Annual accounts

Looking up or reviewing a company's annual accounts? Annual accounts are one of the most important sources of information for assessing the financial health of a business. Discover what annual accounts are, why they matter and access company financial information and key financial figures.

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What are annual accounts?

Annual accounts are the official financial statements in which a company reports its financial position each year. They provide insight into the company's assets, liabilities, income, expenses and financial results for the financial year.

Annual accounts typically include:

  • the balance sheet 
  • the profit and loss account 
  • the notes to the accounts 
  • key financial ratios 
  • the social balance sheet, where applicable 
DEFINITION

Annual accounts are the official financial statements in which a company reports its assets, liabilities, income and expenses each year. They provide insight into a company's financial health and overall performance.

In Belgium, annual accounts are filed with the National Bank of Belgium (NBB), making this financial information publicly available.

In brief:

Annual accounts provide valuable insight into a company's financial health. By analysing the balance sheet, profit and loss account and notes to the accounts, you can assess financial risks more effectively. Combine historical financial figures with up-to-date credit information to gain a more complete view of your business partner.

Key financial terms in annual accounts

Why are annual accounts important?

Annual accounts are much more than a legal requirement. They help answer important questions such as:

  1. Is this company financially healthy?

  2. Is it profitable?

  3. Can it pay its suppliers?

  4. Does it have sufficient shareholders' equity?

  5. Is there a high risk of insolvency?

For business owners, suppliers, banks, accountants, auditors and investors, annual accounts are an essential source of information for assessing a company's financial health, evaluating risk, making better credit decisions and comparing business performance.

Reviewing a company's financial information provides valuable insight into:

  • revenue growth
  • profitability
  • solvency
  • liquidity
  • shareholders' equity
  • debt levels
  • financial continuity

For SMEs, this information is an important tool when assessing customers, suppliers and potential business partners.

Annual accounts are equally important for the company itself. They reflect its financial position and help build confidence among customers, business partners, investors and other stakeholders.

The value of annual accounts for your business

Businesses that review annual accounts or company financial information often use this information as the basis for a credit assessment, supplier evaluation or commercial decision. Annual accounts show how a company has performed over recent years and whether it has maintained a healthy financial position.

  1. Annual accounts provide valuable insight into a company's financial health

    Annual accounts present an overview of a company's financial performance, shareholders' equity, debt and profitability. Comparing annual accounts across several financial years provides insight into financial trends and business continuity. This makes them an essential source of information for credit assessments, supplier selection and commercial decision-making.

  2. Assess customers, suppliers and prospects with greater confidence

    Before entering into a new business relationship, you need to understand a company's financial health. Analysing annual accounts and financial information enables you to assess risks more accurately and make well-informed decisions. For SMEs, this helps reduce the risk of late payment, establish appropriate credit limits and build long-term business relationships.

  3. GraydonCreditsafe enriches annual accounts with up-to-date business information

    Official annual accounts provide a historical view of a business. GraydonCreditsafe goes a step further by combining financial statements with up-to-date insights, including credit information, payment behaviour, company structures and risk indicators. This provides a more complete picture of a company's current financial reliability and helps you assess potential future risks more effectively.

  4. More than financial figures: a complete view of your business partner

    Combining annual accounts with up-to-date business data gives you a far more complete picture of business risk than relying on financial statements alone. You gain insight into both a company's historical performance and its current position. This enables SMEs, finance teams and credit managers to make faster and more confident business decisions.

Request a free credit report, including the five most recently published annual accounts (where available for the selected company).

Filing annual accounts in Belgium

In Belgium, many companies are legally required to file their annual accounts with the National Bank of Belgium (NBB). They must do so within seven months of the end of their financial year. Once filed, the annual accounts become publicly available and can be consulted by other businesses.

This transparency enables businesses to:

Not every company publishes the same level of financial detail. Depending on its size, a company may file either abridged or full annual accounts.

Filing annual accounts in Belgium

View annual accounts

Before doing business with a new customer or supplier, it is advisable to review the company's annual accounts. This gives you a quick overview of its financial position and helps you assess potential business risks more effectively.

Many businesses search online for:

  • company annual accounts;
  • view annual accounts;
  • company financial statements;
  • company financial information;
  • company financial results;
  • financial data for a company.

Although official annual accounts provide an excellent starting point, they do not tell the whole story. Combining them with up-to-date credit information, payment behaviour and additional business information gives you a much more complete picture of a company.

With GraydonCreditsafe, you gain access not only to official annual accounts, but also to enriched business data and insights that help you assess business risks more quickly and with greater confidence.

What do annual accounts contain?

Annual accounts consist of several sections which together provide a complete picture of a company's financial position. Each section serves a specific purpose and contributes to the financial analysis of a company's performance.

The main sections of annual accounts are:

  1. The balance sheet

    The balance sheet provides a snapshot of a company's financial position at the end of the financial year. On the asset side, you will find items such as buildings, machinery and inventory. On the liabilities side, you can see how these assets are financed, for example through shareholders' equity or debt.

  2. The profit and loss account

    The profit and loss account shows a company's income and expenses over a specific period. It provides insight into the company's profitability and operating performance.

  3. The notes to the accounts

    The notes to the accounts provide additional explanations of the figures presented in the balance sheet and the profit and loss account. They may include accounting policies, details of liabilities and information about significant events.

  4. Financial ratios

    Annual accounts can be used to calculate various financial ratios, including solvency, liquidity and profitability. These ratios make it easier to assess a company's financial health and business risk.

  5. The social balance sheet (where applicable)

    In Belgium, annual accounts may also include a social balance sheet containing information about the workforce, such as the number of employees and staff costs.

By analysing all these sections together, you gain a complete understanding of a company's financial position and development.

View a sample of annual accounts.

Now that you know what annual accounts contain, the next step is to interpret and analyse this financial information correctly.

Which financial ratios can you derive from annual accounts?

Which financial ratios can you derive from annual accounts?

Annual accounts contain the financial information needed to calculate key financial ratios that help assess a company's financial health. The most commonly used ratios include solvency, liquidity and profitability. They provide insight into a company's financial strength, its ability to repay debt and its overall profitability.

Comparing these financial ratios over several financial years gives you a better understanding of how a business is developing. Is the company performing better than last year? Is your supplier outperforming its competitors?

Combined with up-to-date business information and credit data, these ratios become a valuable tool for assessing business risk.

How to read and analyse annual accounts (a practical step-by-step guide)

Reading and analysing annual accounts does not have to be complicated. It involves interpreting financial information to identify a company's strengths, weaknesses and potential risks. This helps you make better business decisions, whether you are assessing customers, suppliers or investment opportunities.

By following a structured approach, you can quickly extract the most valuable insights from the figures and assess a company's financial health.

Step 1: Review the general information

Start with the basic details:

  • the company's name and legal structure; 
  • the financial year and reporting date; 
  • the type of annual accounts (abridged or full). 

This provides the context needed to interpret the financial information correctly.

Step 2: Analyse the balance sheet

The balance sheet provides an overview of a company's financial structure. It shows what the business owns and how those assets are financed.

Pay particular attention to:

  • the relationship between shareholders' equity and debt; 
  • the level of short-term versus long-term liabilities; 
  • available cash and other liquid assets to meet short-term obligations; 
  • the company's solvency.

A strong balance sheet is often a sign of financial stability and lower credit risk.

Step 3: Review the profit and loss account

The profit and loss account shows how the business performed during the financial year. Focus on:

  • whether the company made a profit or a loss; 
  • how revenue has developed; 
  • whether income and expenses are well balanced

A profitable company with stable growth is generally a positive sign, but these figures should always be interpreted in context.

Step 4: Read the notes to the accounts

The notes provide additional information that helps explain the figures presented in the annual accounts, including:

  • accounting policies; 
  • exceptional income or expenses; 
  • significant events.

These details can be crucial when assessing business risk.

Step 5: Use financial ratios

Financial ratios make it easier to interpret and compare financial information. Focus on:

  • solvency, which measures a company's financial independence; 
  • liquidity, which indicates its ability to meet short-term obligations; 
  • profitability, which measures its ability to generate profit.

Financial ratios also make it easier to compare different companies.

Step 6: Compare several financial years and identify trends

Annual accounts only tell part of the story unless they are viewed over time. Compare financial information across several financial years to identify trends. Is the company showing:

  • increasing or decreasing revenue? 
  • more or less debt? 
  • improving profitability?

Long-term trends usually provide far more insight than the figures for a single year.

Step 7: Put the figures into context

Annual accounts provide a historical snapshot of a business. For a complete financial assessment, combine them with more recent information, such as:

  • credit information; 
  • payment behaviour; 
  • recent business developments.

This provides a more realistic view of a company's current risk profile and helps you avoid making decisions based solely on historical financial data.

From annual accounts to better decisions

  1. Annual accounts

  2. Balance sheet

  3. Profit and loss account

  4. Notes to the accounts

  1. Financial ratios

  2. Social balance sheet

  3. Analysis

  4. Decision

Practical examples

Suppose supplier A reports annual revenue of €4 million, while its shareholders' equity has been declining for the past three years. This may indicate a weakening financial position.

Increasing revenue does not automatically mean that a company is financially healthy. If debt levels are rising significantly at the same time, the overall business risk may also increase.

What are the limitations of annual accounts?

Although annual accounts are an important source of financial information, they also have certain limitations. The figures relate to a completed financial year and therefore provide primarily a historical view of a company. They represent a snapshot in time and may be influenced by accounting or tax choices that present the business from a particular perspective. Recent developments, changing market conditions and shifts in payment behaviour are not yet reflected.

For this reason, annual accounts should be complemented with up-to-date business information, credit data and other risk indicators. This provides a more complete and current view of a company's financial reliability.

Further reading: 5 reasons why you can't always rely on annual accounts

Annual accounts versus a credit report

Annual accounts and a credit report complement each other, but they serve different purposes. Annual accounts present a company's historical financial performance based on its statutory published figures. A credit report combines this financial information with up-to-date insights, including creditworthiness, payment behaviour, company structures and other relevant risk indicators.

To assess business risk accurately, it is therefore advisable to look beyond annual accounts alone and to also consider the latest developments. This provides a more complete picture of a company's financial health and overall reliability.

Annual accounts

  1. Historical financial information

  2. Statutory publication

  3. Updated annually

  4. Basis for analysis

  5. Financial information

Credit report

  1. Current financial position

  2. Enriched business information

  3. Continuously updated

  4. Comprehensive risk assessment

  5. Financial, commercial and operational information and insights

Checklist: what should you review before doing business with a company?

Before entering into a business relationship with a new customer, supplier or business partner, it is advisable to assess the company's financial position carefully. Pay particular attention to:

  • trends in revenue and profit; 
  • solvency and liquidity; 
  • shareholders' equity; 
  • debt levels; 
  • any history of late payment; 
  • the company's creditworthiness; 
  • recent changes to the management team or corporate structure. 

By combining annual accounts with up-to-date credit information and business data, you can assess business risks more accurately and make well-informed decisions.

Annual accounts checklist

Why choose GraydonCreditsafe?

Official annual accounts provide valuable insight into a company's historical financial performance, but they do not tell the whole story about its current level of risk. That is why GraydonCreditsafe combines official financial information with enriched business data and up-to-date credit information.

In addition to official annual accounts, our business reports include:

  • credit limits;
  • payment behaviour;
  • proprietary scores and indicators;
  • company structures;
  • director and shareholder information;
  • insolvency information;
  • international company data.

Instead of consulting annual accounts, searching for financial results and analysing multiple sources separately, you receive all relevant information in one clear and comprehensive business report.

For SMEs, accountants, financial institutions and larger organisations, this means faster insight, lower risk and better-informed business decisions.

Request a free business report, including the five most recently published annual accounts (where available for the selected company).

Good to know

Annual accounts provide an important foundation for financial analysis. However, professional credit assessments increasingly combine this information with up-to-date payment behaviour, company structure and other relevant market intelligence.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I access the annual accounts of a Belgian company?

In Belgium, you can access a company's annual accounts through the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) or via specialist business information providers such as GraydonCreditsafe. In addition to official annual accounts, GraydonCreditsafe provides access to credit information, payment behaviour and other relevant business data. Our enriched business reports combine official annual accounts with up-to-date financial information and risk indicators.

Can I access the annual accounts of foreign companies?

Yes. Annual accounts are also available for many companies outside Belgium, although availability depends on the legislation of the country concerned. Through GraydonCreditsafe's international business information services, you can access financial information and annual accounts for millions of companies worldwide.

Can I obtain annual accounts free of charge?

In Belgium, many annual accounts become publicly available once they have been filed with the National Bank of Belgium. If you need more than the official financial figures, such as historical trends, credit information and current risk indicators, GraydonCreditsafe offers enriched business reports with additional insights. You can also request a free sample report for a company of your choice.

Why are annual accounts important for SMEs?

Annual accounts provide insight into a company's financial performance, profitability, solvency and liquidity.

For SMEs, they are a valuable tool for assessing the financial strength of customers, suppliers and prospective business partners. By reviewing annual accounts, financial results and other financial information, businesses can reduce credit risk and make better-informed commercial decisions. GraydonCreditsafe enhances official annual accounts with up-to-date business information to provide a more complete view of your business partner.

What financial information can I obtain about a company?

When accessing a company's financial information, you can review its annual accounts, balance sheet, profit and loss account, revenue, profit, shareholders' equity and debt. GraydonCreditsafe complements this information with up-to-date data on payment behaviour, creditworthiness, company structures and other relevant risk indicators.

How do you read a balance sheet?

A balance sheet is interpreted by comparing a company's assets and liabilities. The assets show what the business owns, including buildings, inventory and cash. The liabilities show how those assets are financed, for example through shareholders' equity or debt.

When analysing a balance sheet, pay particular attention to:

  • the relationship between shareholders' equity and debt (solvency);
  • the relationship between current assets and short-term liabilities (liquidity);
  • how these figures evolve over several financial years.

A healthy balance sheet is generally characterised by sufficient shareholders' equity and a balanced financing structure.

What is the difference between revenue and profit?

Revenue and profit are often confused, but they are not the same.

  • Revenue is the total income generated from selling products or services.
  • Profit is the amount remaining after all costs, including purchasing costs, salaries, taxes and other expenses, have been deducted from revenue.

A company can therefore generate high revenue while making little or no profit if its costs are too high. That is why profit is generally considered a more meaningful indicator of financial health..

When must annual accounts be filed?

In Belgium, most companies are legally required to file their annual accounts with the National Bank of Belgium (NBB).

They must be filed:

  • within 30 days of approval by the general meeting of shareholders;
  • and no later than seven months after the end of the financial year.

Once filed, the annual accounts become publicly available and can be consulted by businesses and other interested parties. Filing late may result in administrative penalties and fines.

What does solvency tell you about a company?

Solvency indicates a company's ability to meet its long-term financial obligations. It is an important indicator of financial stability.

Solvency is usually calculated as the ratio of shareholders' equity to total assets.

  • High solvency: the company is financially strong and less dependent on external financing. 
  • Low solvency: the company has relatively high debt levels and faces greater financial risk. 

For credit assessments and business relationships, solvency is a key measure for evaluating a company's financial risk.

Which companies are required to file annual accounts?

In Belgium, most companies are legally required to file annual accounts each year with the National Bank of Belgium (NBB).

This requirement applies, among others, to:

  • private limited companies (BV/SRL); 
  • public limited companies (NV/SA); 
  • cooperative companies (CV/SC); 
  • other legal entities with statutory accounting obligations. 

Depending on their size, larger non-profit organisations (ASBL/VZW) and certain foundations are also required to file annual accounts.

There are, however, some exceptions. Sole proprietorships are not required to file annual accounts because they do not have a separate legal personality.

The content and level of detail of the annual accounts depend on the size of the company. Smaller businesses may file abridged annual accounts, while larger organisations are required to publish full annual accounts.

Filing annual accounts on time is a legal obligation and ensures that financial information is publicly available to businesses, investors and lenders.

Are annual accounts always complete?

No. Depending on the size of the company, annual accounts may be prepared in either an abridged or a full format. Smaller companies generally publish less detailed financial information than larger organisations.

What is the difference between abridged and full annual accounts?

Full annual accounts provide more detailed information, including the balance sheet, the profit and loss account, and the notes to the accounts. Abridged annual accounts contain less detailed financial information and are generally used by smaller companies that meet the relevant legal requirements.

What does negative shareholders' equity mean?

Negative shareholders' equity means that a company's liabilities exceed its assets. This may indicate financial difficulties, but it does not necessarily mean that the business is no longer viable. A broader assessment of the company's financial position remains essential.

Why is analysing annual accounts alone not enough to assess a company?

Annual accounts provide valuable insight into a company's historical financial performance, but they reveal little about its current situation. By combining annual accounts with credit information, payment behaviour and other business data, you gain a much more complete picture of a company's financial reliability.

Can a company be profitable and still become insolvent?

Yes. A profitable company can still become insolvent if it does not have sufficient cash or liquid assets to pay its bills on time. That is why it is important to assess not only profitability, but also cash flow, liquidity and solvency.

How up to date are the figures in annual accounts?

Annual accounts contain the financial figures for the most recently completed financial year. Following the end of the financial year, the general meeting of shareholders has up to six months to approve the annual accounts. They must then be filed with the Central Balance Sheet Office of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) within 30 days. The NBB subsequently requires time to process and publish the information.

As a result, annual accounts mainly provide a historical view of a company's financial position. For a complete assessment, they should be supplemented with up-to-date business information and credit data.

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