How the ledger is kept

Contrino Consulting is an independent budgeting guide for founders and finance leads who are weighing a Dutch BV from outside the Netherlands. It exists for one question that is surprisingly hard to answer in one place: what will the first year actually cost?

We answer it the way an accountant would: by splitting the year into separate lines. Formation and notary work, the KVK registration fee, share capital, VAT registration, bookkeeping and annual accounts, the business bank account and the registered address each get their own entries. Every article ends in a line-item table and a year-one cost range, and the figures are tied to the source they came from, such as KVK, Business.gov.nl, the tax authority or a provider's published price list.

How entries are kept

• Ranges, not promises. Prices differ by provider, share structure and sector, so we show a low and a high figure and say what moves you between them.
• Sources on every figure. Where a number comes from a price list, we say so and give the month we checked it.
• One-off separated from recurring. Formation costs are paid once; address, banking and accounting come back every year. Mixing them is the most common budgeting error.
• Corrections are welcome. Fees change. If a figure is out of date, the entry is re-checked and re-dated.

What this guide is not

It is not tax, legal or accounting advice for your specific situation, and it does not replace a quote. Use it to know which lines belong in your budget and what a reasonable range looks like, then ask providers to price the same lines.