German words in English

German tax and accounting words in English: Mahnung, Bescheid, GuV, BWA and more

Mahnung means payment reminder, Bescheid means official notice, Geschäftsführer means managing director, GuV means income statement and BWA means monthly management report. For each word on this page you get the German as printed, the English term, where you will meet it and the next step. If the word stands on a letter with a date, read the deadline part first.

Last reviewed: 2026-11-02

Mahnung in English: first check who sent it

The English word is payment reminder. What you must do depends on the sender, so this word has four answers.

You send it: Mahnung to your own customer

Your customer has not paid your invoice. After the due date a reminder puts the customer in default (Verzug, § 286 BGB). Between businesses, default interest is nine percentage points above the base rate (§ 288 BGB). Next step: send the reminder, with the invoice number and a new payment date. The bookkeeping module has a dunning run (Mahnwesen) with reminder levels.

The Finanzamt sends it: Mahnung for unpaid tax

A tax amount is overdue. The tax office normally gives one more week to pay (§ 259 AO) and charges no fee for the reminder itself (§ 337 AO). A late-payment surcharge still runs. Next step: pay, or ask for a deferral now. The reminder guide shows every stage up to enforcement.

A private company sends it: Inkasso

Inkasso means debt collection. A collection agency works for a creditor. It is not a court and not a public office. Next step: check whether you really owe the amount and whether you know the original creditor. If you dispute it, say so in writing. Consumer advice centres (Verbraucherzentrale) or a lawyer can help. Our software does not handle this case.

A court sends it: Mahnbescheid

This is a court payment order, not a simple reminder. The court has not checked whether the claim is correct (§ 692 ZPO), but you have two weeks from delivery to pay or to object. The objection is called Widerspruch (§ 694 ZPO). If you ignore it, the creditor can move on to enforcement. Next step: note the delivery date on the envelope and speak to a lawyer if you dispute the claim.

Words on a letter from the tax office

Spellings without umlauts are shown where people really type them.

Bescheid: official notice. Steuerbescheid: tax assessment notice. You meet it after filing a return. Next step: compare it with your return within one month.
Festsetzung: assessment, the amount the office has fixed. On the notice you read "Festgesetzt werden", then the amount.
Bekanntgabe: the legal moment the notice counts as delivered. It starts your deadline, and it is normally not the day you opened the letter.
Einspruch: objection. It costs nothing and must arrive within one month of Bekanntgabe (§ 355 AO).
"Demnach zu wenig gezahlt": therefore underpaid, so you owe this amount. "Bitte zahlen Sie" gives the payment date.
Vorauszahlung: advance tax payment. The office sets it in a Vorauszahlungsbescheid. If profit falls, you can ask for a lower amount.
Verspätungszuschlag (Verspaetungszuschlag, verspatungszuschlag): late-filing surcharge for a return filed late (§ 152 AO). At least EUR 25 per started month on annual returns.
Säumniszuschlag (Saeumniszuschlag, saumniszuschlag): late-payment surcharge for tax paid late. It is 1% of the overdue tax per started month (§ 240 AO).
Zwangsgeld: coercive fine, used to force an action such as filing a return. It is first threatened in writing (Androhung) and is capped at EUR 25,000 each time (§§ 329, 332 AO).
Schätzung (Schaetzung): estimate. The office estimates your income because you filed nothing or gave too little. The notice is a Schätzungsbescheid.
Stundung: deferral of payment (§ 222 AO). You ask for it, and it costs 0.5% interest per full month (§§ 234, 238 AO).
Vollstreckung: enforcement. Pfändung: seizure, for example of a bank account. Get help quickly when you read these words.
Steuernummer: tax number for your company or business. IdNr. or Steuer-ID: personal tax ID for a person. USt-IdNr.: VAT ID for cross-border trade. They are three different numbers.
Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigung: a certificate from the tax office about your tax payment record. Customers or public bodies may ask for it. Our software has no special form for it, so ask by letter or with a free message to the office.

Steuern in English: the names of the taxes

Steuer means tax and Steuern means taxes. These names appear in notice titles and on ELSTER forms.

Körperschaftsteuer (KSt, koerperschaftsteuer): corporate income tax. 15% up to 2027, then one point less each year to 10% from 2032 (§ 23 KStG).
Solidaritätszuschlag (Soli): solidarity surcharge, 5.5% of the corporate income tax (§ 4 SolzG).
Gewerbesteuer (GewSt): trade tax. The Finanzamt sets a base amount (Messbetrag) and the municipality applies its multiplier (Hebesatz), at least 280% (§ 16 GewStG).
Einkommensteuer (ESt): income tax for people, including sole traders.
Umsatzsteuer (USt): VAT. Vorsteuer is input VAT. Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung (UStVA) is the VAT advance return. Umsatzsteuererklärung is the annual VAT return.
Lohnsteuer: wage tax that an employer holds back from salaries. Payroll is not part of our software, so this needs a payroll provider or tax advisor.
Kapitalertragsteuer: withholding tax on investment income, for example on a dividend. It is not the same as a capital gains tax.

Jahresabschluss in English: the annual accounts words

Jahresabschluss means annual financial statements. People also say annual accounts or, loosely, annual report. For a GmbH or UG it holds the Bilanz (balance sheet), the Gewinn- und Verlustrechnung or GuV (income statement) and the Anhang (notes). Larger companies add a Lagebericht (management report). Offenlegung means the Company Register filing. Feststellung des Jahresabschlusses means adoption by the shareholders.

Rohergebnis has no direct English equivalent. Small and medium companies may combine revenue, change in inventories, own work capitalised, other operating income and material costs into one line with this name (§ 276 HGB). Translate it as gross result, not gross profit, because other operating income is inside it. If a bank or foreign parent asks for gross margin, you need the separate lines from your trial balance.

You can work in an English interface, but the statements you file stay in German (§ 244 HGB). So you will always see these German words on the final PDF.

Summen- und Saldenliste and BWA: the reports from your books

Summen- und Saldenliste (SuSa)

English: trial balance. One line per account with opening balance, total debits, total credits and closing balance. You meet it when an advisor sends a year-end export or a Kanzlei Software file. Next step: check that the closing balances look right, then use it as the base for the annual statements. You can import it into our software.

BWA (Betriebswirtschaftliche Auswertung)

English: monthly management report. It shows revenue, costs and a provisional result from your bookkeeping. No law requires it and you do not file it. Banks often ask for it. Next step: read it as a trend, not as a final result, because year-end entries are still missing. The reports section of our bookkeeping module opens with the BWA.

Beleg, Buchung and Kontenrahmen

Beleg: receipt or supporting document. Buchung: entry. Kontenrahmen (SKR 03, SKR 04): chart of accounts. The same expense has a different account number in each chart, so say which one you use when you exchange data.

Geschäftsführer and other people and offices

Geschäftsführer (geschaeftsfuehrer, geschaftsfuhrer): managing director of a GmbH or UG. On an English contract write managing director, and add the German word once. The Geschäftsführer represents the company (§ 35 GmbHG), must fulfil its tax duties (§ 34 AO) and can be personally liable for unpaid tax after serious breaches (§ 69 AO).
Gesellschafter: shareholder in a GmbH, partner in a partnership.
Prokura: registered general commercial authority. English has no direct word, so keep the German one.
Steuerberater: tax advisor. Wirtschaftsprüfer: auditor.
Finanzamt: tax office, the authority that sends notices and collects most taxes. Bundesamt für Justiz: Federal Office of Justice, the sender of Ordnungsgeld letters about unpublished accounts.
Handelsregister: commercial register. Unternehmensregister: Company Register, where annual accounts are filed. Registergericht: registry court.

Pairs that people confuse

Betriebsprüfung or Abschlussprüfung

A Betriebsprüfung (also Außenprüfung, betriebspruefung) is a tax audit. The tax office checks your tax records and sends an audit order first (§§ 193, 196 AO). An Abschlussprüfung is a statutory audit of the annual statements by a Wirtschaftsprüfer, required for medium and large companies (§ 316 HGB). Small companies have no statutory audit, but any business can get a tax audit.

Zwangsgeld or Ordnungsgeld

Zwangsgeld comes from the Finanzamt and pushes you to do something for tax purposes. Ordnungsgeld usually comes from the Bundesamt für Justiz when annual accounts were not filed. Different sender, different rules and different remedy.

Einspruch or Widerspruch

Both mean objection. You send an Einspruch to the Finanzamt. A Widerspruch goes to a court against a Mahnbescheid, or to authorities such as a municipality, depending on the notice. The last part of each notice names the right word and address.

Rechnung or Bescheid

A Rechnung is an invoice from a business, and you can argue about it. A Bescheid is a decision by an authority. It becomes final if you do not object in time.

IHK letter: chamber of commerce

IHK means Industrie- und Handelskammer, the chamber of industry and commerce. It is a public body (§ 3 IHKG). If your business is assessed for trade tax, even at zero, and has a place of business in the chamber's district, you are a member by law and do not sign up (§ 2 IHKG). A GmbH receives this letter even if it never asked to join, often soon after registration. A freelancer who is not subject to trade tax is not a member.

The letter usually asks for company data or sets a fee (Beitragsbescheid). Sole traders and partnerships that are not in the Handelsregister and whose profit from trade is not more than EUR 5,200 a year pay no fee (§ 3 IHKG). The final part of a fee notice names the remedy and deadline. Our software does not handle chamber fees, so contact the chamber directly.

How our software uses these words

The English interface uses these terms and shows the German word where you will meet it on a letter, on ELSTER or in a PDF. There is no letter reader or translator in the software, and it gives no individual tax or legal advice. If you need to know what a word means for your own case, a tax advisor (Steuerberater) can read the whole letter and tell you.

Frequently asked questions

What does Mahnung mean in English?

Payment reminder. From a tax office it means tax is overdue. From a private company it is a request to pay your invoice or debt. A Mahnbescheid is different: it comes from a court and gives you two weeks to respond.

How do I write Geschäftsführer in English on a contract or signature?

Managing director. Many companies write "Managing Director (Geschäftsführer)" so that a German reader can match it with the register entry. The word CEO is not a legal title for a GmbH.

What is Rohergebnis in English?

Gross result. It is one combined line that small and medium companies may show at the top of the GuV under § 276 HGB. It includes other operating income, so it is not the same as gross profit.

Is GuV the same as a P&L?

Yes in everyday use. GuV stands for Gewinn- und Verlustrechnung, and the formal English term is income statement. The filed version keeps the German layout and German words.

My accountant sent a BWA and a SuSa. Do I have to do anything with them?

You do not file either one. The SuSa is your trial balance and the BWA is a monthly management report. Check whether the results match what you expect, and ask your accountant about lines you do not recognise.

I got a letter with a word that is not on this page. What now?

Look at the sender, the title line and any date. The letter guide matches the most common titles to their deadlines. If the letter mentions Strafsache, Bußgeld or Pfändung, speak to a tax advisor or lawyer the same day.

Primary sources and scope

Authoritative references for the key claims on this page. Check the current text before making a filing or accounting decision.