Most business owners see their numbers once a year — in the annual financial statements, in May. That is too late. Decisions made on current numbers are better decisions. Here is what a modern BWA must deliver.
What a BWA actually is
BWA stands for »Betriebswirtschaftliche Auswertung« — a monthly management report of revenues, expenses and results, derived from the ongoing bookkeeping. The standard BWA (Form 1) is DATEV-based and produced by every advisor. The problem: the standard format is generic and does not answer the question that really keeps business owners up at night.
What a modern BWA must deliver
1. Current figures within 10 days
If you only see May's numbers in early July, it is too late to act. Modern bookkeeping delivers figures by the 10th of the following month. The prerequisite: digital document processing via DATEV Unternehmen online or comparable systems.
2. Plan-vs-actual comparison
Real insight comes from comparison: actuals versus plan, versus prior year, versus quarterly surplus. If you only see absolute numbers, you see no trends. If you see trends, you can steer.
3. Key metrics instead of line items
A good management BWA shows 5–10 key metrics, not 100 accounts:
- Raw/gross/net profit mark-up
- Liquidity position and 4-week forecast
- Order backlog to revenue
- Receivables and DSO (Days Sales Outstanding)
- Inventory levels and inventory turnover
- Personnel cost ratio
4. Plan-vs-actual liquidity planning
Most insolvencies are not loss insolvencies — they are liquidity insolvencies. A BWA with a 6–8-week forecast shows whether a squeeze is coming, before it arrives.
A mid-sized company applies for a €800,000 working capital loan. The bank asks for current figures. With a standard BWA: 6 weeks' delay. With a modern BWA: figures the next day — including a liquidity forecast. The result: loan approval in 3 days instead of 6 weeks.
What only a professional tax advisory practice can deliver
A BWA is only as good as the bookkeeping behind it. These are the deciding factors:
- Clean charts of accounts: Companies using SKR03 or SKR04 can run standardised analyses. Those maintaining bespoke charts of accounts lose all comparability.
- Consistent posting: Expenses must be allocated consistently. Book marketing as miscellaneous expense one month and as advertising expense the next, and you have no comparable figures.
- Real-time posting: Manual document entry takes 3–5 days per month. Digital document processing with OCR cuts that in half.
- A cost centre concept: With multiple business areas, cost centres or segments should enable meaningful analysis.
The value, in numbers
A typical mid-sized company with €5 million in revenue, working with up-to-date monthly figures, typically saves:
- 0.5–1.5 percentage points on borrowing costs (through a stronger credit rating)
- 15–25% faster response to margin erosion (course correction instead of damage control)
- A 2–4-week head start in liquidity planning (avoiding expensive bridge financing)
- Substantially greater confidence in investment decisions (real numbers instead of gut feeling)
More than 20 years advising entrepreneurs, investors and family businesses. Reserved tax services are provided by our partner tax firm, TABAK Steuerberatung.
Firm Profile →Upgrade your BWA.
We review your current bookkeeping, identify the gaps to real-time readiness, and deliver a BWA that supports decisions — not one that merely documents them.