MyWorkLog All occupations

Training log examples: Tax clerk (Steuerfachangestellter/Steuerfachangestellte)

A tax clerk’s training log records the tasks you did for the firm: posting receipts, preparing VAT returns, running payroll, later tax returns and annual financial statements. The first year centres on bookkeeping and VAT, the second on payroll, fixed assets and income tax, the third on annual accounts and legal remedies. Client data stays off limits. The examples show one week per year of training.

Chamber
Steuerberaterkammer
Duration
3 years
Regulation
Training regulation for tax clerks (StFachAngAusbV), 2022, in force from 1 August 2023

Example weeks

This is what one week in the training log can look like. Always write your own entries about what you actually did. The form itself stays German, as it is submitted in German.

Year 1 Posting receipts and preparing VAT

Ausbildungsnachweis (wöchentlich)
Name des/der Auszubildenden:
Ausbildungsjahr:1
Ausbildungsbereich:Financial accounting
Ausbildungswoche vom:
bis:
Betriebliche Tätigkeiten*Stunden
Posted incoming and outgoing invoices of a client according to the chart of accounts
Assigned bank transactions to open items and clarified differences
Prepared a VAT return and had the tax advisor review it
Requested missing receipts from the client and kept the list up to date
26
Unterweisungen, betrieblicher Unterricht, sonstige Schulungen*Stunden
Briefing on confidentiality under the tax advisory act and data protection
Themen des BerufsschulunterrichtsStunden
LF 2: Bookkeeping tasks, receipt organisation and chart of accounts
LF 3: VAT, input tax deduction and tax rates
* Wie lange wurde welche Tätigkeit ausgeübt?
Datum, Unterschrift Auszubildende/r
Datum, Unterschrift Ausbildende/r oder Ausbilder/in
Datum, Unterschrift gesetzliche/r Vertreter/in
Datum, weitere Sichtvermerke (z. B. Lehrer/in)

Year 2 Payroll for several clients

Ausbildungsnachweis (wöchentlich)
Name des/der Auszubildenden:
Ausbildungsjahr:2
Ausbildungsbereich:Payroll
Ausbildungswoche vom:
bis:
Betriebliche Tätigkeiten*Stunden
Maintained master data and change notifications in the payroll software
Prepared monthly payslips and checked wage tax and social security
Prepared the wage tax return and contribution statements
Reconciled the payroll journal with posting proposals for financial accounting
38
Unterweisungen, betrieblicher Unterricht, sonstige Schulungen*Stunden
Introduction to the deadlines for wage tax returns and contribution statements
Themen des BerufsschulunterrichtsStunden
* Wie lange wurde welche Tätigkeit ausgeübt?
Datum, Unterschrift Auszubildende/r
Datum, Unterschrift Ausbildende/r oder Ausbilder/in
Datum, Unterschrift gesetzliche/r Vertreter/in
Datum, weitere Sichtvermerke (z. B. Lehrer/in)

Year 2 Fixed assets and income tax

Ausbildungsnachweis (wöchentlich)
Name des/der Auszubildenden:
Ausbildungsjahr:2
Ausbildungsbereich:Tax returns
Ausbildungswoche vom:
bis:
Betriebliche Tätigkeiten*Stunden
Recorded additions and disposals in the asset register and calculated depreciation
Prepared a client’s cash-basis profit statement and checked it for completeness
Prepared an employee’s income tax return including work-related expenses
Collected queries on receipts for the tax return and discussed them with the advisor
26
Unterweisungen, betrieblicher Unterricht, sonstige Schulungen*Stunden
Introduction to electronic transmission to the tax office
Themen des BerufsschulunterrichtsStunden
LF 7: Recording fixed assets, straight-line depreciation
LF 8: Profit determination by cash-basis profit statement
* Wie lange wurde welche Tätigkeit ausgeübt?
Datum, Unterschrift Auszubildende/r
Datum, Unterschrift Ausbildende/r oder Ausbilder/in
Datum, Unterschrift gesetzliche/r Vertreter/in
Datum, weitere Sichtvermerke (z. B. Lehrer/in)

Year 3 Annual accounts and checking an appeal

Ausbildungsnachweis (wöchentlich)
Name des/der Auszubildenden:
Ausbildungsjahr:3
Ausbildungsbereich:Annual accounts and tax law
Ausbildungswoche vom:
bis:
Betriebliche Tätigkeiten*Stunden
Recorded preparatory closing entries: accruals, provisions, depreciation
Prepared the balance sheet and income statement of a sample case and evaluated key figures
Checked an income tax assessment for deviations from the return and noted the appeal deadline
Helped prepare a client meeting by compiling documents and the analysis
26
Unterweisungen, betrieblicher Unterricht, sonstige Schulungen*Stunden
Talk with my trainer to prepare for the final exam
Themen des BerufsschulunterrichtsStunden
LF 10: Preparing and evaluating annual financial statements
LF 11: Checking administrative acts, appeals and deadlines
* Wie lange wurde welche Tätigkeit ausgeübt?
Datum, Unterschrift Auszubildende/r
Datum, Unterschrift Ausbildende/r oder Ausbilder/in
Datum, Unterschrift gesetzliche/r Vertreter/in
Datum, weitere Sichtvermerke (z. B. Lehrer/in)

Vocational school learning fields

  1. LF 1Shaping your own role in the company and taking part in economic life
  2. LF 2Carrying out bookkeeping tasks
  3. LF 3Handling VAT matters
  4. LF 4Preparing income tax returns for employees
  5. LF 5Calculating and posting employee remuneration
  6. LF 6Handling and recording cross-border matters and special cases for VAT
  7. LF 7Recording the acquisition and sale of fixed assets
  8. LF 8Determining business income and other income from surplus
  9. LF 9Determining corporation tax and trade tax
  10. LF 10Preparing and evaluating annual financial statements
  11. LF 11Checking administrative acts, preparing appeals and applications
  12. LF 12Contributing to client advice as part of the team

Source: KMK framework curriculum for tax clerks, resolution of 10 June 2022. School topics go into the block “Themen des Berufsschulunterrichts”.

Tips for this training log

  • The duty of confidentiality applies to your training log too: write “prepared VAT return for a trading business”, never client names, tax numbers or real amounts.
  • Name the tax type and the step: “prepared income tax return with work-related expenses” is more concrete than “did a tax return”.
  • Note deadlines you observed (advance returns, appeals). It shows you understand the process.
  • Separate what you prepared yourself from what the tax advisor reviewed or signed.

Common mistakes

  • Client names, tax numbers or real figures in the log. That breaches confidentiality.
  • Just “bookkeeping” as the activity, without saying which receipts, accounts or tax type.
  • Leaving out vocational school weeks or entering hours that don’t fit the timetable.

Examples for other occupations