BV bookkeeping and administration: what do you need to arrange?

The administration of a BV consists of six parts: the bookkeeping, the VAT (btw) return, the payroll for the director-major shareholder's (DGA) salary, the current account between you and the BV, the corporate income tax (VPB) return and the annual accounts, which you file with the Chamber of Commerce (KvK). The board is legally required to keep these records and retain them for 7 years.

A BV is a legal entity. It pays tax on its own profit, signs its own contracts, and as its director you are employed by your own BV. That makes the administration more extensive than for a sole proprietorship: payroll, public annual accounts and corporate income tax are added.

What the law requires of a BV

Under article 2:10 of the Dutch Civil Code, the board must keep records in such a way that the BV's rights and obligations can be known at any time. Within six months of the end of the financial year, a balance sheet and a statement of income and expenses must be drawn up. You keep the records, including all invoices, bank statements and contracts, for 7 years. Digital storage is allowed.

As a DGA you are usually also the director. So the responsibility is yours, even if you outsource the work to an accountant.

The six parts of the administration

What you do every month, quarter and year

• Monthly: payroll tax return for your DGA salary. The return and payment are due by the last day of the following month
• Quarterly: VAT return, by 30 April, 31 July, 31 October and 31 January
• Yearly: prepare the annual accounts within 5 months of year-end, adopt them and file them with the KvK
• Yearly: corporate income tax return, before 1 June if your financial year equals the calendar year, unless you have an extension
• Yearly: your own income tax return, with your salary and any dividend in box 2

The DGA's salary

If you work in your own BV, you are employed by the BV for payroll tax purposes. You pay yourself a customary salary: in 2026 at least €58,000 a year, or more if the salary for a comparable job or the highest salary of your employees is higher. The BV withholds payroll taxes and files a payroll tax return every month.

The current account

If you pay a business bill privately, or take money from the business account for private use, it goes on the current account. Keep it up to date, charge an arm's-length interest rate and put the arrangements in writing. If you and your fiscal partner borrow more than €500,000 from your BV, you pay box 2 tax on the excess.

Corporate income tax

In 2026 a BV pays 19% corporate income tax on the first €200,000 of profit and 25.8% on the rest. You file the return within 5 months of the end of the financial year; if it equals the calendar year, that is before 1 June. You can request an extension online until 1 November, or through your accountant.

A simplified example: your BV makes €120,000 profit in 2026 before your own salary. You pay yourself the customary salary of €58,000. That leaves €62,000 taxable profit, on which the BV pays €11,780 corporate income tax. The remaining €50,220 can stay in the BV or go to you as dividend. If you distribute it, you pay 24.5% in box 2 (up to €68,843): €12,304, against which the 15% dividend tax the BV withholds is offset.

The annual accounts and the KvK

The board prepares the annual accounts within 5 months of the end of the financial year. The shareholders' meeting can extend this by up to 5 months in special circumstances. The shareholders then adopt the accounts. If you are the sole shareholder and director, your signature usually counts as adoption too.

Within 8 days of adoption, and no later than 12 months after the end of the financial year, you file the accounts with the KvK. There is no extension for that last deadline. Since financial year 2025, all BVs file via SBR, a standard digital format supplied by your accounting software or accountant.

How much becomes public depends on the size of your BV. Most owner-run BVs are micro and only file a condensed balance sheet.

You fall into a class if you meet at least two of the three criteria for two consecutive years. An audit is only required from medium-sized upwards.

Paying dividend

If you want to take profit out of the BV as dividend, the shareholders' meeting decides on it. The board must first test whether the BV can keep paying its debts after the distribution: the distribution test. The BV withholds 15% dividend tax and pays it within a month. Record the resolution and the test in writing.

With a holding company

With a holding and an operating company, each BV has its own records, annual accounts and filing. If they form a fiscal unity for corporate income tax, they file one return together. For VAT there is a separate fiscal unity with its own conditions.

When it goes wrong

A late tax return leads to a penalty from the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst). Late filing of the accounts is a criminal offence. The biggest risk arises in bankruptcy: if the board failed to meet the record-keeping or filing obligations in the three years before, article 2:248 of the Civil Code establishes that the board performed its duties improperly. The receiver can then hold you personally liable as director for the shortfall.

Do it yourself or outsource

You can keep a BV's books yourself with accounting software. But the annual accounts in SBR format, corporate income tax and payroll require knowledge that most DGAs prefer to outsource. There are three routes: do everything yourself, book yourself with an accountant checking, or outsource everything.

At Boekhoudvriend you choose between Review, where you book in Jortt Plus and we check and file all returns, and Full service, where we do everything in Exact Online. Both packages include the VAT returns, the annual accounts with KvK filing and the corporate income tax return.