Deadlines & filing

German year-end deadlines — the complete timeline in English

German year-end compliance is a sequence of fixed deadlines: prepare, adopt, file. Miss the last one and fines follow automatically. Here is the full timeline for a German GmbH, UG or AG, what exactly gets filed where — and how the software keeps you inside every deadline.

The statutory timeline

All periods run from the balance sheet date (usually 31 December).

Within 3 or 6 months — prepare

Managing directors must prepare the annual financial statements: within three months of year end, or six months for small and micro corporations (Section 264 HGB).

Within 8 or 11 months — adopt

For a GmbH, the shareholders adopt the statements and resolve on profit appropriation: within eight months, or eleven for small GmbHs (Section 42a GmbHG).

Within 12 months — file

The disclosure documents must be filed electronically with the Company Register (Section 325 HGB). No extensions exist.

Tax calendar — E-Bilanz

Separately, the electronic tax balance sheet under Section 5b EStG goes to the tax office together with the corporate tax returns. It is never public.

Publication vs. deposit

How visible your numbers become depends on your size class.

Micro: deposit (Hinterlegung)

Micro corporations may deposit a shortened balance sheet with the Company Register. It is released to third parties only on individual request — your numbers are not openly searchable.

Small and above: publication

Small companies publish balance sheet and reduced notes (income statement stays private); medium-sized and large companies publish progressively more, up to the full audited package.

The penalty regime

Enforcement is automated — there is no discretion and no negotiation.

Warning with 6-week grace period

The Federal Office of Justice detects missing filings automatically after the twelve-month deadline and sends a formal warning — already carrying a procedural fee.

Fines of EUR 2,500 to 25,000 — repeatable

If the grace period lapses, a fine of at least EUR 2,500 is set and repeated until you file. Micro and small companies can apply for reductions, but the duty itself never lapses.

More English guides

German annual financial statements — overview | GmbH annual accounts | Jahresabschluss in English — language requirements

Frequently asked questions

Short, concrete answers about German statutory accounts and the software.

Twelve months after the balance sheet date (Section 325 HGB). For a fiscal year ending 31 December 2025, the statements must reach the Company Register by 31 December 2026. Capital-market-oriented companies have four months.

Since August 2022, filings go to the Unternehmensregister (German Company Register). Published statements are then publicly retrievable there; the Bundesanzeiger remains the place where older filings can be found.

Micro corporations may deposit their balance sheet instead of publishing it. Deposited statements are released only to third parties on request against a fee, rather than being openly searchable — a meaningful privacy advantage for small companies.

No — the E-Bilanz (electronic tax balance sheet under Section 5b EStG) and the corporate tax returns follow the tax calendar, typically due with the tax return for the year. Tax filings go to the tax office, not the Company Register, and are never public.

No. The twelve-month deadline of Section 325 HGB cannot be extended. Once the Federal Office of Justice sends its warning, you have a final six-week window before the first fine of at least EUR 2,500 is imposed.

Yes. The filing duty attaches to the legal form, not to business activity. A dormant GmbH that never files will accumulate fines just like an active one.

Never chase a German deadline in a foreign language again

The English interface gives you the whole preparation and filing workflow in English — with the compliant German documents generated and filed underneath. Register free and start today.

The full interface — bookkeeping, annual financial statements, corporate and trade tax, VAT — is available in English. The statutory documents and every filing are generated in German, as § 244 HGB requires. No credit card needed to start.