Vereinnahmen

Vereinnahmen is a term used in German-speaking finance and public administration to denote cash receipts that an entity actually receives during a period and that count as revenue for budgeting and reporting purposes. It describes the inflows of funds available to the entity, coming from sources such as taxes, fees and charges, contributions, subsidies, grants, donations, interest income, and proceeds from asset sales. The exact composition depends on the institution and the accounting framework.

In practice, vereinnahmen emphasizes the cash side of revenues. In cash-based accounting, the moment money is received is when the revenue is recorded as vereinnahmt. By contrast, accrual accounting uses Erträge to denote revenues earned, regardless of when cash is received. Therefore, vereinnahmen can differ from earned revenues depending on timing and method.

Use and scope: The term is common in budget planning and financial reporting for government bodies and nonprofit organizations in German-speaking areas. It helps distinguish actual cash inflows from expenditures and from internal transfers or financial movements that do not constitute operating revenues.

Relation to related terms: Vereinnahmen are related to Einnahmen (revenue) and Erträge (earned income), as well as to budgeting concepts such as Haushaltsplanung and Finanzbericht. Etymology traces to the verb vereinnahmen, meaning to receive into one’s possession, with the noun referring to the inflow of cash receipts.