Consolidated annual accounts

The purpose of the consolidated annual accounts is to provide an overview of the economic activity, equity and results of the entire company, each having its own legal entity but depending on the same decision-making centre (the parent company).

The obligation to draw up and file consolidated annual accounts and consolidated annual reports is governed by legal rules laid down in Articles 3:31 to 3:36 of the Code for Companies & Associations (CCA), Articles 3:96 to 3:158 of the Royal Decree of 29 april 2019 implementing the said Code and Article III.91 § 1 of the economic law code.

Criteria

Every company subject to the general law on consolidation must prepare, have audited and publish consolidated annual accounts and a consolidated annual report if it controls, alone or jointly, one or more subsidiaries.

Control over a company should be understood as the power in law or in fact to exercise a decisive influence on the appointment of the majority of the directors or managers or on the orientation of the policy. The company that exercises a power of control over another company is called the parent company; the company in relation to which a power of control exists is called the subsidiary company.

The Law provides the following exceptions to the obligation to consolidate:

  • Belgian company (F) controlling one or more companies may be exempted from consolidation if it meets the following conditions:
    • The company (F) is itself a subsidiary of a Belgian or foreign parent company (M) that prepares, audits and publishes a consolidated annual report and prepares a consolidated report that includes the company(F) and all its subsidiaries.
    • The shareholders of (F) give their majority approval to this exception
    • The consolidated annual accounts of (M) are published in Belgium in the language in which the financial statements of (F) were prepared. If (M) is a Belgian company, it must arrange its own publication in the sense that (F) restricts itself to returning its own annual accounts for publication. If (M) is a foreign company, (F) will have to take care of any translation and publication of the consolidated annual accounts.
    • (F) must prove in its annual accounts that it meets all the conditions imposed to benefit from the exemption.
  • A parent company can be exempted from consolidation if, together with its subsidiaries, it forms a group of limited size.
  • A parent company that only has subsidiaries which, considering the evaluation of the consolidated patrimony, of the consolidated financial position or of the consolidated result, both individually and collectively show a negligible interest, is excluded from the obligation to draw up consolidated financial statements and an annual report on the consolidated financial statements.

More information on the preparation and filing of consolidated annual accounts and the consolidated annual report can be found in the document 'Consolidated annual accounts' (this document is currently being updated)

Group of limited size

The criteria whether a parent company should consolidate or not differ according to the start date of the financial year.

To be considered a group of limited size, no more than one criterion may be exceeded on the date of the closing of the financial year.

 

Financial year starting BEFORE

1 January 2016

Financial year starting AFTER

1 January 2016

Annual turnover figures (excluding VAT)

29.200.000 EUR

34.000.000 EUR

Balance sheet total

14.600.000 EUR

17.000.000 EUR

Average annual staff number

250 persons

250 persons

The limit amounts are checked on the date of closure of the annual accounts of the consolidated company, based on the last annual accounts closed by companies that can be included in the consolidation.

Models of consolidated annual accounts

Since 2005, the consolidated accounts of companies listed on the stock exchange have had to be drawn up according to international accounting standards or IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards). Non-listed companies have the option of using these standards for compiling their consolidated accounts.

There is no standardised model for consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS.

However, for unlisted companies preparing consolidated accounts under Belgian GAAP (BEGAAP), an elaborated model is provided below by the National Bank of Belgium in cooperation with the Accounting Standards Commission (CBN). There is no obligation to use this model. The content of this model has been adapted for financial years starting from 1 January 2016, following the transposition of Directive 2013/34/EU.

Regardless of the accounting standards used, every consolidated annual account filed with the NBB must be preceded by a cover sheet CONSO 1 (DutchFrench).

In the case of consolidated accounts of a foreign company, the same cover sheet CONSO 1 must be chosen.

A. Models for financial years ending AFTER 1 January 2020

This new model of consolidated financial statements was approved by the CBN on 11 December 2019 and is valid for all financial years ending from 1 January 2020. This model is also used by companies required to prepare and file their consolidated accounts for the 2019 financial year under the provisions of the Companies and Associations Code.

Complete model version 2020 in Dutch:

geconsolideerde jaarrekening versie 2020 (pdf)

geconsolideerde jaarrekening versie 2020 (word)

Complete model version 2020 in French:

comptes consolidés version 2020 (pdf)

comptes consolidés version 2020 (word)

B. Models for financial years commencing FROM 1 January 2016 and ending before 1 January 2020

This model of consolidated accounts was approved by the CBN on 5 October 2016. This model is used by companies that follow the provisions of the Companies Code for the preparation and filing of their consolidated accounts and is valid for all financial years commencing after 31 December 2015 and ending before 1 January 2020.

Complete model version 2016 in Dutch:

geconsolideerde jaarrekening versie 2016 (pdf)

geconsolideerde jaarrekening versie 2016 (word)

Complete model version 2020 in French:

comptes consolidés version 2016 (pdf)

comptes consolidés version 2016 (word)

Companies may make an additional filing in English and should use a specific cover sheet for this purpose. Filings only in English do not fulfil the disclosure requirement.

Overview filed consolidated annual accounts

This Excel-file gives an overview of the companies that have filed consolidated annual accounts at the National Bank during the period 2012-2021.

It is the date of deposit of the annual accounts rather than the balance sheet date which determines whether or not a company is included in the file. You can, however, at any time verify in our application CONSULT whether or not a company, non profit institution or foundation has already filed annual accounts or consolidated annual accounts. This application is updated once a day with the latest annual accounts filed.

The tables in the file are arranged in ascending order of company number. In addition to the company number and name, the following information has been added:

  • Closing date: balance sheet date to which the annual accounts refer.
  • Date on which the consolidated annual accounts have been filed at the National Bank in order to be made available to the general public.
  • GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles): the accounting standards according to which the annual accounts have been filed. French GAAP, for instance, means that the consolidated annual accounts have been drawn up in accordance with the French accounting standards. The abbreviation 'N.K.' for 'Not known' means that - based on the annual accounts filed - it is impossible to establish unequivocally the accounting standards according to which the annual accounts have been drawn up.
  • Quoted on a stock exchange: 'True': the depositing company is a Belgian company whose securities are eligible for trading on a regulated market in the sense of article 2, 3° of the law of 2 August 2002 on the supervision of the financial sector and financial services (situation on 01-01-N+1); in all other cases, 'False' is mentioned here.

The date of filing of the annual accounts and therefore not the closing date of the financial year determines whether a company is included in the file. However, in our CONSULT application you can check at any time whether or not a company, association or foundation has filed annual accounts or consolidated annual accounts. This application is updated daily with the most recently filed annual accounts.