 2024. It still uses pre-2019 labels, so "BVBA" covers today's BVs.
Legal form (Statbel label) | Active VAT-liable enterprises, 2024 |
|---|---|
Natural person (sole trader) | 510,346 |
BVBA (now BV) | 477,126 |
VOF or ordinary limited partnership | 69,403 |
NV or partnership limited by shares | 59,542 |
VZW | 30,028 |
Cooperative company | 4,662 |
All legal forms | 1,187,819 |
Source: Statbel, be.STAT. Only VAT-liable entities are counted, so most associations are missing. The BV outnumbers the NV by about eight to one, and new incorporations show the same split (see finding newly incorporated Belgian companies).
What the legal form tells a seller or credit manager
Who pays if the invoice is not paid
With a BV, NV or CV, your claim is on the company alone. An empty company means an unpaid invoice, unless someone signed a personal guarantee. With a VOF, every partner answers for the company's debts with their own assets, jointly. In a CommV that applies to the managing partners; a silent partner risks only the promised contribution, unless they took part in management. Under article 4:26, though, a partner cannot be condemned personally before the company itself is. With a sole trader there is no separate company at all: the person is the debtor.
What you can read in the annual accounts
BVs, NVs and CVs file annual accounts with the National Bank, free for anyone to look up. The model depends on size, not legal form: micro, abbreviated or full, under the thresholds set out in what counts as an SME in Belgium. In 2025 the National Bank received 593,323 sets of accounts: about 80% from companies without share capital (since the reform, essentially BVs and CVs), about 19% from companies with share capital such as NVs, and under 2% from associations and foundations. Micro models made up about 70% and abbreviated models just over a quarter. That is why turnover is so often missing, and how to read Belgian annual accounts explains what to use instead.
A VOF, CommV, maatschap or sole trader normally gives you no filed accounts, so a credit decision rests on payment behaviour, the register and what the customer tells you.
Why a BV's capital says little
Since 2019 a BV has no minimum capital; the old 18,550 euros are gone. The founders must provide equity sufficient for the planned activity and give the notary a financial plan covering at least two years, which the notary keeps and does not file. A BV may only pay out profits or reserves after a balance-sheet and liquidity test. A thinly funded BV is perfectly legal, so judge equity and results in the filed accounts, not the legal form. An NV must still have at least 61,500 euros of capital, fully subscribed at incorporation.
Who can sign
In a BV, each director (bestuurder) can in principle represent the company alone, unless the statutes set up a collegial board or a representation clause, which binds third parties once published. In an NV the board acts as a college of at least three directors (two if there are fewer than three shareholders), unless the statutes let one or more directors sign alone or jointly, or the NV has a single director. A VOF or CommV is run by managers (zaakvoerders), the old title in a BVBA too. In a BV or NV, the board can also delegate daily management to one or more persons. The clause that decides who may bind the company is in the statutes; how to find a Belgian company's statutes shows where to read it for free.
The 2019 reform: old forms you will still see
The Code applied to new companies from 1 May 2019 and to existing ones from 1 January 2020, when names started to be read the new way by law: BVBA as BV, SPRL as SRL, and a CVBA as CV only if it met the new cooperative definition. Statutes had to be aligned at the next amendment and by 1 January 2024 at the latest, on pain of personal liability for the directors. Forms that no longer exist were converted by law on 1 January 2024 if the company had not converted itself.
Old form | What it is now |
|---|---|
BVBA / SPRL (including the one-person and starter BVBA) | BV / SRL |
CVBA / SCRL that meets the cooperative definition | CV / SC |
CVBA / SCRL that does not | BV / SRL, by law on 1 January 2024 |
Comm.VA (partnership limited by shares) | NV with a single director, by law on 1 January 2024 |
CVOA (cooperative with unlimited liability), economic partnership (ESV), agricultural company | VOF, or CommV for an agricultural company with silent partners, by law on 1 January 2024 |
Professional association (beroepsvereniging) | VZW, by law on 1 January 2024 |
Source: articles 39 and 41 of the law of 23 March 2019 introducing the Code. A contract or CRM record that still says BVBA refers to what is now a BV: the same legal person with the same enterprise number, which you can check in the Belgian company register.
Using legal form in prospecting
Filtering on BV, NV and CV keeps companies that file accounts and removes sole traders, 43% of Statbel's count, as well as most associations. In Bizzy, legal form is a field on every Belgian legal entity record, taken from the KBO, and you can filter on it alongside National Bank financials, region and activity, so your export already leaves out the forms you do not sell to.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a BV and an NV? Both limit shareholder liability and both file accounts with the National Bank. A BV has no minimum capital and each director can in principle sign alone; an NV needs at least 61,500 euros and is run by a board, usually of three, or a single director.
Does a BV still need capital? No minimum since 2019, but starting equity must be sufficient for the planned activity, backed by a two-year financial plan.
Does a BVBA still exist? No. Since 1 January 2020 a BVBA is read by law as a BV, and statutes had to be aligned by 1 January 2024. The enterprise number stays the same.
Does a sole trader or a VOF file annual accounts? A sole trader does not. A VOF or CommV only files when it is large and a legal person is among its unlimited partners, so in practice most file nothing.
Photo: the front of the former Brussels Stock Exchange, Guy Delsaut, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons