HGB §§266–274a
Balance Sheet
Bilanz
The HGB balance sheet (Bilanz) provisions governing the structure, line items, and presentation format of the balance sheet, including the mandatory §266 layout for capital companies.
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Conceptual Framework Linkage
WHERE THE SERIES COMES TOGETHER: §266 is the exact, legally prescribed line-item structure that Rückstellungen (§249), RAP (§250), goodwill (§246), and deferred taxes (§274) all slot directly into. This poster also confirms the current, EU-driven 2024 size thresholds now governing every size-dependent relief mentioned throughout this series.
Where everything this series has built finally has a fixed address
Every concept this poster series has covered – Rückstellungen, RAP, goodwill, deferred tax, equity components – now finds its EXACT, legally mandated location within a single, prescribed balance sheet format. §266 is not a suggestion or a common presentation convention; it is the LAW itself dictating, line by line, where each item must appear.
HOW §§266–274A MAP TO GERMAN ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES
Bewertungsstetigkeit, applied to structure – the format itself, not merely measurement methods, must remain consistent year to year Size-dependent proportionality – §267/§267a scale disclosure burden to genuine company size, a cost-benefit theme running throughout HGB Gläubigerschutz through equity transparency – §272's detailed equity component rules exist specifically so creditors can see exactly how much genuine, distributable capital cushion actually exists
What §§266–274a require, at a glance
§Core requirement
266The prescribed Bilanz line-item structure, both sides
267–267aFour size classes, driving disclosure/audit/filing relief throughout Book 3
268Specific item rules – profit appropriation presentation, among others
270–271Reserve formation rules; definitions of Beteiligung and Verbundene Unternehmen
272Detailed equity component rules, including treasury shares
274–274aDeferred tax recognition, asymmetric between assets and liabilities; small-company exemption
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Scope
Every Kapitalgesellschaft (and §264a-caught partnership), scaled by size
§§266–274a bind every Kapitalgesellschaften and §264a-caught partnership established in the preceding poster – but the PRECISE extent of the obligation (full granular detail versus an abbreviated format; full deferred tax recognition versus complete exemption) scales directly with the size classification §267/§267a establishes.
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§266(1) – the Abbreviated Format for Small/Micro Corporations
Letters and Roman numerals only – the granular arabic-numeral detail may be skipped
§266(1) requires the FULL prescribed structure (Sections 4–5) from large and medium-sized corporations, but permits small and micro corporations to prepare a "verkürzte" (abbreviated) Bilanz – showing only the higher-level, LETTER-and-ROMAN-NUMERAL headings (e.g. "B. Umlaufvermögen" and its Roman-numeral sub-headings), WITHOUT the more granular arabic-numeral line items beneath them.
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§266(2) – THE Prescribed Asset-Side Format
Every asset-side item from this entire poster series has a fixed home here
Asset-side (Aktiva) structure
A.Anlagevermögen – I. Immaterielle Vermögensgegenstände (incl. goodwill, §246) · II. Sachanlagen · III. Finanzanlagen
B.Umlaufvermögen – I. Vorräte · II. Forderungen und sonstige Vermögensgegenstände · III. Wertpapiere · IV. Kassenbestand, Bundesbankguthaben, Guthaben bei Kreditinstituten, Schecks
C.Rechnungsabgrenzungsposten (the named RAP category from §250)
D.Aktive latente Steuern (deferred tax assets, §274)
E.Aktiver Unterschiedsbetrag aus der Vermögensverrechnung (the §246(2) plan-asset netting difference)
Notice: goodwill from §246(1) sentence 4, RAP from §250, and deferred tax assets from §274 all appear here, EXACTLY where this format places them – the abstract rules from earlier posters become concrete, addressable line items.
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§266(3) – THE Prescribed Equity-and-Liabilities-Side Format
Rückstellungen and RAP find their mirror-image home here
Equity-and-liabilities-side (Passiva) structure
A.Eigenkapital – I. Gezeichnetes Kapital · II. Kapitalrücklage · III. Gewinnrücklagen · IV. Gewinn-/Verlustvortrag · V. Jahresüberschuss/-fehlbetrag
B.Rückstellungen (the mandatory, closed-list category from §249)
C.Verbindlichkeiten (liabilities, including long-term debt from §253's discounting rules)
D.Rechnungsabgrenzungsposten (RAP, liability side)
E.Passive latente Steuern (deferred tax liabilities, §274)
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§267 – the Four Size Classes (2024 Thresholds, Confirmed)
Two of three criteria, on two consecutive balance sheet dates – thresholds raised roughly 25% in 2024
A German legislative amendment effective for fiscal years beginning after 31 December 2023 raised the monetary thresholds by approximately 25%, implementing an EU-mandated inflation adjustment (Delegated Directive (EU) 2023/2775). Classification requires meeting (not exceeding) at least TWO of the three criteria on TWO CONSECUTIVE balance sheet dates.
ClassBalance sheet totalRevenueEmployees
Micro (Kleinst-)≤ €450,000≤ €900,000≤ 10
Small (klein)≤ €7,500,000≤ €15,000,000≤ 50
Medium (mittelgroß)≤ €25,000,000≤ €50,000,000≤ 250
Large (groß)exceeds ≥2 of the medium thresholds
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Worked Example – Classifying a Company's Size
Applying the two-of-three, two-consecutive-years test
Example 1: A company straddling the small/medium boundary
A GmbH reports, for two consecutive fiscal years: Year 1 – balance sheet total €9,000,000, revenue €14,000,000, 45 employees. Year 2 – balance sheet total €9,500,000, revenue €14,500,000, 48 employees.
In BOTH years, the balance sheet total EXCEEDS the small-company threshold (€7,500,000), but revenue and employee count BOTH remain within the small-company limits (€15,000,000 and 50). Since only ONE of three criteria is exceeded (not two), the company remains classified as SMALL for both years – meeting at least two of three thresholds is what matters, not merely the single largest figure.
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§267a – Kleinstkapitalgesellschaften (Micro-Corporations)
A subset of "small," with even lighter obligations
§267a defines Kleinstkapitalgesellschaften as a SUBSET of small corporations meeting the even lower €450,000/€900,000/10-employee thresholds. Micro-corporations may, among other reliefs, DISPENSE with preparing a separate Anhang entirely, provided certain specific disclosures (e.g. on financial commitments and, where applicable, loans to executive bodies) are instead shown directly BENEATH the Bilanz itself.
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Capital-Market-Oriented Companies Are ALWAYS "Large"
Size-based relief is unavailable regardless of actual balance sheet figures
Regardless of its actual balance sheet total, revenue, or employee count, a company meeting the §264d "kapitalmarktorientiert" definition established in the previous poster is ALWAYS treated as a LARGE corporation for size-classification purposes – a genuinely small, capital-market-oriented company gets none of the size-based relief an equally small, non-listed company would otherwise enjoy.
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§268 – Profit Appropriation: Before or After Distribution
A genuine presentation choice affecting how the bottom of equity looks
§268(1) permits the Bilanz to be prepared EITHER "nach" (after) partial or full appropriation of the year's profit (i.e., already reflecting a proposed or resolved dividend distribution, so the equity section shows only the REMAINING, undistributed retained earnings) OR "vor" (before) appropriation (showing the full, undiminished Jahresüberschuss as its own separate line, with the distribution decision left entirely to a later resolution). This is a genuine PRESENTATION election, changing how the bottom of the equity section reads without changing the underlying total equity itself.
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Worked Example – the Two Presentation Bases, Side by Side
Same total equity, two different equity-section presentations
Example 2: A GmbH resolving a partial dividend before its accounts are finalised
A GmbH earns €500,000 net income for the year. Before finalising its Jahresabschluss, its shareholders resolve to distribute €200,000 as a dividend, retaining €300,000.
Presented "VOR Gewinnverwendung" (before appropriation): the Bilanz shows Jahresüberschuss of the FULL €500,000 as its own line, with the €200,000 distribution disclosed as a proposed appropriation (often in the Anhang) rather than already reflected. Presented "NACH Gewinnverwendung" (after appropriation): the Bilanz instead shows only the RETAINED €300,000 flowing into Gewinnvortrag/Gewinnrücklagen, with the €200,000 already removed as a dividend payable. Total equity is IDENTICAL either way – only the internal presentation differs.
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§270 – Formation of the Capital and Statutory Reserves
How the Kapitalrücklage and Gewinnrücklagen actually get formed
§270 supplies the mechanical rules for how amounts flow INTO the Kapitalrücklage (capital reserve – typically share premium and other capital contributions from shareholders) and the Gewinnrücklagen (retained earnings reserves – formed from the company's own accumulated results, or via a capital reduction, subject to any specific statutory or articles-of-association requirements).
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§271 – Beteiligungen and Verbundene Unternehmen (Definitions That Ripple Outward)
Two definitions used repeatedly throughout the rest of Book 3
§271(1) defines a "Beteiligung" (participating interest) as a shareholding intended to serve the holder's OWN business through a durable connection – with a REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION that any holding of 20% or more of the nominal capital qualifies. §271(2) defines "verbundene Unternehmen" (affiliated companies) – entities linked through the consolidation-relevant control and ownership relationships the LATER Konzernabschluss Titel elaborates in full. These two definitions are used repeatedly throughout the REST of Book 3, wherever a disclosure or presentation rule refers to a "Beteiligung" or an "verbundenes Unternehmen" without redefining the term afresh.
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§272(1) – Treasury Shares: a Rare, Clean Point of IFRS Convergence
Deducted directly from equity – exactly as IAS 32 requires
§272(1) requires gezeichnetes Kapital (subscribed/share capital) to be shown at its FULL nominal amount even where not fully paid in – but ALSO requires treasury shares (eigene Anteile – a company's own shares it has reacquired) to be DEDUCTED directly from equity, rather than shown as an asset. This is a genuinely CLEAN point of convergence with IFRS: IAS 32 likewise prohibits recognising treasury shares as an asset, requiring their deduction from equity instead – a rare instance in this poster series of the two frameworks landing on precisely the SAME accounting outcome, for essentially the SAME conceptual reason (a company cannot meaningfully hold an "asset" interest in its own equity).
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Worked Example – Deducting Treasury Shares From Equity
Reducing equity directly, never recognising an asset
Example 3: An AG repurchasing its own shares
An AG repurchases €800,000 of its own shares on the open market, intending to hold them for a possible future employee share scheme.
The AG does NOT recognise an €800,000 asset for the repurchased shares. Instead, it reduces total EQUITY directly by €800,000 – presented as a deduction within the equity section – CONSISTENT with both §272(1) and, independently, with IAS 32's own identical treatment internationally.
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§272(2)–(4) – Capital Reserve, Retained Earnings, and the Parent-Shares Reserve
A distinctive, specifically named reserve for a subsidiary holding shares in its own parent
§272(2): the Kapitalrücklage's composition – share premium (Agio) and other specific capital contributions from shareholders §272(3): Gewinnrücklagen may be formed only from current or prior years' results, or via a capital reduction, per statute or the articles of association §272(4): a distinctively NAMED "Rücklage für Anteile an einem herrschenden oder mehrheitlich beteiligten Unternehmen" – a specific reserve required where a subsidiary holds shares in its OWN controlling or majority-owning parent, restricting distributable reserves to the extent of that holding's value
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§274 – Deferred Taxes: an Asymmetric Recognition Rule
Mandatory for a net liability position; ELECTIVE for a net asset position
§274(1) requires deferred taxes to be recognised for TEMPORARY DIFFERENCES between the commercial (Handelsbilanz) carrying amounts of assets, liabilities, and RAP items and their corresponding TAX bases – directly connecting back to the Maßgeblichkeitsprinzip discussed in the earlier §§242–245 poster. Critically, and consistent with the ASYMMETRIC prudence running throughout this entire series: where the OVERALL, NET effect across all temporary differences is a deferred tax LIABILITY, recognition is MANDATORY. Where the overall NET effect is instead a deferred tax ASSET, recognition remains merely an ELECTION (Aktivierungswahlrecht) – an enterprise MAY recognise it, but need not.
This asymmetric treatment mirrors precisely the same Vorsichts-driven pattern we have now seen repeatedly across this series – mandatory recognition for items that WORSEN the balance sheet picture, elective recognition for items that would IMPROVE it.
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Worked Example – a Mandatory Deferred Tax Liability
A net liability position, with no election available
Example 4: Accelerated tax depreciation creating a net taxable temporary difference
A company's tax accounts permit accelerated depreciation on certain equipment, producing a lower tax carrying amount than the commercial (Handelsbilanz) carrying amount. Across all its temporary differences, the NET effect is a future tax OUTFLOW of €140,000 at the company's applicable 30% tax rate.
Being a NET deferred tax LIABILITY position, the company MUST recognise a €140,000 × 30% = €42,000 deferred tax liability – this is not elective, unlike the equivalent asset-side scenario in the next example.
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Worked Example – an Elective Deferred Tax Asset
A net asset position, where recognition remains the company's choice
Example 5: Tax loss carryforwards and provisions creating a net deductible position
The same company also has significant Rückstellungen recognised for commercial purposes that are not yet tax-deductible, plus available tax loss carryforwards – such that, across ALL its temporary differences, the overall NET effect is a future tax BENEFIT of €90,000.
Being a NET deferred tax ASSET position, the company MAY elect to recognise €90,000 as a deferred tax asset, but is NOT required to – many companies, particularly smaller ones wary of the ongoing recoverability assessment this election entails, simply choose NOT to recognise it, leaving the potential future benefit entirely off the Bilanz.
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§274a – Small Corporations Are Exempt From §274 Entirely
A complete opt-out from deferred tax accounting for smaller enterprises
§274a exempts SMALL corporations (per §267's thresholds) from applying §274's deferred tax provisions altogether – a complete opt-out, not merely a simplified version, reflecting the same cost-benefit reasoning behind virtually every size-dependent relief this series has documented: the administrative cost of tracking temporary differences and applying deferred tax accounting is judged disproportionate to its benefit for smaller enterprises' typical user base.
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Critical Judgments & Practical Difficulties
Where judgement matters most
SIGNIFICANT JUDGEMENTS
Whether the overall, net deferred tax position genuinely nets to a liability (mandatory) or asset (elective) once ALL temporary differences are aggregated Whether a shareholding rebuts or confirms the 20% Beteiligung presumption under §271(1)
PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES
Tracking a company's size classification across the required two consecutive balance sheet dates, particularly near a threshold boundary Choosing consistently between the "vor" and "nach Gewinnverwendung" presentation bases, and applying that choice from year to year per §265(1)'s consistency principle
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Relationship to IFRS (IAS 1, IAS 12, IAS 32)
Comparison – HGB §§266–274a vs IFRS
FeatureHGBIFRS
Balance sheet formatLEGALLY PRESCRIBED, line-by-line (§266)Illustrative only – IAS 1 sets minimum line items, not a rigid format
Treasury sharesDeducted from equity (§272(1))Deducted from equity (IAS 32) – CONVERGED
Deferred tax asset recognitionELECTIVE, where net position is an assetMANDATORY, subject to a recoverability test (IAS 12)
Deferred tax liability recognitionMANDATORYMANDATORY – broadly converged in this direction
The prescribed, rigid FORMAT itself is arguably the single most visible day-to-day difference a reader moving between HGB and IFRS statements will notice – IFRS's minimum-line-item approach under IAS 1 leaves considerably more presentation flexibility than HGB's exhaustively legislated schema.
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Statement Mapping
Where every §§266–274a event lands
Event / obligationStatement(s) affectedNotes
Treasury share repurchaseBilanzDirect equity reduction, no asset recognised
Mandatory deferred tax liabilityBilanz GuVRecognised regardless of size, unless §274a small-company exemption applies
Profit appropriation presentation choiceBilanzAffects presentation only, not total equity
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Related Provisions – Cross-Reference Map
How §§266–274a connect across HGB Book 3
ProvisionNature of the connection
§§246, §249, §250Goodwill, Rückstellungen, and RAP all populate the exact line items §266 prescribes here
§264dSupplies the capital-market-oriented definition that overrides §267's size-based classification entirely
§275The parallel prescribed format for the GuV, structured on the same general principles §265 establishes
§290 et seq.Relies on §271(2)'s verbundene Unternehmen definition for its own consolidation scope tests
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Quick-Reference Glossary
Beteiligung
A participating interest – a shareholding intended to serve a durable connection with one's own business, presumed at 20%+ ownership.
Verbundene Unternehmen
Affiliated companies, linked through consolidation-relevant control and ownership relationships.
Eigene Anteile
Treasury shares – a company's own reacquired shares, deducted directly from equity rather than recognised as an asset.
Gewinnverwendung
Profit appropriation – the decision to distribute or retain a year's net income, presentable either before or after in the Bilanz.
Aktivierungswahlrecht
A capitalisation election – here, the optional (not mandatory) recognition of a net deferred tax asset position.
Kleinstkapitalgesellschaft
Micro-corporation – the smallest size class, permitted to dispense with a separate Anhang under specific conditions.
Key
Bilanz Balance sheet
GuV Income statement (Gewinn- und Verlustrechnung)
Anhang Notes to the financial statements