Setting up a BV without a notary: is it possible?

It is one of the most searched questions about running a business: can you set up a BV without a notary? The short, honest answer is no. What most people actually want is possible: never having to go to a notary's office in person, and completing the whole process digitally from your laptop.

In this article we explain where the misconception comes from, what has really changed since 2024, and how the fully digital route works in practice.

Why setting up a BV without a notary doesn't exist

Legally, a BV only comes into existence when a civil-law notary executes a notarial deed of incorporation. That is set out in the law (Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code, Burgerlijk Wetboek) and there is no getting around it. The notary checks the articles of association, the identity of the founders and the control structure, and bears legal responsibility for the deed personally.

Services that promise you can set up a BV 'without a notary' almost always mean something else: they arrange the notary for you in the background. The deed is still executed by a real, recognised notary. So setting up a BV without a notary isn't a route you can choose; it is a promise that doesn't exist in practice.

What has changed since 2024

Until recently, setting up a BV meant making an appointment, driving to the office, sitting in a meeting room and signing on paper. Since 2024 that is no longer necessary. The deed can be executed remotely, digitally, without you having to leave the house.

Two things make that possible. First, digital identification: instead of sliding your passport across the counter, you prove your identity with an ID photo, a liveness check and a background check. Second, the digital signature: instead of a handwritten signature you place a Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) on the documents.

That digital signature isn't a lighter version. Under the European eIDAS regulation, a QES is legally equivalent to a signature on paper, throughout the EU. You can read exactly how that works in the article on eidas.

How the fully digital route works

At Digital Notary you go through the whole process online, with a real, recognised civil-law notary in the background. We engage the (external) notary for you, via Berger Notariaat. The deed is executed by that notary; you don't have to go anywhere in person.

1. You fill in your incorporation file: company name, objects and share structure. The onboarding takes about 20 minutes.
2. You identify yourself digitally via Sumsub: ID photo, liveness check and screening against sanctions and PEP lists.
3. The articles of association are drafted and you sign with a Qualified Electronic Signature under eIDAS.
4. The notary checks the complete file and executes the deed remotely.
5. Your BV is registered with the KvK and you get your KvK number in your dashboard.

The lead time is four to seven working days. What happens each day is broken down in the article on lead time. The shareholder register is set up digitally and audit-proof straight away on the infrastructure of Nxchange, an AFM-regulated investment firm. You can read more about that under shareholder register.

Setting up a holding company alongside your BV? That is an option you tick in the same process: with the Pro package the holding company costs €300 extra, one-off, and is incorporated straight away. The Pro package also handles the onboarding of up to five shareholders.

The figures you often hear wrong

Persistent misconceptions circulate about setting up a BV. The best known: that you would need €18,000 in starting capital. That hasn't been true since 2012. The legal minimum is now €0.01.

• Minimum starting capital: €0.01. The old amount of €18,000 is outdated.
• KvK registration: €85.15 (2026 rate), one-off.
• Customary salary (gebruikelijk loon) for a DGA: guideline of €58,000 for 2026.
• Tipping point from sole proprietorship to BV: roughly between €90,000 and €120,000 annual profit, as a rule of thumb and depending on your situation.

Still wondering whether a BV suits you at all? Read bv-of-eenmanszaak first. And if you want to know what notarial work normally costs and why a digital process is priced differently, see notaris-kosten. The monthly fee isn't a subscription but the operational and legal layer: the register, your file and the notarial infrastructure. How that is made up is explained under maandelijkse-fee.

In short

Setting up a BV without a notary isn't possible; the deed remains a legal requirement. But the physical trip to the office has gone. You arrange everything digitally, with a real notary who executes the deed remotely. That is exactly what most entrepreneurs are looking for when they type 'without a notary'.