Summary
Take your first steps as an entrepreneur in Germany after the official registration process is done: Usually there are some organisational and administrative tasks to do. You must handle registrations, apply for tax and business numbers, join the right chambers, and set up your accounting and insurance. Careful planning and compliance with legal requirements help you avoid fines and delays. The first year focuses on building stable operations, financial control, and professional visibility.
Contents
Entering entrepreneurship: What’s next after officially starting your business?
So you’ve officially set up your business with the German authorities? The work doesn’t stop there. Although you’ve already had to jump through some hoops, there is still more bureaucracy looming on your to-do list.
That is, after you officially start your business, the management or development phase kicks in. This is when you put all your organisational ducks in a row, such as registering with authorities and taking out insurance. Then there’s accounting matters that also need attention.
Below we’ll show you the next steps so you can get off on the right foot.
Dealing with bureaucracy: Registrations, applications, insurance
Tax number and VAT ID
You need a tax number 💬Steuernummer —and VAT ID number 💬Umsatzsteuer-ID for EU-wide transactions—to issue proper invoices and pay VAT correctly. Both numbers are used to identify a legal entity.
The tax office issues both ID numbers. You can apply for it after registering your business. You’ll receive it after completing the tax registration.
Company number
Do you want to hire employees? Then you need a company number 💬Betriebsnummer. Every company that employs at least one person who has to pay social insurance is required to register as an employer.
This eight-digit number enables the social insurance institutions to identify a company so that the social insurance contributions can be correctly attributed.
Samar Fathulla | founder consultant
I’m here to help founders build strong, successful businesses. Let’s talk about your formation and find the best way forward together.
- 🌍 International founders
- 💬 500+ consults
- 🤝 Tailored advice
Chamber membership
Usually, the responsible chamber will contact you directly, but you should still check the membership formalities. If you want to start a craft business that is subject to registration, you have to enter it into the register of crafts 💬Handwerksrolle.
To do this, you must contact your local chamber of crafts 💬Handwerkskammer or HWK and apply for registration. The fees vary from region to region.
All other business fall under the responsibility of the chamber of industry and commerce 💬Industrie- und Handelskammer or IHK. Membership with the IHK is compulsory for all commercial businesses. The fee depends on your location and annual profit.
Insurance
As an entrepreneur, you not only have to insure yourself, but you should also mitigate business risks by taking out appropriate insurance.
Insurance coverage that is obligatory for entrepreneurs includes, pension insurance, health insurance as well as statutory accident insurance. For the latter you must register with the relevant employer liability insurance association 💬Berufsgenossenschaft.
Although not compulsory, think about taking out liability insurance and legal expenses insurance. Read more about the most common insurance types for businesses in Germany.
Imprint
Your company website needs an imprint or legal notice, just like your invoice, the letterhead of your business letters, emails, and social media accounts. Since the GDPR’s introduction, many companies have been specifically warned about violations of the so-called “operator identification.”
Broadcasting Fee
The Broadcasting fee is a mandatory public service fee. Most German businesses need to pay a monthly contribution depending on the number of business premises, employees, and commercial vehicles. Read more about what to expect.
Google Maps
One of many ways to make your business gain visibility on Google is to place it on Google Maps. This way, you will appear alongside other traders and service providers in regional search queries. Make an account with Google My Business to get started.
EORI number
EORI is a customs number. You only need to one if your company carries out customs-related business activities.
Samar Fathulla | founder consultant
I’m here to help founders build strong, successful businesses. Let’s talk about your formation and find the best way forward together.
- 🌍 International founders
- 💬 500+ consults
- 🤝 Tailored advice
Organise your accounting
Bookkeeping, doing payroll, and creating your annual financial statement are essential skills you need to get familiar with.
Good preparation and careful maintenance of your business’s finances will make your accounting immensely easier. But, if you want to avoid the bookkeeping part of the job so that you can concentrate fully on your core business, you can also outsource bookkeeping to an external service provider. Learn more about double-entry bookkeeping here.
Opening balance sheet
The opening balance sheet 💬Eröffnungsbilanz must be prepared at the beginning of each business year. It serves as an overview of the company’s current assets and must be submitted to the commercial register after it has been prepared.
Advance VAT return
In the first business year, founders must submit their advance VAT return every month—unless you make use of the small business regulation.
However, it is possible that under special circumstances or after some time, you may only have to submit the advance VAT return quarterly, every 6 months, or even just once a year. Ultimately, the tax office decides. Read more about how VAT, advance VAT return and input tax work.
Invoice template
Without sending invoices, no money will come in for your services or products. That much is certain. With your new tax number, you have already cleared the first hurdle for a valid invoice. Now all you have to do is draft and send your first invoice. We have made a guide for you to make a correct invoice template.
Payroll accounting
As soon as you hire employees, you need to create monthly payrolls. A payslip must contain comprehensible information about the composition of the salary, tax deductions, and individual social security contributions. You must also observe advance notification deadlines. An introduction to payroll accounting in Germany can be found here.
Paying a salary to yourself
As a rule, shareholders of a limited liability company cannot pay themselves a salary. Only a managing shareholder receives a salary—under certain conditions. It is common for shareholders in this double role to forego a salary in the first few years.
In principle, as a founder, you benefit from profit distributions generated by your business. Conversely, this also means that you may have to reckon with financially uncertain times when your business is not making a profit.
Loans
A private loan is a popular alternative to a bank loan, as a bank loan comes with high interest rates. You can pay a private loan to your business as a shareholder. Loans from relatives or acquaintances are also ways to increase your equity. Unless you are the lender yourself, you should in any case draw up a contract for private loans.
Outsource accounting
- Receipt management with DATEV app
- Document storage on DATEV servers
- Digital monthly evaluation
Getting started with business administration
Once the organisational aspects have been dealt with and bookkeeping has been worked out, you should move on to managing the business. For the business to function, you need customers and possibly some employees as well. Apart from that, you should always keep an eye on your finances, assets and intellectual property.
Revise your business plan
As an entrepreneur, you are not obliged to write a business plan, but it is almost indispensable for convincing investors or credit institutions of your business model. The business plan is also a good tool for your planning to keep track of the goals you have set yourself, the resources you need and the financing model you have chosen. Therefore, you should always revise your business plan at regular intervals, even after you have set up your business. This way you can plan your business strategy for the short, medium and long term and calculate the necessary resources correctly.
Find new customers & influence people
To get your business off to a successful start, you need customers who want to use your product or service. For this, you should know your target group exactly to be able to promote the product accordingly.
Another way to win customers is to network. Make contacts with other entrepreneurs, for example, by participating in special trade fairs for your industry.
Create personnel management a system
Many entrepreneurs cannot usually afford to employ staff immediately after setting up their business from a sound economic point of view. However, if the business is doing well, sometimes you need support fast and may need to hire a few employees. In this case, you should know what an employment contract should contain for it to be legally valid. Read our guide on personnel cost in Germany to get started on the financial planning.
Register a trademark
After buying a domain for the company website, many founders miss the step of applying for a trademark registration at an early stage. You can protect your brand from imitation by investing a few hundred euros. You can also protect your company name.
Do your research before you spend money on marketing or trademarks! Here’s where you start.
The Master list of all Company Formation articles can be found here.
Conclusion
The first steps as a entrepreneur in Germany determine how smoothly the business grows in its first year. With the right registrations, bookkeeping, and insurance, you create a secure base for long-term success. Structured planning, strong networks, and ongoing financial review are key to avoiding common pitfalls. Entrepreneurs who approach these steps strategically gain stability and credibility early on.
