German annual financial statements (Jahresabschluss) — explained in English

Every merchant draws up a balance sheet and an income statement for the end of each fiscal year; together they form the Jahresabschluss (§ 242 (1) to (3) HGB). Corporations — GmbH, UG (haftungsbeschränkt), AG, SE and KGaA — add notes and, unless they are small, a management report (§ 264 (1) sentences 1 and 4 HGB); a GmbH & Co. KG without a natural person as fully liable partner follows the same rules (§ 264a (1) HGB). The duty follows the legal form, not the passport of the shareholders, and a dormant GmbH files like an active one. Only registered sole traders with revenue up to EUR 800,000 and profit up to EUR 80,000 in two consecutive fiscal years may skip double-entry accounts (§ 241a sentence 1 HGB).

The balance sheet follows the structure of § 266 (2) and (3) HGB, the income statement the format of § 275 (2) or (3) HGB, the notes §§ 284 to 288 HGB and the management report § 289 (1) HGB. Together they must give a true and fair view of the net assets, financial position and results (§ 264 (2) sentence 1 HGB). The legal representatives sign them (§ 245 sentence 1 HGB) and stay responsible, whoever helped prepare them.

A company belongs to a class if it does not exceed at least two of the three thresholds on two consecutive balance sheet dates (§ 267 (4) sentence 1 HGB); a newly formed company is classified on its first balance sheet date (§ 267 (4) sentence 2 HGB). A capital-market-oriented company always counts as large (§ 267 (3) sentence 2 HGB). The thresholds apply to fiscal years beginning after 31 December 2023 (Art. 93 EGHGB, in force since 17 April 2024).

Employees are the average of the headcounts on 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December (§ 267 (5) HGB). Most owner-managed GmbHs and UGs are micro or small. Details: size classes and audit thresholds.

Prepare, adopt, file. For a fiscal year ending on 31 December 2025, a small GmbH prepares by 30 June 2026, its shareholders adopt by 30 November 2026, and the filing must reach the Unternehmensregister by 31 December 2026; a medium-sized or large GmbH prepares by 31 March and adopts by 31 August 2026 (§ 264 (1) sentences 3 and 4 HGB, § 42a (2) sentence 1 GmbHG, § 325 (1a) sentence 1 HGB). Companies using an organised market (§ 264d HGB) file within four months (§ 325 (4) HGB).

The filing deadline cannot be extended. The Federal Office of Justice (Bundesamt für Justiz) grants six weeks (§ 335 (3) sentence 1 HGB), then sets an Ordnungsgeld of EUR 2,500 to 25,000 (§ 335 (1) sentence 4 HGB), reduced to EUR 500 or EUR 1,000 for micro and small companies that comply after the six weeks (§ 335 (4) sentence 2 HGB); the procedure repeats until the statements are filed. Full timeline: deadlines and filing; penalties: late-filing penalties.

No. German law does not require a Steuerberater to prepare the statutory statements. The Steuerberatungsgesetz restricts business-like assistance in tax matters for other people (§ 5 (1) sentence 1 StBerG); it does not oblige a company to outsource its own accounts, and it leaves the booking of current transactions and payroll outside the reserved area when done by persons with commercial training and three years of practice (§ 6 (1) no. 1 StBerG). Software you operate yourself is a tool, not an advisor.

Three things do need a licensed professional: the statutory audit from medium-sized (§ 316 (1) sentence 1 HGB), performed only by a Wirtschaftsprüfer or audit firm (§ 319 (1) sentence 1 HGB); business-like representation before the tax office by a third party, reserved to Steuerberater and the professions in § 3 sentence 1 StBerG — as managing director you can always deal with the Finanzamt yourself; and individual tax or legal questions such as a group structure or a reorganisation. Our software gives no tax or legal advice and performs no audit; many founders invite their Steuerberater into the workspace for a review before adoption. See also financial statements without a tax advisor and English-speaking accountants in Germany.

You can work in English; the statutory documents must be German. § 244 HGB has one sentence: „Der Jahresabschluß ist in deutscher Sprache und in Euro aufzustellen“ — prepared in German and in euros. It covers the balance sheet, income statement and notes that are adopted and filed; the E-Bilanz is German too. An English version is a convenience translation for a parent company, a board or an investor, never the binding document. Our software mirrors this split: the interface, the questionnaire and every review step are in English; the statements are generated in German; and an English translation of the prose can be exported, marked as non-binding. More: Jahresabschluss in English and HGB vs. IFRS.

The E-Bilanz is the electronic transmission of the balance sheet and income statement to the tax office in the officially prescribed data set (§ 5b (1) sentence 1 EStG) — an XBRL file sent through the ELSTER interface (ERiC) with the corporate tax return. It is never public. Tax adjustments to the HGB figures are transmitted alongside (§ 5b (1) sentence 2 EStG), for fiscal years beginning after 31 December 2024 together with the account-level details, and the tax office may waive electronic transmission in cases of undue hardship (§ 5b (2) EStG). Our software transmits the E-Bilanz directly via ERiC for EUR 20 per fiscal year and company, with a transfer ticket as proof. Supported: GmbH, UG, eG, e.K. and partnerships; AG, SE and KGaA currently not. More: E-Bilanz explained, E-Bilanz module, ELSTER in English.

The legal representatives transmit the documents electronically to the body that keeps the Unternehmensregister (§ 325 (1) sentence 1 HGB) — for fiscal years beginning after 31 December 2021 (Art. 88 (2) EGHGB); earlier years still go to the Bundesanzeiger. Micro companies transmit only the balance sheet and may request permanent deposit (§ 326 (2) HGB), so it is released only on request; small companies transmit balance sheet and notes (§ 326 (1) HGB); medium-sized companies may use the reliefs of § 327 HGB; large companies file everything including the auditor's report. Our software generates the filing file — the XML/XBRL data set and a PDF — with a completeness check for your size class; you upload it to the Unternehmensregister platform yourself, the software does not file on your behalf. More: the Unternehmensregister, deposit for micro entities, disclosure requirements.

Your first annual financial statements per workspace are free. After that the fixed price per fiscal year is EUR 250 (micro), EUR 500 (small), EUR 2,500 (medium-sized) or EUR 5,000 (large); e.K., OHG, KG, GbR and PartG under the simple regime pay EUR 250. The E-Bilanz costs EUR 20 per fiscal year; corporate and trade tax returns are prepared and checked free, with EUR 50 only for a server-approved direct submission. No subscription is required. A Steuerberater bills a value fee of 10/10 to 40/10 of the full fee from Table B (§ 35 (1) no. 1 (a) StBVV) on an object value that is the mean of the adjusted balance sheet total and the annual operating performance (§ 35 (2) no. 1 StBVV) — it scales with your company, so compare quotes only for the same scope. More: what financial statements cost and Steuerberater fees.

Steuerberater vs. software vs. software with advisor review

Group accounts (§§ 290 to 315 HGB) are a separate module, not part of the single-entity statements.

The software gives no tax or legal advice, performs no audit and does not file with the Unternehmensregister on your behalf; AI output is a proposal you review and approve. Platform data is stored in EU data centres and is not used to train AI models.

• Commercial Code (HGB), official English translation — the translation may lag behind the German text.
• German originals: § 242, § 244, § 264, § 267, § 267a, § 316, § 325, § 326, § 335 HGB; § 42a GmbHG; § 5b EStG; § 6 StBerG; Art. 88 and Art. 93 EGHGB.
• Unternehmensregister and ELSTER.

General information, not legal or tax advice. Statutes checked against the official texts on 1 September 2026.

GmbH annual accounts | Deadlines & filing | HGB vs. IFRS | Audit thresholds | Jahresabschluss in English | Annual financial statements module