liquiditaetsplanung-13-wochen

/insolvenzrecht:liquiditaetsplanung-13-wochen

Purpose

The 13-week liquidity planning is the mandatory tool for early crisis detection under § 1 StaRUG and the operational tool for examining inability to pay under § 17 InsO. It provides the factual basis without which any insolvency-law assessment remains untenable.

Inputs

• Current account balance and liquidity reserves (credit lines, unused tranches)
• Liabilities due (date, amount, creditor, rank)
• Expected incoming payments (receivables with payment terms, certainty of realization)
• Operating outflows (wages, social security, suppliers, rents, taxes)
• Extraordinary items (settlement payments, investments)

Process

1. Basic structure (IDW S 11)

Item	Week 1	Week 2	…	Week 13
Opening balance
Incoming payments
Customer payments
Other incoming payments
Outgoing payments
Wages / social contributions
Suppliers
Rent / insurance
Taxes
Repayment / interest
Other
Closing balance
Liquidity line
Gap / surplus

2. Assessment against § 17 InsO

Inability to pay: not in a position to meet due payment obligations. Methodology according to BGH case law:

1. Status calculation as of the reporting date: active liquidity (cash + bank balances + committed credit line + funds available within 3 weeks) vs. liabilities due.
2. Liquidity gap = (liabilities due – available liquid funds) / liabilities due.
3. Rule of thumb: gap ≥ 10% over more than three weeks → inability to pay. BGH, order of 24.05.2005 – IX ZR 123/04, NJW 2005, 3062 [unverifiziert – prüfen].
4. Distinction from temporary payment difficulty: short-term (< 3 weeks), liquidity gap < 10%, remedy foreseeable.

3. Rolling

13 weeks is the minimum. Best practice:

• Weekly update with a target-actual comparison of the previous week.
• Quarterly extension to 26 weeks (for the StaRUG forecast period).
• 13-month planning for the going-concern forecast (24 months since the StaRUG reform).

4. Stress scenarios

At least three scenarios:

• Best case (planned measures take effect)
• Base case (continuation of the status quo)
• Stress case (main customer drops out, credit line is terminated)

If a liquidity gap occurs in the stress case → activate restructuring measures early (StaRUG, investor search, negotiation of settlements).

5. Supplementary Free Cash Flow

For meaningful early crisis detection, supplement with:

• Order backlog coverage (months)
• Working capital development (receivables and inventory)
• Free cash flow before taxes
• Debt ratio (Net Debt / EBITDA)

6. Documentation

Secure liquidity planning as an internal crisis file:

• Document status and changes weekly
• Disclose assumptions (payment terms, dunning behavior)
• Justify target-actual variances
• Decision records for measures

Sources

Statutes / Standards

• § 17 InsO, § 1 StaRUG
• IDW S 11 (Assessment of the existence of grounds for opening insolvency proceedings)
• IDW PS 800 / IDW S 6 (Restructuring expert review)

Case law

• BGH, order of 24.05.2005 – IX ZR 123/04, NJW 2005, 3062 [unverifiziert – prüfen]
• BGH, judgment of 09.11.2017 – IX ZR 226/16, NZI 2018, 76 [unverifiziert – prüfen]

Commentaries

• Bork, in: Bork / Hölzle, Insolvenzrecht, 2nd ed. 2023, § 17 InsO para. 1 et seq.
• Schmidt, Sanierungsrecht, 4th ed. 2023

Output format

13-WOCHEN-LIQUIDITÄTSPLANUNG — <Mandat> — Stichtag <Datum>

Statusrechnung (Stichtag):
  Aktive Liquidität (Kasse, Banken, Kreditlinie binnen 3 Wo): <EUR>
  Fällige Verbindlichkeiten:                                    <EUR>
  Liquiditätslücke:                                              <% / EUR>
  Bewertung:                                                     [Zahlungsstockung / Zahlungsunfähigkeit]

13-Wochen-Plan (rollierend, Base Case):
  Woche  | Einzahlung | Auszahlung | Endbestand | Linie | Lücke/Überschuss
  ...

Szenarien:
  Best Case:    Minimum Liquidität <EUR>, Wo <N>
  Base Case:    Minimum Liquidität <EUR>, Wo <N>
  Stress Case:  Minimum Liquidität <EUR>, Wo <N>  [🔴 Maßnahmen erforderlich]

Empfohlene Maßnahmen:
  - <…>

Wiedervorlage: <wöchentlich, nächster Termin>

Risks / typical errors

• Optimistic incoming payments — auditors calculate with historical DSO, not wishful thinking.
• Social security contributions underestimated — contribution remittance is the personal duty of the managing director under § 28e SGB IV.
• Repayment dates forgotten — bullet structures lead to sudden peaks.
• Working capital effects ignored — seasonal business requires forecast adjustment.
• "We'll manage it" mentality — stress case is mandatory, not optional.
• Target-actual comparison not documented — no early crisis detection within the meaning of § 1 StaRUG.