RGS explained: the Dutch reference chart of accounts

What is the Referentie GrootboekSchema (RGS)?

The Referentie GrootboekSchema (RGS) is a Dutch standard that defines which types of general ledger accounts exist and what they are called, with a fixed reference code for each account. An administration linked to RGS can show what each account means while keeping its own numbers. That makes the charts of accounts of different businesses and different accounting packages readable to each other.

RGS works with four fields: a reference code, a reference account number, an account description and a reversal code (omslagcode). The reference account number is an example; businesses may keep their own numbering. The reference code itself may not be changed or extended as long as you refer to RGS as the standard. If a code is missing, you can submit a request to the maintaining organisation.

Why does RGS exist?

RGS exists because parties that request financial information, such as the Chamber of Commerce (KvK), the Belastingdienst, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and banks, increasingly ask for standardised data, while every business sets up its books in its own way. RGS bridges that gap. It is part of the SBR programme, Standard Business Reporting, a broader initiative to standardise business reporting. Through the related taxonomy, data from an RGS-linked administration is translated into SBR reports.

For a firm this means less manual splitting and reclassifying when preparing reports. If the accounts already line up with the right reporting elements, less needs to be reposted afterwards. A shared coding also makes comparison easier: between periods, between clients in the same sector or between administrations running in different packages. The main uses are:

• Reporting via SBR, for example for filing accounts or tax returns.
• Exchanging data between accounting, reporting and analysis software.
• Benchmarking and dashboards across multiple administrations.
• Financial information for banks and other lenders.

How is RGS structured: levels, versions and filters?

RGS is built from five hierarchical levels: balance sheet or profit and loss account, main heading, heading, GL account and movement. An example from the official explanation: B stands for balance sheet, BMva for tangible fixed assets, BMvaBeg for business premises, BMvaBegVvp for the acquisition or production cost of business premises and BMvaBegVvpIna for newly acquired investments in them. Level 4 is enough for standard reporting and analysis; level 5 adds detail, mainly for movements and roll-forward schedules.

RGS has periodic versions. The Taakgroep RGS released the final version RGS 3.8 in December 2025, and the RGS website lists version 3.9 as a consultation version. The core of the scheme has stayed the same since RGS 3.0. The scheme also contains filters to select a suitable subset, for example for SMEs, sole traders, sole proprietorships and partnerships, or specific sectors. Always check the current version on referentiegrootboekschema.nl before creating or updating a mapping.

How do you map your firm's administrations to RGS?

You map an administration to RGS by linking each existing GL account to the matching RGS reference code, or by starting new administrations directly on an RGS-based chart. Many accounting packages support recording an RGS code per account; how that works differs per package. Decide beforehand which level you map to and which filter suits the client, because that determines how many codes you need.

With existing administrations, mapping is mainly a matter of looking carefully at what has actually been booked to an account. An account called general expenses may in practice contain several kinds of costs, and then splitting it is better than picking one code. Record which standard chart the firm uses, so new clients start correctly from day one. A workable approach:

1. 1Choose a firm standard: which level and which filter do you use for which type of client?
2. 2Set up new administrations directly on a chart linked to RGS.
3. 3For existing administrations, link the matching RGS code to each GL account.
4. 4Split accounts that hold different kinds of entries before mapping them.
5. 5Check the mapping against a trial balance and the reports.
6. 6Update the mapping when a new RGS version appears that affects your administrations.

Why does a shared chart of accounts help with global rules?

A shared chart of accounts helps because firm-wide agreements only work unambiguously if an account means the same thing in every administration. An agreement such as phone costs go to the communication expenses account is easy to apply if that account exists for every client and plays the same role. If every client has its own chart, such an agreement has to be translated per administration or recorded as an exception. Whether you choose RGS or your own firm chart makes no difference to this principle.

In Autoboeker you record firm-wide working agreements as global rules and AI instructions, and deviations per client as administration rules. GL accounts are synchronised per administration from the accounting software, and the AI learns per administration and firm-wide from history and corrections. The more uniform your administrations' charts of accounts are, the fewer client-specific exceptions you need. The starting point is the chart of accounts as it exists in the administration's accounting software.