Inventur 2026: Ab 1. Oktober zählen statt an Silvester

From October 1, the window for a pre-dated stocktake opens – and with it the chance to avoid squeezing the count in between Christmas and New Year. Anyone preparing a balance sheet cannot avoid a stocktake: § 240 HGB requires one at the end of every financial year, and a flawed count can in the worst case undermine the compliance of your entire bookkeeping. Here are the deadlines, the four permitted methods, and a realistic schedule for financial year 2026.

Who actually has to take stock

The stocktaking obligation follows from the bookkeeping obligation. Two provisions decide the matter:

Under commercial law, § 240 (1) HGB obliges every merchant to draw up an inventory at the start of their commercial business and at the end of every financial year – that is, a list of their land, receivables, liabilities, cash, and other assets, stating their value. Under § 240 (2) HGB this has to happen within a period appropriate to proper business operations.

§ 241a HGB exempts sole traders from this obligation if, at two consecutive balance sheet dates, they do not exceed 800,000 euros in revenue and 80,000 euros in annual profit. For a newly founded business, the exemption already applies if the figures are not exceeded at the first balance sheet date. Important: the exemption applies only to sole traders, not to partnerships or corporations.

For tax purposes, § 141 (1) AO applies: commercial entrepreneurs with more than 800,000 euros in revenue in the calendar year or more than 80,000 euros in profit from trade are obliged to keep books and prepare accounts based on annual stocktakes. This obligation does not start automatically: the tax office notifies you of the bookkeeping obligation, and it applies only from the financial year following that notification (§ 141 (2) AO).

In short: anyone using a cash-basis P&L under § 4 (3) EStG does not need a commercial-law stocktake. Goods purchased are a business expense when paid, and no inventory balance is carried forward. A stocktake is still sensible as soon as a switch to balance-sheet accounting is on the table – you then need solid figures for the transition profit. We compared the two methods in our article cash-basis P&L or balance sheet.

The four permitted stocktaking methods

The HGB gives you more room than many people think. Alongside the classic balance-sheet-date stocktake, § 241 HGB permits three simplification methods.

1. Balance-sheet-date stocktake

The physical count takes place on the balance sheet date itself, i.e. on December 31 where the financial year equals the calendar year. Under R 5.3 (1) EStR, the tax administration allows a window of ten days before or after the balance sheet date, provided the movements in that period are documented and rolled back or forward to the date (extended balance-sheet-date stocktake). The advantage: no value roll-forward needed. The disadvantage: the date falls exactly when retail and hospitality have the least time.

2. Shifted stocktake (§ 241 (3) HGB)

This is where the greatest relief lies. The count may be carried out within the last three months before or the first two months after the balance sheet date. The stock determined is then rolled forward or back in value terms to the balance sheet date.

For a financial year matching the calendar year, that means concretely: the window for the December 31, 2026 balance sheet date runs from October 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027. So you can put the count in a quiet week in October or November – provided your inventory management system allows a clean value roll-forward to the balance sheet date.

3. Perpetual stocktake (§ 241 (2) HGB)

Where inventory records are kept properly, the stock at the balance sheet date may be derived arithmetically from those records. The condition under R 5.3 (2) and (3) EStR is that every inflow and outflow is recorded by quantity and value and that a physical count takes place for every item at least once per financial year. For tax purposes the method is ruled out for goods subject to uncontrollable shrinkage – through evaporation, spoilage, or breakage – and for particularly valuable goods. Otherwise it suits businesses with a well-maintained inventory management system and spreads the workload across the year.

4. Sampling stocktake (§ 241 (1) HGB)

Stock is determined using recognized mathematical-statistical methods on the basis of samples. The method has to comply with the principles of proper accounting, and the informative value of the inventory must equal that of a physical count. For small and medium-sized businesses, the methodological effort usually pays off only from several thousand item positions onwards.

Valuation: what the stock is worth

Counting is only half the job – the positions also have to be valued. The starting point under § 6 (1) no. 2 EStG is acquisition or production cost. If the going-concern value (Teilwert) at the balance sheet date is lower, it may be used – for tax purposes, however, only in the case of an expected permanent impairment.

Under commercial law, by contrast, the strict lower-of-cost-or-market principle in § 253 (4) HGB applies to current assets: the lower stock exchange or market price at the reporting date must be applied, even for a merely temporary impairment.

This becomes practically relevant for:

• Slow movers: goods that have been on the shelf for years are rarely still worth their acquisition cost. A documented write-down reduces your profit – but only if you justify the impairment in a verifiable way.
• Damaged or expired goods: record and document them separately rather than quietly discarding them.
• Seasonal goods: after the season, they can regularly only be valued at the achievable selling price less selling costs.

For similar items of inventory, § 6 (1) no. 2a EStG additionally permits the LIFO method – the goods purchased last are deemed to be used first. In times of rising purchase prices, this lowers the reported stock value and hence the profit.

Schedule: how to prepare the stocktake

The most frequent objections arise not during counting but during preparation. A realistic sequence:

1. Six to eight weeks ahead: decide on the method (balance-sheet-date, shifted, or perpetual), fix the date, appoint someone to lead the count.
2. Four weeks ahead: tidy the warehouse, sort goods, physically separate third-party and consignment goods, define and number counting zones.
3. Two weeks ahead: draw up written stocktaking instructions, assign counting teams, prepare count sheets or scanners, brief staff.
4. On the day: stop goods movements or document them seamlessly, count in pairs (one counts, one writes), mark every sheet with date, counting zone, and signature.
5. Afterwards: clarify and explain differences against the book stock, value the items, prepare the inventory, archive the documents.

Four mistakes that get expensive in a tax audit

• Counting third-party property: consignment, loaned, and commission goods do not belong in your inventory, but must be recorded separately.
• Forgetting goods in transit: goods already delivered but not yet shelved, and goods in transport, belong to stock depending on the transfer of risk.
• Count sheets without traceability: without a date, counting zone, and signature, a sheet is worthless in case of doubt. Pencil is taboo; corrections are struck through, not overwritten.
• Explaining differences away: shrinkage is not a flaw, it is normal. Undocumented differences, by contrast, are an open door for estimated assessments.

Retention: ten years, not eight

A clarification is worthwhile here, because the two periods have differed since the Fourth Bureaucracy Relief Act. Both are set out in § 147 (3) AO: accounting vouchers (§ 147 (1) no. 4 AO) now only have to be kept for eight years, while for inventories, books, annual accounts, and the working instructions needed to understand them (§ 147 (1) no. 1 AO) it remains ten years.

The period starts, under § 147 (4) AO, at the end of the calendar year in which the inventory was drawn up – not at the balance sheet date. If you draw up the inventory as at December 31, 2026 during 2026, the period runs until the end of 2036; if it is only drawn up in 2027, for instance after a February stocktake, until the end of 2037. The count sheets, the stocktaking instructions, and the documentation of your valuation decisions have to be kept as well. You will find the details on the shortened periods in our article on retention periods in 2026. If you carry out the stocktake digitally, the GoBD apply on top: unalterable storage, machine readability, and a process documentation describing the method used.

Think of the stocktake and the annual accounts together

The stocktake is not an isolated exercise but the data basis for your annual accounts. If the count is prepared properly, valuation, closing, and the tax return run considerably faster – and in October or November you have the calm you will not have in December.

At Buchführungsheld, real bookkeepers accompany you throughout the year: they keep your inventory accounts current, tell you in good time which stocktaking method suits your business, and take on the valuation and the closing at a fixed price. If you want to plan your 2026 stocktake, book a free initial consultation – we will look at your business and the right date together.

Frequently asked questions

When does the 2026 stocktake have to take place?

Where the financial year equals the calendar year, the balance sheet date is December 31, 2026. If you use the shifted stocktake under § 241 (3) HGB, you may count between October 1, 2026 and February 28, 2027 and roll the stock value forward or back to the balance sheet date.

Do I need a stocktake if I use a cash-basis P&L?

No. The stocktaking obligation follows from the bookkeeping obligation under § 240 HGB or §§ 140, 141 AO. Anyone determining profit under § 4 (3) EStG does not have to draw up an inventory. A voluntary count is still sensible, for instance in preparation for a switch to balance-sheet accounting.

From what revenue am I obliged to keep books?

For tax purposes under § 141 AO, from more than 800,000 euros in revenue in the calendar year or more than 80,000 euros in profit from trade. Under commercial law, § 241a HGB exempts sole traders as long as they stay below 800,000 euros in revenue and 80,000 euros in annual profit at two consecutive balance sheet dates.

How long do I have to keep stocktaking records?

Ten years. Inventories fall under § 147 (1) no. 1 AO, for which § 147 (3) AO provides the ten-year period. The shortened eight-year period applies only to accounting vouchers under § 147 (1) no. 4 AO. The period starts at the end of the calendar year in which the inventory was drawn up.

What happens if the stocktake is flawed?

An improper stocktake can call the compliance of your entire bookkeeping into question. The usual consequence is that the tax administration becomes entitled to make an estimate. Cleanly documented count sheets, written stocktaking instructions, and explained differences are therefore the best protection.