How do you set up a company in Germany.

The usual vehicle for a foreign group in Germany is the GmbH, a private company with limited liability. It is formed in front of a notary rather than at a registry counter, and the money has to be in place before the company exists. Teamed forms German companies through GEMO, its Global Entity & Employment Operations service, and the rest of this guide explains each step.

A German company does not exist until the commercial register enters it, and the register only accepts a filing from a notary. So the work before the appointment is paperwork, and most of it is about who owns the company and who runs it.

If the shareholder is your existing company abroad, the notary has to see proof that it exists and that the person signing may act for it. That usually means a recent extract from your home register, certified, with an apostille or consular legalisation, and a German translation. This is the step that most often adds weeks, because it depends on offices outside Germany.

The GmbH needs at least one managing director, the Geschäftsführer. German law does not ask where they live or which passport they hold, but the role carries personal legal duties, and the bank will want to identify them properly. A director who never visits Germany is lawful. A director nobody can reach is a problem.

The company also needs a name that stands apart from others in the same area, a German business address, and articles of association, the Gesellschaftsvertrag. A simple company with one shareholder can use the model articles written into the law, which keeps the notary's work and fee down. A group that wants its own rules on shares, votes or directors writes individual articles instead.

A GmbH must have share capital of at least €25,000, under the Limited Liability Companies Act. This is not a fee. The money stays in the company and pays its first bills, salaries included.

What catches people out is the timing. Before the notary may file, at least a quarter of each share, and at least half of the minimum in total, must be paid into a bank account in the company's name. In Germany the bank account comes before the company exists, which is the order people least expect.

Banks open these accounts for a company still in formation, but a foreign-owned one goes through the same identity and ownership checks as anyone else. Start that conversation in the week you book the notary, not the week you need it.

Forming a GmbH is a sequence, and each step waits for the one before it. The register is rarely the slow part. Foreign paperwork, the bank and the tax office usually are, which is why the estimates below are ranges rather than promises.

Setting up your own entity takes anywhere from a few weeks to several months, depending on the country's registry and how fast you can open a local bank account. Germany sits in the middle of that, and a foreign parent usually pushes it towards the longer end.

The state's own charges are modest. The register court charges €225 to enter a GmbH formed with cash, under its fee schedule, plus a smaller charge for publishing the entry. The notary's fee is also set by law and grows with the size of the capital, so it is predictable rather than negotiable. Most of what you spend goes on the people who prepare the deed, register the company for tax and set up its books.

Profits are taxed at 15% corporation tax, plus a solidarity surcharge on top of that tax and a trade tax that each town sets for itself, so the total depends on where the company sits. Under the current law the corporation tax rate falls step by step from 2028.

Registration is where the obligations start. The company registers its business with the local trade office, which passes the details to the tax office and the chamber of commerce. The tax office then asks for a questionnaire, filed online, and issues the tax number you need for payroll tax and VAT. That number is often the slowest thing in the whole process, so many advisers file the questionnaire straight after the notary appointment.

Hiring brings its own registrations. Before your first employee starts, the company needs an employer number from the Federal Employment Agency, and the statutory accident insurer has to be told that the business has begun. Each employee is then registered with their health insurer, which collects social insurance for all the funds.

The people who ultimately own or control the company also go on the transparency register. It is separate from the commercial register, and it is the filing most often forgotten.

The first is the managing director. German company law puts duties on that person directly, including keeping proper books and filing for insolvency promptly if the company cannot pay its debts. Those duties do not move to an adviser because an adviser does the work, so choose the director with that in mind.

The second is the calendar. A GmbH files annual accounts, corporation tax, trade tax and VAT returns, and a payroll tax return for every month it pays anyone. Quiet months still count. The guide to running a German company sets out what falls due and when.

There are four realistic routes, and they suit different companies.

You can do it yourself through a notary. Any German notary can form the company and file it with the commercial register, and some founders can do it by video. It suits a founder with no staff, a simple structure and time to deal with the tax office afterwards.

A formation service is the quick, cheap route for a company with no employees yet. It books the notary, prepares the model articles and handles the first registrations, then usually hands you to an accountant.

A law firm or corporate-services firm suits complex group structures, unusual share arrangements or tax planning across borders. You pay more, and you get advice on the structure 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.