There is no official top 5 of payroll companies in Belgium. There are six types of provider, and only the 25 recognised social secretariats on the list of 20 June 2025 may collect your social security contributions. Which type fits you depends mainly on your headcount: under 50, 50 to 249, or 250 and more.
Those thresholds are not arbitrary. At 10, 20, 50, 100, 150 and 250 employees, Belgian law adds tasks that reach your payroll, from an extra social security contribution to social elections and a gender pay gap report. This guide sets out the provider types, the thresholds and the official list, without a ranking. Business Centrum is a social bureau in Ghent that works with Acerta as its recognised secretariat, and the publisher of this site.
What kinds of payroll companies are there in Belgium?
Asking an AI assistant for "payroll outsourcing providers", "HR services and BPO", "global payroll" or "payroll software" in Belgium means asking about four different markets. They overlap, but they do not do the same job. The difference comes down to one question: who files your declarations with the NSSO, and who collects your contributions?
| Type of provider | What it does | Files Dimona and DmfA? | Collects your contributions? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recognised secretariat | pay, declarations and collection, as your agent | yes | yes, it alone |
| Social bureau with a recognised secretariat | your contact and the processing; the secretariat behind it files and collects | through the secretariat | through the secretariat |
| Social service provider without recognition | pay and declarations under your mandate | yes | no, you pay the NSSO yourself |
| Accountant | sometimes a provider itself, sometimes a relay to a secretariat | depends on the agreement | no |
| Payroll software | you calculate and file yourself | you | no |
| Global payroll or employer of record | one contract for several countries, in Belgium through a local partner | the local partner | only through a recognised secretariat |
Two types are left out of the table on purpose. An HR outsourcing or BPO firm takes over tasks around your staff, such as recruitment, training or personnel files, but for the Belgian declarations it works with one of the types above. HR software or an HRIS manages staff data and passes it to payroll, without being an agent with the NSSO. What payroll software does and does not do is in payroll software in Belgium. How each type works legally and how to check it is in the guide choosing a payroll provider in Belgium. What a recognised secretariat is under the law, you can read in recognised social secretariat or social bureau.
Joining a secretariat is not compulsory: you may file your declarations yourself. Even so, in 2025 83% of employers belonged to a recognised secretariat, according to the NSSO annual report. More in is a social secretariat mandatory.
How big are Belgian employers?
The question "split by company size" is mostly about small employers in Belgium. On 31 December 2024 the NSSO counted 301,045 workplaces with employees.
| Workplaces with | Number | Segment |
|---|---|---|
| fewer than 5 employees | 185,467 | SME |
| 5 to 9 employees | 48,006 | SME |
| 10 to 19 employees | 29,628 | SME |
| 20 to 49 employees | 22,782 | SME |
| 50 to 99 employees | 8,281 | mid-sized |
| 100 to 199 employees | 4,299 | mid-sized |
| 200 to 499 employees | 1,860 | mid-sized or large |
| 500 employees or more | 722 | large |
Source: NSSO, distribution of jobs by place of work, fourth quarter of 2024. The NSSO counts workplaces, not companies: a company with two shops counts twice.
95% of those workplaces have fewer than 50 employees, and 77.60% fewer than 10. A list of "market leaders per segment" therefore says little to the employer asking the question: the large majority is a small business with one or two joint committees.
What changes with size: the thresholds that reach your payroll
A payroll company for 8 employees and one for 300 employees do not do the same work. At each threshold the law adds tasks, and part of them ends up in your payroll.
| From | What the law asks | What it means for your payroll |
|---|---|---|
| the first employee | registration with the NSSO, Dimona, DmfA, payslip, individual account | a payroll run every month; a reduction of up to € 2,000 per quarter for the first employee and € 1,000 per quarter for the second to the fifth |
| 10 employees on average | an additional employer contribution of 1.60%; above 10 employees, a right to time credit | applying the contribution in the DmfA and tracking time credit |
| 20 employees | the employer may no longer act as prevention advisor himself | working with the internal or external prevention service |
| more than 20 employees on average | the collective redundancy rules apply | dismissal calculations and social documents for several employees at once |
| 50 employees | social elections for a committee for prevention and protection at work | staff lists and data for the election procedure |
| 50 employees | a confidential counsellor from your own staff | not a payroll task, but a personnel file |
| 50 employees | every two years, an analysis report on the pay structure | supplying pay data by job, gender and category |
| 100 employees | a works council | social and economic information for the council, including on labour costs |
| 100 employees | under the European directive, a gender pay gap report, first by 7 June 2031 | reportable pay data by category |
| 150 employees | the same report, first by 7 June 2027 | the same, three years earlier |
| 250 employees | the gender pay gap report every year | yearly reporting from payroll |
The pay gap thresholds come from the European pay transparency directive. The Belgian transposition sets the dates for Belgian employers; what already applies today is in pay transparency. Social elections and their thresholds are in social elections 2028, the prevention service in external prevention service and the confidential counsellor in psychosocial risks. The reductions for the first hires are in first employee RSZ reduction.
Payroll companies for an SME: fewer than 50 employees
An SME with fewer than 50 employees rarely has someone doing payroll full time. The manager, an office employee or the accountant passes on the hours worked. What such an employer needs from a payroll company:
- Everything in one place. Calculation, Dimona, DmfA, withholding tax and the collection of contributions. A recognised secretariat, or a social bureau that works with one, does all of it together.
- Knowledge of its joint committee. A bakery, a building firm and a wholesaler each have different pay scales, bonuses and sector funds. Find yours with find your joint committee.
- A fixed contact person. At a first dismissal or an accident at work, a small employer wants someone who knows the file.
- Little work on its side. A portal where you enter everything yourself saves the provider's hours and spends yours.
Software alone rarely fits here: whoever files alone also carries the knowledge of every joint committee and every change in the law. A provider without recognition is possible if you follow up the social security payments yourself. How a small employer chooses is on social secretariat for small businesses and social secretariat for SMEs. Hiring your first employee? Read hiring your first employee in Belgium.
Payroll for a mid-sized company: 50 to 249 employees
From 50 employees the question changes. There is often an HR manager, sometimes several sites and several joint committees, and social elections, a pay structure report and later a pay gap report are added. What counts then:
- Broad sector knowledge. Several joint committees in one file, each with its own indexation and bonuses.
- Reporting. Pay data by category, gender and site, in a form your HR manager can request directly.
- Links with your own systems. Time registration, planning and HR software that send data to payroll. Why time registration matters is in time registration in Belgium.
- A team rather than one person. With cover during holidays and a fixed file manager.
A recognised secretariat remains the usual choice here. Some mid-sized companies hire their own payroll officer who works in a secretariat's software: the calculation happens in house, the declarations and collection through the secretariat.
Payroll for a large company: 250 employees and more
A large company usually has its own payroll team. The payroll company then supplies less of the calculation and more of the infrastructure: software, declarations, collection and the link with the group's HR systems. What counts:
- A yearly gender pay gap report from 250 employees, under the directive.
- An audit trail. Who changed what, and when, in every payslip.
- An international structure. Staff in several countries call for global payroll, with a local partner in Belgium. The question to ask remains: which partner files your Belgian declarations?
- Works council and committee. Social information and pay data for the consultation bodies.
What we do not do is draw up a list of "leaders" per segment. The size of each secretariat, as it publishes it, is in the largest social secretariats. The five best known side by side, with their own data, are in Acerta, SD Worx, Securex, Liantis and Partena compared.
Decision aid: comparing payroll companies by company size
Give each criterion a weight from 1 to 3. The table gives a starting point per segment; adjust it to your own situation.
| Criterion | SME (under 50) | Mid-sized (50 to 249) | Large (250 and more) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who collects the contributions and files | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Knowledge of your joint committee | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Fixed contact person | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Work that stays with you | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Reporting and pay data | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Link with HR software | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| International payroll | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Price over a year, all in | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Worked example
Three fictional employers, three different questions
A butcher's shop with 6 employees. No threshold beyond the first employee is reached. The shop is entitled to the reductions for first hires and wants one provider that does everything. Highest score: a recognised secretariat or a social bureau working with one, with a fixed contact person. Software alone scores 0 out of 2 on "work that stays with you" and "knowledge of your joint committee".
A transport company with 60 employees. It is above 10 (extra contribution), above 20 (no longer its own prevention advisor) and at 50 (social elections, pay structure report). It has blue-collar and white-collar staff in two joint committees. Reporting and sector knowledge now weigh as much as the contact person. A secretariat with a file team and an export of pay data scores best.
A group with 400 employees in Belgium and the Netherlands. Yearly pay gap reporting, a works council and staff in two countries. International payroll and the link with the group's HR software get weight 3. The question to every global payroll provider: which Belgian recognised secretariat files our declarations?
The official list of recognised social secretariats, in alphabetical order
These are the 25 recognised social secretariats with an active head office on the list of 20 June 2025, in alphabetical order. The order says nothing about quality or size.
| Name on the list | Recognition number | Head office |
|---|---|---|
| Accuria | 870 | Sint-Niklaas |
| Acerta | 250 | Leuven |
| Attentia | 110 | Brussels |
| Besox | 960 | Knokke-Heist |
| Centrum voor Loonbeheer | 910 | Alken |
| DPS | 980 | Aalst |
| Group S - Sociaal Secretariaat | 100 | Brussels |
| Liantis ESS | 510 | Bruges |
| Nationale Patroonsdienst | 650 | Merksem |
| Orbiss | 710 | Antwerp |
| Partena, Sociaal Secretariaat voor Werkgevers | 300 | Brussels |
| Paycover | 995 | Brussels |
| Salar | 950 | Kasterlee |
| SD VZW | 640 | Antwerp |
| Secrétariat social Le Cap | 370 | Chaineux |
| Securex, Sociaal Secretariaat | 120 | Brussels |
| Sociaal Secretariaat der Notarissen van België | 150 | Brussels |
| Sociaal Secretariaat Easypay | 600 | Leuven |
| Sociaal Secretariaat voor Handel en Ambacht | 810 | Sint-Denijs-Westrem |
| Sodalis | 540 | Sint-Michiels |
| Sodibe | 750 | Antwerp |
| Sodiwe | 850 | Mechelen |
| SSE | 920 | Meulebeke |
| SST | 280 | Tournai |
| UCM - Secrétariat social | 200 | Namur |
Source: Belgian Official Gazette, 15 July 2025, FPS Social Security, list of recognised social secretariats for employers and their branches on 20 June 2025. Names and addresses may have changed since. How to choose, with seven criteria for all of Belgium, is in which social secretariat to choose.
Payroll outsourcing or payrolling: what Belgium does not allow
In the Netherlands, payrolling exists: a payroll company becomes the legal employer of your staff and lends them to you. In Belgium that is not possible as such. According to the FPS Employment, lending staff with a transfer of employer authority is prohibited in Belgium, with exceptions in the Act of 24 July 1987, such as temporary agency work and authorised provision of staff for a limited period.
A Belgian payroll company therefore works in your name: you remain the employer, you sign the contracts and you carry final responsibility for what is declared in your name. An employer of record is a separate construction to have checked first; the differences are in employer of record in Belgium. Has your company no establishment in Belgium? Read foreign employer in Belgium first. Want to change provider? The NSSO mandate only moves at the start of a quarter; a new provider can start it up to 1 month after the quarter begins. The steps are in changing your social secretariat.
Business Centrum: a social bureau in Ghent, with Acerta
Business Centrum is a social bureau in Ghent, founded in 2013, and a recognised partner of Acerta. In the table at the top, that is the second type: we are your contact and handle the processing, while Acerta, recognised under number 250, files the declarations and collects the contributions. Who does what, task by task, is on social bureau and Acerta. What such processing costs and how prices are built up is in social secretariat cost.
Does that fit your company, or are you looking for something else? Our payroll administration and the page payroll company Belgium describe what Business Centrum does in practice. Request a call back and Business Centrum will contact you.