Annual accounts of Belgian non-profits: VZW size categories, filing and how to look one up
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The short answer
Every Belgian non-profit association (VZW/ASBL), international non-profit (IVZW/AISBL) and foundation draws up annual accounts each year, but where they go depends on size. The smallest, those that exceed no more than one of 5 employees, 391,000 euros of recurring receipts, 1,562,000 euros of assets and 1,562,000 euros of debts, may keep simplified accounts and file them at the registry of the enterprise court. All others file with the National Bank in a micro, abridged or full model, and large ones must also appoint a statutory auditor. The accounts go to the general meeting within six months of year end and to the National Bank within 30 days of approval. Filing costs 67 to 159.50 euros in 2026. You look up a VZW for free in KBO Public Search and its filed accounts in the National Bank's Consult.
Thresholds, deadlines and fees below come from the Code of Companies and Associations on Justel (articles 1:28 to 1:31, 2:5, 2:9, 2:15, 3:47 and 3:51) and the Central Balance Sheet Office pages of the National Bank of Belgium, read on 1 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.
The four size categories
The bigger a non-profit, the more it must disclose. Belgian legal forms explained covers how a VZW differs from a BV or NV. For the accounts, the Code uses four categories.
Category | Exceeds no more than one of | Accounts | Filed at |
|---|---|---|---|
Simplified | 5 employees (FTE), 391,000 euros of recurring receipts excl. VAT, 1,562,000 euros of assets, 1,562,000 euros of debts | Simplified model | Registry of the enterprise court |
Micro | 10 FTE, 900,000 euros turnover excl. VAT, 450,000 euros balance sheet total | Micro model (MIC) | National Bank |
Small | 50 FTE, 11,250,000 euros turnover excl. VAT, 6,000,000 euros balance sheet total | Abridged model (VKT) | National Bank |
Large | Exceeds more than one of the small thresholds | Full model (VOL), statutory auditor, annual report | National Bank |
Sources: articles 1:28, 1:29, 3:47 and 3:48 of the Code and the National Bank's size criteria page, which lists these amounts as applying from 1 January 2024. Foundations use the same thresholds (articles 1:30, 1:31 and 3:51). The micro, small and large categories apply to associations above the simplified limits, which are a separate test on receipts, assets and debts rather than turnover and balance sheet total. Employees are counted as full-time equivalents. A change of category only takes effect when the thresholds are crossed, or no longer crossed, two financial years in a row, and then from the following year.
Where and when a non-profit files
Deadline for a VZW or IVZW. The board puts the accounts, together with the budget for the following year, to the general meeting within six months of year end (article 3:47, § 1). Accounts that go to the National Bank are filed within 30 days of approval (article 3:47, § 7). For a year ending on 31 December, that means approval by 30 June and filing about a month later at the latest. The timing rules for companies, and their late-filing surcharges, are in the annual accounts filing deadline guide.
Foundations. There is no general meeting. The board draws up the accounts within six months of year end and approves them itself; filing follows within 30 days of that approval (article 3:51).
What is filed with the accounts. A document with the names of the directors and any auditors in office, the auditor's report where there is one, and the annual report for large associations. That is why a filing also tells you who sits on the board.
Simplified filers. Their accounts go into the association's file at the registry of the enterprise court (article 2:9, § 1, 8°), not to the National Bank. An empty Consult record for a small VZW does not mean it failed to file.
Not filing. For associations and foundations, the National Bank names two consequences: legal proceedings brought by an association that has not released its annual accounts can be stayed, and a court can order its dissolution.
What filing costs at the National Bank
Model | XBRL | |
|---|---|---|
Full (VOL) or abridged (VKT) | 89.40 euros | 159.50 euros |
Micro (MIC) | 67.00 euros | 137.30 euros |
Corrected filing, full or abridged | 86.00 euros | 86.00 euros |
Corrected filing, micro | 54.70 euros | 54.70 euros |
Source: National Bank tariffs for associations and foundations 2026, per filing. Each first filing includes a contribution of 3.40 euros to the Accounting Standards Commission; the rest covers the National Bank's cost of collecting and publishing the documents. The tariff page does not say whether VAT applies. A structured XBRL filing costs 70.10 euros less than a PDF.
How to look up a VZW
KBO Public Search. Search by name or enterprise number, optionally limited to one legal form. A VZW's record shows its legal form and start date, registered office, directors and the person in charge of daily management with the date each took office, whether it is registered as an employer with social security and for VAT, its NACEBEL activities, the month of its general meeting and the end of its financial year. It links straight to its Official Gazette publications, its National Bank filings and the statutes database.
Consult at the National Bank. Enter the enterprise number to see every filing with its financial year, model and approval date, as PDF, XBRL or CSV. Association filings carry their own model names, such as "Volledig model vereniging" (full model for associations). How to look up Belgian annual accounts walks through Consult step by step.
Official Gazette. For a VZW, the annexes publish the extract of the incorporation deed and the appointment and departure of directors, daily managers and auditors (article 2:15). The accounts themselves are not published there. See how to search the Official Gazette.
Statutes. A VZW may be founded by private deed, while an IVZW or foundation needs a notary (article 2:5). A VZW's statutes are therefore often missing from the notaries' database; finding Belgian company statutes covers the other routes.
Beneficial owners. Non-profits register in the UBO register too, but public access has been restricted since 2023, as the Belgian UBO register guide explains.
What a non-profit's accounts tell a seller
Schools, care organisations, sports federations and cultural centres are often run as VZWs, and they buy software, services, equipment and energy like any company. Their accounts answer three questions.
How big is it? The filing tier is a first filter. A VZW that files with the National Bank exceeds more than one of the simplified limits; a full model means it passes more than one of 50 FTE, 11.25 million euros turnover or 6 million euros balance sheet total. Associations and foundations with at least 20 FTE also file a social balance sheet with their average headcount.
Where does the money come from? In the full model for associations, operating income separates turnover from membership fees, gifts, legacies and subsidies, and a note splits that second line into its four parts. The gap can be wide. In the full model Kom op tegen Kanker filed for 2025, turnover was about 4.0 million euros out of 44.1 million euros of operating income, most of the rest gifts and legacies. Judged on turnover alone, it would look small. How to read Belgian annual accounts shows which other lines to check.
Who decides, and when? The filing lists the directors in office, and KBO Public Search adds the daily manager. The general meeting approves last year's accounts together with the budget for the current year, so for a VZW with a calendar year the formal budget moment falls in the first half of the year.
For a whole segment, Bizzy's legal entity records come from the KBO and carry the figures from the accounts filed at the National Bank, so a VZW that files there sits in the same view as your company prospects. The smallest VZWs, which file at the registry, have no National Bank figures anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
Does every VZW have to file annual accounts? Every VZW draws up annual accounts. The smallest, below the simplified limits, file them at the registry of the enterprise court; all others file with the National Bank.
When must a VZW file its annual accounts? The general meeting approves them within six months of year end, and a VZW that files with the National Bank does so within 30 days of that approval.
How much does filing cost for a VZW in 2026? At the National Bank, 89.40 euros for a full or abridged model in XBRL and 159.50 euros in PDF; 67.00 or 137.30 euros for a micro model. A corrected filing costs 86.00 euros, or 54.70 euros for a micro model.
Where can I see who sits on a VZW's board? In KBO Public Search under its functions, in the director appointments published in the annexes to the Official Gazette, and in the list of directors filed with the accounts at the National Bank.
Photo: the arcades of the Cinquantenaire in Brussels, Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons