It is the first question asked, and the hardest one to answer honestly. Not because the subject is taboo, but because the answer depends on what you are buying, and because two quotes showing the same figure almost never cover the same thing.
- Why there is no official rate
- The ranges observed in 2026
- What actually drives the bill
- What is included, and what almost never is
- The costs that are not fees
- Six questions to ask before signing
- Fixed price or hourly rate
- What a delay costs, in figures
- Three signs of a badly calibrated quote
Why there is no official rate
No Belgian rule sets the price of an accounting engagement. Fees are free, negotiated between the firm and its client, and recorded in the engagement letter. A scale imposed by the institute would in any case be price-fixing.
That freedom has a practical consequence: the figures you find online, including those in this article, are market observations, not reference rates. They help you situate a quote, not contest it.
What is governed, by contrast, is transparency. The engagement letter must describe the assignment and its financial terms, which makes the price both enforceable and comparable.
The ranges observed in 2026
The table below gathers the orders of magnitude recorded across several firms and platforms active in Belgium in 2026. They vary widely from one source to another, which is itself informative: there is no single market price.
| Profile | Annual order of magnitude | What that generally covers |
|---|---|---|
| Self-employed as a side activity, few documents | 500 to 1 200 € | VAT, personal income tax return, few movements |
| Self-employed as a main activity | 1 000 to 3 000 € | Quarterly VAT, bookkeeping, tax return |
| Company without staff | 2 000 to 4 000 € | Full bookkeeping, annual accounts, corporate income tax |
| Company with payroll and volume | 3 500 to 5 500 € | The same, plus payroll follow-up and regular advice |
Put another way, monthly fixed prices of 40 to 250 € are common for a self-employed person, and hourly rates of 80 to 150 € for work outside the fixed price. These amounts exclude VAT, and VAT on fees is deductible for a VAT-registered business.
One remark is useful: the lowest price almost always corresponds to the narrowest scope. A very aggressive fixed price generally comes with per-item billing as soon as you step outside the frame.
What actually drives the bill
The professional's title is not the first price factor. What weighs is the actual work.
The volume of documents. A hundred purchase invoices a month is not the same work as ten. That is variable number one.
The quality of what you hand over. Documents that are sorted, scanned and delivered on time cut the hours spent. A box of receipts at year end multiplies them.
The VAT regime. Monthly VAT means twelve returns a year instead of four.
Payroll. Payroll follow-up is a trade in itself, often subcontracted to a payroll agency and passed on.
The level of advice. A firm that calls you before the close to weigh your director's remuneration does not bill like a firm that records and files.
What is included, and what almost never is
A standard fixed price generally covers bookkeeping, periodic VAT returns, preparing the annual accounts and the corporate income tax return.
Frequently outside the fixed price, by contrast: incorporating the company and closing formalities, payroll management, a tax audit and the representation that goes with it, restating earlier financial years, the specific assignments provided for by the Code of Companies and Associations, and significant one-off advice such as an acquisition or a restructuring.
This is not a trap, it is a question of scope. The real problem is not that a service falls outside the fixed price, it is only learning about it on the invoice.
The costs that are not fees
Some invoice lines do not pay the firm: it advances an amount owed to a third party and passes it on. Confusing them with fees distorts any comparison.
Filing the annual accounts with the National Bank costs, in 2026, 67,00 € for the micro model and 89,40 € for the abridged model in XBRL format, against 137,30 € and 159,50 € in PDF. The full model comes to 379,50 € in XBRL and 449,70 € in PDF. A corrected filing costs 86,00 € (source: National Bank of Belgium, Central Balance Sheet Office, verified on 29 August 2026).
Registration with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises through an accredited business counter comes to 111,50 € per establishment unit in 2026, a rate set by the FPS Economy and indexed each year.
A quote announcing « all inclusive » without mentioning those amounts has either built them in or overlooked them. That is worth asking about.
Six questions to ask before signing
- What exactly does the fixed price cover, and what is billed on top?
- At what hourly rate is work outside the fixed price billed?
- Are third-party costs, such as filing the annual accounts, included or passed on?
- Who will be my contact, and within what time do they reply?
- Which software must I use, and is it included in the price?
- What notice applies if I decide to leave?
Those six answers, written into the engagement letter, make two quotes genuinely comparable. Without them, comparing two figures means nothing.
Fixed price or hourly rate
A fixed price has one obvious advantage, predictability, and a less visible drawback: it pushes the firm to contain the time spent. An hourly rate does the opposite, it pays for actual time, but it makes your budget depend on a volume you do not always control.
In practice, the healthiest arrangement for a small business is a fixed price covering recurring, clearly identified work, topped up with a stated hourly rate for everything else. What matters is not the model chosen, but that the boundary between the two is written down in black and white.
Be wary of a fixed price that mentions no volume. A monthly price with no reference to a number of documents is an estimate in disguise: it will be revised as soon as your activity grows, and you will have no argument to make because nothing was quantified.
What a delay costs, in figures
Comparing fees often ignores the most avoidable item: surcharges. Filing the annual accounts late triggers a surcharge on top of the filing fee, and it climbs fast.
| Delay | Small companies (micro and abridged) | Other companies (full schema) |
|---|---|---|
| From the 9th month | 151 € | 504 € |
| From the 10th to the 12th month | 227 € | 755 € |
| From the 13th month | 453 € | 1 510 € |
These amounts apply to filings made from 1 January 2026 and are indexed every 1 January on the consumer price index (source: National Bank of Belgium, verified on 29 August 2026). An appeal procedure exists with the National Bank.
For a small company, a few months' delay therefore costs more than the price gap between two firms. That is worth bearing in mind when tempted to choose on the figure alone.
Three signs of a badly calibrated quote
A price quoted without having seen your documents. A serious firm asks about your volume, your VAT regime and your situation before pricing. A rate given over the phone in thirty seconds will be revised.
A scope described in one line. « Full accounting » means nothing. The list of work covered rarely fits in less than a paragraph.
No mention of third-party costs. A quote that says nothing about filing with the National Bank has not built it in, or has not told you it will be passed on.
Sources
- National Bank of Belgium, annual accounts filing fees
- National Bank of Belgium, late filing surcharges and appeal procedure
- FPS Economy, Crossroads Bank for Enterprises and business counters
- ITAA, ethical framework and engagement letter
Amounts verified on 29 August 2026. The fee ranges are market observations recorded on the same date, not official rates.
Further reading
- Starting a business in Belgium: the steps in the right order
- Accountant or tax accountant: what is the difference?
- Changing accountant: the procedure and the deadlines
- Compare accounting firms in Belgium
This article is for information only. The amounts quoted are orders of magnitude and constitute neither an offer nor a scale of charges.