Gross margin in Belgian annual accounts: what code 9900 means and how to use it
Tips
The short answer
Gross margin (code 9900) is the first line of the income statement that small and micro Belgian companies file. By law it is the sum of turnover (70), changes in work in progress and finished goods (71), produced fixed assets (72), other operating income (74) and non-recurring operating income (76A), minus goods for resale, raw materials and consumables (60) and services and other goods (61). Staff costs are not deducted yet: gross margin is the money left to pay people, depreciation and everything else. Small and micro companies may file an abbreviated or micro model that opens with gross margin, and on those forms turnover is an optional line. That is why gross margin is often the only activity figure you get, and why it can serve as a starting point for estimating size.
The definitions below come from the Royal Decree of 29 April 2019 implementing the Code of Companies and Associations (consolidated text of 29 July 2025) and the National Bank's current filing models, read on 1 October 2026. This is general information, not accounting or legal advice.
What goes into code 9900
Article 3:90 of the Royal Decree defines gross margin as the algebraic sum of seven items from the full income statement:
Code | Item | Effect on gross margin |
|---|---|---|
70 | Turnover | Added |
71 | Change in work in progress, finished goods and orders in progress | Added or deducted |
72 | Produced fixed assets (work the company did for itself and capitalised) | Added |
74 | Other operating income, including operating subsidies | Added |
76A | Non-recurring operating income, such as a capital gain on selling a fixed asset | Added |
60 | Goods for resale, raw materials and consumables, including general subcontracting and services that go straight into the cost of production | Deducted |
61 | Services and other goods bought from third parties, including temporary agency workers and directors' pay not given under an employment contract | Deducted |
Gross margin can be negative, which is why the form marks it (+)/(-). The full model has no 9900 line: it shows each item separately, so for a large company you add up the same codes yourself.
Why small companies show gross margin instead of turnover
Article 3:58 of the Royal Decree lets non-listed small companies (article 1:24 of the Code of Companies and Associations) draw up their balance sheet and income statement according to the abbreviated scheme, and micro companies (article 1:25) according to the micro scheme, both set out in Annex 4. In that legal scheme the income statement starts with gross margin; turnover does not appear as a line of its own. The National Bank's filing forms add turnover (70) and purchases (60/61) under gross margin, each marked as an optional disclosure.
So the choice to publish turnover sits with the company. Most small companies leave it empty. How often that happens, and which other figures to use when it does, is covered in why a Belgian company's revenue is often missing. Which model a company must file depends on the size thresholds explained in what counts as an SME in Belgium.
How to read gross margin
Read it as a budget: what the company has left after paying its suppliers. Out of it come staff costs (62), depreciation (630), write-downs (631/4), provisions (635/8) and other operating costs (640/8). What remains is operating profit (9901). Four checks tell you most of what the figure means.
Take out the one-offs. The form shows "of which non-recurring operating income" (76A) directly under gross margin. Subtract it. A company that sold a building in the year can show a jump in gross margin that has nothing to do with its business. The National Bank does the same in its own ratios, using 9900 minus 76A as an estimate of gross value added.
Compare it with staff costs. Divide staff costs by recurring gross margin. The closer that share gets to the whole of gross margin, the less room there is for depreciation, interest and profit. A share that climbs year after year is worth a question.
Check how people are paid. Temporary agency workers and directors paid without an employment contract are booked under services (61), so they reduce gross margin rather than show up in staff costs. A one-person company whose manager invoices a management fee can show a modest gross margin and no staff costs at all.
Follow the trend. One year says little. Four years of gross margin next to headcount show whether the business grows, stands still or shrinks, even without a turnover figure.
From gross margin to operating cash profit is a short step, covered in how to calculate EBITDA from Belgian annual accounts. For the rest of the filing, from equity to the social balance sheet, see how to read Belgian annual accounts.
Gross margin vs gross profit
The Belgian brutomarge is not the gross profit of an English or American textbook, and the percentages do not compare.
Aspect | Belgian gross margin (9900) | Textbook gross profit |
|---|---|---|
Starts from | Turnover plus stock changes, own production, other and non-recurring operating income | Net sales |
Deducts | All goods, materials, subcontracting and services bought from third parties, including overheads | Cost of goods sold: materials, direct labour and allocated production overhead |
Own staff | Not deducted | Production wages deducted |
Closest concept | Gross value added | Margin on what is sold |
For a manufacturer, Belgian gross margin is usually higher than gross profit, because production wages stay in. For a consultancy with few purchases, it can come close to turnover.
Using gross margin to estimate company size
When turnover is missing, you can still build a range.
Get the accounts and check the model. Look up the annual accounts in the National Bank's Consult and note whether the company filed the micro, abbreviated or full model.
Take recurring gross margin: 9900 minus 76A.
Build a sector ratio. Find companies in the same NACEBEL code that do publish turnover, either because they file the full model or because they disclose it voluntarily. For each, divide gross margin by turnover. For full-model filers, calculate gross margin yourself from the seven codes above.
Divide. Recurring gross margin divided by the low and the high end of the peer ratio gives a turnover range.
Cross-check against headcount, staff costs and balance sheet total. A range that does not fit the number of people is a wrong range.
Treat the result as an order of magnitude: business models inside one NACEBEL code differ, and the way people are paid shifts the ratio.
For one company this takes ten minutes in Consult. For a list of prospects or a portfolio of customers it is repetitive work. Bizzy's legal entity records show gross margin in euros and as a percentage for four financial years side by side, with year-on-year change, next to turnover where it was filed, EBITDA, FTE and the filed PDF for each year, all from the accounts filed with the National Bank.
A worked example
An illustrative technical installation company in Limburg files the abbreviated model with 11 FTE. It does not publish turnover. Its income statement shows:
Line | Code | Amount (euros) |
|---|---|---|
Gross margin | 9900 | 820,000 |
of which non-recurring operating income (sale of a van) | 76A | 40,000 |
Turnover | 70 | - |
Staff costs | 62 | 590,000 |
Depreciation | 630 | 55,000 |
Other operating costs | 640/8 | 12,000 |
Operating profit | 9901 | 163,000 |
Recurring gross margin is 780,000 euros (820,000 minus 40,000). Staff costs take 76% of it, and recurring gross margin per FTE is about 70,900 euros. Of the 163,000 euros operating profit, 40,000 is the van.
Now the estimate. Suppose peers in the same NACEBEL code that publish turnover show gross margin at 30% to 40% of turnover. Then 780,000 divided by 0.40 gives 1.95 million euros, and divided by 0.30 gives 2.6 million euros. Turnover of roughly 2 to 2.6 million euros fits 11 people in installation work, so the range holds. The peer ratios here are assumptions for the example, not sector statistics.
Gross margin's close cousin: value added in Belgian accounts.
Frequently asked questions
What is code 9900 in Belgian annual accounts? Gross margin: turnover, stock changes, produced fixed assets, other operating income and non-recurring operating income, minus goods, raw materials, consumables and services and other goods. It is the first line of the income statement in the abbreviated and micro models.
Is gross margin the same as turnover? No. Gross margin is turnover and other operating income minus what the company buys from third parties. It is usually well below turnover.
Are staff costs included in gross margin? No. Staff costs (62) come after gross margin. Temporary agency workers and directors paid without an employment contract are an exception: they are booked under services (61) and so already reduce gross margin.
Why does a large company's filing show no gross margin? The full model lists turnover and every operating cost separately and has no 9900 line. Add codes 70, 71, 72, 74 and 76A and subtract 60 and 61 to get the same figure.
Photo: the Ourthe and the castle in Durbuy, JackyM59, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons