Moving Your Registered Office Away from a Home Address

Why leave a home address

Many companies start with a seat at the founder's home address. That helps at launch, but the drawbacks show quickly. Your private details appear in the CBE, on invoices and in legal publications. Every house move also forces you to move the company seat.

Other situations lead to the same choice: a lease that ends, rent that weighs too much or a team that now works remotely. In each case, a domiciliation provider offers a stable seat for a modest monthly fee.

Three checks before you move

Check three points before any decision.

Reread the articles of association

Since the Code of Companies and Associations, the articles only need to state the region of the seat. However, some older articles still give the full street details. In that case, ask your notary or accountant whether an amendment is necessary.

Check the language

A move to another language area can require a new language for the articles. For example, a firm with French articles that moves to Ghent needs articles in Dutch. That change then goes through the general meeting and a notarial deed. By contrast, a move from Liège to Namur changes nothing about the language.

Choose the provider

Pick the provider before any formal decision. Sign the contract before you publish anything. Also check the provider's registration with the FPS Economy and the services included. Our guide to a Brussels address describes those checks.

Steps to leave a home address

Also make sure the tax authority holds the new details. For an SRL or an SA, this procedure covers most cases. Heavier situations, such as a change of language, call for a full registered-office transfer with amended articles.

Getting the timing right

The order of the steps matters as much as the steps themselves. Keep the old home address active until publication, because third parties still rely on it. Indeed, the new seat only becomes enforceable against third parties after publication in the Belgian Gazette.

So have your post forwarded for a few months, for example through the bpost redirection service. Also plan one month of overlap between the old lease and the new contract. That way, you never go without a mailbox.

Send your bank the minutes and the publication extract as soon as it appears. Many banks ask for these documents before they update the seat in their systems. Do the same with your accountant, who carries the new details into tax and social security filings.

What the move costs

The cost falls into two blocks. First, one-off costs: the publication fee and, where needed, notary or accountant fees. Second, the monthly subscription of the provider, which depends on the city and the services. Also ask about one-off set-up fees and the price of extras such as parcel forwarding. That way, you compare quotes on their real yearly cost.

For example, a consultant who swaps a rented room for a mail-only plan cuts fixed costs sharply in the first year. To estimate the saving, read our article on the benefits of a virtual office.

Mistakes that delay the move

• Publishing the decision before signing the domiciliation contract.
• Forgetting the seat details on invoices and quotes.
• Ending the old lease without enough notice.
• Ignoring post still sent to the old home address.
• Overlooking a clause in the articles that states the full street details.

Each mistake costs time, sometimes contractual penalties too. A dated checklist prevents most of these slips.

After leaving your home address

Collect the post regularly during the first weeks. Some administrations take a while to process the change. Finally, check in CBE Public Search that the company record shows the new seat.

If you still meet clients at your home address, register that place as an establishment unit. Our guide on how to domicile a company explains the distinction. For the publication formalities, read our article on the Belgian Gazette.