E-Bilanz
The E-Bilanz (German electronic tax balance sheet), built with AI
Almost every German company that keeps double-entry books has to transmit its balance sheet and income statement electronically to the tax office as an E-Bilanz under § 5b EStG — in a strict XBRL taxonomy, not as a PDF. This page explains what the E-Bilanz is and who has to file it, and shows how our software builds it from the HGB accounts you already have, with our AI mapping every line.
What the E-Bilanz is
The E-Bilanz is the electronic submission of a company's balance sheet and income statement to the tax authority, required by § 5b EStG. It is not a document in the ordinary sense: it is a structured dataset in the official taxonomy the authorities publish, transmitted through the ELSTER system.
The taxonomy is detailed and unforgiving — every figure has to land on the right node, and certain mandatory fields must be present even when a company has nothing to report in them. That structure is why the E-Bilanz is awkward to prepare by hand and why mapping is the crux of getting it right.
Who has to file one
- Companies that determine profit by comparing balance sheets — essentially every entity keeping double-entry accounts, including the GmbH, UG and AG.
- Partnerships and sole traders that keep double-entry books file too, using the taxonomy profile that fits their legal form.
- The E-Bilanz is filed for tax purposes and is separate from the disclosure of your annual accounts in the Bundesanzeiger.
- It accompanies the tax return, and the corporate income tax return's Anlage GK draws on the same tax figures.
How our AI builds it
Maps to the taxonomy
The AI reads your HGB balance sheet and income statement and maps each line to the correct taxonomy node, which is the part that makes the E-Bilanz hard to do manually.
Fills the mandatory fields
Required nodes are populated — or correctly marked as empty — so the dataset passes the technical validation rather than being rejected.
Builds the asset schedule
The fixed-asset movement schedule feeding the E-Bilanz is built from your real asset data rather than fabricated, so year-two filings stay clean.
Reuses your accounts
Because it starts from the same HGB statements the platform produced, the E-Bilanz and the tax return share one consistent set of figures.
Handelsbilanz, Steuerbilanz and the E-Bilanz
German companies keep a commercial balance sheet (Handelsbilanz) under the HGB and, where tax rules differ, a tax balance sheet (Steuerbilanz). The E-Bilanz transmits the tax view. Many smaller companies have no material differences and file a unified balance sheet; where differences exist, they have to be reflected.
This is exactly where a divergence safeguard matters: the platform flags the catalogued points where the tax and commercial balance sheets part ways, so the E-Bilanz reflects the correct tax figures instead of silently carrying over the commercial ones.
Filing and pricing
The E-Bilanz is prepared in the official XBRL taxonomy, in the profile that matches your legal form, ready for transmission through ELSTER alongside your tax return.
It is part of the Steuer module, which is in Beta at 100 euros per month per workspace and also covers VAT, corporate income tax and trade tax — all from the same underlying accounts.
Frequently asked questions
What is the E-Bilanz?
The electronic transmission of a company's balance sheet and income statement to the German tax authority under § 5b EStG, in the official XBRL taxonomy rather than as a PDF. It is filed through ELSTER and is separate from the Bundesanzeiger disclosure of your annual accounts.
Who has to file an E-Bilanz?
Essentially every company that determines its profit by balance-sheet comparison — all double-entry entities, including the GmbH, UG and AG, and partnerships and sole traders that keep double-entry books, each using the taxonomy profile for their legal form.
How is the E-Bilanz different from the tax balance sheet?
The Steuerbilanz is the tax view of your balance sheet; the E-Bilanz is the electronic format in which that view is transmitted. Where the tax and commercial balance sheets differ, the E-Bilanz must reflect the tax figures.
What does the AI do?
It maps your HGB balance sheet and income statement onto the correct taxonomy nodes, fills or correctly marks the mandatory fields, and builds the asset schedule from real data. Mapping to the taxonomy is the hardest part of the E-Bilanz, and that is what the AI removes.
Is it separate from filing my annual accounts?
Yes. The E-Bilanz goes to the tax office for tax purposes. Disclosing your annual accounts in the Bundesanzeiger is a separate obligation handled elsewhere in the platform.