RGS account numbering

Shillinq's chart of accounts follows the RGS — Referentie Grootboekschema — the Dutch national standard for account numbering. Using RGS makes your books compatible with Dutch tax software, your accountant's tools, and the CBS statistical submissions that many Dutch organisations must file.

You are free to deviate from RGS, but the built-in reports, VAT declarations, and IV3/SiSa exports assume RGS-compliant numbers. If you are starting fresh, start with RGS.

The RGS tree

RGS organises accounts in a six-digit hierarchy. The first digit is the balance sheet class:

Digit	Balance sheet class	Examples
0	Capital assets / intangibles	Land, buildings, patents
1	Current assets (excluding receivables)	Cash, prepayments
2	Tangible fixed assets	Equipment, vehicles
3	Inventory	Goods for resale, raw materials
4	Payables and long-term liabilities	Long-term loans, provisions
5	Short-term liabilities	Accounts payable, VAT payable
6	Revenue	Sales, interest income
7	Direct costs (cost of goods sold)	Materials, direct labour
8	Indirect operating expenses	Rent, salaries, marketing
9	Financial items and results	Profit/loss, tax on result

The remaining five digits add sub-classification. In practice you need the first four digits for standard bookkeeping:

8 0 1 0 [00]
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ └── Sub-category (often 0 = default)
│ │ └──── Category (0 = consulting/professional services)
│ └────── Group (0 = operating revenue)
└──────── Class (8 = indirect costs in some schemas;
                 6/7/8 vary by RGS version — follow RGS 3.4)

The accounts you definitely need

Start with these before you add anything else:

Bank and cash (class 1)

Number	Name	Use
10000	Kas	Physical cash (petty cash)
10100	Bank — main account	Your primary business bank account
10110	Bank — payroll account	Separate payroll bank if applicable

Accounts receivable (class 1)

Number	Name	Use
13000	Debiteuren	All open customer invoices (AR control account)

Shillinq uses 13000 as the AR control account. Every time you create an invoice, one side of the journal entry posts to 13000. Do not post individual invoices directly to this account; Shillinq manages it.

Accounts payable (class 5)

Number	Name	Use
50000	Crediteuren	All open supplier bills (AP control account)

Shillinq uses 50000 as the AP control account. Every bill you record posts one side to 50000. Same rule: do not post here manually.

Revenue (class 6 or 8, check your RGS version)

Number	Name	Use
80000	Omzet — dienstverlening	Revenue from services
80010	Omzet — producten	Revenue from products
84000	Omzet — huur	Revenue from renting assets

Expenses (class 7 or 8)

Number	Name	Use
74000	Inkoopkosten	Cost of purchased goods
83000	Personeelskosten	Salaries and social charges
83500	Huisvesting	Office rent and facilities
83600	ICT-kosten	Software subscriptions, IT
83700	Marketing	Advertising and promotion
83900	Overige bedrijfskosten	Other operational expenses

VAT (class 5)

Number	Name	Use
51000	Te betalen BTW (hoog)	21 % VAT payable to the Tax Authority
51010	Te betalen BTW (laag)	9 % VAT payable
51020	Voorbelasting BTW	Input VAT you can reclaim

How to pick a number for a new account

1. Decide which class the account belongs to (revenue, expense, asset, liability).
2. Look up the official RGS 3.4 mapping at rgs.taxonomie.nl for the closest match.
3. Use the first four or six digits from that mapping. If you need a custom sub-account, extend with two digits of your own (e.g. 80000 → 800010 for a specific service line).
4. Leave gaps between numbers so you can insert accounts later (e.g. 80000, 80010, 80020 rather than 80000, 80001, 80002).

Importing a standard RGS chart

Shillinq ships with a standard RGS 3.4 import package. In the admin settings → Chart of Accounts → Import RGS 3.4 you can load the full ~900 account taxonomy and then delete accounts you don't need. This is faster than building from scratch.

See Setting up your chart of accounts for the full walkthrough.