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FILING AND CONSULTING ANNUAL ACCOUNTS IN BELGIUM Dirk Tuymans - National Bank of Belgium. FILING OF ANNUAL ACCOUNTS VIA THE INTERNET IN BELGIUM. Filing of annual accounts before 2004 very high degree of standardisation: 98% of all enterprises use a standard model
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FILING AND CONSULTING ANNUAL ACCOUNTSIN BELGIUM Dirk Tuymans - National Bank of Belgium
FILING OF ANNUAL ACCOUNTSVIA THE INTERNET IN BELGIUM • Filing of annual accounts before 2004 • very high degree of standardisation:98% of all enterprises use a standard model • several software vendors offering offline software for drawing up annual accounts • low filing charges for annual accounts on diskette (as opposed to annual accounts on paper) • modernisation of the Belgian Companies Register in 2003 => strong incentives to start up a project to file annual accounts via the Internet
FILING OF ANNUAL ACCOUNTSVIA THE INTERNET IN BELGIUM • January 2004 • enterprises started to file annual accounts over the Internet • serious limitations: • only during office hours • only digital certificates issued by the NBB • only structured data files in the form of a text file (specific NBB format) • only bank cards accepted as payment method • in close cooperation with • accounting institutes and software vendors • legislator and federal government
FILING OF ANNUAL ACCOUNTSVIA THE INTERNET IN BELGIUM Phase 1: IntroductionInternet = max. 15%
FILING VIA THE INTERNET:CBSO IN MOTION • By June 2006: • extension of opening hours • use of additional digital certificates, already used for other e-government applications • the authentication certificate found on the electronic identity card of Belgian citizens • a qualified certificate from three commercial certificate authorities • introduction of new methods of payment • bank transfer • credit card
FILING OF ANNUAL ACCOUNTSVIA THE INTERNET IN BELGIUM Phase 2: GrowthInternet = max. 30%
FILING VIA THE INTERNET:CBSO IN MOTION • "Turning point" April 2007: • abolition of filing on diskette • introduction of the XBRL format for enterprises • 300,000 entities involved • free online software "Sofista" for drawing up annual accounts • real administrative simplification for enterprises: net savings of 17.3m EUR(23% of all filing charges) in 2008 • introduction of the PDF format for enterprises and NPOs, as provided for in the First EU Directive
FILING OF ANNUAL ACCOUNTSVIA THE INTERNET IN BELGIUM Phase 3: MaturityInternet = min. 85%
FILING VIA THE INTERNET:CBSO IN MOTION • April 2008: • open 24/7/365 (except on Sunday mornings - maintenance) • additional use of the certificate on the EID for 760,000 foreigners residing in Belgium • introduction of the XBRL format for NPOs • 7,000 entities involved • extension of the free online software "Sofista" • real administrative simplification for NPOs:net savings of 0.5m EUR (45% of all filing charges) in 2008
FILING VIA THE INTERNET:CBSO IN MOTION • March 2009: • limitation of filing on paper to enterprises with a turnover of < 500,000 EUR, NPOs and foreign companies, as provided for in the First EU Company Law Directive
FILING OF ANNUAL ACCOUNTSVIA THE INTERNET IN BELGIUM At presentInternet = 96.8% (92.8% XBRL and 4.0% PDF)Paper = 3.2%
CONSULTING ANNUAL ACCOUNTSVIA THE INTERNET IN BELGIUM • Online consultation started in November 2001 • 24/7/365 • Limitations: • access restricted to registered clients(login + password) • subscription fee • only current calendar year + last 3 calendar years • only in the form of a PDF file
CONSULTING ANNUAL ACCOUNTSVIA THE INTERNET IN BELGIUM Phase 1: IntroductionInternet = max. 30,000 downloads
CONSULTING VIA THE INTERNET:CBSO IN MOTION • As from February 2008: • no access restrictions • free of charge • current calendar year + last 5 calendar years • note: 2/3 of the downloaded annual accounts concern SMEs (also during the financial crisis - end of 2008) • www.nbb.be > Central Balance Sheet Office> Consulting annual accounts > Application
CONSULTING ANNUAL ACCOUNTS VIA THE INTERNET IN BELGIUM Phase 2: GrowthInternet = max. 300,000 downloads/month
CONSULTING VIA THE INTERNET:CBSO IN MOTION • Future (end of 2009): • all annual accounts filed in the form of an XBRL file will be available in this format in the same online application (free of charge) • note: all XBRL files are already available via Webservices (paying application);target group: major data vendors