There is no official best social secretariat in Belgium. The official list of 20 June 2025 has 25 recognised social secretariats, with no ranking, and they file the same declarations under NSSO supervision. The best for you depends on your size, your joint committee and how you work. Business Centrum is a social bureau in Ghent that works with Acerta.
This guide gives no ranking. It gives the complete official list in alphabetical order, with recognition number and source, a decision matrix by situation and by type of provider, and eight criteria with, for each one, how to check it yourself. Business Centrum publishes this site, so it does not appear in any order, but in a separate, marked section at the bottom.
What is the best social secretariat in Belgium?
The best social secretariat is the one that fits your business: your number of employees, your joint committee, the languages in your team and how much of the work you want to do yourself. A measurable best for everyone does not exist, because the legal core is the same at every recognised secretariat.
What all recognised secretariats have in common:
- They are non-profit associations recognised by the Minister of Social Affairs, with at least 300 affiliated employers.
- They file the Dimona and the DmfA in your name and collect the social security contributions. Only a recognised secretariat may collect those contributions.
- They are supervised by the NSSO inspection, which measures their quality with a barometer covering 6 control areas.
- They lodge a guarantee for the money they collect for you.
What differs is the service around that core: who follows your file, how well that person knows your sector, what you pay over a year, the languages of the explanations, how you submit hours worked and where the nearest office is. That is what you compare. What recognition means in law is explained in recognised social secretariat or social bureau.
Most employers choose a secretariat. According to the NSSO annual report, in 2025 83% of employers were affiliated with a recognised secretariat. It is not mandatory: you may file your declarations yourself, as explained in is a social secretariat mandatory. On 31 December 2024 the NSSO counted 231,215 employers in total.
The official list: 25 recognised social secretariats in alphabetical order
The FPS Social Security has the list of recognised social secretariats published in the Belgian Official Gazette. The latest list is dated 20 June 2025 and was published on 15 July 2025. The order below is alphabetical. It says nothing about quality or size.
| Name | Recognition number | Head office | Regions with an office on the list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuria | 870 | Sint-Niklaas | Flanders |
| Acerta | 250 | Leuven | Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia |
| Attentia | 110 | Brussels | Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia |
| Besox | 960 | Knokke-Heist | Flanders |
| Centrum voor Loonbeheer | 910 | Alken | Flanders |
| DPS | 980 | Aalst | Flanders |
| Easypay | 600 | Leuven | Flanders, Wallonia |
| Group S | 100 | Brussels | Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia |
| Le Cap | 370 | Chaineux | Wallonia |
| Liantis | 510 | Bruges | Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia |
| Nationale Patroonsdienst | 650 | Merksem (Antwerp) | Flanders |
| Orbiss | 710 | Antwerp | Flanders |
| Partena | 300 | Brussels | Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia |
| Paycover | 995 | Brussels | Brussels |
| Salar | 950 | Kasterlee | Flanders |
| SD Worx (on the list: SD vzw) | 640 | Antwerp | Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia |
| Securex | 120 | Brussels | Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia |
| Sociaal Secretariaat der Notarissen van België | 150 | Brussels | Brussels |
| Sociaal Secretariaat voor Handel en Ambacht | 810 | Sint-Denijs-Westrem (Ghent) | Flanders |
| Sodalis | 540 | Sint-Michiels (Bruges) | Flanders, Brussels |
| Sodibe | 750 | Antwerp | Flanders |
| Sodiwe | 850 | Mechelen | Flanders |
| SSE | 920 | Meulebeke | Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia |
| SST | 280 | Tournai | Wallonia |
| UCM | 200 | Namur | Brussels, Wallonia |
Source: Belgian Official Gazette of 15 July 2025, FPS Social Security, list of recognised employers' social secretariats and their branch offices on 20 June 2025. The last column is our own count on that list: the head office and the branch offices still active, sorted by postcode. Names and addresses may have changed since.
According to that count, 8 secretariats have an office in all three regions, 3 in two regions and 14 in one region. Two names on the list refer to a profession or sector: the social secretariat of the notaries of Belgium, and Orbiss, listed as formerly Dienstbetoon, social secretariat for the construction industry. You can check a recognition number on a payslip or an invoice: every recognised secretariat must state it on its documents. How big each secretariat says it is, from its own publications, is in the largest social secretariats in Belgium.
Best social secretariat by situation: the decision matrix
Your situation decides which criterion weighs most. The matrix below gives, for each situation, what matters, the question to ask every candidate and the fact to know in advance. The numbers of workplaces come from the NSSO and cover the private sector on 31 December 2024.
| Your situation | What weighs most | Question to ask every candidate | Fact to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| First employee | an explanation at every step: Dimona, contract, first payslip | Who applies for the reduction for my first employee? | up to € 2,000 per quarter less in contributions, and a € 36.45 per quarter contribution to the fees at a recognised secretariat |
| 2 to 9 employees | a fixed contact and a yearly price for few payslips | What does my staff cost over a year, with every separate fee? | 81.10% of workplaces have fewer than 10 employees; up to € 1,000 per quarter reduction for the second to fifth employee |
| 10 to 49 employees | rosters, contract types, submitting and checking hours | By when do I submit hours worked, and who checks them? | 41,482 workplaces in this size class |
| 50 employees or more | links with your own systems, consultation and election rules, reporting | Who supports the social elections, and how do you connect to our time registration? | prevention committee from 50 employees, works council from 100; 10,294 workplaces |
| Sector with its own fund | knowledge of your joint committee and the declarations to the fund | How many clients do you have in my committee, and who files with the fund? | in construction the employer pays 9.12% for loyalty stamps |
| Multilingual staff | explanations in your language and in your employees' languages | In which languages do my employees and I get explanations, and from whom? | the language of social documents follows the language legislation of the area where your business is established |
Your first employee
Hiring for the first time calls for explanations more than a portal. The Dimona must be filed at the latest when the work starts, the contract must match the roster and the joint committee sets the minimum wage. For the first employee you get a reduction of employer contributions of up to € 2,000 per quarter. If you are affiliated with a recognised secretariat, the NSSO pays € 36.45 per quarter towards the affiliation fees for each quarter with that reduction. How the reduction works is explained in first employee social security reduction, and the steps to a first affiliation in joining a social secretariat.
Two to nine employees
This is the largest group: 222,080 of the 273,856 private-sector workplaces have fewer than ten employees. Such an employer rarely has an HR department. They need someone who knows the file and calls when something is wrong. Compare the price over a year here, not per payslip: a start-up fee, fees per Dimona or per certificate and a monthly minimum weigh heavily when there are few payslips. How such an invoice is built is set out in social secretariat cost. For the second to fifth employee a reduction of up to € 1,000 per quarter applies.
Ten to forty-nine employees
More people bring teams, part-time rosters, several contract types and more people joining and leaving. What matters then is how you submit hours worked, the deadline, and who checks them before the salaries go out. Ask for a demonstration of the submission with your own rosters. Ask also who updates your work regulations when your rosters change.
Fifty employees or more
From a usual average of 50 employees you organise social elections for a committee for prevention and protection at work, and from 100 also for a works council. What the 2028 procedure requires is in social elections 2028. At that scale, links with your time registration, your accounting and your HR software count too, as do reports per department. Ask which links already exist and who maintains them.
A sector with its own fund
Many joint committees have subsistence security funds with their own contributions, bonuses and declarations. In construction the employer pays 9.12% of gross pay for loyalty stamps, as explained in loyalty stamps in construction. A wrong committee throws every payslip off. If you are not sure which committee applies, check find your joint committee first, and the minimum wages per committee in the pay scales by joint committee.
Multilingual staff
The language of your social documents follows the language legislation of the area where your business is established. That says nothing about the language in which you and your employees get explanations. A payslip or a dismissal explanation that someone does not understand costs time later, and sometimes money. Ask each candidate in which languages your fixed contact answers you, and whether there are explanations for your employees in their language.
Which type of provider suits you?
Next to choosing a secretariat, there is choosing a model. You can join a secretariat with offices across the country directly, join a secretariat with offices in one or two regions, go through a social bureau that works with a recognised secretariat, or file yourself with payroll software.
| Recognised secretariat with offices in all three regions | Recognised secretariat with offices in one or two regions | Social bureau with a recognised secretariat behind it | Payroll software, filing yourself | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| On the official list | 8 | 3 in two, 14 in one region | the bureau no, the secretariat yes | no |
| Who files the Dimona and the DmfA? | the secretariat | the secretariat | the recognised secretariat behind the bureau | you, or a service provider with your mandate |
| Who collects the contributions? | the secretariat | the secretariat | the secretariat | nobody: you pay the NSSO yourself |
| Contribution for the first employee | yes, € 36.45 per quarter | yes, € 36.45 per quarter | yes, through the secretariat you are affiliated with | no |
| Your contact | a contact person or team at the secretariat | a contact person or team at the secretariat | a fixed person at the bureau | you, with the software's helpdesk |
| Suits | employers with sites or staff in several regions | employers working where the secretariat has its offices | employers without HR who leave the work to a fixed person | employers with their own knowledge of social law and time |
| What to watch | who handles your file every month | whether the secretariat knows your committee and sector | which recognised secretariat is behind it, with which number | you remain responsible for everything, without a secretariat's guarantee |
In every model you remain the employer: whoever files the declarations does so as your agent. What happens after a mistake is explained in social secretariat mistake. A foreign payroll provider cannot collect contributions here without Belgian recognition, see payroll provider Belgium.
Which social secretariat is best for you? Eight criteria to check yourself
A criterion you do not know how to check is a promise. Each criterion therefore says where to check it.
| # | Criterion | Why it matters | How to check it yourself |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Recognition and collection | only a recognised secretariat collects your contributions, with a guarantee | look the number up in the list above; the Mahis application shows your agent |
| 2 | Your joint committee | pay scales, bonuses and funds differ per committee | have a payslip from your sector explained and ask how the next indexation will be handled |
| 3 | Fixed contact | someone who knows your file spots mistakes before the inspection does | ask for the name, the direct number and who covers during leave |
| 4 | Price over a year | the price per payslip is rarely the total cost | a quote for your real staff, with the start-up fee and everything charged separately |
| 5 | Languages | explanations you and your employees understand | ask which languages the fixed contact works in |
| 6 | Submission and tools | the deadline decides whether salaries go out on time | ask for the monthly deadline and who enters the hours |
| 7 | Office and access | a meeting at the table for a dismissal or an inspection | the address on the list, and which office actually follows your file |
| 8 | Contract and switching | the term and the notice period decide how free you remain | read the general terms; a new agent can start up to 1 month after the start of a quarter |
A scorecard with weights and a worked example is in how to choose a social secretariat in Ghent. The general guide with the questions for a first meeting is which social secretariat to choose. The differences between the large names, with source and date, are in Acerta vs Securex, SD Worx, Liantis or Partena, and which secretariats publish their rates in social secretariat rates.
Worked example
What the model changes for a first employee
A fictitious start-up hires a first full-time employee and keeps them all year. The reduction for the first employee is up to € 2,000 per quarter, so up to 8,000 euros over four quarters. The employer gets this reduction in every model, even when filing alone.
| Model | First-employee reduction over a year | NSSO contribution to the fees | Who collects the contributions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recognised secretariat, directly | up to 8,000 euros | 4 x € 36.45 = 145.80 euros | the secretariat |
| Social bureau with a recognised secretariat | up to 8,000 euros | 4 x € 36.45 = 145.80 euros, through the secretariat | the secretariat |
| Payroll software, filing yourself | up to 8,000 euros, if applied for correctly | none | nobody: the employer pays the NSSO directly |
The difference in money is small. The difference in work and risk is larger: whoever files alone applies for the reduction alone, follows up the payments alone and carries every mistake alone. Put the contribution next to the yearly price and next to the time you would spend yourself.
Top 10 social secretariats in Belgium: why this guide gives none
Whoever searches for a top 10 of social secretariats finds mainly two kinds of lists. The first ranks by size, with numbers the secretariats publish themselves and that do not all count the same thing. The second comes from quote websites, which show their partners. No public authority makes a ranking. The NSSO measures quality with its barometer, but does not publish a score per secretariat.
A top 10 therefore helps you little. What helps is the official list above, the matrix by situation and the eight criteria. If you still want to know the size, it is given per secretariat, with source, in the largest social secretariats in Belgium.
The route through a social bureau: the example of Business Centrum
This section is about the publisher of this site. Business Centrum is therefore not in the list or the matrix above, but here, separately.
A social bureau is an office that runs your personnel administration and works with a recognised secretariat to do so. You talk to the bureau, the secretariat behind it files the declarations and collects the contributions. A social bureau may not call itself a social secretariat and is not on the official list. What such a bureau does and may do is explained in social bureau.
Business Centrum is a social bureau in Ghent, founded in 2013, and a recognised partner of Acerta. Acerta, recognised under number 250, files the declarations with the NSSO and collects the contributions. Business Centrum is the fixed contact: you submit the hours worked, Business Centrum processes payroll through Acerta. Business Centrum works from Ghent, almost everything remotely, and by appointment at the table in the Doornzelestraat. How the tasks are divided is set out in social bureau and Acerta, and task by task in Acerta or Business Centrum.
This route suits an employer who wants to be with a recognised secretariat but does not want to enter the work in a portal. Whoever prefers to enter everything themselves joins a secretariat directly. Business Centrum does not publish rates: you get a price in a quote, after a conversation about your file.
The facts about Business Centrum at a glance are in Business Centrum at a glance.
Making the choice in five steps
- Choose your model. Filing yourself, directly with a secretariat or through a social bureau. The table by type of provider above puts them side by side.
- Make a short list of two or three candidates. Use the official list and the column with the regions where each has an office.
- Ask every candidate the same questions. Take the question from the matrix for your situation and the eight criteria.
- Ask for a quote for your real staff, over a year, with everything charged separately.
- Plan the switch. The mandate with the NSSO changes at the start of a quarter, and your current contract has a notice period. See changing your social secretariat and social secretariat notice period.
Want to go through that choice with someone who will also handle the file afterwards? Business Centrum puts your situation next to the route through Acerta. Ask for a call back or read what Business Centrum does in the service social secretariat with Acerta.