030 555 721 370
anfrage@guhr-steuerberatung.de
Auerstr. 14, 10249 Berlin
Industry · Energy Consultants
Tax advisory for energy consultants who plan instead of react.
We are the tax advisors for self-employed energy consultants, energy-efficiency experts and expert surveyors. We handle your bookkeeping and annual accounts reliably – but we also secure your freelancer status, account for BAFA and KfW grant work correctly and reduce your tax burden. Nationwide, digital and personal.
Nationwide · 100% digital- Specialised in energy consultants
- Personal point of contact
Sound familiar?
Problems that energy consultants know all too well.
We speak with self-employed energy consultants, surveyors and efficiency experts every day. This is what we hear again and again:
Selling contaminates your entire practice.
As soon as you also broker or sell heat pumps, PV or insulation alongside your advice, you risk 'contamination' under § 15 (3) no. 1 EStG (German Income Tax Act) – and suddenly every euro becomes subject to trade tax.
Your tax advisor doesn't understand grant work.
BAFA energy consulting, KfW programmes, the individual renovation roadmap (iSFP) and subsidies paid to the client – you first have to explain how your fees and grant billing even work.
You pay too much tax.
No one shows you the levers: the investment deduction (IAB) and special depreciation for thermography and blower-door kit, dena listing and training as business expenses, travel costs, the right managing-director salary.
Fear of the next back payment.
Once a large renovation project is billed, the profit lands in a single year – and with it high back payments and advance payments, while the fee has long since been tied up in new jobs.
VAT on grants is unclear.
What is taxable fee, what is a pass-through subsidy, when does the small-business rule apply? BAFA and KfW billing quickly produces mistakes with costly consequences at audit.
Bureaucracy eats your billable time.
Receipts, mileage log, measurement-kit invoices, grant applications and proof-of-use forms – administration eats hours you actually need on site with the client.
What changes for you
More clarity. Fewer taxes. More time for your clients.
We are not a classic tax firm. We deliver what you as a self-employed energy consultant really need – results, not just ring binders.
Freelancer status secured.
We continuously check that your engineering-like advisory work holds under § 18 EStG (freelance profession) and keep contamination from selling at bay. Your practice stays exempt from trade tax – documented in a legally sound way.
Grant work mapped cleanly.
BAFA fees, KfW consulting, the iSFP and pass-through subsidies are treated correctly for VAT and income tax. Your real margin stays visible and the audit holds.
Noticeably lower tax burden.
Investment deduction (IAB), special depreciation, dena listing, training, travel costs and the right MD salary – we check every lever proactively, not just in April.
No surprises from the tax office.
We plan your tax across the project lifetime and smooth advance payments. You know months earlier what a billed major project will cost you.
Time that flows into consulting.
Receipts via app, banking automated, measurement-kit and subcontractor invoices booked directly. No more evenings spent on mileage logs and receipt chaos.
Structures that scale with you.
From sole proprietorship through hiring your first consultants to a GmbH (German limited company) – we build the structure that fits your growth and makes you scalable.
Personally from Karsten Guhr
An energy-consulting practice rarely fails for lack of commissions – demand for BAFA and KfW consulting is enormous. It fails because of an unnoticed trade-tax contamination from a little selling, mishandled subsidies and a tax burden no one planned for across the project lifetime. That is exactly where we come in: we secure your freelancer status, map your grant work cleanly and give you the clarity to run your practice strategically – instead of just reacting.
We know your business
We speak energy-consultant language.
BAFA energy consulting, KfW programmes, the iSFP, the dena expert list, blower-door tests, thermography, trade-tax contamination – we know how an energy-consulting practice ticks. So you waste no time explaining your business model.
- 01
Freelance § 18 vs. commercial trade
Your engineering-like advisory work properly justified and documented – so your practice doesn't slip unintentionally into trade tax and chamber-of-commerce obligations.
- 02
Contamination from selling § 15 (3) no. 1
Brokering and sale of PV, heat pumps or insulation shielded into a separate entity – so the contamination doesn't capture your entire advisory practice.
- 03
BAFA energy consulting & subsidies
Fee, grant drawdown and pass-through subsidies to the client cleanly separated – allocated correctly for both VAT and income tax.
- 04
KfW programmes & revenue recognition
Project-based consulting and construction supervision allocated to the correct year – so margin and profit don't land in the wrong period.
- 05
iSFP – individual renovation roadmap
The iSFP billed and documented cleanly as a grant-eligible service – including the correct VAT treatment of the subsidised share.
- 06
dena listing & training
Entry in the energy-efficiency expert list, recertification and continuing education claimed as business expenses in a legally sound way.
- 07
IAB & special depreciation on kit
Blower door, thermography camera, air-tightness measurement kit and software – planned investments deducted in advance and depreciated on an accelerated basis.
- 08
Travel costs & site visits
Trips to on-site appointments, travel costs and external assignments handled cleanly for tax – with a standard setup instead of mileage-log chaos.
Industry benchmarks
We know the margins in your field. And get more out for you.
We look after more than 50 energy consultants and surveyors nationwide and see real figures every month – not grant brochures. We know what consulting and profit margin is typical in your niche, where you should be and which tax levers pull your after-tax result upward.
Typical consulting / profit margin
- 35 – 55 %Residential-building energy consultingHigh grant volume · highly dependent on the individual · low material share
- 30 – 50 %Non-residential / commercialLarger projects · KfW programmes · revenue recognition as a lever
- 40 – 60 %Expert surveyors / assessorsVery low material share · freelancer status clear · highly individual-dependent
- 20 – 40 %Energy consulting with sellingStructurally lower · contamination risk · shield the selling cleanly
This is how we lift your after-tax result – legally and without balance-sheet acrobatics:
- Secure freelancer statusClean separation of freelance advice (§ 18 EStG) and commercial selling – so the practice stays exempt from trade tax and saves 14–17% trade tax depending on the municipal rate.
- Shield the sellingBroker and sale of systems moved into a separate entity – so contamination under § 15 (3) no. 1 EStG doesn't capture your freelance advisory work.
- IAB & special depreciationUp to 50% of planned investments deducted in advance (IAB) plus 20% special depreciation for blower-door, thermography and measurement kit – profit-reducing exactly when you need it.
- Steer revenue recognitionProject-based consulting and construction supervision allocated to the right year – ideal for smoothing tax progression and back payments predictably.
- GmbH at the right profit levelFrom a sustained profit of around €100,000, a GmbH becomes attractive: roughly 30% retention tax instead of up to 45% top rate – combined with the right MD salary.
- Holding structureWith a GmbH: participation income parked in a holding effectively at around 1.5% tax – instead of over 26% at the private level.
Why GUHR
Tax advisory that finally thinks along.
We don't want to be the next advisor who writes 'receipts by the 10th, please'. We want to be the partner who makes your practice safer, more profitable and more predictable.
Specialised in energy consultants
More than 50 mandates from energy consultants, efficiency experts and surveyors – we know the contamination traps, the grant work and the real optimisation levers.
Nationwide · digital
Set up entirely digitally. Whether Munich, Hamburg, Cologne, Berlin or Leipzig – we are as fast as your on-site appointments.
Proactive, not reactive
We reach out before the tax office asks. Tax strategy across the project lifetime – not only once the major project has been billed.
Personal, not anonymous
A dedicated point of contact who knows your grant work, your projects and your figures. Answers in hours, not weeks.
More than tax advisory
A network of renowned energy consultants. Included.
With GUHR you become part of a client circle you would otherwise only meet at specialist conferences. Consultants and surveyors who speak openly about fees, grant work, hiring and growth – because they trust the same advisor.
A selection from our energy-consultant client circle
We only name specific clients once released to do so. In the initial call we show you relevant cases from your niche.
What that means for you in concrete terms:
- 01
Consultant round-tables
Quarterly meetings in a small circle – topics such as fee calculation, grant work, converting to a GmbH, your first hire. By invitation, under NDA.
- 02
Peer benchmarks
We mirror your key figures anonymously against comparable practices of your size and niche. So you see where your margin really stands.
- 03
Warm introductions
Looking for a colleague for a sub-discipline, a partner for large projects or a successor? We connect you directly – with no commission chatter.
Head office Berlin · clients from Sylt to Garmisch
Nationwide · 100 % digital
One firm. Available anywhere in Germany.
Whether Berlin, Munich or somewhere in between: we run every mandate fully digital – DATEV-connected, signed PDFs, video meetings. No commuting, no postal delays, no 90s-style bookkeeping.
- 01
DATEV Unternehmen online
Receipts, banking, payroll, reports – you work in the standard interface every German tax advisor speaks. No vendor lock-in.
- 02
Video meetings instead of on-site visits
Quarterly review, tax strategy, holding check – via video with screen sharing. You save half a day every time.
- 03
Signed PDFs & digital powers of attorney
Tax filings, annual accounts, contracts – signed via qualified e-signature. Accepted by the tax office, done in minutes.
How we work with energy consultants
From the initial call to worry-free bookkeeping.
On average 14 days from the decision to switch to a running digital operation.
Initial call & status check
30 minutes. We check freelancer status, contamination risk, the treatment of your grant work and the biggest tax levers – free of charge.
01
Onboarding in 14 days
We handle the switch from your previous advisor, set up DATEV and connect your banking, Lexoffice, sevdesk or existing bookkeeping.
02
Ongoing support
Monthly P&L, live figures in the dashboard, a dedicated contact – and proactive alerts as soon as we see optimisation potential.
03
Annual review & strategy
Annual accounts, tax optimisation and a clear plan for the next financial year – right through to the question of when a GmbH or a first hire pays off.
04
030 555 721 370FAQ
Answers for energy consultants.
What clients ask us most often before switching.
Initial call for energy consultants
What your practice is giving away in tax – we'll show you in 30 minutes.
You describe your setup and your grant work, we name the concrete levers (freelancer status, contamination, IAB, revenue recognition, MD salary) and send a written proposal within 48 hours. Nationwide and free of charge.