If you’re seeking to found a company, it’s best to be well-informed about the individual steps involved:
✅ Plan your company creation
Define what type of business you want to start. Many future entrepreneurs seek professional advice for this step. Your business idea, including market analysis, industrial property rights, goals and structural organization, should be documented in a formal business plan.
✅ Formal incorporation
When establishing a limited liability company (GmbH) or an entrepreneurial company (UG), you’ll need to establish a shareholders' agreement (Gesellschaftervertrag) specifying, amongst a few other things, the legal form of the company, the shareholders’ personal details and their respective share in the company's capital. The shareholders' agreement must be certified by a public notary.
✅ Open a business account
If you’re incorporating a GmbH or UG, you must now deposit the share capital. For a GmbH, this is at least €25,000. When founding the company, you must deposit 50 percent of this amount (i.e. €12,500) as seed capital in the business account. When founding a UG, a share capital contribution of one euro is sufficient.
✅ Registration in the commercial register
With confirmation of your share capital payment, the notary can now arrange for the registration of your GmbH or UG in the Handelsregister (German commercial register). The responsible district court (Amtsgericht) then sends a confirmation that it has been formally registered in the commercial register. This will also activate your business account.
✅ Business registration
Congratulations! Your GmbH or UG now has all the paperwork it needs to be up and running and open for business. There are still some formal steps you can take of: for instance, you must register your new company as a trade (Gewerbe anmelden). In order to register with the Gewerbeamt (trade office), you must also be a member of the respective Industrie- und Handelskammer (Chamber of Industry and Commerce, IHK).
✅ Apply for a tax number
Your business also needs to be registered with the tax office. This is an important step as you will need to obtain a tax number from the fiscal authorities to be able to issue invoices.