Creating your company in September 2026: the complete checklist

September is a peak for company creations in Belgium. After the summer break, founders, freelancers and buyers relaunch projects that have been on hold since June. The rentrée brings together all the favourable conditions: administrations fully available, banks accessible, professional network back in place.

But September remains a short month. Three useful weeks before the workload peak of October. Successfully creating your company during this period requires good preparation and orderly execution. Nothing complex, but each step conditions the next. Skipping the order costs weeks of delay.

This checklist covers the 5 essential steps to launch a company in Brussels in September 2026, with realistic timelines and pitfalls to avoid. It is aimed at founders creating their first company, freelancers switching to SRL, and foreign entrepreneurs setting up their activity in Belgium.

Step 1: Choose your legal form

The choice of legal form conditions everything else. Three structures dominate in Belgium in 2026:

• SRL (Limited Liability Company): the most common since the 2019 reform. No minimum capital. Liability limited to contributions. Ideal for solo projects or small teams.
• SA (Public Limited Company): minimum capital of 61,500 euros. Suited to structures with several investors or with international ambitions.
• ASBL (Non-Profit Association): for projects with a social or cultural mission, without profit distribution.

For the vast majority of entrepreneurial projects, the SRL remains the default choice. It offers management flexibility, asset protection, and attractive taxation (corporate tax at 20% up to 100,000 euros profit for SMEs meeting the conditions).

Plan a short consultation with your accountant to validate the choice. The decision is made in 30 minutes once the criteria are clear.

Step 2: Secure a compliant registered office address

Your registered office address is published at the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises and determines your tax and administrative treatment. Three options:

• Personal address: allowed but strongly discouraged. Publication of your private residence, mixing of professional and personal, risk of VAT refusal if the address does not have commercial character.
• Office rental: ideal if you need daily physical space. Count 400 to 1,500 euros per month depending on surface and district.
• Professional domiciliation: the most used solution by founders who don't need a full-time office. From 79 euros excluding VAT per month at Office Factory. Address compliant with SPF Economy, mail managed, enforceable contract.

To choose your provider, always check their SPF Economy registration and request a copy of the standard contract before signing. Our article on the legal obligations of a domiciliation provider details the criteria to check.

Step 3: Open a professional bank account

The professional bank account is required from incorporation to receive capital contributions and manage the activity. In Belgium, count 1 to 4 weeks between the request and the effective activation of the account.

Banks require three main documents:

• Filed statutes (or draft statutes)
• BCE extract with the registered office address
• Identity document of the ultimate beneficial owners (UBO)

A domiciliation address not registered with the SPF Economy systematically triggers enhanced KYC and delays the opening. Conversely, a clean file with a compliant address passes quickly.

Our article on domiciliation and the professional bank account explains the pitfalls to avoid in detail.

Step 4: Activate your VAT number

Once the company is created and the address declared at the BCE, you must activate your VAT number with the SPF Finance if your activity exceeds the threshold of 25,000 euros annual turnover, or if you wish to recover VAT on your professional purchases.

Activation takes 5 to 15 working days. It is faster if your registered office address is registered in a compliant Business Center, slower if the administration must check the substance of the address.

Our article Domiciliation and VAT details the interaction between your address and your tax treatment.

Step 5: Publish at the Moniteur Belge and BCE

The last formal step is the publication of the statutes at the Moniteur Belge and registration with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises. This formality is generally handled by your notary or accountant in the days following the signing of the statutes.

Once publication is complete, your company officially exists, your company number (BCE) is active, and you can start invoicing.

Realistic timeline

Here is the average timeline for a complete SRL creation in September 2026, with a registered office address at a compliant domiciliation provider:

• D+0 to D+2: domiciliation signature, obtaining the certificate
• D+2 to D+5: signature of statutes at the notary, publication at the Moniteur Belge
• D+5 to D+15: VAT activation (parallel to bank opening)
• D+7 to D+21: effective bank account opening
• D+21: company fully operational, invoicing possible

Count 3 to 4 weeks in September 2026 for a complete creation, versus 5 to 6 weeks from October onwards.

Conclusion

Creating your company in September 2026 means seizing the optimal window of the year. Three weeks are enough if the steps are chained in the right order, with a compliant registered office and a prepared bank file.

At Office Factory, your domiciliation is activated in 48h, your certificate is handed over immediately, and your bank file passes without KYC blocking. You start your company in three weeks maximum.

Discover our domiciliation offer from €79/month, or read our article on how long a domiciliation takes to estimate your precise timing.