Key points at a glance
- The details under § 5 DDG (since May 2024 the successor to § 5 TMG) and under § 2 DL-InfoV are mandatory.
- The Wirtschaftsprüferkammer in Berlin is both your chamber and the competent supervisory authority. For the professional rules, a reference to the WPK's page of legal provisions is enough.
- Unlike in many sectors, you must state your professional indemnity insurance with insurer, address and territorial scope.
- WP/StB (auditors who are also tax advisers) also name the Steuerberaterkammer and its professional rules; companies add legal form, representation and register.
- If you publish technical articles on the website, you need a responsible person under § 18 (2) MStV. You can remove the link to the ODR platform.
This post is general information, not legal or tax advice for your individual case. Laws, professional guidelines and chamber fees change: check the details with your chamber, the relevant authority or your professional association before you make a decision.
The WPK is both chamber and supervisor
If you offer an activity that requires a licence, you name the competent supervisory authority in the legal notice (§ 5 (1) no. 3 DDG). For auditors, this is not a state authority but the Wirtschaftsprüferkammer, Rauchstraße 26, 10787 Berlin. The WPK appoints auditors, keeps the professional register and exercises professional supervision. It points this out itself in its practice note “Informationspflichten” (information obligations). The WPK's regional offices have no separate legal status, so the legal notice always gives the Berlin address, whichever federal state your practice is in.
You only need to mention the Abschlussprüferaufsichtsstelle (APAS, Auditor Oversight Body) at the BAFA as well if you audit public-interest entities and therefore fall under its supervision. For a typical practice serving small and medium-sized businesses, that is not the case.
The details under § 5 DDG
Mandatory under § 5 (1) DDG
- Name and address of the establishment; for companies, also legal form and authorised representatives (no. 1)
- Email address and another quick, direct way to get in touch, usually the phone number (no. 2)
- Competent supervisory authority: the Wirtschaftsprüferkammer (no. 3)
- Commercial or partnership register with register number, if registered (no. 4)
- Chamber, statutory professional title and the state that awarded it, and the professional rules and how they can be accessed (no. 5)
- VAT identification number, if any (no. 6)
The statutory professional title is “Wirtschaftsprüfer” or “Wirtschaftsprüferin” (§ 18 WPO), awarded in the Federal Republic of Germany. As professional rules, name the WPO and the professional charter for auditors and sworn accountants (Berufssatzung, BS WP/vBP); according to the WPK's practice note, a link to its page of legal provisions is enough for access.
The details must be easy to recognise, directly accessible and permanently available. In practice, this means a “Legal notice” link in the footer of every page that leads straight there without detours via subpages or pop-ups. Business profiles, such as a company page on LinkedIn, also need an accessible legal notice; the usual solution is a clearly labelled link to the website's legal notice.
When to update the legal notice
- New managing directors or partners join or leave
- The practice is recognised as a WPG (audit firm) or Steuerberatungsgesellschaft (tax advisory company)
- You change liability insurer or extend the territorial scope
- The office moves or a branch office is added
- You start publishing technical articles or a newsletter
DL-InfoV: insurance, phone and terms of engagement
The Dienstleistungs-Informationspflichten-Verordnung requires details that the DDG does not cover. They may be provided on the website (§ 2 (2) DL-InfoV), ideally directly in the legal notice:
- Professional indemnity insurance: name and address of the insurer and the territorial scope (§ 2 (1) no. 11 DL-InfoV). The compulsory insurance under § 54 WPO makes this relevant for every practice.
- Telephone number as a means of contact.
- General terms of engagement, if you use them, such as the IDW's Allgemeine Auftragsbedingungen (standard engagement terms of the Institute of Public Auditors in Germany). A download link is enough.
- Choice of law and jurisdiction clauses, if your terms contain any.
If you hold more than one title
Many auditors are also tax advisers, and some are lawyers too. Each of these professions comes with its own chamber and its own professional rules, and both belong in the legal notice:
| Qualification | Chamber | Professional rules |
|---|---|---|
| Wirtschaftsprüfer:in (auditor) | Wirtschaftsprüferkammer, Berlin | WPO, BS WP/vBP |
| Also Steuerberater:in (tax adviser) | Regional Steuerberaterkammer where the office is located | StBerG, Berufsordnung der Steuerberater (BOStB), StBVV |
| Vereidigte:r Buchprüfer:in (sworn accountant) | Wirtschaftsprüferkammer, Berlin | WPO (§§ 128 et seq.), BS WP/vBP |
| Company (WPG, StBG) | Both chambers, depending on recognition | As above, plus legal form and register details |
Which Steuerberaterkammer is competent and how to link the tax professional rules is explained in Legal notice for tax advisers in Germany. A register number from the WPK's professional register is not an express requirement, but it is common and gives anyone interested quick proof.
Put together the legal notice for your practice
The free legal notice generator asks for chamber, professional title, insurance and register details and produces a finished legal notice as text or HTML. What you enter never leaves your browser.
Technical articles, consumer arbitration and emails
If you publish client information, technical articles or a blog, that is a journalistic or editorial service. In that case, also name a responsible person with name and address (§ 18 (2) Medienstaatsvertrag, Interstate Media Treaty). In sole practices, this is usually the owner.
You only need to make a statement on consumer arbitration if you employed more than ten people on 31 December of the previous year (§ 36 (3) VSBG, Consumer Dispute Resolution Act). In that case, state whether you take part in proceedings before a consumer arbitration body. The link to the EU online dispute resolution platform that used to be standard is out of date: the platform was switched off on 20 July 2025.
For registered companies, the mandatory details on business letters also apply, for example under § 35a GmbHG for a GmbH or § 37a HGB for registered merchants. Business emails count as business letters. Your signature then needs the legal form, registered office, register court, register number and management.
Sample for a WP/StB company
- Impressum (Angaben gemäß § 5 DDG und § 2 DL-InfoV)
- Hartmann Revision GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft Steuerberatungsgesellschaft, Königstraße 1, 70173 Stuttgart
- Telefon +49 711 000000, E-Mail kanzlei@beispiel-wp.de
- Vertreten durch die Geschäftsführerin WP StB Dipl.-Kffr. Jana Hartmann
- Handelsregister: Amtsgericht Stuttgart, HRB 000000; USt-IdNr.: DE000000000
- Berufsbezeichnungen: Wirtschaftsprüferin, Steuerberaterin (verliehen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland); anerkannt als Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft
- Berufsregister der WPK: Registernummer [Nummer]
- Kammern und Aufsicht: Wirtschaftsprüferkammer, Rauchstraße 26, 10787 Berlin; Steuerberaterkammer [Bezirk]
- Berufsrecht: WPO, BS WP/vBP, StBerG, BOStB, StBVV, abrufbar unter wpk.de und bei der Steuerberaterkammer
- Berufshaftpflichtversicherung: [Versicherer, Anschrift], räumlicher Geltungsbereich: [Deutschland/EU]
- Verantwortlich nach § 18 Abs. 2 MStV: Jana Hartmann, Anschrift wie oben
Data protection, cookies and confidentiality
The privacy policy under Art. 13 GDPR describes every processing operation on the website: hosting and log files, contact form, online booking, job applications, embedded services. As the complaints body, name the data protection authority of your federal state. For cookies and similar technologies, § 25 TDDDG applies: consent is required unless access is strictly necessary for the requested service.
Auditors are bound to confidentiality (§ 43 (1) WPO), and disclosing private secrets is a criminal offence under § 203 (1) no. 3 StGB (Criminal Code). A contact form should therefore expressly ask people not to send documents or figures, and point to a secure route for exchanging documents, such as a client portal like DATEV Unternehmen online.
Accessibility Strengthening Act
Since 28 June 2025, the BFSG (Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz) has applied to e-commerce services offered to consumers online with a view to concluding a contract (§ 1 (3) no. 5, § 2 no. 26 BFSG). Audit engagements are awarded by businesses, not consumers, and according to the prevailing view a purely informational site without online contract conclusion is not covered. Microenterprises with fewer than ten employees and no more than 2 million euros in turnover or balance sheet total are also exempt (§ 3 (3) BFSG). If you offer paid consultation appointments for private individuals via the website, for example on tax matters, check separately whether the act applies.
What you may say on the website beyond the mandatory details is covered in Advertising for auditors in Germany. The route to your own practice is described in Setting up an audit practice in Germany, and how to structure a firm website in Website content.
