Betriebswirtschaftliche Auswertung, almost always shortened to BWA, is the monthly report the Steuerberater produces from the posted bookkeeping. It usually arrives a few weeks after the month has closed, it groups turnover and costs into accounts, and it shows a provisional result for that month and for the year to date. It is a working document rather than a final one, because the Jahresabschluss can still move several of its figures.
What it shows is what has been booked. Turnover appears by revenue account, goods purchases and personnel and other operating costs appear by cost account, and the difference gives a provisional Betriebsergebnis for the period. What it does not show is equally worth knowing. It is not a cash statement, so the account balance and the payment dates sit in the Liquiditätsplanung instead. It carries no outside reference, so any comparison with other pharmacies of similar size comes from a Betriebsvergleich and not from the BWA itself. And it says nothing about work that has been done but not yet invoiced.
The practical point for a pharmacy adding a service is narrow and it is easy to get wrong. A new revenue line only becomes visible in the BWA if it is booked to its own revenue account. A blood draw fee posted into general turnover cannot be evaluated later, because there is no way to separate it from the rest of the counter business without going back through individual receipts by hand. The same applies on the cost side, where consumables, laboratory fees and the hours spent on appointments belong in accounts of their own so that the variable Kosten per appointment can actually be read off the report.
That is the mistake worth avoiding before the first appointment rather than after the first quarter. Agreeing the account structure with the Steuerberater in advance costs one conversation, while reconstructing it afterwards costs a review of every receipt and still produces an estimate.
Which accounts are opened, and how a mixed transaction is split between them, depends on the pharmacy's own bookkeeping setup and belongs with the Steuerberater before the first invoice.
This glossary entry is general information about German pharmacy law and practice. It is not legal advice. For binding guidance on your own pharmacy, contact your Landesapothekerkammer.
