Question about accountancy costs as a BV

[Gwen_LockOloop]

Hi everyone,

 

I started a B.V back in June 2021 to be able to make my zero waste shop a reality (I only really launched it in March 2022). I decided to go with a BV because I was advised against a freelancing or similar status for liability reasons (and also because a similar company as mine is registered as a B.V). Retrospectively, I'm not sure this was the best shot, but here we are.
Now I'm having some questions regarding accountancy.

My ex-accountant and I fell out of love because of recurring mistakes on his side (such as forgetting bills and submitting everything with a 21% tax while I mostly sell foodstuff) and a lack of communication. Additionally, I ended up reading that I did NOT have to pay payroll taxes every month according to this link https://www.firm24.com/en/blog/minimum-directors-salary-bv/, which is roughly 250€ per month that I wouldn't have to beg the Belastingdienst to pay me back (that was the real deal breaker)
After that, I met a new accountant, who told me that considering my situation, I could do the BTW return myself thanks to a software, that they would issue the zero return for the payroll and they would only charge me for advice from time to time.
However, this turned out to be a proposition for a subscription: that for 80€ per month excl. they would double-check if I did the BTW return correctly (which should be pretty simple to do since I can connect my webshop and my bank account directly to the software), would submit the payroll taxes report (zero return) every month, do the annual report (jaarrekening), the profit tax (vennootschapsbelasting) and would include any additional advice I could ask for.

Considering the software costs me 10€ excl every month, that would effectively mean 90€ excl. per month for dealing with everything, which is basically the same price I was paying with my other accountant - except that this time, I have to do the BTW report myself which seems to me like it's the biggest chunk (but I might be mistaken).

Considering the payroll and profit taxes are gonna be zero, that hopefully I only want them double-check my BTW report once (for the first quarter I will do on my own and taking into account that most of the info is implemented thanks to connecting my webshop and bank account to the software), and that the annual report will in my case only consist in beperkte balans because I'm a micro-company, does that sound like a fair price to you? Is there for example a possibility that I submit the payroll taxes report myself? Knowing that Business.gov.nl (< link) mentions costs between 600€ and 1800€ a year, do you think that is still reasonable nowadays?

My business is still expanding, which is a nice way of saying that it's not doing well (hopefully, yet): nowadays, for my shop to reach 150€ of monthly turnover means I had a VERY good month. So at this point 90€ is a big sum for me and if I can put in extra work to lower it, I will.
I am usually a trusting person in the sense that I believe that someone who works in a field is by default way more knowledgeable than me, especially as a foreigner.
But in the recent years, there's a lot I did myself that I could have hired someone for and I realized that when it comes to accountancy and administration, some people are really afraid of dealing with numbers which is why they delegate things that they could easily do themselves. And of course, it also turned out that I couldn't rely on my old accountant and I had to do a part of their job by double-checking THEIR work, get in touch in the Belastingdienst which was extremely stressful, so I want to avoid being taken advantage of again.

Thank you in advance for any feedback you could have for me,

Gwen

[Joost Rietveld]

Dear Gwen

 

Welcome to the forum. And to kick off with a question: why on earth did you start out as a BV, when your monthly turnover isn't even 150 euro?

 

Usually a BV isn't necessary as long as your profits are below 100.000 euro per year.

 

However: 600-800 euro per year for bookkeeping services or accounting for a BV is dirt cheap! 

 

The big question is: do you really need a BV?

 

best

Joost

[Freeaqingme]

18 uur geleden, Gwen_LockOloop zei:

Hi everyone,

 

I started a B.V back in June 2021 to be able to make my zero waste shop a reality (I only really launched it in March 2022). I decided to go with a BV because I was advised against a freelancing or similar status for liability reasons (and also because a similar company as mine is registered as a B.V). Retrospectively, I'm not sure this was the best shot, but here we are.

It is actually possible to convert a BV to an Eenmanszaak (sole proprietorship). But this will also involve some additional costs (and may result in a taxable event). On top of that, even with an Eenmanszaak you still need to keep a professional business administration etc. So even though the fees may be a bit lower (there's no requirement for an annual report), you'll still need to file the VAT on a quarterly basis and many of the current requirements remain the same. In fact, the personal income tax (inkomensbelasting) may become a little more complicated.

 

So it's not something that I would actively advise to do without thinking it through thoroughly and getting some upfront professional personal advice first. But if you really regret the choice for a BV, please know that at least it's possible to get back on that decision.

17 november 2022 aangepast door Freeaqingme

[Gwen_LockOloop]

The reason why I chose a B.V is that I come from Canada and chatted with someone there who owns a similar business as me, and she was adamant NOT to get a status equivalent to freelancer/self-employed because I'm handling food, and that means I have responsibility towards my customers if something goes wrong with the food.
Looking back, I should have started with a self-employed status but thought I needed to do things this way right from the start (also I thought I would manage to start within 4 months of work, not a whole year...)
I have been working as a freelancer in Canada in the past (as a videogame graphist) and am actually still working as such here to make ends meet so I have to issue a report for my personal income tax anyways.
I would also be seriously annoyed to waste the 1000€ I spent in notary fees to start the BV only to register it again later (can I even do that? reuse the same name later?)
 

 

[Joost Rietveld]

Since your current activities are not from any substance that would warrant any form of goodwill, it will be very easy to transfer your activities to your current eenmanszaak. You can add new activities to your registration at the chamber of commerce.

A BV can be held dormant, providing you annually file the corporate income tax and the annual accounts with the chamber of commerce. So it’s not going to waste entirely but it is a shame that you started of with the wrong entity.

[Freeaqingme]

I concur with Joost. But you probably also need to file quarterly VAT reports for a dormant BV. What you can also do though, on top of what Joost said, is to register the trade name with your eenmanszaak and liquidate the BV. That's a bit of a waste of the set-up fees, but it does allow you to keep your trade name without having to keep your BV dormant.

[Gwen_LockOloop]

Thanks Joost and Freeaqingme! I actually called the KVK before reading your replies and yeah, they basically said the same as you did.
I'd like to keep the BV dormant I believe.

17 november 2022 aangepast door Gwen_LockOloop

[Joost Rietveld]

you're welcome and good luck. Just a reminder: for a dormant BV also, you still have to file the tax return and annual accounts....