DATARIS

Dataris is a family accounting, tax and corporate finance firm on Oudenaardestraat in Zulte, East Flanders. It is registered with the ITAA under number 50.056.646, and its partners are recognised there as (certified) tax accountants. In 2023 the firm opened a second office on Kortrijksesteenweg in Sint-Denijs-Westrem, on the edge of Ghent. In 2024 it celebrated thirty years in its current form, and it has three partners and around six accountants and advisers.

Its history goes back to the mid-1960s, when Leopold Vandorpe set up as a self-employed bookkeeper in Deinze. Dirk Vandorpe joined him in the mid-1970s. In 1994 the practice teamed up with that of Piet Provoost, founded in Ghent in 1986 and focused on advising SMEs, and in 1996 the two moved together to the current address in Zulte-Olsene. The second generation, with Jos Vandorpe, then drove growth. In 2019 the third generation, with Jonathan Provoost, a former auditor at BDO who became managing partner and has held the titles of tax advisor, accountant and notarial accountant since 2021, opened the firm to the digital era under the name Dataris.

In accounting, Dataris keeps the books from A to Z for businesses without an in-house bookkeeper, and gives them access to a client portal where they can check their figures at any time. For businesses with their own bookkeeper, it supervises and reviews the accounts and prepares interim and year-end closings. It prepares single and consolidated annual accounts, advises on management reporting, budgeting and cash-flow planning, and represents partners during inspections. The website lists among its partners the Adsolut accounting software, the Clearfacts platform and the SD Worx payroll office.

In tax, the firm prepares and reviews VAT returns, including cross-border VAT returns, optimises personal and corporate income tax, advises on the tax side of acquisitions, restructurings and property transactions, and assists during tax audits. Jos Vandorpe, who runs the office day to day, specialises in optimising corporate and personal income tax, and Piet Provoost is a member of the Confédération Fiscale Européenne.

The consultancy side is aimed at growing businesses that are not yet large enough to hire a full-time finance director: budgeting, investment advice, cost accounting and cost price calculation, structural optimisation, outsourced CFO services and loan applications. The firm also suggests setting up an advisory board. In audit and controlling, it carries out financial audits and book reviews for small companies that are not required to appoint a statutory auditor, assists shareholders at general meetings and advises on mergers, demergers, liquidations and dissolutions.

For start-ups, Dataris advises on the choice between sole trader and company, handles incorporation, drafts the financial plan and business plan and helps find financing. In mergers and acquisitions, it acts as negotiator and financial adviser: financial and tax due diligence, business valuation, financing, management buy-outs or buy-ins and exit strategy. Meetings are by appointment; the office is open on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday during the day, and on Wednesday and Friday mornings.