If you want to become an accountant, you can choose to be an accountant consultant (accountant-administratieconsulent, AA) or chartered accountant (registeraccountant, RA). After you have completed your training and work placement, you must register in the accountants' register of the Netherlands Institute of Chartered Accountants (Beroepsorganisatie van Accountants, NBA). After your registration, you are allowed to use RA or AA as a formal title. Rules of conduct and professional rules (Verordening gedrags- en beroepsregels) apply to accountants.
If you want to carry out statutory audits, such as auditing the annual accounts of a public company, you will require an Audit Firms Supervision Act (Wta) licence from the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, AFM).
Statement of professional competence for foreign accountants
If you hold a foreign accountant’s diploma and you want to practise your profession in the Netherlands, you will need a certificate of professional competence in order to register with a Dutch accountants' register. This certificate can be obtained from the Committee on Exit Qualifications from Accountancy Training (Commissie Eindtermen Accountantsopleiding, CEA).
Looking for an accountant
If you are looking for a registered, chartered accountant or accountant consultant, you can inspect the accountants' register on the NBA website (in Dutch).
Online registration procedure via Message Box
You can request to be listed in the register of accountants kept by NBA via Message Box. Foreign accountants can use Message Box to obtain a statement of professional competence for foreign accountants from the Committee on Exit Qualifications from Accountancy Training. Message Box is a secure email system that enables you as an entrepreneur to exchange digital messages with Dutch government agencies.
