Bookkeeping for Associations in Germany
Experienced tax advisors support associations with their bookkeeping
The basic task of bookkeeping is to systematically record business transactions and use this documentation to meet legal and statutory requirements, while at the same time providing the association's governing bodies with up-to-date information on the association's financial situation. Bookkeeping therefore plays an important role in the work of associations in Germany.
Do associations have to keep accounts?
Yes, there are many reasons why associations in Germany must keep proper accounts.
1. Requirements under association law
The governing bodies of an association (management board) are obliged, pursuant to Section 27 (3) in conjunction with Sections 666, 259, and 260 of the German Civil Code (BGB), to provide information and give account to the general meeting of members by means of an orderly statement of income and expenses as well as an inventory of assets. A specific method of determining profit is not prescribed under association law.
2. Requirements under nonprofit law
The articles of association and the actual management must comply with the requirements under nonprofit law. The association complies with the nonprofit law requirement for actual management in accordance with § 63 of the German Fiscal Code (AO) for the exclusive and direct fulfillment of the tax-privileged statutory purposes by keeping proper records of its income and expenses.
3. Tax law requirements
According to §§ 140 ff. AO, records must be complete, accurate, timely and orderly so that the purpose they are intended to fulfill for tax purposes can be achieved.
4. Tax and commercial law requirements
If certain turnover and profit figures are exceeded, the association is obliged to prepare a balance sheet.
Under certain circumstances, a special-purpose operation may be obliged to keep accounts and prepare balance sheets. This is the case if it is similar in nature and scope to a commercial business and exceeds certain thresholds.
If the taxable business operations of an association generate a turnover of more than EUR 600,000 per year or a profit of more than EUR 60,000 per year, the association is obliged to keep books and accounts in accordance with Section 140 AO in conjunction with Section 238 of the German Commercial Code (HGB).
5. Statutory requirements
In practice, the articles of association of associations often also contain regulations on the type of profit calculation to be applied.
Advantages of quality accounting
Quality accounting offers numerous advantages for associations and their governing bodies:
1. Efficient administration
With structured accounting, administrative tasks can be completed more efficiently and quickly. This saves time and resources.
2. Better decision-making
Clear and up-to-date financial data enables well-founded decisions to be made that contribute to the long-term success of the association.
3. Legal and tax security
Proper accounting minimizes the risk of legal and tax problems. The association is always prepared for audits by tax authorities or other institutions.
4. Trust and credibility
Transparent and well-managed accounting strengthens the trust of members, sponsors and supporters in the association. This can lead to stronger loyalty and a greater willingness to provide support.
Our accounting services for charitable associations in Germany
We offer comprehensive consulting services for associations in order to meet the high demands placed on association accounting. Our experts support you with
- Setting up financial accounting on the DATEV standard chart of accounts: We help you set up an efficient and easy-to-understand accounting structure that is tailored to your association's needs.
- Change of chart of accounts: We assist you with the upcoming changeover to the current DATEV standard chart of accounts SKR 42 for nonprofit associations and with the allocation of your nonprofit and revenue accounts to the four spheres of nonprofit status (charitable sphere, asset management, special-purpose operations and taxable business operations).
- Ongoing financial accounting: We regularly record and enter your financial transactions. This means you always have an overview of your finances.
- Automated receipt retrieval and audit-proof digital receipt archiving: We help you to retrieve your receipts automatically from invoice portals and then archive them digitally in an audit-proof manner. We work with you on the basis of end-to-end document exchange without media discontinuity, which in turn forms the basis for digital document posting with document images linked to the posting record.
- Advance VAT returns and recapitulative statements: We prepare your monthly or quarterly advance VAT returns from your current financial accounting and, if necessary, your recapitulative statements within the EU.
- Process optimization: We work with you to optimize your processes by introducing electronic posting of bank and PayPal transactions, digital document posting, digital approval and payment processes and dunning.
- Business management evaluations: We provide you with up-to-date business evaluations during the year to help you manage your association.
- Cost accounting: We create a cost accounting system that allows you to analyze individual cost areas in your association. The cost accounting shows where the weak points and cost drivers are in your association. This makes it transparent which services the association uses to generate surpluses.
- Controlling report (Excel) or Controlling report Comfort (browser): We can provide you with analyses of the association's economic development during the year using key figures, trends, threshold values and graphs based on the values from the financial accounting.
- Ongoing tax advice: Due to the close integration of financial accounting with our tax experts, we are already at your side during the year to identify virulent tax issues and clarify them at short notice so that you can manage your association successfully.
- Annual financial statements and tax declarations: Based on quality accounting, we prepare the annual financial statements and reports of the association as well as the tax declarations to fulfill your tax obligations.
Your tax advisors for association accounting
Contact us today to find out more about our accounting consulting services for associations. Together, we will ensure that your association's finances are in the best hands.
The easiest way to reach us is by e-mail (info@winheller.com) or by phone (+49 69 76 75 77 85 21).
Do you need support?
Do you have questions about our services or would you like to arrange a personal consultation? We look forward to hearing from you! Please fill in the following information.
Or give us a call: +49 69 76 75 77 85 21