COONE & PARTNERS ACCOUNTANTS & TAX ADVISORS

Coone & Partners Accountants & Tax Advisors is a firm of accountants and tax advisers on Plantinkaai, along the Scheldt quays in Antwerp. It presents itself as a young and dynamic firm and deliberately keeps a small structure: in its view this makes it fast, flexible and transparent, which is still the best way to avoid surprises in the accounts. Its tone is intentionally direct, summed up by two expressions that recur on the website, « no-nonsense » and « to the point ».

The firm promises to show clients the full economic picture of their business. It aims to make often complex tax legislation clear and understandable, and applies the same standard to presenting the figures. This approach relies on current tools. The website features the Exact and Silverfin software and gives access to a client portal on Clearfacts. An upload page also lets clients send purchase and sales documents and bank statements as PDF or TIFF files, monthly or quarterly depending on their filing regime.

In bookkeeping, the firm follows the file closely from day one and takes over compliance with rules and legislation, so the entrepreneur does not have to worry about it. It compiles, reviews and checks the annual accounts. It also answers questions about payroll costs and staff, on the grounds that a company's growth is about more than its accounts.

Tax advice starts from a figure: Belgium ranks among the countries with the highest tax burden. The firm therefore looks, file by file, for every opportunity to optimise the company's tax position within the legal framework. That framework changes constantly, and Coone & Partners monitors it on the client's behalf. The website publishes news items on concrete topics, such as the deductibility of hybrid and electric company cars, the switch from NEDC to WLTP values or the extension of investigation and assessment periods for income tax and VAT.

The business advice side targets moments when a business owner has to make an important decision: a new investment, the transfer or acquisition of a business, a succession issue within the company or a merger. The firm then offers to talk things through as an outside partner and to look for the right solution together with the client.

The team shows varied profiles: bachelor's degrees in accounting and IT, accounting and tax, and tax sciences, a postgraduate degree in Tax & Accountancy Management from Karel de Grote University College, a master's in business administration from the VUB, a certified tax accountant registered with the ITAA, and previous experience at KPMG in audit and accounting. One client says the firm has handled their books since 2001. Another, writing in English, praises the help received on the tax aspects of doing business in Belgium, and the website is available in Dutch, English and French.