A smooth year-end audit starts long before the year ends. Just Audit walks through a typical audit timeline for a Dutch company, from planning in the autumn to filing with the KVK, and what your finance team can prepare at each step.
For a company with a calendar year-end, a typical Dutch audit runs from planning in the autumn, through interim work around year-end, to fieldwork in the first months of the new year. The legal end point is clear: the annual accounts must be prepared within five months, and filed with the KVK at the latest twelve months after year-end.
Autumn: Planning and Risk Assessment
The audit starts with planning. Your auditor discusses developments in the business, agrees the scope and timetable, and identifies the areas with the highest risk of misstatement. This is also the moment to agree the information list, so your team knows what is expected and when.
It is the best time to raise anything new: an acquisition, a new system, a change in financing or a complex contract. Surprises discovered in March are much harder to deal with than those flagged in October. Auditors enjoy surprises about as much as CFOs do.
Around Year-End: Interim Work
Many audits include an interim visit, often in the last quarter of the year. The auditor looks at processes and internal controls, and may test transactions up to that date. This spreads the work and leaves less to do in the busy months.
Some year-end procedures are tied to the balance sheet date itself, such as attending an inventory count or sending bank and customer confirmations. Agree these in advance, so they are not forgotten somewhere between Christmas and New Year.
January to April: Year-End Fieldwork
Once the books are closed, the main fieldwork begins. The auditor tests the year-end balances, the estimates and the disclosures. For your team, this is where preparation pays off:
- Closed and reconciled ledger: a trial balance that agrees with the subledgers and bank statements. The more you verify internally, the less questions you receive.
- Supporting documents: contracts, valuations and reconciliations for the key balances, ready on the agreed date.
- Draft annual accounts: a draft that matches the ledger, so the auditor can review the financial statements and notes together.
- Quick answers: one contact person who can answer questions or find the right colleague.
Reporting: Opinion and Report to the Board
At the end of the audit, your auditor issues the auditor’s report on the annual accounts (art. 2:393 lid 5 BW). The auditor also reports its findings to the management board and, if there is one, the supervisory board (art. 2:393 lid 4 BW). Expect a closing meeting to discuss the findings before everything is signed.
The Legal Deadlines
For a B.V., management must prepare the annual accounts within five months after year-end (art. 2:210 BW). The general meeting can extend this by up to five months in special circumstances. The accounts must be filed with the KVK within eight days after they are adopted. If they have not been adopted within two months after the preparation deadline, management must file the prepared accounts without delay, stating that they have not been adopted (art. 2:394 BW). In practice, this means filing no later than twelve months after year-end.
Common Causes of Delay
Most delays have the same few causes: a late close, unreconciled intercompany balances, missing documents for estimates, and changes discovered during fieldwork that could have been raised at planning. A short meeting in the autumn usually prevents most of them, and it is a lot cheaper than a long one in April. Preparation is everything.
Planning Your Next Audit
Just Audit B.V. is an independent, audit-only firm with an AFM licence for statutory audits (excluding OOBs). Our auditors are RAs registered with the NBA, and we agree the scope, timetable and information list with you at the start. Have a look at our statutory audit services or read how we work.
