Bookkeeping for a trader: EÜR records, deductible costs, invoices to prop firms, retention periods and working with a Steuerberater

What you will learn

• How the Einnahmen-Überschuss-Rechnung (EÜR) works and who may use it.
• Which costs of a trading operation are deductible and how hardware and the home office are treated.
• What an invoice to a foreign prop firm must contain and how VAT applies across borders.
• How long to keep which records and how to prepare for a Steuerberater efficiently.

Explanation

This lesson assumes the activity is a business (lesson 9) and gives general orientation for Germany; confirm details with a Steuerberater. Figures are as of 2026 and change; check the current rules.

The EÜR: cash-basis profit calculation

Sole traders whose turnover does not exceed €800,000 and whose profit does not exceed €80,000 per year (§ 141 AO, thresholds since 2024) may calculate profit with the Einnahmen-Überschuss-Rechnung (receipts-minus-payments statement) instead of double-entry bookkeeping and a balance sheet. Corporations such as a GmbH or UG must always keep double-entry books. The EÜR follows the Zufluss-Abfluss-Prinzip (§ 11 EStG): income counts in the year it reaches your account, and costs count in the year you pay them. A payout approved in December but received in January belongs to January. The EÜR is filed electronically with the tax return as Anlage EÜR via ELSTER; a paper or spreadsheet version is only your working document.

Practical set-up: a separate business bank account, a spreadsheet or bookkeeping app with one line per receipt or payment (date, counterparty, amount, category, document number) and numbered receipts. The GoBD rules require complete, timely and unchangeable records; bookkeeping software makes this easier to prove than a spreadsheet.

Deductible business costs

Costs caused by the business are Betriebsausgaben: evaluation and reset fees, platform and data-feed fees, charting and journaling software, directly related courses, the business share of phone and internet, bank charges, the Steuerberater and IHK fees. Hardware up to €800 net is written off immediately as geringwertige Wirtschaftsgüter (low-value assets); computers and software may be written off over one year under a BMF letter from 2022, otherwise over three years. Home office: a dedicated room that is the centre of your activity allows actual costs or the Jahrespauschale of €1,260; otherwise the Tagespauschale of €6 per day, at most €1,260 per year. Health and pension contributions are not business costs; they are Sonderausgaben in the private part of the return.

Invoices to prop firms and VAT

Many firms pay without an invoice, but issue one for every payout anyway: it is your record and the Finanzamt may ask for it. Under § 14 UStG it shows both names and addresses, your tax number or VAT identification number (USt-IdNr.), date, sequential number, service description ("profit share for trading services, period X"), amount and VAT treatment. For a business customer abroad the place of supply is the customer's country (§ 3a Abs. 2 UStG): for an EU firm write "Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers" (reverse charge), quote both VAT IDs and report the sale in the Zusammenfassende Meldung; for a non-EU firm the service is not taxable in Germany, which you note on the invoice. The Kleinunternehmerregelung (§ 19 UStG; turnover up to €25,000 in the previous and €100,000 in the current year, as of 2025) removes German VAT but not the reverse-charge mechanics, so many prop traders find a VAT ID simpler. Since 2025 every business must be able to receive structured electronic invoices.

Retention periods

Books, the EÜR and annual accounts must be kept for 10 years; Buchungsbelege (receipts and invoices) for 8 years since the Fourth Bureaucracy Relief Act of 2025 (previously 10); business correspondence for 6 years. The period starts at the end of the calendar year of the last entry. Digital originals (PDF invoices, broker statements, payout confirmations) must stay digital and readable; keep two backups.

Working with a Steuerberater

Fees follow the Steuerberatervergütungsverordnung and depend on turnover and effort; sorted records lower the bill. Bring the firm contracts, a payout list with euro conversion, fee receipts, the cost spreadsheet, bank statements and the trade log, and ask about the classification question from lesson 9 and VAT registration.

Worked example

Hypothetical example: A trader's first business year. Receipts: payouts of €18,500 (already converted to euros on the dates of receipt). Payments: evaluation and reset fees €1,800; data feed and platform €600; software €480; a laptop €1,500 net bought in March and written off over one year; home-office Jahrespauschale €1,260; Steuerberater €900. VAT is ignored because all customers are outside Germany and the trader has a VAT ID. Health insurance of €3,400 was also paid.

1. Betriebseinnahmen: €18,500.
2. Betriebsausgaben: 1,800 + 600 + 480 + 1,500 + 1,260 + 900 = €6,540.
3. Profit (Gewinn) for the EÜR: 18,500 − 6,540 = €11,960.
4. The €3,400 health insurance is not in the EÜR; it is entered as Sonderausgaben and reduces taxable income separately.
5. Cost ratio: 6,540 ÷ 18,500 = 35.4 percent, a useful figure for the next lesson's budget.

Common mistake

Practice activity

On paper: in one year a trader received payouts of €9,200 and paid: fees €1,350, data €360, a second monitor €450 net, a course €290, phone and internet business share €240, and €2,100 for voluntary pension contributions. (a) Calculate the EÜR profit. (b) Which item is excluded and why? (c) Until the end of which year must the monitor's invoice be kept if the year is 2026?

Key takeaways

• The EÜR is a cash-basis profit calculation for small sole traders; book income on the bank credit date in euros.
• Fees, data, software, hardware (immediate write-off up to €800 net, one year for computers) and the home office are deductible; insurance contributions are not business costs.
• Invoices to foreign firms need the § 14 UStG contents and the correct cross-border VAT note; reverse charge applies within the EU.
• Keep books 10 years, receipts 8 years, correspondence 6 years, and bring sorted records to the Steuerberater.

Next step

With the books in place, the next lesson builds the budget of a trading operation: fixed costs, volatile income, health insurance and pension contributions when self-employed.