22 Aug /17

Depositing vs. Publishing – Financial Reports in the German Federal Gazette

Depositing vs. Publishing – Financial Reports in the German Federal Gazette
Depositing vs. Publishing – Financial Reports in the German Federal Gazette – EVS Translations

Six factors you should take into account when formatting your annual financial reports

As the central data pool for official publications and legally relevant corporate news, the German Federal Gazette – published by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection – provides transparency regarding information on commercial law: In addition to government announcements, other documents including financial reports and capital market information on investment funds, share prices and bonds can be found here.

Since 2012, micro-enterprises have been able to deposit their annual financial statements with the German Federal Gazette instead of having to publish them, which saves costs. According to the German Micro-Entities Amending Accounting Law (MicroBilG) in conjunction with EU Directive 2012/6/EU, micro-enterprises are classified as entities that do not exceed two of the three following criteria on two consecutive balance sheet dates:

  • A balance sheet total of EUR 350,000
  • Turnover of EUR 700,000
  • An average of up to 10 employees

Exceptions to this rule include financial institutions, insurers, pension funds and external capital investment companies – publishing annual financial statements is compulsory for these models.

Regardless of whether your company can now deposit its annual financial report or must publish it, the following tips will help you to reduce the costs to do so:

Make your report available as an XML file – although the preparation is more complex, you will save costs when compared with Word, Excel and co.

How do you create an XML* file that conforms to the German Federal Gazette from a Word draft?

1. Tables should have no more than seven columns.

2. Graphics can be only 554 pixels high and 599 pixels wide.

3. Figures in tables must be “pure” – symbols such as € or $ can be included only in a separate column or must be moved into the table heading.

4. Bold is reserved for headings.

5. There are no page numbers.

6. Links are not possible.

* XML is the abbreviation for Extensible Markup Language and means an expandable markup language that is used to create structured documents, primarily online. An XML tool to create files will be provided by the German Federal Gazette.

As a full-service translation company we will carry out all of this formatting for you on request, and format the translation and the original version of your annual financial report in line with the specifications of the German Federal Gazette. Thanks to the expertise of the Translation Technology and DTP department, you save time and money.

We would be happy to advise you on your translation project in the field of financial reporting and to support you with formatting of all kinds. Call us on +1 404-523-5560 or send us an e-mail at usa@evs-translations.com.

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https://publikations-plattform.de/sp/i18n/doc//Preisliste-deutsch.pdf?document=D7&language=de

https://publikations-plattform.de/sp/i18n/doc//D089Preisliste.pdf?document=D218&language=de