GmbH Opening Balance Sheet 2026: What It Is, What's Required and How to Create It

When you form a GmbH in Germany, one of your first legal obligations is to prepare an opening balance sheet – the Eröffnungsbilanz. It documents the financial starting point of your company and forms the foundation for all future annual financial statements. Miss it, and your bookkeeping is technically non-compliant from day one.

What is the Eröffnungsbilanz?

The Eröffnungsbilanz (opening balance sheet) is a snapshot of a company's assets and liabilities at the moment of its founding. It shows what the business owns, what it owes, and what equity was contributed – before any trading activity begins.

The legal basis is § 242 (1) of the German Commercial Code (HGB): merchants – and a GmbH is always treated as a merchant by law – must prepare a balance sheet at the commencement of their commercial activities. That first balance sheet is the Eröffnungsbilanz.

Is the Eröffnungsbilanz mandatory?

Yes – for every GmbH and UG (haftungsbeschränkt), the opening balance sheet is legally required, regardless of company size. A single-shareholder UG with €1 share capital must prepare one just as much as a multi-million-euro GmbH.

Sole traders and partnerships (GbR) face a different threshold: they only need double-entry books if annual revenue exceeds €800,000 or profit exceeds €80,000 (§ 141 AO). A GmbH has no such threshold – it must always keep books and file an opening balance sheet.

When does it need to be prepared?

The HGB requires the opening balance sheet to be prepared at the commencement of commercial activities – meaning at the date of registration in the Handelsregister, or earlier if trading begins before registration.

In practice, there is no hard daily deadline. Most founders prepare it within weeks of incorporation, or at the latest before the first annual financial statement is due. It can be prepared retroactively, but delaying creates risk – especially if assets or liabilities have changed significantly.

Structure: assets and liabilities

Like every balance sheet, the Eröffnungsbilanz has two sides that must always balance.

Assets side (Aktiva)

• Fixed assets (Anlagevermögen): equipment, vehicles, computers, furniture, intangible assets such as software licences
• Current assets (Umlaufvermögen): cash in hand, bank balances, receivables, inventories
• Prepaid expenses (aktive RAP): costs already paid that relate to future periods

Liabilities side (Passiva)

• Equity (Eigenkapital): share capital (minimum €25,000 for GmbH, €1 for UG) plus any additional capital contributions
• Provisions (Rückstellungen): anticipated future liabilities – rare at founding stage
• Liabilities (Verbindlichkeiten): loans, supplier invoices, shareholder loans

Example: opening balance sheet for a newly founded GmbH

Three founders set up an IT consulting GmbH. They pay in the €25,000 share capital in full to the company bank account. One founder also contributes laptops as a non-cash contribution, valued at €3,000. The opening balance sheet looks like this:

Assets: Fixed assets (laptops) €3,000 | Bank balance €25,000 | Total assets: €28,000

Liabilities & equity: Share capital €28,000 | Total: €28,000

In practice, formation costs (notary, Handelsregister fees), shareholder loans, or initial supplier invoices may all need to appear on the balance sheet from day one.

Who prepares it?

The managing director (Geschäftsführer) can prepare the Eröffnungsbilanz personally – there is no legal requirement to involve a tax adviser (Steuerberater). In practice, most founders use a Steuerberater because non-cash contributions must be valued at fair market value, errors carry through to every subsequent annual statement, and many GmbH founders are new to double-entry bookkeeping.

Getting bookkeeping right from day one

The weeks after founding are surprisingly busy on the accounting side: formation costs, first business expenses, possibly a shareholder loan for working capital – all of it needs to be recorded immediately. Norman's AI-powered bookkeeping captures bank transactions automatically, categorises them according to GoBD requirements, and keeps your books in order from the first day. Also read: GmbH Business Expenses in Germany.

Summary

The Eröffnungsbilanz is a legal requirement for every GmbH and UG in Germany. It is not complex if you know what goes in it – but it forms the basis for everything that follows. Errors here propagate through all future annual statements. Use a tax adviser for the opening balance sheet and digital tools like Norman to keep your ongoing bookkeeping accurate from day one.