Set up a client record without retyping everything: the enterprise number does the work

Opening a client record, copying the company's exact name, the registered address, the legal form, the VAT number... and hoping you didn't get a digit wrong. It's the kind of task you repeat several times a month without thinking, and it eventually costs you: a wrong address on an invoice, two swapped digits in an enterprise number, and the document has to be redone.

Yet all of that information already exists, in one place, verified and public. Every Belgian company is registered with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (CBE) — the Kruispuntbank van Ondernemingen (KBO) in Dutch, the Banque-Carrefour des Entreprises (BCE) in French. Voilo pulls the data from there on your behalf: you enter an enterprise number or a name, and the record fills itself in.

The CBE, in two sentences

The CBE is the official register of Belgian companies, run by the FPS Economy. Every company, self-employed person or establishment unit gets a unique ten-digit enterprise number — the same one that, prefixed with "BE", becomes the VAT number. It holds the official name, the registered address, the legal form, the start date of activity, the activity codes (NACE-BEL) and the VAT status.

This data is public and free to consult through the CBE's Public Search tool. Anyone can verify a company's existence and identity from its number. It's this same official source that Voilo queries when you create a record.

How it works in Voilo

When you add a new client or supplier, you're not staring at a blank form. You enter the enterprise number (or search by name), and Voilo retrieves straight away:

• the company's official name, spelled as in the register;
• the registered address;
• the legal form (SRL/BV, SA/NV, self-employed natural person...);
• the VAT number, consistent with the enterprise number.

You check it over, add what's specific to the relationship (a contact, an email, your payment terms), and the record is ready. What used to take two minutes of retyping is done in a few seconds.

The real gain isn't only time

A Belgian invoice must state your client's exact name and address, along with their VAT number. If those details are wrong or incomplete, the invoice can be disputed — and in the event of an audit, it's on you to correct it. Starting from the official source removes that risk from the very first entry.

There's also the "clean database" effect. When every record comes from the same register, you no longer have three spellings of the same client in your file, nor an address that's current in one place and out of date in another. Your client list stays consistent — which matters the day you want to filter, chase an unpaid invoice or export to your accountant.

And when you send the invoice electronically

Since 2026, invoices between Belgian companies (B2B) must be structured and exchanged electronically, generally over the PEPPOL network. PEPPOL relies precisely on those enterprise identifiers: the number is used to locate your client on the network and deliver the invoice. A record built cleanly from the start, with the right number, is also an electronic invoice that goes out without a hitch. Voilo handles that part through a certified PEPPOL access point — but it all begins with an accurate client identity.

Data that stays current

The CBE updates its data daily: an address or name change registered today is available the next day. So you work with the most recent information the authorities hold on a company, without ever re-keying it. Consultation through Public Search remains reserved for normal use — checking and completing a record, not harvesting the register in bulk.

The principle is simple: less manual entry, fewer errors, admin that moves forward for you. Voilo brings that company lookup, your client and supplier management and your invoicing together in a single subscription with no commitment. You can see what's included on the pricing page (prices excluding VAT).