Translate a business plan into German

What changes when a business plan goes into German

Figures make up much of a business plan, and German formats them differently from English. A German reader notices these details at once:

• Thousands and decimals are reversed: 1,250,000 becomes 1.250.000, and 12.5% becomes 12,5 %, usually with a space before the sign.
• Millions and billions: €2.4m becomes 2,4 Mio. €. An English billion is a German Milliarde (Mrd.); the German Billion means a trillion. This is a classic trap in market-size figures.
• Dates: 31/12/2026 or 12/31/2026 becomes 31.12.2026.

Length is the second issue. German text often runs 20 to 35% longer than English, and compounds pack several words into one: cash-flow planning becomes Liquiditätsplanung, return on sales becomes Umsatzrentabilität. In a narrow column of a forecast table, such words overflow or wrap awkwardly.

Finally, register. The reader is addressed as Sie, and German lenders expect sober, evidence-led writing. Phrases such as game-changing solution, rendered faithfully, tend to sound overstated; toning them down in the source before translation usually reads better.

Financial terminology: where translations go wrong

A business plan mixes accounting, legal and commercial language. Useful equivalents when you review the German version:

• revenue / turnover → Umsatz (or Umsatzerlöse in accounting contexts);
• profit and loss account, P&L → Gewinn- und Verlustrechnung, abbreviated GuV;
• balance sheet → Bilanz; operating profit → Betriebsergebnis;
• break-even point → Gewinnschwelle or Break-even-Punkt;
• cash-flow forecast → Liquiditätsplan; working capital → Working Capital or Nettoumlaufvermögen;
• staff costs → Personalaufwand.

Some items should not be translated at all. A Ltd, an LLC or a French SAS keeps its legal form; it does not become a GmbH, which is a different entity. Company names, brands and registration numbers stay as they are. International acronyms such as EBITDA or CAGR are commonly kept in German.

German readers also expect recognisable section headings: Zusammenfassung (or Executive Summary), Markt- und Wettbewerbsanalyse, Finanzplan. Expect your table of contents to grow noticeably wider.

What Manuce delivers, and what it does not

Your business plan is handled by Métis, Manuce's finance engine, trained on the vocabulary of forecasts, funding requests and investor documents. A typical plan of around 7,000 words (25 pages) is delivered within minutes, and the file stays available in your client area.

• Accepted formats: Word, PDF, PowerPoint, Excel, plain text, Markdown, HTML, RTF and CSV. The file comes back in its original format with the layout intact, so a Word plan stays a Word document and an Excel forecast stays a spreadsheet.
• Free sample: before paying, you receive one paragraph of your file translated at the level you chose. Pick a dense financial passage, such as your revenue assumptions.

What Manuce does not do:

• It cannot read a scanned PDF (an image with no selectable text). Supply the original digital file instead.
• It does not provide sworn or certified translation. If an authority requires a translation certified by a sworn translator, you will need one.
• It does not take glossaries or terminology instructions. For a term that must stay unchanged, check it in the free sample and then in the full translation.
• Translation does not restate your accounts: adapting financial statements to German accounting rules is a job for your accountant.

For a document going to a bank or investors, the Professional or Premium level is appropriate; Essential is for understanding or internal use.

Preparing the file and checking the German version

Before uploading:

• Send the editable source (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) rather than an exported PDF, so you can adjust the German layout without starting again.
• Widen narrow table columns, or plan to: Personalaufwand takes far more room than Salaries.
• Spot charts pasted as images: their text cannot be edited in the file. Use native charts, or prepare a German version of the image.

After delivery, check first:

1. amounts and percentages, especially any typed as text (£1,250,000 entered by hand) rather than as numbers, and every billion;
2. headings in the contents page and tables, which may now run onto two lines;
3. proper names, brands and legal forms, which must be unchanged;
4. terms for people: Mitarbeiter, Mitarbeitende or Mitarbeiter:innen; choose the form that suits your audience and use it consistently.

If the plan also needs another language, an order in two languages receives a 20% discount on the whole order.

In practice

1. Upload your business plan as Word, Excel or a text-based PDF (not a scan) and select German.
2. Review the instant quote based on the exact word count and choose a level.
3. Check the free sample on a financial paragraph, then pay.
4. Download the German file in its original format and review figures, tables and names.