Ask a company where its share register lives, and the answer is often: in a tool that was never built for it. An Excel file, a paper register book, a document in a shared folder, or an old Microsoft Access database.
That last one is a signal we've been picking up in recent conversations with prospects. Microsoft ended support for Access 2016 and Access 2019 on 14 October 2025, so databases on those versions have now gone a full year without security updates. As companies clean up old software, the share register often turns out to be one of the files that has to move.
But the question goes beyond Access. Whatever your register lives in today, it is worth asking what a share register actually needs to be.
In Belgium, the share register is the legal record of who owns a company. Under the Code of Companies and Associations (WVV/CSA), companies with registered shares must keep a register that shows each shareholder, the number of shares they hold, and every transfer with its date. Whoever is entered in the register as the holder of a share is presumed to be its owner, unless proven otherwise. And a transfer of shares only becomes enforceable against the company and third parties once it is entered in the register.
That makes the register more than administration. When an investor, auditor, bank or court asks who owns what, the register is the answer. If it is incomplete, or nobody can show how it changed over time, that answer is hard to defend.
Want to know exactly what your register must contain? Our 10 checks to keep your shareholder register compliant walk you through it.
Belgian law also allows the register to be kept fully electronically. It has been possible for some time, but almost no company actually uses it in practice.
Excel, Access, a paper book or a shared folder can hold the numbers. But a register has to do three things those tools were never built for.
| What the register needs | Why it matters | In Excel, Access or on paper |
| A complete history of every issue and transfer | Ownership today depends on every change before it | Entries get overwritten or crossed out; earlier versions live in copies like "register_final_v3" |
| A clear record of who changed what, and when | In a dispute or audit, you must show how the register got here | Anyone with access can change an entry without leaving a trace |
| A secure way to share it with notary, accountant or shareholders | External parties regularly need to consult it | Sharing means emailing files, sending scans or opening up internal systems |
None of this is a criticism of these tools. They are good at what they were made for. But back in 2018, we already wrote that a spreadsheet offers no evidential value: no log of who-what-when, no version management, nothing tamper-proof. That is still true today. A legal record simply asks for more.
Corporify offers two kinds of share register for Belgian companies. Both replace Excel, Access or a paper register book; they differ in how a change becomes legally valid.
| Digital share register | Electronic share register | |
| How it works | Works like a paper register, kept online | The register itself is the legal record |
| What makes a change valid | The board signs off on an updated PDF version | Strong authentication at the moment of the change |
| Proof of ownership | The latest signed version | The register, with every change confirmed via itsme® |
| Identification | Board signatures | itsme®, at the highest eIDAS security level |
| History & traceability | Transaction history in the platform | Every consultation and transaction logged automatically, in an audit trail |
| Board sign-off per change | Needed | No longer needed |
Want to know more about how the electronic register works in practice? Read "Corporify's Fully Electronic Share Register".
Switching is not mandatory. Both registers remain available, and each company can choose the one that fits it best.
The biggest worry when switching is usually the history: years of issues and transfers that cannot get lost.
In webinars we organised with Deloitte Legal, we asked companies what holds them back. Three answers came up: uncertainty about whether a digital register is legally allowed, doubts about which technology to choose, and a lack of time to do it properly.
The first one is settled: Belgian law allows the register to be kept digitally, and even fully electronically. For the other two, a clear starting point helps.
That's why we offer a mini-audit before you switch: a full inventory and check of your share position. It shows whether your current register is accurate and complete, and gives your new register a clean start, with its history intact.
Whatever your share register lives in today, this is a good moment to give it the home it deserves: one that keeps its full history, shows who changed what, and lets you share it safely.