Checking a Belgian supplier before paying a deposit
A deposit is an unsecured loan. Your Belgian supplier's public accounts show whether it can buy materials and pay its staff while it makes your order — and therefore what deposit is reasonable.
Updated 11 Nov 2026 · 6 min read · Published by Idonis (Vanbe SRL) · About
When you pay 30% on order, you lend to your supplier — without interest, without security, and last in line
if things go wrong — and, when you buy from abroad, harder to follow up. A ten-minute check does not remove that risk; it makes it proportionate: you do not
advance the same amount to a company with twenty years of accounts and to one set up last year.
Between order and delivery, your deposit finances the supplier. The question: what does it pay the rest with?
Step by step: where to look, what to read
1
Identity, in the register
Where: Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (CBE)
The enterprise number on the pro forma invoice — the Belgian counterpart of a Companies House, KvK or
SIREN number — leads you to the exact name, the legal form, the start date, the status (active, in liquidation,
in a procedure) and the registered office. A company in judicial reorganisation can keep selling — but your
deposit then enters a collective procedure. Better to know before than after.
2
The accounts: can it deliver, rather than does it make money?
Where: Central Balance Sheet Office, National Bank of Belgium
Current assets vs 42/48Cash + receivables ÷ debts due within one yearIf current assets cover short-term debts, the company can buy materials and pay its staff while making your order. If not, your deposit finances something else.
Item 10/15EquityNegative: a company living on its debts. It can deliver — many do for years — but the margin for error is nil.
Item 45 + notesOverdue tax and social security debtsA company that no longer pays the National Social Security Office (ONSS/RSZ) chooses whom it pays. It is not you.
Compare two financial years: a supplier whose cash has halved in a year deserves a smaller deposit, or an
advance payment bank guarantee for large amounts.
3
Late filing, the simplest signal
Where: filing date, Central Balance Sheet Office
Accounts are filed within seven months of the year-end. A company whose latest accounts are two years
old is a company that will not, or cannot, show its figures. That fact alone justifies reducing the deposit or
asking for payment on delivery.
4
The Official Gazette: recent changes
Where: annexes of the Belgian Official Gazette
Change of manager, transfer of the registered office, change of corporate purpose, dissolution: everything is
published. A supplier that has moved its registered office three times in eighteen months has a story to tell;
ask for it.
Sizing the deposit
0 signalsLong-standing company, positive equity, accounts up to dateThe usual deposit.
1 signalYoung, or thin equity, or late filingSmaller deposit, balance on delivery, or payment against documents.
2 signals or moreAdvance payment bank guarantee — or another supplier.
When you pay, a last check concerns the invoice itself — enterprise number, VAT number, registered office and
above all the bank account: see Checking a Belgian supplier invoice.
Before wiring the deposit
The pro forma carries the enterprise number of an active company.
Cash + receivables cover debts due within one year in the latest accounts.
No overdue social security or tax debt in the notes.
Accounts filed less than a year ago.
Nothing in the Official Gazette that changes who signs for the company.
Deposit in proportion to the signals, guarantee if needed.
Frequently asked questions
Can a supplier in judicial reorganisation still deliver?
Yes, the procedure is meant to keep the business going. But a deposit paid during the procedure enters a collective situation: pay on delivery or ask for a guarantee.
What is an advance payment bank guarantee?
A commitment by the supplier's bank to refund your deposit if delivery does not take place. Common for large orders; it costs the supplier a few per cent.
How do I know whether a Belgian supplier pays its social security contributions?
The notes to the annual accounts show overdue tax and social security debts. A positive amount means contributions or taxes were unpaid at the closing date.
With Idonis
The supplier on one page, before you pay
Look up the supplier: equity, cash, short-term debt, any late filing and recent publications are read for you, year by year. Add it to a list: you will be notified at its next filing or publication.
No sign-up. Every Belgian company, from official sources.
Sources of the publications cited: company register (CBE), filed annual accounts (NBB — Central Balance Sheet Office), Belgian Gazette. This guide is general information, not advice for a specific case. How the soundness score is computed