Is the PCMN identical for all Belgian companies?

Yes in its core structure: the 7 classes, three-digit accounts (general rubrics) and XBRL coding are mandatory for every company subject to double-entry bookkeeping. However, each company may further subdivide its accounts (4, 5 or 6 digits) based on its activity and management needs, provided aggregates roll up to the official rubrics.

Does a micro SRL also have to use the PCMN?

Yes. The 'micro' qualification follows from balance, turnover and headcount thresholds and determines the NBB filing schema (heavily simplified micro schema), but it does not exempt the company from keeping double-entry bookkeeping based on the PCMN. Only self-employed natural persons below 500,000 € of turnover may use simplified bookkeeping.

What are the 2026 thresholds to be considered a 'small company' in Belgium?

For financial years opened from 1 January 2024 (so all 2026 years): balance sheet total ≤ 6,000,000 €, turnover excl. VAT ≤ 11,250,000 €, average headcount ≤ 50. A threshold change only takes effect when at least 2 out of 3 criteria are exceeded over 2 consecutive financial years. The micro threshold is 450,000 € balance, 900,000 € turnover and 10 staff.

How does the Company Belgium invoicing module handle the PCMN?

Every invoice issued or received is automatically coded against PCMN rubrics: account 70x or 60x/61x by nature, account 400/440 for the counterparty identified via the BCE, account 451/411 for VAT depending on rate and regime (intracom, reverse charge, exemption). Entries can be exported in your accounting package's format (BOB, Winbooks, Octopus, Yuki) or pushed to your ITAA firm, without manual re-keying.

Will the PCMN be replaced in the near future?

No replacement announced for 2026. The PCMN remains the mandatory framework set by the Royal Decree of 12 September 1983 and its successive amendments. Recent evolutions concern size thresholds (raised by EU Directive 2023/2775) and sustainability reporting (CSRD for large companies), not the class structure.

Belgian chart of accounts 2026 (PCMN/MAR): essential guide

In brief

The Belgian chart of accounts (PCMN in French, MAR in Dutch) is the mandatory coding framework for all Belgian companies (SRL, SA, SC, large/very large non-profits). It is organised in 7 classes (1 to 7), plus class 0 (off-balance-sheet) and classes 8/9 (analytical). In 2026, its structure remains the one set by the Royal Decree of 12 September 1983, amended by the reforms of the Code of Companies and Associations (CSA) and of accounting law. The size thresholds (micro / small) were raised and now apply to financial years closed from 2024 onwards — therefore to all 2026 accounts.

What is the PCMN/MAR?

The PCMN is the coded list of accounts every company subject to double-entry bookkeeping must use to record its operations. Each account carries a number of up to 6 digits, structured hierarchically by class and sub-rubric. This common coding lets the NBB aggregate filed annual accounts into a standardised XBRL schema — and it is this coding that makes the financial analysis of NBB annual accounts reproducible across companies.

The PCMN is not mandatory for:

Self-employed natural persons below the 500,000 € turnover threshold (simplified bookkeeping — see accounting obligations)

Very small non-profits (below the thresholds of article 3:47 CSA)

Foreign companies without a Belgian establishment

For everyone else, compliance is checked by the accountant (ITAA) at year-end and is enforceable in case of a tax audit.

The 7-class structure

Class	Title	Records
1	Equity, provisions and debts due in more than 1 year	Capital, reserves, retained earnings, long-term loans
2	Formation expenses, fixed assets and receivables > 1 year	Buildings, equipment, vehicles, patents, participations
3	Inventories and contracts in progress	Goods, raw materials, work in progress
4	Receivables and payables due within 1 year	Clients (40), suppliers (44), VAT (45), wages (45), current accounts
5	Cash investments and cash	Bank accounts (550), cash (570), short-term investments
6	Expenses	Purchases (60), services and various goods (61), wages (62), depreciation (630), financial expenses (65)
7	Income	Sales (70), other operating income (74), financial income (75)

Off-balance: class 0 (received/granted commitments, bank guarantees, financial leasing) and classes 8/9 left free for internal management accounting.

Size thresholds applicable in 2026

EU Directive 2023/2775, transposed into Belgian law, raised the thresholds defining micro and small companies by about 25 %. These new thresholds apply to financial years opened from 1 January 2024 — therefore to all 2026 accounts.

Category	Balance sheet total	Turnover excl. VAT	Average headcount
Micro	≤ 450,000 €	≤ 900,000 €	≤ 10
Small	≤ 6,000,000 €	≤ 11,250,000 €	≤ 50
Large	exceeds at least 2 criteria	exceeds at least 2 criteria	exceeds

A threshold change only takes effect when 2 out of 3 criteria are exceeded for 2 consecutive financial years. Size determines the filing schema at the NBB:

Micro → micro schema (heavily simplified)

Small → abbreviated schema

Large → full schema + management report + statutory auditor where applicable

Coding an invoice: worked example

Consider a Belgian SRL issuing a sales invoice of 1,210 € VAT inclusive to a Belgian VAT-taxable client, of which 1,000 € net + 210 € VAT at 21 %. The typical PCMN entry:

Code

1
2
3

Debit   400000  Customer                              1,210.00
  Credit  700000  Sales of merchandise                 1,000.00
  Credit  451000  VAT due 21 %                           210.00

And on receipt of a supplier invoice of 484 € VAT inclusive — 80 € rent + 4 € deductible VAT and 400 € service subject to 21 %:

Code

Debit   610000  Building rent                            80.00
Debit   611000  Sub-contracting fees                    400.00
Debit   411000  Deductible VAT                           88.00 (4 + 84)
  Credit  440000  Supplier                              568.00

Precisely the type of entry that should be generated automatically — not keyed manually — by your invoicing tool.

Classic pitfalls and confusions

"My chart of accounts is different": the PCMN is a minimum, not a maximum. An accountant may detail accounts (700100 "Sales France", 700200 "Sales Germany"…), but aggregates must roll up to the official codes.

Mixing up VAT due (45) and deductible VAT (411): VAT collected on sales goes to credit 451 (debt towards the State). VAT paid to suppliers goes to debit 411 (receivable). The net balance to be paid/recovered lands in 45100 (payable) or 41100 (recoverable) after the Intervat declaration.

Booking an investment as an expense: a 1,800 € (excl. VAT) computer is a fixed asset (class 2, account 240) to be depreciated, not a class 6 expense. The practical capitalisation threshold ranges from 250 to 1,000 € depending on the company's policy — to be formalised in the annexes.

The "miscellaneous" account does not exist: avoid using 640800 as a catch-all. Every operation must be backed by a document and an appropriate account.

Forgetting class 0: off-balance-sheet commitments (bank guarantees, financial leasing, granted collateral) must be tracked, otherwise risk analysis by a banker or acquirer is skewed.

PCMN and Peppol electronic invoicing

Since 1 January 2026, Peppol electronic invoicing is mandatory between Belgian VAT-taxable persons. A well-structured Peppol invoice carries all the elements required for automatic PCMN coding: service type (UNCL 1001), VAT rate, regime code (intracom, reverse charge, exemption article 44), paying party, IBAN, due date.

In practice: if your invoicing tool emits valid Peppol, it can also generate the PCMN entry in one pass, and feed it to your accounting software via an export (PEPPOL → PDF → accounting), or directly through an API to your ITAA accounting firm.

The PCMN, backbone of every Company Belgium module

Company Belgium is an all-in-one platform built around the Belgian PCMN: the same coding framework powers every module, eliminating re-keying and guaranteeing consistency from the dashboard to the tax filing.

Invoicing module — PCMN-native issuance and receipt

For every invoice issued or received:

Accounts 70x (sales) and 60x/61x (purchases) are pre-coded based on the service or merchandise type, with per-item override

VAT is split automatically into 451 / 411 based on direction and rate (0 %, 6 %, 12 %, 21 %, reverse charge, intracom, outside EU — see intracom VAT and automated reverse charge)

Legal archiving (timestamp + hash) is built in — see invoice archiving guide

Native Peppol 2026 compliance (timeline and obligations)

CRM module — accounts 400/440 fed from the BCE

Each customer/supplier record is created from the BCE/KBO and tied to an account 400 or 440

The CRM sales pipeline (qualification → proposal → close) automatically tags won opportunities to the correct 7x accounts

The due-date ledger feeds the 4090/4490 aged balance and the DSO and credit-limit computation

Accounting module — PCMN export with no re-keying

Export in BOB, Winbooks, Octopus, Yuki formats — every PCMN entry ready to integrate at your accountant's

Tracking of accounting obligations and NBB filing

Direct aggregation into NBB rubrics → automatic computation of EBITDA and operating result

Full financial analysis from the aggregated PCMN codes

HR & payroll module — accounts 62x and 45x in sync

Payslips automatically feed accounts 620 (wages), 621 (employer NSSO contributions) and 45x (salary and tax payables)

Dimona declarations, contracts and onboarding integrated in the HR module

Social charges coded per joint committee, exportable to your social secretariat

AML / KYC module — diligence records tied to accounts 400/440

Each customer account 400 is bound to a KYC file (identification and verification)

Compliance with the Law of 18 September 2017: no invoice can be finalised without a valid KYC for regulated professions

Synchronisation with the UBO register — the beneficial-owner cascade is attached to the customer's BCE record

Website & SEO module — storefront wired to BCE records

Team and service pages are fed from your company's BCE record

Organization JSON-LD schemas pre-filled for local SEO (Brussels, Wallonia, Flanders)

Dashboard & KPIs — real-time aggregation of the PCMN

The 7 weekly KPIs for the Belgian SME (revenue, gross margin, DSO, EBITDA, cash, payroll mass, net debt) are computed live from PCMN accounts — no need to wait for year-end

Automatic sector benchmarking from aggregated BCE/NBB data

The result: a single entry (an invoice, a payslip or a customer record) feeds invoicing, accounting, CRM, KPIs, AML compliance — and everything rolls back correctly into the NBB rubrics at annual filing.