Getting Started

Five steps to get a new Dutch company live on ERPNext with this localization installed. Plan on 15–30 minutes if you're starting from a fresh ERPNext install; longer if you're migrating from another ERP and need to align an existing chart of accounts.

Step 1 — Set the Company country to Netherlands

Open the Company record (Setup → Company → your company name). In the Country field, pick Netherlands and save. The localization layer only activates for companies whose country is Netherlands — this keeps the NL hooks off any non-Dutch companies you might run in the same bench.

Step 2 — Run "Setup Dutch Localization"

On the same Company form, open the NL Localization menu (top right) and click Setup Dutch Localization. Confirm when prompted. This one button creates everything you need:

• RGS Schema Accounts (the Dutch reference grootboekschema — global, shared across all companies on this site)
• Seven Tax Categories (NL-Domestic, NL-Domestic-Reduced, EU-B2B, EU-B2C, Non-EU, NL-RC-Construction, Exempt)
• Item Tax Templates per category, company-specific
• NL Tax Account Settings — the mapping from your GL accounts to the BTW return boxes
• Company default accounts pre-filled with the right Dutch accounts
• An RGS Schema Account link on every existing Account in your chart

Setup is idempotent — re-running it later won't duplicate anything; it tops up what's missing.

Step 3 — Verify the setup

After setup completes, spot-check:

• Open Chart of Accounts — accounts should show RGS codes alongside.
• Open Tax Category list — you should see all seven categories.
• Open NL Tax Account Settings for your company — every BTW box should point to a real GL account.

If anything is missing, run Setup Dutch Localization again.

Step 4 — Tag every Customer and Supplier with a Tax Category

Open each Customer and pick the right Tax Category in the Accounting tab. Same for Suppliers. The category controls which BTW boxes the transaction lands in — get this wrong and your VAT return will pull the wrong numbers.

Rough mapping:

• Dutch B2B/B2C buying at 21% → NL-Domestic
• Dutch buying reduced-rate items (food, books, hotels) → NL-Domestic-Reduced
• Other EU businesses with valid VAT number → EU-B2B
• Other EU consumers (no VAT number) → EU-B2C
• Outside the EU → Non-EU
• Construction-services reverse charge → NL-RC-Construction
• Tax-exempt activities (medical, education, financial) → Exempt

Step 5 — Start invoicing

That's it. Create Sales Invoices and Purchase Invoices as you normally would. The validate hook will pick the right income/expense account from the NL Account Mapping based on Tax Category + Item Group on each line. Your first BTW return is one click away — see VAT Returns.

Optional — configure overheid.io for KvK lookup

If you want the KvK Lookup buttons on Customer / Supplier records (recommended for any B2B customer base), open Netherlands Localization Settings and:

1. Tick Enable KvK Lookup.
2. Paste your overheid.io API Key into the password field.
3. Save.

overheid.io's free tier returns test data only; paid plans start around €150/year for 2,500 lookups/month. Skip this section if you don't need KvK enrichment — every other feature works without it.