Terms of Use

1. Purpose and scope

These Terms set out the rights and obligations of the parties in connection with access to and use of the CompanyBelgium Services. They apply to every User, whether access is via the website, the management portal, the mobile applications or the API. Where applicable, they supplement the specific conditions attached to a subscription plan or module. In the event of any conflict, the specific conditions prevail over these general Terms.

2. Definitions

For the purposes of these Terms: "CompanyBelgium" refers to the platform and services published by Espero-Soft Informatiques SRL; "Services" refers to all features offered, including the API and the Modules; "Module" refers to an activatable feature (CRM, Invoicing, Accounting, Compliance, Human Resources, Recruitment, Website, Automations, Collaboration, etc.); "Organisation" refers to the entity (company or self-employed person) holding the account; "User" or "Member" refers to any natural person accessing the Services on behalf of an Organisation; "Client Content" refers to the data, files and information uploaded or generated by the User; "BCE Data" refers to the public data from the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises.

3. Description of the services

CompanyBelgium is, on the one hand, a RESTful API providing access to the public data of the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (BCE/KBO) of the Belgian FPS Economy and, on the other hand, a modular business management platform. The available Modules cover, in particular, customer relations and business intelligence (CRM, BCE monitoring, calendar, events, mail), invoicing (quotes, invoices, contracts, VAT return), accounting (Belgian chart of accounts, journal entries, financial statements, fixed assets), compliance (financial intelligence, AML / KYC), human resources and payroll, recruitment, website building, automations and team collaboration. Each Organisation activates the Modules it needs, within the limits of its subscription plan. CompanyBelgium is a search, consultation and management service; it is not a company incorporation service.

4. Acceptable use

You undertake, for yourself and for every member of your organisation, to:

• Use the Platform and the API responsibly and in compliance with applicable Belgian and European laws
• Comply with the request limits (rate limiting) and quotas associated with your plan
• Not attempt to circumvent security, authentication or access-control measures
• Not use the Services for unlawful, fraudulent, misleading or unethical purposes
• Not resell, sub-license or redistribute access to the Services or the API without written authorisation
• Not carry out mass collection, systematic extraction or scraping beyond the authorised quotas
• Upload only data and content for which you hold the necessary rights and legal bases
• Not upload unlawful, defamatory or malicious content, or content infringing the rights of third parties
• Cite the source "Public BCE/KBO data — FPS Economy" for any public reuse of company data
• Keep the access credentials of your organisation and its members confidential
• Not harm the reputation, security or legitimate interests of CompanyBelgium or its users
• Not use the Services, their outputs, the generated documents or the data accessible through the Platform or the API — in whole or in part — for the training, fine-tuning, testing, evaluation or validation of any artificial intelligence model or system (including large language models and generative systems), except with the prior express written consent of CompanyBelgium
• Not embed (frame, iframe), surround, or set up automated deep-links to the internal pages of the Platform without prior written consent, except for individual and occasional sharing for legitimate purposes

5. Registration, account and identity verification

Access to the Services requires the creation of an account linked to an Organisation. You warrant that the information provided at registration is accurate, complete and kept up to date. Certain features are subject to the verification of your identity or that of your Organisation; until this verification has been completed, access to the Services may be limited. The account holder is responsible for managing the Members it invites, the roles and permissions assigned to them, and any activity carried out under the Organisation's account. You must have the legal capacity to enter into a contract and, where you act on behalf of a legal entity, have the power to bind it.

6. Third-party personal data — data processing

Within the CRM, Invoicing, Accounting, Compliance, Human Resources and Recruitment modules, you may upload and process personal data relating to third parties (clients, prospects, directors, employees, candidates, suppliers). For these processing activities, you act as data controller and CompanyBelgium acts as data processor within the meaning of Article 28 GDPR. Accordingly:

• CompanyBelgium processes such data only on the Client's documented instructions and solely for the purpose of providing the Services
• CompanyBelgium implements appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure the security of the data
• CompanyBelgium ensures that persons authorised to process the data are bound by a duty of confidentiality
• CompanyBelgium may engage sub-processors (hosting, payment, email delivery) offering sufficient guarantees, and informs the Client thereof
• CompanyBelgium assists the Client, as far as possible, in responding to data subjects' rights requests and to security and notification obligations
• Upon termination of the contract, CompanyBelgium returns or deletes the personal data concerned, subject to legal retention obligations

7. CRM, BCE Monitoring and commercial management module

The CRM and BCE Monitoring modules allow you to manage your clients, prospects, sales opportunities, tasks, appointments, events and mail, and to monitor changes of addresses and directors in the BCE. You are solely responsible for the accuracy of the data entered, the lawfulness of your prospecting activities — in particular with regard to the GDPR and the rules on unsolicited electronic communications — and compliance with the rights of the data subjects. Synchronisation with third-party services (calendars, messaging) is performed under your responsibility and subject to the terms of those services. The organisation of public events and the collection of registrations are your sole responsibility.

8. Invoicing, Quotes and Contracts module

The Invoicing module allows you to issue quotes, invoices, credit notes and contracts, manage your catalogue of items, your suppliers and your VAT return, and use electronic signature and electronic invoicing. You are solely responsible for the content, accuracy, numbering, mandatory legal mentions, VAT calculation and tax compliance of the documents issued. CompanyBelgium provides a generation and transmission tool but gives no tax or legal advice and does not guarantee the compliance of the documents with your particular situation. The evidential value of the electronic signature and of electronic invoicing depends on compliance with the applicable legal conditions, which it is your responsibility to verify.

9. AML / KYC Compliance module

The Compliance module (Financial Intelligence, AML / KYC) provides you with tools for risk assessment, identification of ultimate beneficial owners (UBO) and preparation of reports to the CTIF/CFI. This module is a support tool and does not replace your legal obligations. You acknowledge and accept that:

• If you are an obliged entity within the meaning of the Belgian Act of 18 September 2017 on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, you remain solely responsible for complying with your legal obligations
• The analyses, risk scores and alerts generated by the module are provided for indicative purposes and constitute neither legal advice nor a compliance decision
• It is your responsibility to verify, validate and complete the assessments before any decision to enter into or continue a business relationship
• The decision whether or not to file a suspicious transaction report with the CTIF/CFI is at your sole discretion and responsibility
• Data from external sources (BCE/KBO, NBB/CBSO, sanctions lists, public registers) may be incomplete, outdated or inaccurate
• You are responsible for retaining the documents and assessments for the applicable legal periods
• CompanyBelgium cannot be held liable for sanctions, fines or consequences resulting from a breach of your due diligence obligations
• The solvency scores, risk indicators and financial assessments returned by the Financial Intelligence module are point-in-time analyses (snapshots) based on a mathematical and statistical model applied to public data; they do not in any way constitute credit ratings within the meaning of Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on credit rating agencies, nor any investment advice or financial advice, and CompanyBelgium is not, and does not act as, a credit rating agency

10. Accounting and Fixed Assets module

The Accounting module offers a Belgian standardised chart of accounts (PCMN/MAR), journals, double-entry bookkeeping, management of financial years, reconciliation and matching, financial statements (trial balance, general ledger, balance sheet, income statement) and the fixed-assets register. This module is a bookkeeping and reporting tool; it does not replace a chartered accountant, a certified accountant or an auditor. You are solely responsible for the accuracy of the entries, compliance with accounting principles and the filing and reporting obligations applicable to your Organisation. CompanyBelgium does not guarantee the compliance of the accounting treatment with your situation and recommends that your accounts be validated by a qualified professional.

11. Human Resources and Payroll module

The Human Resources module allows you to manage the staff register, contracts, leave, expense claims, work records and payslips, with a self-service portal for employees. The module may integrate data from third-party payroll service providers. You act as the employer and remain solely responsible for compliance with labour and social security law, the calculation and payment of remuneration, contributions and withholding tax, the accuracy of the data entered and the reporting obligations. CompanyBelgium provides a management tool and does not replace a social secretariat or social-law advice.

12. Recruitment module

The Recruitment module allows you to publish job offers and manage applications, interviews and candidate pools. Job offers are subject to prior validation by our team; CompanyBelgium reserves the right to refuse or withdraw any offer that is contrary to these Terms, to the law or to public policy, in particular any discriminatory or misleading offer. You are solely responsible for the content of the offers, the fair processing of applications and compliance with the legislation applicable to recruitment and to the protection of candidates' data.

13. Website module

The Website module provides you with a site editor, visual-identity tools, search engine optimisation (SEO) and the ability to serve your site on a custom domain. You are solely responsible for the content published, its lawfulness, compliance with third-party intellectual property rights and the compliance of your site (legal notices, data protection, accessibility). You warrant that you hold the necessary rights to the texts, images and elements uploaded. The connection of a custom domain is performed under your responsibility; you remain the holder of and responsible for the domain name concerned.

14. Automations and Collaboration module

The Automations module allows you to define rules triggered by events in order to orchestrate your internal workflows. The Collaboration module offers real-time messaging and audio/video calls between Members. You are responsible for the configuration of your automations and their consequences, including the messages, notifications or actions they generate. Exchanges carried out via the Collaboration module are the responsibility of you and your Members; you undertake to use them in a professional, lawful and respectful manner.

15. API and developer access

The API is accessed by means of identification keys (public key and secret) generated from your developer area. Internal access, from the CompanyBelgium website, and external access, by means of API keys, are subject to request limits and quotas depending on your plan. You can view your usage statistics and the status of the Services from your area. We may make the API evolve (versions, endpoints, formats) and we endeavour to announce in advance any changes likely to have a significant impact. Use of the API remains subject to the acceptable-use rules of these Terms.

16. Subscriptions, plans and payment

The Services are offered under various subscription plans, free or paid, the features, limits and prices of which are described on the website. Paid subscriptions are billed in advance, according to the chosen periodicity, and automatically renewed for an identical period unless cancelled before the renewal date. Payments are processed by a third-party payment provider; you warrant that you hold the necessary authorisations over the payment method used. Unless mandatory legal provisions provide otherwise, amounts paid are non-refundable. In the event of non-payment, access to the Services may be suspended after a formal notice has remained without effect. We may change our prices; the new prices apply from the next renewal period, subject to prior notice.

17. Free trial period

CompanyBelgium may offer a free trial period or a discovery offer giving access to all or part of the Services for a fixed period. At the end of the trial period, access to paid features may be interrupted or switch to a paid plan according to the terms announced at subscription. A trial period may not be used abusively, in particular by creating multiple accounts. CompanyBelgium reserves the right to modify or end any trial offer at any time.

18. Client data and intellectual property

Company data comes from the BCE/KBO and constitutes public data of the FPS Economy. The Platform, the API, the source code, the databases, the documentation, the trademarks and the design remain the exclusive property of CompanyBelgium and Espero-Soft Informatiques SRL and are protected by intellectual property law. Nothing in these Terms grants you any right over these elements, other than the right to use the Services in accordance with the Terms. Client Content (the data, files and documents you upload or generate) remains your property; you grant CompanyBelgium a limited, non-exclusive licence strictly necessary for hosting, processing and providing the Services. CompanyBelgium may produce anonymised and aggregated statistics for the purpose of improving the Services.

19. Availability and service level

We endeavour to ensure availability of the Services of 99.9% on an annual basis. This objective does not constitute a contractual guarantee, unless a specific commitment is subscribed separately. Maintenance operations, whether planned or unplanned, as well as interruptions beyond our control, may affect access to the Services. We endeavour to announce planned maintenance in advance and to reduce its impact.

20. Limitation of liability

The Services are provided "as is" and "as available". Within the limits permitted by Belgian law, CompanyBelgium cannot be held liable, in particular, for:

• Indirect damages, loss of profits, turnover, customers, data or business opportunities
• Service interruptions due to external factors (maintenance, BCE provider outage, failure of a service provider, force majeure)
• Inaccuracies, omissions or obsolescence of data from public or third-party sources
• Accounting, tax, social, legal or compliance decisions made on the basis of the information or tools provided
• Errors, omissions or non-conformities in the documents (invoices, quotes, contracts, journal entries, returns, payslips) generated from the data entered by the User
• Loss of content or data resulting from misuse, deletion by the User or a failure to back up on the User's part
• Content, configurations or automations created or set up by the User, and their consequences
• Damage resulting from unauthorised access to the User's account following a failure to keep their credentials confidential
• Damage caused by viruses, worms, trojans or any malicious code that may have transited through the Platform or through files downloaded from it, despite the implementation of reasonable protective measures
• Content, reliability, availability or lawfulness of third-party websites or pages linked from the Platform for information purposes only, which have not been verified by CompanyBelgium and which engage solely their respective publishers

21. Liability cap and warranties

The Services are provided without express or implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or absence of error. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness or timeliness of data from public or third-party sources. Within the limits permitted by law, the total aggregate liability of CompanyBelgium, on any grounds whatsoever, is limited to the amounts actually paid by the Client for the Services during the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the damage. These limitations and exclusions do not apply in the event of wilful misconduct, gross negligence, or harm caused to a person's life or physical integrity, nor in cases where Belgian law prohibits them.

22. Indemnification

You undertake to indemnify and hold harmless CompanyBelgium, Espero-Soft Informatiques SRL and their directors and staff against any claim, action, judgment, damage, loss or reasonable costs (including defence costs) arising from a use of the Services contrary to these Terms or to the law, an infringement of the rights of a third party, or the Client Content you have uploaded, generated or disseminated.

23. Account confidentiality and security

Your API keys, credentials and access are strictly confidential. You undertake to take all reasonable measures to keep them confidential, to restrict access within your Organisation and to prevent any unauthorised access. Enabling strong authentication, where available, is recommended. In the event of compromise, loss or suspicion of fraudulent use, you must inform us without delay at security@espero-soft.com and immediately regenerate your keys and change your credentials from your area.

24. Suspension and termination

You may terminate your subscription at any time from your area, the termination taking effect at the end of the current period. We may suspend or terminate your access, in whole or in part, in the event of a breach of these Terms, abusive, fraudulent or unlawful use, non-payment, a risk to the security of the Platform, or a legal or regulatory requirement. Where circumstances permit, suspension is preceded by a warning. Termination does not give rise to any refund of amounts already paid, unless mandatory legal provisions provide otherwise.

25. Data reversibility and export

During the term of your subscription, you may export the Client Content using the features provided for that purpose. After termination or expiry of your account, the Client Content is kept for a reasonable transitional period to allow you to retrieve it, then securely deleted, subject to the retention periods required by law (in particular in accounting, tax and social matters) and to technical backups. It is your responsibility to make your own backup copies of the data and documents you consider essential.

26. Protection of personal data

The processing of personal data collected in connection with the use of our Services is governed by our Privacy Policy, compliant with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and the Belgian Act of 30 July 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data. For the processing of third-party data that you carry out via the Modules, the respective roles of the parties are specified in Article 6 of these Terms; a separate data processing agreement (DPA) may be concluded on request.

27. Force majeure

CompanyBelgium cannot be held liable for a failure to perform its obligations resulting from an event of force majeure within the meaning of Article 5.226 of the Belgian Civil Code, in particular: natural disaster, fire, large-scale cyberattack, widespread failure of Internet or electricity infrastructure, government decision, armed conflict, epidemic, or failure of a hosting or telecommunications provider beyond our control.

28. Severability, amendments and governing law

If one or more clauses of these Terms were held to be invalid, void or unenforceable, the other clauses would retain their full force and effect, the clause concerned being replaced by a valid provision that comes as close as possible to the parties' original intention. We may amend these Terms at any time; amendments are published on this page with their effective date and, in the event of a substantial change, are subject to prior notice. Continued use of the Services after the amendments take effect constitutes acceptance of them. These Terms are governed by Belgian law. Any dispute falls within the jurisdiction of the competent courts of the judicial district of Brussels, without prejudice to the mandatory provisions of consumer law allowing the consumer to bring proceedings before the courts of their domicile.

29. Contact

For any question relating to these Terms, you may contact Espero-Soft Informatiques SRL (BE 1033.022.383), publisher of CompanyBelgium, at info@espero-soft.com or by telephone on +32 484 711 719. For security matters, write to security@espero-soft.com.