Starting a BV
Setting up a BV takes a day. Setting it up well is the difference.
The deed is the easy part. The choices around it — a holding or not, when your financial year starts, what you pay yourself — decide for years what you keep. We guide the incorporation and set up your first year with it.
Still deciding?
That is fine. Fill in the quote request and say you are still exploring. You will get a proposal that sets the two legal forms side by side using your own figures, and you are committed to nothing.
Four decisions
What you fix at incorporation.
You make these once, and three of them are expensive or awkward to correct afterwards.
These are examples of what we look at. What is sensible in your case depends on your own situation.
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A BV, or an eenmanszaak first
There is a level of profit at which a BV works out cheaper, and it does not sit at the same number for everyone. We work it out with your figures instead of repeating a rule of thumb. If you are below it, we say so.
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A holding above it, or a single company
A holding separates what you earn from what you build up, and it makes a later sale simpler. It also means a second deed and a second set of books. Decide it now: adding a holding later is possible, but it costs more and comes with waiting periods.
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What you pay yourself
As the owner and director of a Dutch BV you belong on its payroll. What that salary should be is a decision with consequences, and it should be right from day one rather than corrected at the first set of accounts.
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When your financial year starts
Incorporate late in the year and you can choose an extended first financial year. That saves a full set of accounts and a return. It is a choice you get to make once, at the deed.
What we do
From the first conversation to your first return
The structure, before the deed
One conversation about what you are going to do, what you expect to earn and what you intend to do with the company. Out of that comes whether it is a BV, whether a holding belongs above it, and how the shares are split.
The file for the notary
Identification, the ultimate beneficial owners, the choices that go into the articles and the shareholding, delivered complete. The deed itself is executed by a Dutch civil-law notary; we make sure nothing is missing that leaves it sitting on a desk.
Chamber of Commerce and the UBO register
Registration with the Kamer van Koophandel and the recording of the ultimate beneficial owners. Two things that are easy to forget and awkward to fix later.
Your VAT number
The registration with the tax office and the questions they send back about it. Those questions almost always come, in Dutch, and a wrong answer costs weeks.
Bookkeeping from your first invoice
Your portal is ready before you start, your bank account is connected, and you send invoices and receipts by photo, by email or on WhatsApp. Everything processed within two working days.
Payroll and your first filings
The wage tax number, your director salary, the current account agreement and your first VAT return. From there it simply runs inside your subscription.
Where our work stops
What we do not do, and who does
The deed belongs to the notary
A BV comes into existence by notarial deed, and by law that is a civil-law notary’s work. We prepare the complete file and keep the timeline moving. Since 2024 the deed may be drawn up in English, which for most of our clients is half the point.
We do not provide a business address
Your BV needs a Dutch address, and this is the question we are asked most. The answer is no. Providing an address and running the administration is a regulated activity in the Netherlands and we stay well clear of it. We are happy to think along about the routes that are open to you.
Residence permits go through Cardon
Your visa, your DAFT application and everything around your residence run through an immigration adviser. We work alongside them so the financial side and the application line up.
One quote, for the setup and the first year
Each line spelled out: the guidance, the registration and your monthly fee afterwards. Answer a few questions and it arrives within fifteen minutes.
Questions we are asked often
- What does it cost to set up a BV?
- Everyone buys the deed from a notary, so that part is more or less the market. What differs is what sits around it: the structural advice, the file, the registration and setting up your administration. You get one quote from us with each line spelled out, including the first year.
- I live outside the Netherlands. Can I still incorporate here?
- Yes, and it happens regularly. The route differs: signing online by video link is not available to everyone, so it may run through a power of attorney with legalisation, or a visit. What applies to you depends on your nationality and where you are at the time. Ask us before you book a flight.
- I am applying through DAFT. Does that change the setup?
- It adds one thing that has to be right: the opening balance, and the evidence behind the investment it has to show. That document follows you into every renewal, so how it is built matters. Say so in your quote request and we will include it.
- I already have a company abroad. What happens to it?
- That depends on whether you keep it or wind it up, and on what it is for Dutch tax purposes — the name it carries at home says very little here. If you keep it and keep working for it, it affects your Dutch return every year. Tell us about it up front rather than at the first filing.
- Is tax advice part of the monthly fee?
- Yes. Every package includes a number of advice hours per year. Only special situations fall outside that, and those are quoted before we start, so you are never surprised by an invoice.
General information, not advice for your situation. We look at your case before we say anything about it.