Annual financial statements and income statement (EÜR)
We prepare balance sheets, profit and loss statements or EÜR for the self-employed, craft businesses and small companies — and submit the e-balance sheet electronically to the tax office.
Which Type of Statement Applies to You
Whether you need a balance sheet or an income statement is not a matter of preference, but is determined by legal form, revenue, and profit — we check this before the first journal entry.
Income Statement (EÜR)
- For freelancers, with no size threshold
- For tradespeople below 800,000 euros in revenue and 80,000 euros in profit per year
- Compares cash inflows and outflows for the calendar year
- Submitted with Annex EÜR as part of the tax return
- No inventory comparison, no stocktaking on a reporting date
Balance Sheet with P&L
- Mandatory for GmbH and UG regardless of revenue and profit
- Mandatory for trade businesses above the thresholds of 800,000 euros in revenue or 80,000 euros in profit
- Inventory comparison with stocktaking, accruals, and provisions
- Notes required for corporations, disclosure in the company register
- Electronic transmission to the tax office as E-Bilanz
Process
How Your Annual Financial Statements Are Prepared
Between your last booking of the fiscal year and the finished financial statements lie six work steps. We work through them in a fixed order so that every figure is supported and you always know what stage we're at.
1. Receiving and Reviewing Documents
You provide us with the bookkeeping for the past year — either digitally from your accounting system or as a folder. We first check for completeness: missing bank statement numbers, open cash discrepancies, unassigned receipts. You receive this list in writing before we go any further.
You provide us with the bookkeeping for the past year — either digitally from your accounting system or as a folder. We first check for completeness: missing bank statement numbers, open cash discrepancies, unassigned receipts. You receive this list in writing before we go any further.
Bank accounts, cash, loans, and accounts receivable are reconciled against supporting documents. A loan balance from the bookkeeping must match the balance according to the bank confirmation, and the cash balance must match the cash book. We clarify discrepancies here, not at the end.
Now the entries that don't occur during the year are created: depreciation on fixed assets, provisions such as for your tax advisory fees or warranty obligations, accruals for prepaid insurance, and valuation of work in progress and inventory from your stocktaking.
You receive a draft with balance sheet, profit and loss statement, and the projected tax result. In a meeting — at the firm or by video — we go through the notable items and answer your questions about individual entries.
The tax returns are based on the approved financial statements: income or corporate tax, trade tax, and the annual VAT return. Only once you have signed off and approved the financial statements do we transmit them electronically to the tax office.
The E-Bilanz or Annex EÜR is submitted via ELSTER, and you receive the financial statements bound and as a PDF for your bank. When the tax assessment arrives, we compare it with our figures and get in touch if any discrepancy justifies an appeal.
Preparation
These Are the Documents We Need From You
The more complete the handover, the shorter the processing time and the lower the fees we charge. What exactly we need depends on whether you prepare a balance sheet or file an income statement.
Always Required
- Complete bookkeeping for the year or all receipts, sorted by month
- Bank statements for all business accounts complete through December 31, including credit card and PayPal accounts
- Cash book with year-end count record, if you accept cash
- Bank balance confirmations for loans and current account overdrafts
- Incoming and outgoing invoices spanning the year-end
- Contracts newly concluded during the year: leasing, rent, loans, insurance
Additionally Required for Balance Sheet Preparation
- Inventory list as of the balance sheet date with quantity, item, and valuation
- List of work in progress with incurred material and labor costs per project
- Fixed asset additions and disposals with invoice or sales receipt
- Open item lists for customers and suppliers as of December 31
- Details on disputed receivables and potential warranty claims
- December payroll journal and evidence of provisions for vacation and overtime
Costs
What the fee depends on
We bill according to the Steuerberatervergütungsverordnung (Tax Advisor Remuneration Regulation). For the annual financial statements, the assessment basis is an average of the balance sheet total and annual business output; a tenth rate within a legally specified range is applied to this value. We determine the range according to scope and complexity.
What drives the effort up or down
- Condition of the bookkeeping
If we have handled the bookkeeping ourselves throughout the year, balances are already reconciled on an ongoing basis. If the bookkeeping comes from another system or as a folder of receipts, additional work is required.
- Legal form and type of statement
An income surplus statement for self-employed individuals is significantly less than a GmbH balance sheet with notes and disclosure in the Company Register.
- Fixed assets and inventory
A trade business with machinery, vehicles, warehouse stock, and partially completed construction work ties up more time than a consulting activity without inventory.
- Number of business transactions
This flows into the assessment basis via annual business output and determines how long reconciliation and plausibility checks take.
- Special topics
Business splitting, investment deduction amounts, shareholder loans, or a change in the profit determination method are discussed and commissioned separately.
Let's talk about your project
Briefly describe what it's about – Steuerkanzlei Berg will get back to you with an assessment.