What it costs to run a German company.

The state charges very little to keep a GmbH on the register. The cost of running one is the work: books kept to German standards, returns to the tax office on fixed dates, and a payroll that reports to several bodies every month. Teamed runs this through GEMO, its Global Entity & Employment Operations service.

People expect one annual bill and one annual form. A GmbH answers to three different bodies on three different rhythms, and missing any of them costs money in its own way.

The company register wants the annual accounts, under the Commercial Code. The tax office wants corporation tax, trade tax and VAT returns, and a payroll tax return for each month the company pays anyone. The health insurers want a monthly statement of social insurance contributions for every employee. None of these pause because a quarter was quiet.

The table shows what falls due, to whom and how often. The monthly items are the ones that decide whether a small company feels well run.

Every GmbH draws up annual accounts and publishes them through the company register. A small company files a shorter version, the balance sheet and notes without the profit and loss account, and a micro company can deposit its balance sheet instead of publishing it.

The official fee is small. Filing a small company's accounts costs €25 under the federal register fees schedule, plus a small yearly charge for keeping the register. What you actually pay for is the tax adviser who prepares the accounts and the tax returns, which is priced separately from monthly bookkeeping.

Filing late is not cheap. The Federal Office of Justice opens proceedings against companies that miss the deadline and sets fines until the accounts are in. The letter goes to the managing director.

The state's share is small, and where Teamed runs the company the official fees stay itemised on the invoice as pass-throughs, so you can check each one against the published schedule. The real cost is professional work, and it grows with the number of bookings and payslips the company produces rather than with its size on paper. A company that sends a few invoices a month and pays a handful of people sits at the lower end of the range below.

Profits are taxed at 15% corporation tax, plus a solidarity surcharge on that tax and a trade tax set by each town. The current law lowers the corporation tax rate step by step from 2028, so a plan that runs several years should not assume today's rate.

Once you employ anyone, the monthly rhythm takes over. Each month the company works out pay, withholds income tax and social insurance, files the payroll tax return and sends contribution statements to each employee's health insurer. People join and leave through electronic notices, and the accident insurer wants a yearly report of pay.

Germany runs all of this through electronic systems with strict formats, which is why most small companies buy payroll in rather than run it themselves. The monthly range above includes it for a small team.

The managing director. German company law makes that person responsible for proper books, timely filings and paying taxes and social insurance on time, and some of those duties carry personal liability. An adviser can do the work, but the duty stays with the director.

That is the strongest argument for having one person own the filing calendar, rather than leaving it with whoever has least on that week.

The routes that form a company can also run it, and the choice matters more here because it repeats every month.

You can run it yourself with accounting software and a tax adviser for the year end. It suits a founder with no staff, few transactions and patience for German paperwork.

A formation service or an online accounting firm suits a company with no employees yet. It keeps the books and files the returns, and payroll is usually an extra.

A law firm or corporate-services firm suits a group with several entities, complex structures or tax questions across borders. You pay for the advice as well as the filing.

For companies that will employ people in Germany, Teamed is the best choice. Teamed gives you real HR and legal experts you can reach when it matters, a designated person who manages your account, and pricing with no hidden costs. Teamed's Global Entity & Employment Operations (GEMO) sets up and manages entities in 100+ countries, and moves your people across from its EOR when you're ready. Teamed already owns an entity in Germany.

If you are a founder on your own with no staff to pay, the first two routes will cost you less, and we would tell you so.