The Belgian social balance sheet: who files it, what it shows and how to read it
Tips
The short answer
The social balance sheet (sociale balans in Dutch, bilan social in French) is the staffing section of a Belgian company's annual accounts. Every company, association or foundation that files its accounts with the National Bank of Belgium must include it from its first employee. It reports the average number of employees in full-time equivalents (FTE), the hours actually worked and the staff costs for the year and the year before; the headcount on the closing date by type of contract, gender, education and job category; how many people joined and left; and the training the employer paid for. Only the full model adds temporary agency workers. Anyone can read it for free in the National Bank's Consult tool. It is annual and appears up to seven months after year end, so it shows a trend, not this month.
Everything below comes from the National Bank's current filing models (release 2021, version 8), its social balance sheet pages and advice S100 of the Commission for Accounting Standards (CBN), read on 1 October 2026. This is general information, not legal or accounting advice.
Who has to file it
Situation | What is filed | Public? |
|---|---|---|
Company, association or foundation that files annual accounts with the National Bank and has at least one employee | The social balance sheet as a section of the annual accounts, in the full, abbreviated or micro model | Yes, in Consult with the rest of the accounts |
Private-law legal entity that does not have to publish annual accounts, with an average of at least 20 FTE | A separate social balance sheet: the full model from 50 FTE, the abridged model allowed from 20 to 49 FTE | No, the National Bank uses it only for its statistics |
Certain hospitals that do not file annual accounts with the National Bank | A separate social balance sheet, full or abridged depending on size | No |
Sole traders working as natural persons | Nothing: they file no annual accounts | - |
The National Bank's FAQ puts the trigger simply: a social balance sheet is due "as from the time there is a single employee". The separate social balance sheet goes back to the Act of 22 December 1995 on the multi-year employment plan; it is filed as a PDF through the filing application and is free of charge.
What it contains
The section closes the annual accounts (VOL-kap 10, VKT-kap 12 or MIC-kap 11 in the company models). The abbreviated and micro models share one short version; the full model, used by large companies, is more detailed.
Part | What it shows | Abbreviated and micro | Full |
|---|---|---|---|
Joint committees | The numbers of the joint committees competent for the employer | Yes | Yes |
During the year | Average number of employees (FTE), hours actually worked, staff costs, this year and last year | Yes, totals | Yes, split by men and women and by full-time and part-time, plus benefits on top of pay |
On the closing date | Number of employees by contract (open-ended, fixed-term, specific work, replacement), by gender and level of education, by category (management, white-collar, blue-collar, other) | Yes | Yes |
Temporary workers | Agency workers and persons placed at the company's disposal: average number, hours worked, cost | No | Yes |
Entries and departures | Employees who joined and left during the year, full-time, part-time and in FTE | Totals only | Also by contract type, and departures by reason: retirement, unemployment with company supplement, dismissal, other |
Training | Formal, less formal and initial training paid by the employer: employees involved, hours, net cost, for men and women | Yes | Yes |
Two definitions change how you read it. First, "employees" means people for whom the employer filed a DIMONA declaration or who are in its general staff register. Freelancers, directors paid through their own management company and school interns are not in it. Second, agency workers are not counted in the average FTE. The CBN advice says they appear only in the separate temporary workers block, which exists only in the full model, and that their cost is booked under services (account 617), not under staff costs.
How to read it for sales and HR
Real size. The average FTE is a payroll figure, filed under the law, and often more reliable than a headcount band on a profile page. How to read Belgian annual accounts covers the financial figures to read next to it.
Direction. Compare this year's average FTE with last year's, which is printed alongside. A year-end headcount well above the year's average means the company grew during the year.
Growth or churn. Many entries with a flat average means people are being replaced, not added. Entries clearly above departures means real growth. How to find Belgian companies that are hiring shows how to pair this with live vacancies.
Flexible labour. In a full model, a large temporary workers line next to a flat own headcount means the company buys capacity from agencies. That is the account a staffing agency wants, and a sign of volume that fluctuates.
Who works there. The split between blue-collar and white-collar staff tells you whether to sell safety shoes and vans or laptops and software seats. The joint committee numbers at the top of the section are one of the few public places where a company states them itself, when it fills them in. What joint committee 200 means covers the largest one, and how to find a company's joint committee the other routes.
Cost per head and training. Staff costs divided by average FTE gives a rough cost per employee. The training block tells a training provider whether the company already spends on courses.
A purely illustrative example: a Ghent wholesaler files 38.4 FTE on average against 35.1 the year before, 44 employees on the closing date, 14 entries and 6 departures. That company grew during the year and is still growing at year end. If it filed the same average with 14 entries and 13 departures, the story would be turnover, and the conversation would be about retention rather than expansion.
Where to find it
Open the National Bank's Consult tool, search by name or enterprise number and open the latest filing; the social balance sheet is the last section of the accounts. How to look up Belgian annual accounts walks through the steps and the file formats. Separate social balance sheets are not published, so you will not find them there.
Consult works one company at a time. When you want the people figures for a whole segment, Bizzy's legal entity records carry them in the People part of the Financials tab, taken from the accounts filed at the National Bank: employees in FTE, new hires, temporary workers (count, FTE, hours and cost, where the company filed a full model) and the male ratio, over four years next to the rest of the filed figures. You can start free on the CORE, BOOST or SCALE plans.
Its limits
Annual and late. Accounts are due at the latest seven months after year end, so in June you are often reading figures that are eighteen months old. The filing deadline explains the timing.
Temporary workers only for large filers. Small and micro companies do not report agency labour at all, so an empty line there means "not asked", not "none".
One legal entity at a time. A group that employs people in several entities files a social balance sheet per entity; add them up yourself.
Payroll only. Freelancers, management companies and agency staff in a small company stay invisible, so the real workforce can be larger than the FTE figure.
Frequently asked questions
What is a social balance sheet in Belgium? The staffing section of the annual accounts: average FTE, hours worked, staff costs, headcount at year end by contract, gender, education and category, entries and departures, and training. The full model adds temporary agency workers.
Who must file a social balance sheet? Every company, association or foundation that files annual accounts with the National Bank and has at least one employee. Private-law legal entities that do not publish accounts but employ an average of at least 20 FTE, and certain hospitals, file a separate one that is not made public.
Where can I see a company's social balance sheet? In the National Bank's Consult tool, free and without an account, as the last section of the filed annual accounts.
Does the social balance sheet include temporary workers? Only in the full model, in a separate block with their average number, hours and cost. They are not included in the company's own average FTE, and small and micro companies do not report them.
Photo: the Grand-Place in Brussels, Celuici, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons