Fees and invoicing

General information

Fundamentals of Remuneration:

Assistance in tax matters is, unless otherwise agreed, remunerated in accordance with the Steuerberatervergütungsverordnung (StBVV)(German Regulation on Tax Advisor Fees). The StBVV defines the range of fees for typical tasks such as tax returns, annual financial statements, and tax consulting.

Within this framework, my fee is primarily based on the scope of work (time required) and, additionally, on factors such as the complexity and significance of the matter.

Further information on tax advisor remuneration can be downloaded as a PDF service:

  • Information sheet: Tax advisor costs
 

Free introductory meeting:

An initial short meeting to determine whether cooperation would be beneficial and to agree on the next steps is free of charge.

Fee estimate and documents:

If you would like an initial fee estimate based on the StBVV or prefer to agree on a fixed price, please let me know before placing the order.
If not already available, I usually require your previous year’s tax returns and tax assessments, or the most recent available annual financial statement.

Remuneration agreement:
For certain activities, the StBVV provides only insufficient or no specific provisions (e.g. business consultancy). For this reason, separate remuneration agreements are often concluded in practice—especially with companies that also require ongoing tax advice throughout the year.

Fixed fees

Fixed fees can be agreed for regularly recurring services, for example:


For advisory services and other services, fixed fees or fixed hourly rates can also be agreed, depending on the type, complexity and scope of the engagement.

Fixed fees provide you with planning certainty and make it easier to budget your annual tax costs. In particularly straightforward or complex cases, the fee will be determined individually.

Time-based fee

In some cases, billing based on time is legally required or expressly agreed upon. 

For preparatory work, follow-up work, and other activities in connection with the preparation of your annual financial statement or tax returns — including by email or telephone —, the hourly fee is generally €115 per hour plus VAT.

Typical examples (non-binding):

  • Preparatory work up to the agreed trial balance
  • Preliminary work exceeding the usual scope
  • Provision of requested working templates, information sheets, sample contracts, or other professional resources that are related to your day-to-day business activities (e.g. from specialist information and database systems)
  • Subsequent activities relating to the annual financial statement that were not initiated by the tax advisor
  • Submission of additional documents and clarification of queries with the tax office up to the final assessment


For consulting services that are not regulated in the StBVV or for which no value of the object can be determined the hourly fee is generally €150 per hour plus VAT (e.g. business management consulting).

Other information

How you can help keep costs low:

Clarify any open questions regarding the provision of receipts or your documents before work begins whenever possible. Complete and well-prepared documentation generally reduces the amount of work required — and therefore lower costs when billing is based on the StBVV.

Transparent allocation of services:

Each service is assigned to a specific engagement. Services are not offset against later activities; cross-subsidisation and mixed calculations are avoided. This ensures transparency for you regarding which service incurred which cost and helps to minimise follow-up queries.

Advance payment and payment method:

Depending on the type of service, an advance payment may be requested, which will be offset against the final invoice. This helps to fund ongoing work during the year and reduces administrative effort.
For convenient payment, you can, if you wish, issue a SEPA-Lastschriftmandat (SEPA direct debit mandate).