On a Belgian quote or invoice, the company name is followed by a few letters — SRL, BV, SA, NV, SC, VZW. Those letters are the legal form, and the law requires them on every document a company issues. For a supplier, a customer or a buyer abroad, they answer two practical questions: if things go wrong, who is liable, and which accounts can you read before you commit? This guide lists the forms you will meet, their approximate foreign counterparts, the old names still found in files, and how to read the form on an Idonis company page.
The forms you will meet
Step by step: where to look, what to read
Read the form on the documents and in the register
The Code of Companies and Associations (art. 2:20) requires every invoice, letter, order form and website of a company to show its name, its legal form (in full or abbreviated), its registered office, its enterprise number and the letters RPM or RPR followed by the court of its registered office. The same company may write SRL on a French document and BV on a Dutch one: it is the same form, in the language of the registered office or of the document. In the German-speaking part of the country, the German names of the Code apply (an SRL is then a GmbH).
Check the form in the CBE public search or the Idonis company search: a form on the invoice that differs from the register is a question to ask.
Know who answers for the debts
In an SRL, SA or SC, shareholders risk only what they put in: the company's creditors cannot claim their personal assets. That is why the company's own accounts matter. The Code still provides safeguards: the founders of an SRL must hand the notary a financial plan, and if the company goes bankrupt within three years with starting equity that was manifestly insufficient, a court can hold them liable (art. 5:16). Directors can be liable for serious faults.
In an SNC, every partner answers for all the company's debts, jointly and without limit; in an SComm, the general partners do. In an SRL, by contrast, a supplier facing a large amount sometimes asks the director for a personal guarantee: it is a separate commitment, which the legal form does not provide on its own.
Know what the company publishes
An SRL, SA or SC files its annual accounts with the Central Balance Sheet Office within seven months of its year-end (art. 3:10); you can read them in Consult. The format depends on size, not on the form (art. 1:24 and 1:25):
Partnerships publish less: a small SNC or SComm, or one whose unlimited partners are all individuals, does not file its accounts with the National Bank (art. 3:9). Large non-profit associations file with the National Bank; small ones keep simplified accounts, filed in their court file (art. 3:47). The guide Reading Belgian SME accounts goes through an abbreviated format item by item, and the glossary defines the ratios.
Recognise the old forms
The Code of Companies and Associations of 23 March 2019 replaced the former Companies Code. It applies to new companies since 1 May 2019 and to existing ones since 1 January 2020; all of them had to bring their articles into line by 1 January 2024 at the latest. Forms that disappeared were then converted by law into the nearest new form. You will still meet the old names in contracts, files and sometimes in the register:
Read the form on an Idonis page
On an Idonis company page, the abbreviated form follows the name in the heading, as registered: SRL or SA on a page in English or French, BV or NV on a Dutch page, the German abbreviation of the Code on a German page. A company still registered under an old form shows it (SPRL, SCRL): the rules that apply are those of the current Code. The Company section repeats the legal form next to the enterprise number, the size of the company, its latest accounts and the date they were filed; the list of filed accounts shows whether it publishes every year. Search for a company by name or number to see it.
Before you commit to a Belgian company
- The legal form on the invoice matches the register, under the same name and enterprise number.
- You know who is liable: shareholders up to their contribution (SRL, SA, SC), or partners without limit (SNC, SComm).
- For an SRL, SA or SC: accounts filed less than a year ago, in the format that fits its size.
- An old form (SPRL, SCRL) in a contract is read under the current Code.
- Any guarantee you ask for comes from someone who actually answers for the debts.
The full check of a Belgian company — register, Gazette, accounts, VAT, Peppol — is in How to check a Belgian company.
The VAT number on the same invoice is checked separately: see How to check a Belgian VAT number. Peppol registration, which applies to every VAT-registered Belgian business whatever its form, can be checked with the Peppol ID lookup.
Sources
- Code of Companies and Associations of 23 March 2019 (art. 1:5, 1:24, 1:25, 2:20, 3:9, 3:10, 3:47, 4:22, 5:1, 5:16, 6:1, 7:2) — Justel (French; Dutch and German versions on Justel).
- Law of 23 March 2019 introducing the Code (art. 39 and 41: transition and conversion of former forms) — Justel.
- FPS Economy, Crossroads Bank for Enterprises: public search.
- National Bank of Belgium, Central Balance Sheet Office, model selection tool and Consult.