COPTER FINANCE

Copter Finance is an accounting and tax advisory firm with its registered office on Bredestraat in Linter, in the east of Flemish Brabant. A second office is located on Kerkstraat in Outgaarden, and the firm presents itself as the accountant for the Tienen, Hoegaarden and Linter area. The company is accredited by the ITAA under number 50.272.975. The team brings together bookkeepers, tax specialists and advisers who each have ten or more years of experience. The name refers to a helicopter view of the business: up-to-date figures that let the owner steer towards their goals.

The firm is led by Dennis Vandersmissen, managing partner, who holds a master's in applied economics. He was an auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers, helped expand the European network of a major Belgian bank, and then became a partner in two corporate finance boutiques. He has also founded businesses in renewable energy, construction, banking and insurance. Alongside him, Thomas Delestinne, a graduate in accountancy and tax, spent more than ten years at firms in the Leuven and Tienen area before obtaining the ITAA title of tax accountant.

The accounting and tax service covers invoice processing, financial transactions via Codabox and payroll data via Sodabox, VAT returns, the annual customer listing and the intra-community statement. The firm draws up the final balance sheet and income statement, presents interim figures with commentary, prepares and files the annual accounts, prepares corporate and personal income tax returns and calculates the profit of sole traders. It also handles tax optimisation, assistance during tax audits and support for businesses in difficulty.

For start-ups, the firm takes care of the formalities: registration as self-employed, membership of a social insurance fund, steps with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises, and applying for and activating the VAT number. It helps choose between a sole proprietorship and a company, then the type of company, and identifies the permits required. The financial strategy service includes the financial plan, investment analysis, cash flow planning, scenario analyses, looking for financing from current or alternative lenders, and reporting for shareholders, investors, banks and suppliers.

In corporate finance, Copter Finance carries out business valuations, supports SME transfers, including within families, and assists with acquisitions by identifying targets and coordinating the parties involved. It handles the tax and legal side of mergers and demergers with external experts, and advises shareholders when ownership changes or when there are differences over strategy. The firm works with regular partners, including a notary, a tax lawyer and a statutory auditor, whom it brings in when needed.

Wealth advice rests on four building blocks: analysis of household income and cover for incapacity or death, long-term structuring of assets, pension planning across the four pillars, and estate planning through gifts, wills or changes to the marriage contract, in consultation with the notary. Finally, a grants advisory service scans the support available when starting up, hiring, training, investing, running an innovation project or expanding abroad, prepares the applications and handles reporting to the authorities. Clients are entrepreneurs, business owners and members of the liberal professions, who submit their documents digitally and follow their figures on an online dashboard.