180.000 euros are sitting in the Geschäftskonto (business account), unchanged for years. “That is there for an emergency,” people say. That sentence is almost always half right. Part of the money really is a buffer, soundly justified. The other part is sitting there because nobody has decided yet what should happen to it. The interesting question is not the return. The question is where the line between these two parts runs.
The short answer. The Geschäftskonto should hold as much money as your business needs in fixed costs to get through a stretch without incoming payments. The calculation runs in months: monthly fixed costs times the number of months you have to bridge. Anything above that is only free once you have deducted the Steuerrücklage (money set aside for tax) and open invoices.
I am Eduard Strekert, financial advisor for Deutsche Vermögensberatung AG (DVAG), in Lüdenscheid. Let us look at that line using a constructed model business.
The buffer is measured in months, not in a wished-for amount
Take a model business: a GmbH (German limited company) with eight employees, 180.000 euros in the Geschäftskonto, unchanged for years. The amount was never calculated, it simply grew. That is exactly the pattern.
A side note: the statutory Einlagensicherung (deposit guarantee scheme) covers up to 100.000 euros per depositor and per institution (Einlagensicherungsgesetz). 180.000 euros in a single account is above that.
The first step is always the same. Not “how much is sitting there”, but “how long does that carry us”. For that you need a single number: your monthly fixed costs. Fixed costs are the items that leave the account on time even in a month without a single order.
- wages, salaries and the employer social security contributions, because they fall due in an empty month just as they do in a full one
- rent, leasing instalments, insurance premiums and ongoing software licenses
- interest and principal on existing loans
- ongoing advance tax payments, because the VAT liability and the advance payment on income or corporation tax leave the account even without a new order
- your own managing director salary or your regular drawing, because your household at home keeps running
Material and cost of goods do not belong on this list, because they fall along with the order book. Be careful, though, if you pay up front: anyone who pays for material weeks before the customer pays needs a separate item for it. In the model business the fixed costs come to 30.000 euros a month. That settles the calculation: 180.000 euros is six months of fixed costs.
If you work without employees, the largest item drops out. Then it is essentially rent, insurance, software, advance tax payments and your private drawing. The calculation stays the same.
How many months you need is decided by your business, not by a rule of thumb from the internet. Four questions get you there:
- How long does it really take until the money is in the account? What counts is not the payment term but the day the payment arrives. Anyone working with property developers is looking at more like 60 to 90 days, plus warranty retentions that stay outstanding for years.
- How much of your revenue depends on your largest client?
- How strongly does your year swing with the season?
- How long does your business run without you? If your revenue depends on your own working time, that is the most important question. A business with eight people carries on for a few weeks. A practice where you treat the patients yourself comes to a stop.
Every yes to uncertainty pushes the number up. In the model business the answer is three months, because the money really is there after a good 30 days, no client accounts for more than a fifth of revenue, capacity is stable and the business runs on without the boss. So the buffer is 90.000 euros. In your case that can quickly become five months.
What the rest quietly costs every year
One item comes off before that: the Steuerrücklage. The VAT liability and the back payments people save up for often sit in the same account, but they are not yours. The same goes for open supplier invoices and firmly planned investments. If that is sitting in there as well, deduct it first. In the model business the Steuerrücklage runs through a separate account, which is why 90.000 euros remain here as an open decision.
In July 2026 the inflation rate in Germany was 2,8 percent compared with the same month a year earlier, the final result from the Federal Statistical Office, published on 12 August 2026 (Destatis, press release no. 283). If you carry that rate forward for a year and the money earns no interest, 90.000 euros has become around 87.550 euros in real terms. A good 2.400 euros of purchasing power, without the number on the bank statement moving by a single cent. That is a projection of the July rate, not a forecast. I have described why this works the way it does using the private account: Money in your account loses value.
The amount is not dramatic. It is simply there again every year. If you want to know where the line between buffer and undecided money runs in your case, that is exactly the first point in the initial consultation. How I work with self-employed people and owners is on the page Advisory for entrepreneurs, and how buffer, reserves and investment can be sorted out is on Planning liquidity.
What comes after that is a tax question
For the part above the buffer there are two directions. It stays in the company and is invested there, or it moves into private assets and builds up something there that does not depend on the business. The second route is where the article Wealth building for entrepreneurs comes in.
Which route is more favorable for you depends on your legal form, your drawing strategy and your tax rate. That is a tax question and it belongs on the table of your tax advisor (Steuerberater), not mine. I sort the building blocks so that you can ask him the right questions.
I cannot tell you whether three months is enough for your business before I have seen your figures. And one more thing: the buffer itself does not belong in anything that can fluctuate. It has to be available on the day you need it, even if that is the worst day on the market. Only the part above the buffer is an investment question at all.
Frequently asked questions about money in the Geschäftskonto
How much money should be in the Geschäftskonto?
As much as your monthly fixed costs multiplied by the number of months your business has to get through without incoming payments. You derive the number of months from your actual incoming payments, your client mix, your season and how dependent you are on your own working capacity. A flat euro amount will not help you.
Is the Steuerrücklage part of the buffer in the Geschäftskonto?
No. The Steuerrücklage is not a buffer, it is money that is already spoken for. If it is sitting in the Geschäftskonto, deduct it before you judge your buffer. Otherwise you are holding as a reserve what in truth already belongs to the tax office.
What counts as fixed costs in a business?
Everything that leaves the account even in a month without an order: wages and employer social security contributions, rent, leasing, insurance, software licenses, interest and principal, ongoing advance tax payments, plus your own salary or your drawing. Material and cost of goods are not part of it, unless you regularly pay up front.
What do I do if my buffer is too small?
Then you have received the more important answer. The way forward runs through the levers, not through an investment: shorten payment terms, agree on instalment payments, cut fixed costs, plan the build-up of the buffer as a fixed item. Only once the buffer is in place is anything else on the table at all.
Can I simply take money out of the Geschäftskonto for private use?
With a GmbH it is not that simple. There is no drawing there, but salary, a distribution or a loan, and each of these routes has its own rules. With a sole proprietorship (Einzelunternehmen) the situation is different. Clarify this in advance with your tax advisor, and with a GmbH possibly with your lawyer as well.
Your next step
You do not have to shift anything or sign anything for this. It is enough if, after the conversation, you know which part of your account balance is a buffer and which part is an open decision. Usually an hour is enough, and afterwards you have a number you can justify. Book a free initial consultation, in person in Lüdenscheid or by video.
Eduard Strekert is a financial advisor for Deutsche Vermögensberatung AG (DVAG). This article is general information and does not replace personal advice. It does not constitute investment or tax advice.