Liquidation Reserves as a Signal: How Bankers Identify Valuable Companies

And how openthebox helps bankers find them faster

An accumulated reserve demonstrates that a company has profit-making capacity and consciously sets aside resources for future distributions or investments. For bankers and financial advisors, this means much more than just an accounting choice: it indicates a potential future cash event — and thus an opportunity for banks to position themselves as partners in this future cash flow. It also opens the door to relevant conversations and commercial opportunities.

A specific reserve is the liquidation reserve. This allows small Belgian companies to set aside a portion of their net profit. In 2021 alone, Belgian companies built up almost €10 billion in liquidation reserves. Thanks to this tax regime, these profits can currently be distributed at a combined tax rate of 13.64% — a significant incentive for smart financial planning (De Tijd).

Due to the Easter Agreement (April 2024), this regime will change from July 1, 2025:

• For new liquidation reserves, the waiting period will be reduced to 3 years, but the withholding tax upon distribution will increase to 6.5%.
• This raises the total tax burden to 15% (10% anticipatory levy + 6.5% withholding tax).
• For existing reserves, the old system (5 years and 5% withholding tax) remains in effect, but companies can also opt for faster distribution after 3 years at 6.5%.

How to find these companies with openthebox

With openthebox, bankers and relationship managers can easily detect companies that:

✅ are building a reserve that potentially contains a liquidation reserve;

✅ have profit-making capacity and thus an increased chance of future cash events;

✅ have a profile as a small company, allowing them to strategically generate and reserve profits.

Additionally, openthebox helps detect other cash events, such as dividend distributions or capital reductions.

How openthebox helps you:

• By intelligently analyzing all annual accounts and other publications daily, you get an overview of companies building reserves and thus creating financial breathing room.
• Through filters on revenue, balance sheet total, and headcount, you can specifically select companies that qualify as small companies.

This gives you a shortlist of companies with potentially interesting cash events — ready for commercial follow-up.

Opening the Door to Valuable Client Conversations

Companies building liquidation reserves are focused on their growth strategy, dividend policy, or financial planning. This offers a unique opportunity to discuss:

• future investments or distributions;
• investment solutions for available cash;
• optimization of cash position and capital structure.

Banks like ABN AMRO Private Banking experience how a well-prepared relationship manager makes the difference:

"We don't want to present the entrepreneur with typical standard questions, but rather address issues that are relevant to them. For a private banker, the combination of knowing your client well and meeting their expected quality standards is very important. The versatility of openthebox enables us to prepare optimally."

Thanks to openthebox, you can also detect companies with growing revenue, EBITDA, or equity. This helps spot growth companies, detect cash accumulation, and prioritize the most relevant clients. This way, a banker enters the conversation prepared — with the right questions and the right solutions.

Conclusion

Reserves are more than just a technical entry: they indicate profitability, strategic planning, and potential for future cash events. For bankers, these are ideal clients: financially healthy, future-oriented, and often open to value-adding advice and products.

With openthebox, you can easily identify these companies, analyze their behavior, and convert these insights into commercial advantage. This ensures you as a banker are always ready for the right conversation at the right time.