Where do you find the annual accounts of a Belgian company?
Every Belgian company files its annual accounts with the National Bank's Central Balance Sheet Office. Databakkes pulls those figures and puts them right on the company page: revenue, profit, equity, debt and staff, year after year. No detour through the NBB application; type the name above and you are on the numbers.
- Revenue, profit and equity immediately visible, up to five financial years back
- Every filing in a list, with a link to the original document at the National Bank
- A verdict in plain language: profit, buffer, debt and growth
- Free, without an account and without limits
What is in a set of annual accounts?
The balance sheet (what the company owns and owes), the income statement (revenue and costs of the financial year) and the notes. Larger companies also publish a social balance sheet with staffing figures. Databakkes translates those items into plain language: profit, buffer, debt and growth.
Verdict and warning lights: what we check
A set of annual accounts holds dozens of items. We read three questions from them (does the company make a profit, is its buffer growing, is its debt manageable) and light a warning for every signal that crosses a fixed threshold. No score and no black box: each signal shows the figure and the rule. The same rules run in every company dossier.
The plain-language verdict
- Profit
- Loss, break-even, profit, or profit that grew against the previous financial year (item 9904, result after tax).
- Buffer
- Equity: negative (more debts than assets), more than 50% lost in one year, grown or stable.
- Debts
- The share of equity in equity plus debts: from 35% a strong own buffer, from 15% under control, below that heavy debts.
The warning lights from the annual accounts
- Negative equity
- Equity is below zero: the company has more debts than assets.
- Loss two years running
- A negative result after tax in the last two financial years.
- Tight liquidity
- Cash and receivables cover less than 65% of the debts due within a year.
- Shrinking team
- The number of full-time equivalents fell two years running, by at least 10% over those three years.
- Figures corrected
- Corrected accounts were filed for one of the last four financial years.
- Accounts filed late
- Filed more than 180 days after the legal deadline, 7 months after the end of the financial year.
- Accounts missing
- The next financial year is still not filed 180 days after its deadline.
The dossier adds signals from the CBE and the Official Gazette: 2 or more seat moves in 18 months, a fully replaced board, 10 or more other companies with their seat at the same address, no Peppol registration, and a legal situation that is not normal.
Example: bpost
This is how it looks for a real company, computed from the filed annual accounts as they stand in the Central Balance Sheet Office today.
In plain language · Financial year 2025
Profitable, and profit is growing. The buffer is growing. Debts are under control.
- Profit Growing
Profitable, and profit is growing.
- Buffer Growing
The buffer is growing.
- Debts Normal
Debts are under control.
Warning lights
From the annual accounts. The dossier also checks the CBE and the Belgian Official Gazette.
-
Tight liquidity
Cash and receivables cover 61 % of short-term debt in 2025; threshold 65 %.
-
Figures corrected
Corrected annual account filed for 2023.
Key figures
| Financial year | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | € 2.3 billion | € 2.3 billion | € 2.3 billion | € 2.2 billion |
| Profit after tax | € 120.2 million | € 107.5 million | € -234.1 million | € 3.6 million |
| Equity | € 806.7 million | € 888.2 million | € 654 million | € 657.6 million |
| Cash | € 656.1 million | € 510 million | € 451.3 million | € 475.4 million |
| Total debts | € 2.2 billion | € 2 billion | € 2.9 billion | € 3.4 billion |
| Employees (FTE) | 25,048.5 | 24,709.4 | 24,415.4 | 23,730.2 |
Requesting annual accounts is free
Filed annual accounts are public information. On Databakkes you view the key figures for free on the company page, no account and no limit. Every filing is listed with a link to the original document at the National Bank.
Need the VAT number or address too?
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Guides on annual accounts
Frequently asked questions
Where can I find the annual accounts of a company?
Type the company name or enterprise number in the search bar at the top. You land on the company page with the figures from the filed annual accounts. The source is the National Bank's Central Balance Sheet Office.
Where can I find the annual figures of my own company?
The same way: search your own company name or enterprise number. You see what anyone can see about your business, exactly as filed with the National Bank.
How can I see whether a company is financially healthy?
Look at three things: does it make a profit, is there a buffer to absorb setbacks, and is the debt manageable. Look the company up above and you get the plain-language verdict on each, the warning lights with their thresholds and the key figures of the last four financial years. Debt counts as under control, for instance, once equity is at least 15% of equity plus debts, and as strong from 35%.
Is requesting annual accounts free?
Yes. Filed annual accounts are public and you view the key figures on Databakkes for free, no account or payment needed. The original document opens via the link to the National Bank.
Can I look up annual accounts using the VAT number?
Yes. Type the VAT number or enterprise number in the search bar, with or without the BE prefix. You immediately see the filed annual accounts.
What is the difference between the abbreviated and the full format?
Large companies file their annual accounts in the full format: every item of the balance sheet and the income statement, with detailed notes. Small companies may use the abbreviated format, the smallest (micro companies) the even shorter micro format. A company is small as long as it does not exceed more than one of three legal thresholds: 50 employees on average, a maximum revenue and a maximum balance sheet total. The abbreviated format groups items and leaves out part of the notes, but the balance sheet, equity, debts and result are always in it. Non-profits and foundations have formats of their own.
What is the difference between revenue and gross margin?
Revenue (item 70) is what the company sold during the financial year. Gross margin (item 9900) is revenue plus other operating income, minus what it bought in goods, raw materials and services: the money left for wages, depreciation, interest and profit. A wholesaler turns over a lot with a thin margin, a consultancy little with a wide one, so gross margin says more about what a company adds itself. The full format shows revenue; the abbreviated and micro formats start at gross margin. That is why small companies show a gross margin where you would expect revenue.
What does equity tell you?
Equity (items 10/15) is what remains of the assets once all debts are deducted: the shareholders' contributions plus the profit that stayed in the company (reserves and profit carried forward). If it grows, the company is putting profit aside; if it is negative, its debts exceed everything it owns. A BV must then follow the alarm-bell procedure: as soon as net assets threaten to turn negative, the board convenes the general meeting. We set equity against debts: from 35% of equity plus debts a strong own buffer, below 15% heavy debts.
Why don't small companies publish their revenue?
Because they are allowed not to. The abbreviated and micro formats let small companies leave out revenue: the income statement then starts at gross margin, revenue minus purchases. Competitors, customers and suppliers so cannot see how much is sold or at what margin. Revenue does appear in the VAT return and the corporate tax return, but those are not public. If a small company reports its revenue voluntarily, it shows here.
What are warning lights?
Signals from the annual accounts that cross a fixed threshold: negative equity, two loss years in a row, cash and receivables covering less than 65% of short-term debts, a team that shrank two years running, corrected accounts, and accounts filed more than 180 days late or not at all. Each signal shows the figure and the rule. A warning light is a reason to look closer, not a judgement on the company.
When must annual accounts be filed?
Within 7 months after the end of the financial year, and at the latest 30 days after the general meeting approved them. For a year ending on 31 December, that is 31 July at the latest. Filing late costs a surcharge at the National Bank. Databakkes lights a warning from 180 days after the deadline, and also when the next year is still missing that long after its own.