Quality of the Business Register

11 May 2022
Edited 2 December 2024
2 min

A correct and up-to-date Business Register is of great importance to ensure legal security when doing business. For this reason, the quality demands for so-called authentic data are high. This concerns data which the law requires to be recorded in the Business Register. For example, the trade name, KVK number, owner's details, address, and legal structure.

Core details Business Register

Number of active registrations up to/incl. November 2024	3.649.292
Number of new registrations November 2024	24.449
Number of mutations November 2024	170.626

Quality standards

The quality standards for the authentic data are:

99.8 % Completeness of data: the extent to which authentic data are complete in the registrations.
98.0 % On-time data processing: the extent to which digital submissions are processed within 1 working day, and submissions by post within 5 working days.
99.5 % Accuracy: the extent to which the authentic data that have been recorded in the Business Register are identical to the source documents.

Furthermore, KVK strives for the Business Register to reflect in so far as possible the factual reality*. The aim is to have 98% of all data correspond with the factual reality, and be factually correct.

* The Commercial Register Act requires of entrepreneurs that they report changes within eight days. If they do not, the consequence is a deviation from factual reality.

Realisation, checks, and spot checks

KVK closely guards the quality of the standards at all times. It does so by performing automated checks and in-house spot checks. A third party has examined the setup and execution of these spot checks. Also, an accountant researches the accuracy of the authentic data in the Business Register every 3 years.

The following scores have been realised:

Description	Realisation	Sample collection	Comments
Legal security of the authentic data in the Business Register	99.8%	Accountant's research (in Dutch), 600 data compared with source documents.	Authentic data include: trade name, address, KVK number, owner's data, and legal structure.
Completeness authentic data in Business Register registrations	100%	All registrations.	Forced by registration systems.
On-time processing Business Register	94.5%	All registrations.	Result for 2023.
Factual accuracy authentic data Business Register	>99%	In-house spot check on 600 registrations.	Result for 2023.

Securing and improving data quality

KVK secures and improves the quality of the Business Register in several ways. Employees play a vital role. They are the link between the registering entrepreneur and the actual registration. KVK works with a certification system that ensures only employees with the required level of authorisation are able to register organisations and make changes. This certification system is linked to periodical knowledge tests.

Besides that, automated processes make sure registrations are complete and are increasingly competent to signal errors directly upon entry.

The Business Register is connected to the Basisregistratie Personen (municipal personal records database, BRP) and the Basisregistratie Adressen en Gebouwen (addresses and buildings key register, BAG). These connections ensure data are and remain correct and up-to-date. The percentage of BRP connections is upwards of 99%. For the BAG, the percentage is 98%.

Also important are feedback and signals from governmental and private parties. KVK uses this information to keep the Business Register complete, correct, and up-to-date. The Belastingdienst (Netherlands Tax Administration) for example reports inactive companies, and KVK acts on that information. This is an example of reactive quality care. KVK wants to increase its level of proactiveness. Using data analyses, artificial intelligence technologies, and common sense, we are constantly on the lookout for ways to secure and improve the quality of the Business Register in an efficient manner.