ACCOFID

AccoFid is an accounting and tax office on Jan Romeostraat in Deurne, the eastern district of Antwerp. Its website also mentions Schoten, a neighbouring municipality where part of its clients are based. The office is registered with the ITAA under number 50.023.102. It serves sole traders and SMEs and takes a personal approach, summed up in a simple phrase: the client is not a number.

Bookkeeping is the core of the business. The website points out that traders and companies that are not very small businesses must keep double-entry books following the legal chart of accounts, draw up an annual inventory and prepare annual accounts. AccoFid handles this follow-up on a daily basis. It also prepares interim reports that it sends to clients regularly, and invites them to discuss these together, look at the tax options and think about the future of the business.

The office works with the online accounting software Octopus. With its Realtime app, clients send invoices and receipts to their accounts with a single tap on their smartphone, even as a photo, and each client gets a dedicated e-mail address to forward digital invoices directly. The same app shows the figures and the open balances of customers and suppliers. AccoFid offers to explain this option during a free introductory meeting.

The annual accounts are prepared using the format that matches the company's size criteria and filed on time with the National Bank of Belgium: within thirty days of approval by the general meeting and no later than seven months after the end of the financial year. The office also prepares corporate income tax and personal income tax returns.

For VAT, AccoFid files the periodic returns, monthly or quarterly depending on turnover, and at the same time gives the client an overview of the VAT to pay or reclaim with the due dates. It prepares the annual client listing, to be submitted before 31 March, and the intra-community listing for sales to customers in other European Union countries. During a tax audit, the office assists the client and makes sure the whole tax administration is in order on time.

Start-ups receive detailed advice and support from AccoFid throughout the launch phase, whether for a self-employed activity or a company. The website explains the main formalities: opening a current account, choosing a legal form, which determines the books to keep, the tax to pay and the owner's liability, registering with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises to obtain an enterprise number that can be activated as a VAT number, and joining a social insurance fund. It also notes that proof of basic business management knowledge has no longer been required in Flanders since 1 September 2018.