Register in this order: Berufsgenossenschaft first (within one week of starting — it issues the Unternehmensnummer, which the Betriebsnummer application requires as an input), then the Betriebsnummer from the Bundesagentur für Arbeit, then the Finanzamt (Steuernummer), then an ELSTER Organisationszertifikat. Krankenkassen relationships form per employee, as hires arrive.
Before the first run: German SV reporting has no paper channel — you need a systemgeprüft (system-tested) payroll program or the official SV-Meldeportal, plus SEPA rails and, ideally, Lastschrift mandates for the Einzugsstellen and the Finanzamt.
Per hire: written terms under the Nachweisgesetz (core items by day one), collect Steuer-ID, SV number and Krankenkasse, file the DEÜV Anmeldung, pull ELStAM. Per month: Beitragsnachweis by the fifth-last bank working day, contributions by the third-last, Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung by the 10th of the following month.
German payroll setup runs across four institutions: your Berufsgenossenschaft (statutory accident insurance, under the DGUV umbrella), the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (the Betriebsnummer that keys all social-insurance reporting), the Finanzamt (wage tax), and the Krankenkassen (which collect the social insurance contributions as Einzugsstellen). The checklist below covers every step from "no German presence" to "first compliant payslip", grouped in phases. Each item links to a full explainer.
You can generally employ in Germany without a German entity — but the two obligation systems answer differently. Social insurance follows the employee: anyone employed in Germany is compulsorily insured regardless of where the employer sits, so the full contribution and reporting load lands on you either way. Wage tax follows your footprint: the withholding obligation generally only attaches once you are an "inländischer Arbeitgeber" — a German seat, place of management, permanent establishment or permanent representative; without one, your employees generally settle their own income tax by assessment. Decide the footprint first, because it determines which halves of this checklist apply.
Running German payroll from overseas →What: statutory accident insurance registration. Since 2023 every employer carries a 15-digit Unternehmensnummer (12 digits identify you, 3 the specific enterprise), issued promptly via the DGUV once your accident insurer learns of the business. Who issues it: the competent Unfallversicherungsträger (Berufsgenossenschaft) via the DGUV. Lead time: you must notify within one week of starting the enterprise (§ 192 SGB VII); the number is then issued without delay. Do this first — the next item requires it.
DGUV — Unternehmensnummer →What: the eight-digit number that identifies your Beschäftigungsbetrieb on every social-insurance report and contribution payment — without it you cannot file a single Meldung. Applied for electronically through the BA's Betriebsnummern-Service; § 18i SGB IV makes the Unternehmensnummer a required input to the application, which is why the Berufsgenossenschaft comes first. Separate Betriebsnummern apply per municipality and per economic activity. Who issues it: the Bundesagentur für Arbeit, online.
BA — Betriebsnummern-Service →What: notify the opening of the business or Betriebsstätte (§ 138 AO) and file the further particulars electronically — in practice the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung, lodged through ELSTER. The output that matters for payroll is the Steuernummer of the wage-tax Betriebsstätte: it is the identifier on the Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung (the official 2026 form carries "Steuernummer" as its first field, standing in for the Wirtschafts-Identifikationsnummer during the transition). Who issues it: the Betriebsstättenfinanzamt.
Registrations & employer IDs →What: ELStAM retrieval and the Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung both require authenticated electronic transmission, which means registering in Mein ELSTER and holding an ELSTER certificate. For employers, ELSTER recommends the Organisationszertifikat (issued against your Steuernummer; up to 200 authorisations per Steuernummer). The same certificate is what the SV-Meldeportal requires for login, so it does double duty. If a payroll provider transmits for you, you may not need your own registration. Who issues it: the tax administration, via elster.de.
ELSTER — ELStAM for employers →What: there is no single "social insurance registration". The Einzugsstelle (collection point) for the combined contribution is each employee's own Krankenkasse (§ 28i SGB IV), so you deal with as many Kassen as your people have chosen — the relationship comes into existence with each hire's first Anmeldung. For minijobs the Einzugsstelle is always the Minijob-Zentrale (Deutsche Rentenversicherung Knappschaft-Bahn-See). Nothing to file in advance; know that the fan-out is coming.
Social insurance, explained →What: German SV reporting has no paper channel. Under § 95b SGB IV, Meldungen and Beitragsnachweise may travel only by secured, encrypted transmission from a systemgeprüft payroll program or a system-tested electronic Ausfüllhilfe. Employers without a system-tested program must use the official SV-Meldeportal (§ 95a SGB IV) — which requires an ELSTER-Organisationszertifikat to log in, charges a usage fee, and expressly does not compute pay or contributions. In practice: pick certified software, or a provider who runs it, before the first hire.
Does payroll software need certification? →What: net wages go out by SEPA credit transfer from a euro account; the statutory money can be pulled. The Einzugsstellen accept a SEPA-Basislastschrift mandate — the Minijob-Zentrale, itself a statutory Einzugsstelle, recommends it so no due date is missed (the mandate must be with the Einzugsstelle by the fifth-last bank working day for a punctual first collection). For wage tax, a SEPA-Lastschriftmandat to the Finanzamt means the payment is deemed made on the due date (§ 224 AO) — with push transfers, the credit date is what counts. Mandates convert two monthly deadlines into non-events.
Paying employees in Germany: the rails →What: document the essential terms of employment from a 15-item statutory list, on a staircase of deadlines — the core items (parties; pay composition, amount, due date and payment method; working time) by day one of work, most further items by day seven, the rest within a month. Since the Bürokratieentlastungsgesetz IV the record may be provided in Textform (e.g. an accessible, storable, printable PDF with a receipt-confirmation request) — but not for employees in the § 2a SchwarzArbG risk sectors, and the employee can always demand the classic signed paper version. A compliant written employment contract substitutes. Breach is fineable at up to €2,000 per violation.
NachwG § 2 — the statutory list →What: three data items, each with a statutory fallback. The Steuer-Identifikationsnummer plus date of birth (the ELStAM retrieval key — culpably missing means tax class VI withholding). The Versicherungsnummer — and if it isn't on file, you don't chase paper: you send an electronic VSNR query to the Datenstelle der Rentenversicherung within the DEÜV procedure. The Krankenkasse choice — the employee must name their Kasse without delay; if they haven't within two weeks of starting, you must register them with their previous Kasse (or, absent one, a choosable Kasse you select, informing them). Onboarding can never stall on missing data.
Lohnsteuer, ELStAM & tax classes →What: report the start of the insured employment (reason 10) to the employee's Krankenkasse as Einzugsstelle. Lead time: with the first payroll run, at the latest six weeks after the employment starts. In the eleven listed black-labour-risk sectors — construction, hospitality, passenger transport, freight and logistics including platform delivery, building cleaning, trade-fair set-up, the meat industry, security, hairdressing and cosmetics among them — an additional Sofortmeldung (reason 20) must reach the Deutsche Rentenversicherung at the latest at the moment work commences.
Statutory lodgements: ELSTER & SV →What: at the start of the employment you must register the employee with the tax administration and retrieve their elektronische Lohnsteuerabzugsmerkmale (tax class, child allowances, church-tax attribute, allowances) from the BZSt by authenticated data transfer — this is what your withholding is computed from. The duty is continuous: you must poll and retrieve change notifications monthly, and the ELStAM used must appear on the payslip. Who provides it: the BZSt, via the ELStAM procedure (employer-side questions go to your Betriebsstättenfinanzamt).
BZSt — the ELStAM procedure →What: the 2026 parameters your engine must carry: KV 14.6% plus the Kasse's Zusatzbeitrag (2026 average 2.9%), PV 3.6% (with the childless surcharge, per-child reductions and the Saxony split), RV 18.6%, AV 2.6% — each split half/half and capped at the Beitragsbemessungsgrenzen (2026: €5,812.50/month KV/PV; €8,450/month RV/AV); wage tax per the BMF's 2026 Programmablaufplan; the €13.90 minimum wage; and the employer-only Umlagen (U1/U2 per Kasse, Insolvenzgeldumlage 0.15%). All of these move on a 1-January cycle — never carry last year's table forward.
What a German employee really costs →What: the recurring cadence that starts with the first run. The Beitragsnachweis must be with each Einzugsstelle by 0:00 on the fifth-last bank working day of the month (transmit by midnight the day before). The contributions themselves are due, in estimated amount, on the third-last bank working day of the same month — most employers simply pay at the previous month's level and true up next month. The Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung and payment of withheld wage tax are due by the 10th day after the end of the filing period (monthly above €5,000 prior-year wage tax; a nil return is still required unless you've told the Finanzamt none arises).
The German payroll month, hour by hour →What: on payment of the wage the employee must receive an Abrechnung in Textform (§ 108 GewO) showing the settlement period and the composition of the pay; the Entgeltbescheinigungsverordnung prescribes the standardised content — identity data including the Versicherungsnummer and Steuer-ID, tax attributes, every pay component with its tax/SV effect, the gross saldi, statutory deductions, net pay and payout amount. The ELStAM applied must be shown. The duty lapses only if nothing changed since the last proper statement.
Payslips & the Entgeltbescheinigung →What: the first run starts several clocks at once. Lohnkonten (per-employee wage accounts): until the end of the sixth calendar year after the last recorded wage payment. Buchungsbelege (accounting vouchers, where payroll journals typically sit): 8 years; books and annual accounts 10; other tax-relevant documents 6 (§ 147 AO, post-BEG-IV). SV Entgeltunterlagen: kept in Germany, in German, until the end of the calendar year following your last DRV Betriebsprüfung. Working-time records: at least 2 years (MiLoG/ArbZG). Build the archive on day one, not at the first audit.
Records & retention →The critical path is shorter than the list suggests: Berufsgenossenschaft (one week, produces the Unternehmensnummer) → Betriebsnummer (online, needs that number) → Finanzamt and ELSTER in parallel. Everything in Phases 3–4 then repeats per hire and per month — which is exactly the part worth automating.
An employer with no seat in Germany must appoint an authorised representative (Bevollmächtigter) with a seat in Germany — twice over. Once for the payroll-record duties of § 28f SGB IV (German-language Entgeltunterlagen, kept in Germany, available to the DRV audit service), and separately for accident insurance under § 130 SGB VII, where the representative carries the Unternehmer's duties — and if none is appointed, Berlin is deemed the enterprise's seat. Name both before you register, not after; the BG notification itself must state the accident-insurance Bevollmächtigter. The wage-tax side is different again — see running German payroll from overseas.
Quick answers
In what order do I apply for the German employer registrations?
Accident insurance first. Register with your Berufsgenossenschaft within one week of starting the enterprise — that produces the 15-digit Unternehmensnummer (UNR.S), which § 18i SGB IV makes a required input to the Betriebsnummer application at the Bundesagentur für Arbeit. Then register with the Finanzamt (the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung, filed through ELSTER) to obtain the Steuernummer used on the Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung, and set up an ELSTER certificate — the Organisationszertifikat is the one ELSTER recommends for employers. Krankenkasse relationships follow as you hire: each employee's own Kasse becomes a collection point.
Can I hire in Germany without a German entity?
Generally yes. Social insurance follows the employee, not the employer: anyone employed in Germany is compulsorily insured regardless of where the employer sits, so a foreign employer carries the full contribution and reporting load and must appoint a Bevollmächtigter (authorised representative) with a seat in Germany — once for its payroll-record duties under § 28f SGB IV and again for accident insurance under § 130 SGB VII. Wage tax runs the other way: the withholding obligation generally only attaches once the employer has a German attachment point such as a permanent establishment; without one, the employees' German income tax is generally collected through their own assessment. Individual facts can flip that answer, so take advice before relying on it.
When is the first DEÜV Anmeldung due for a new hire?
With the first payroll run, and at the latest six weeks after the employment starts (reason 10, filed to the employee's Krankenkasse as Einzugsstelle). In eleven listed sectors — construction, hospitality, passenger transport, freight and logistics including platform delivery, building cleaning, security and others — an additional Sofortmeldung (reason 20) must reach the Deutsche Rentenversicherung at the latest at the moment work commences.
What are the recurring deadlines in a normal German payroll month?
Three clocks. The Beitragsnachweis (contribution statement) must be with each Einzugsstelle by 0:00 on the fifth-last bank working day of the month — in practice, transmitted by midnight the day before. The social insurance contributions themselves are due, in estimated amount, on the third-last bank working day of the same month, with any residual trued up the following month. And the Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung plus payment of the withheld wage tax are due by the 10th day after the end of the filing period — monthly where prior-year wage tax exceeded €5,000.
Every item on this list, wired in from day one
Ledra Pay's German country pack carries the registration identifiers, retrieves and applies ELStAM, files the DEÜV catalogue and the Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung through certified rails, hits the Beitragsnachweis and Fälligkeit clocks every month, and produces EBV-conformant payslips — with an auditable evidence trail behind every figure. Set the identifiers up once; the repeating phases run themselves.
See German payroll →Government sources
- DGUV — Unternehmensnummer (UNR.S) (15-digit identifier; register within one week of opening).
- Bundesagentur für Arbeit — Betriebsnummern-Service (online application; the Betriebsnummer as the key of the SV Meldeverfahren).
- BZSt — ELStAM (employer duty to register employees and retrieve the ELStAM; Betriebsstättenfinanzamt competence).
- ELSTER — ELStAM: Informationen für Arbeitgeber und Arbeitnehmer (Organisationszertifikat recommended; ELStAM attribute set; tax classes I–VI).
- BMF — Muster der Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung 2026 (10th-day deadline; monthly/quarterly/annual thresholds; nil returns; Steuernummer as form field).
- BMF — Programmablaufplan 2026 (the prescribed machine wage-tax calculation for 2026).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — summa summarum: Meldungen (2026) (DEÜV catalogue and deadlines; Sofortmeldung sectors; § 95b/§ 95a channel rules; SV-Meldeportal).
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung — summa summarum: Beiträge (2026) (drittletzter Bankarbeitstag; estimate rule; Beitragsnachweis timing).
- Minijob-Zentrale — Beitragszahlung und Fristen (Lastschrift recommendation and mandate timing; Vereinfachungsregel).
- Statutes — § 18i SGB IV (Betriebsnummer; Unternehmensnummer as input), § 192 SGB VII (one-week BG notification), § 28f SGB IV (Entgeltunterlagen; Bevollmächtigter), § 130 SGB VII (UV Bevollmächtigter), § 2 NachwG (written terms), § 108 GewO (payslip), § 39e EStG (ELStAM), § 41a EStG (Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung), § 147 AO (retention ladder).
Note: the consolidated statute texts on gesetze-im-internet.de were unreachable from our research environment at the time of writing; statute wording was verified via archived copies of those pages and the official ministry, DRV and agency publications cited above.