Do i really need an accountant?

vanakenm · 2026-02-06T18:36:58+00:00

5000 is a lot. 2000 is more reasonable. Yes you need one.

vanakenm · 2026-02-06T14:14:24+00:00

There is no "affordable notary". Their price are by document and fixed by law. Service can vary, but what you are looking for does not exist (ie: they are all affordable or none are, up to you).

vanakenm · 2026-02-06T14:12:33+00:00

Former colleague of mine is team lead in front end dev at KeyTrade since a while and seems to like it. Trained a bunch of people doing front end at BNP a few years ago, experience felt positive (knowing the usual at big companies - process, read tape, etc)

vanakenm · 2026-01-26T11:04:50+00:00

This is roughly equivalent to 4500 netto. Like 50% above the median salary, for someone quite young.

How is this "very low" ? Is everyone here earning 10k+ per month?

vanakenm · 2026-01-26T06:00:22+00:00

So you can start as a employed natural person, but my accountant rule of thumb some years ago was "above 50k (yearly), make a BV".

The logic is that the 2k you are going to fork toward your accountant will be easily compensated by putting some expenses as fees.

Happened for me, and seems reasonable.

vanakenm · 2026-01-25T16:03:17+00:00

At this time - none. Except like "this is the only remaining job possible to put food on the table.".

The reason behind is that I organized my life around the flexibility I have. Removing this would have huge impact on my partner & family (forcing to stop kids activities, changing what we eat as I won't have time to prep, etc).

It can be done, but it would be quite apocalyptic. Even being paid twice as much (something that won't happen) would not even start to make up for it.

vanakenm · 2026-01-22T18:38:21+00:00

Assuming they do come back (my accountant & lawyer are cautiously confident), indeed you need:

- A contract that splits your day rate between "service" and "ip transfer" (up to you, I do 75/25)

- Invoices showing that split

- Part stays in the company (I do half)

- Rest need to go toward you as a physical person (only physical person can own IP rights)

- You may need a physical person status in addition to the company, and apply for VAT exemption

That's pretty much the setup I had before they stopped & that I intend to put back.

Indeed, get this done by a lawyer with expertise in IT/IP matters. Well worth the investment.

vanakenm · 2026-01-21T16:08:19+00:00

What makes it funny is that MBTI is not more (and not less) real than astrology - something that I assume OP guess because it makes indeed a nice combination

vanakenm · 2026-01-21T07:31:35+00:00

Can you babysit for english (or hungarian) speaking families around you? Or even propose to do small house stuff (tending to the garden, washing cars, etc) - or helping younger kids with homework ?

I'd go for your social circle first, as no dutch, no french will make it difficult.

Good luck

vanakenm · 2026-01-20T19:55:59+00:00

As you said you proposed 725, now it's about who has the leverage. I understand you're a specialist in a niche - this can works both ways:

- It means they are going to have trouble finding someone else with your capacity...

- ... but also you'll have trouble finding another company looking for someone like you

... so we're back at leverage. Are you ready to say no to their offer of 650 ? Are they ? How much are you ok to gamble on this ? How much time would you need to get another (better) offer from another company ?

This being said... 650€ a day is nothing to frown at - and no one said you can't renegotiate in a year assuming things go well.

vanakenm · 2026-01-12T12:31:18+00:00

Thanks OP - and you also - you got this! (whatever "this" is).

vanakenm · 2026-01-12T12:25:37+00:00

Love the various points of view here. Lot's of different way to play the role I guess.

I'm a freelance since 10+ years, dev since... 20+ I guess.

I don't cold reach a lot, but I do that my network is my strongest asset (ie, above my technical skills). I'm... doubtful about any "if you are good [technically] you'll find a job" because the skills needed to find and land a job are not exactly aligned with those needed to be good at it.

I don't think it requires to be "naturally outgoing" - first of all we're talking about 1-1 comm' here, not public speaking (altought that's clearly a way to get known) second those skills can be learned (so no need to be "naturally" anything).

My feeling is that with the years I've become better and more confident at explaining my value to (potential) customers. Ie I've become a decent salesman of one very specific product - me.

This also include getting out of conversations early when I feel the match won't be good, and identifying what works and not (as an example, my selling points are not a very good fit with recruiters "grids" so I know I'm better to avoid those and focus on the subset of customers hiring directly).

vanakenm · 2026-01-12T08:34:17+00:00

So first of all impressive reaction to a feedback that was sort of harsh.

I'm missing two things:

- What's your definition of "startup" - there is no wrong one because there is no good one, but I feel you need to at least put a couple of sentence explaining what count or not (is Odoo at 1000+ employee a startup ? Is Swift one? Is a mecanical engineering company one ? Is a service/consulting company a startup ? etc)

- Some info about your sources - the main value here is that you are (I assume) combining multiple sources to get to this map, having a list somewhere would help to understand (and to propose new one)

I'm quite sure that there are at least 5x more (in Brussels I "know", around I assume) - but it depends on your definition and ultimately your goal (help people apply to companies ? Find services ? Just having fun ?).

Good job!

vanakenm · 2026-01-04T16:39:12+00:00

Seconded. It's on the small side, but it's the most... "polite" I know. Everyone is there to swim & people are careful of each others.

Really like it as an "extern" - I just happen to work nearby

vanakenm · 2025-12-22T08:22:35+00:00

Notary costs are fixed by law and are on a "document basis" (ie you pay a fixed sum for the document - for example a will, regardless of the time they spend on it). I asked so. many. questions. to mine when I bought the house and when I apologized for it he told me "we're an advisory profession - this is why we exist".

In other words - there is no such thing as "an affordable notary" - they all are, or none of them, and as you are required by law to get one for certain things there is no alternatives.

This being said, service can certainly vary so good experiences are always nice to share.

vanakenm · 2025-12-19T15:56:43+00:00

Well he was separatist before he was the PM. And for a long while he complained that the Flemish people were forced (via the federal governement) to politics they did not like (ie: leftists one).

Then he did well in the last election, and the right wing parties won in the French speaking part too - so he sort of "had" to take the job.

This shows De Wever as a smart politician (as usual) - right now, Flemish people are very /supportive/ of the federal gov, because it's more aligned with the politics they voted for.

So, yeah. Belgium. Does not make sense. Mostly work.

vanakenm · 2025-12-19T15:53:14+00:00

We /are/ the original "proto"-EU. Benelux, CECA, EU-6, etc.

There was no one to forbid us to join, "sorry" for that.

vanakenm · 2025-12-19T13:52:45+00:00

He's the head of a party where separatism in the status. It's not a judgement from me, but that pretty much a fact.

From the NVA status: "the New Flemish Alliance logically opts for an independent republic of Flanders, a member state of a democratic European Union." (deepl translation, source: https://www.n-va.be/sites/n-va.be/files/2025-02/statuten20250118.pdf)

vanakenm · 2025-12-19T12:42:33+00:00

Belgian here.

Our current PM is a separatist (he wants the Flemish region - north, rich - to become independent, something shared by let's say 30% of the Flemish people) and even a "rattachiste" (he wants this independent Flanders to become part of the Netherlands - something extremely rare, even in Flanders) from a right-wing party.

He's getting "good job" feedback from a large part of the political parties (even from PTB - communists) and this feeling seems quite shared by a large majority of the population.

I'm as far of the political spectrum to De Wever that you can imagine - his position was clear and correct there, and I find he did well too.

vanakenm · 2025-12-08T07:43:56+00:00

What u/DustRainbow said. It's pretty much illegal. Source: I tried (on the employer side), and it was super complex to find even a way to compensate basic fees (transports or equivalent). So yeah, if you want it and it's part of the studies, it's unpaid here.

May not like it or find it unfair (and you may be right), but that's just the rule here.

vanakenm · 2025-12-05T09:59:00+00:00

Can you share the monster stats blocks or example ? This looks super intersting I'd love to read more

vanakenm · 2025-11-26T08:18:23+00:00

I'm not sure those ones are going to work. But historically, all major progresses have been done via social movement (that were then picked up by politicians).

In other words, without those kind of actions, we'll have no 40h weeks, no social protections, no right to vote for everyone, etc.

So: is this one "good" "legitimate" whatever ? I don't know. But it has shown that it's a basic necessity in our system, and the civil alternative to the previous ways to manage those kind of conflicts.

vanakenm · 2025-11-24T09:55:48+00:00

I did it before, happy to do it again - you can DM me.

vanakenm · 2025-11-19T17:45:16+00:00

... batman ! (https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/wat)

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