(Separate) social balance sheet
The social balance sheet contains information about the workforce: the number of employees, staff turnover, training and so on. Certain companies, associations and foundations that do not have to file their annual accounts with the National Bank of Belgium are required to file a separate social balance sheet. This exception mainly applies to a small number of hospitals and to private-law legal entities with at least 20 full-time employees.
A social balance sheet must be filed by every company, association or foundation that, on an annual basis, has at least 20 employees on average, expressed in full-time equivalents (FTEs).
The social balance sheet forms part of:
- the “Other documents to be filed pursuant to the Code of Companies and Associations” on the filing form for companies or
- the “Explanatory notes” on the filing form for associations and foundations.
The social balance sheet was introduced by the Act of 22 December 1995 on measures implementing the multi-year employment plan.
Companies, associations and foundations required to publish a social balance sheet along with their annual accounts
Belgian companies with at least one FTE:
- When using a standard template: the standard templates contain a “social balance sheet” section which must be completed.
- When using a specific template: a social balance sheet must be provided if the template used does not contain one.
Belgian associations and foundations with at least 20 FTEs:
- When using a standard template: the standard templates contain a “social balance sheet” section which must be completed.
- When using a specific template: a social balance sheet must be provided if the template used does not contain one.
Belgian associations and foundations with less than 20 FTEs can voluntarily complete the “social balance sheet” section of the annual accounts, but are not legally obliged to do so.
For foreign companies, associations and foundations, such as companies incorporated under foreign law that have a branch office in Belgium and foreign NPOs with a centre of operations in Belgium, the social balance sheet covers employment at all Belgian establishments.
The social balance sheet filed along with the annual accounts and other documents to be filed pursuant to the Code of Companies and Associations is made available to the public by the Central Balance Sheet Office.
Companies, associations and foundations that are not required to file their annual accounts with the National Bank of Belgium (but are required to publish a separate social balance sheet)
Some companies, associations and foundations that do not have to file their annual accounts with the National Bank of Belgium must nevertheless draw up a social balance sheet and submit it to the Central Balance Sheet Office. The Central Balance Sheet Office uses this information to compile the statistics it publishes but does not make it publicly available. Due to its non-public nature, the filing of a separate social balance sheet is free of charge.
This is an exemption available only to certain hospitals and private-law legal entities:
- hospitals insofar as they do not take the form of a commercial company with limited liability or a non-profit association (considered large or very large based on the size criteria); in that case, they must publish their annual accounts along with a social balance sheet;
- private-law legal entities that are not required to publish their annual accounts, provided they have at least 20 employees on their payroll.
The template to be used will depend on the size and type of company, association or foundation concerned:
- hospitals must complete the full or abridged template for the social balance sheet, depending on whether they meet the size criteria;
- foreign companies must complete the full or abridged template for the social balance sheet for their Belgian establishments depending on the size of these establishments; these figures are calculated on a consolidated basis for all Belgian establishments;
- private-law legal entities that are not required to publish annual accounts and that:
- employ 50 or more people on average must prepare a social balance sheet using the full template;
- employ 20 to 49 people on average may use the abridged template for their social balance sheet.
Social balance sheet models
The most recent version of the full model and the abridged model can be found here:
|
volledig model (pdf) |
modèle complet (pdf) |
vollständiges Modell (pdf) |
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verkort model (pdf) |
modèle abrégé (pdf) |
verkürztes Modell (pdf) |
Assistance in completing the social balance sheet
More information on the various sections of the social balance sheet can be found in these documents:
- Questions and answers on the social balance sheet, Opinion S100 of the Accounting Standards Board entitled “Questions et réponses relatives au bilan social” (in French) or “Vragen en antwoorden over de sociale balans” (in Dutch), from Bulletin No 39 of April 1997
- The social balance sheet and statutory employees, Opinion 2009/12 of October 2009 of the Accounting Standards Board entitled “Le bilan social et les travailleurs statutaires” (in French) or “De sociale balans en de statutaire werknemers” (in Dutch), from Bulletin No 52 of March 2010
- The explanatory note (in French and Dutch) containing information on training activities, compiled by the National Bank in cooperation with the Central Economic Council and the National Labour Council (CBN/CNC Opinion 2022/15 – Belgian branches of foreign companies: own accounting obligations)
How to file a separate social balance sheet
The separate social balance is submitted online as a pdf file via the CBSO Filing application. The models can be found at “Select a model”, under the option “Other”, where it is possible to choose the “abridged model for the social balance sheet” or the “full model for the social balance sheet” from the drop-down list.