About Die Wirtschaftsprüfung

Die Wirtschaftsprüfung

Die Wirtschaftsprüfung (WPg) is a German-language specialist journal for the auditing profession, published twice a month by the IDW Verlag in Düsseldorf. It is the journal of the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer in Deutschland e.V. (IDW), the institute of public auditors in Germany, and is aimed primarily at auditors, tax advisors, and specialist and executive staff in companies working in corporate governance, finance, and controlling, the core audiences of the German audit and assurance market. In 2026 the journal is in its 79th volume, which dates its founding to 1948, making it one of the oldest journals of the German auditing profession. Its print ISSN is 0340-9031, and its print run is 2,500 copies with a distributed circulation of 2,287, figures that reflect its position as a specialized professional journal with a precisely defined readership.

Overview

Die Wirtschaftsprüfung appears twice a month, on the 1st and 15th of each month, with 23 issues per year, the August issues being combined into one. It addresses auditors, sworn auditors and their staff, consultants, and decision-makers in business, with a focus on the auditing profession and its neighbouring fields of corporate governance, finance, and controlling. This target group, spanning the audit firms and the finance functions of German companies, gives the journal a readership of decision-makers and multipliers in the German economy.

The journal's content covers the key subject areas of the profession: assurance, accounting, financial services, industries, management and consulting, and taxes and law. Its format combines current specialist articles for practice with compact news items for a quick overview, and it presents IDW pronouncements in visual form, making the institute's standards and statements accessible to practitioners. The journal's motto is "Kompetenz schafft Vertrauen" (competence creates trust), reflecting its role as the professional organ of the German auditing profession and its mission to support practitioners in filtering the important specialist information from the flood of information that characterizes the modern professional environment. The journal's media data, published in the IDW's 2026 rate card, presents the journal's target groups, topics, publication rhythm, and circulation figures to advertisers, positioning it as the advertising medium for reaching auditors, sworn auditors, and the decision-makers of the German audit market, with its precisely defined and professionally homogeneous readership.

The journal's media data reports a print run of 2,500 copies, a distributed circulation of 2,287 copies, and 2,007 subscribed copies as of September 2025, figures typical of a highly specialized professional journal whose readership is concentrated in auditing firms and corporate finance departments, and whose influence extends well beyond its circulation through its role as the carrier of the profession's standards.

History

Die Wirtschaftsprüfung was founded in 1948, in the early years of the Federal Republic, as the journal of the auditing profession organized in the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer. In 2026 it is in its 79th volume, giving it a continuous publication history of nearly eight decades through the reconstruction era, the economic miracle, German reunification, and the modern age of international accounting standards and digital auditing. Few German professional journals can look back on such a continuous history, and the journal has documented the profession's transformation from the post-war reconstruction of the German audit to today's internationalized and digitized practice.

The journal is published by the IDW Verlag, the publishing house of the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer in Deutschland e.V., based at Roßstraße 74 in Düsseldorf. The IDW is the professional body of German public auditors, and the journal serves as its central publication organ, carrying the institute's pronouncements on auditing standards, including the German application of the International Standards on Auditing with their D-text paragraphs reflecting German legal particularities, alongside its specialist articles and news coverage.

Coverage and Content

The journal covers the full spectrum of the auditing profession: assurance, accounting and financial reporting, financial services, industry-specific topics, management and consulting, and taxes and law. Its specialist articles address current questions of auditing practice, from the application of auditing standards to the challenges of digital transformation in the audit, while its compact news items provide a quick overview of developments across the profession's subject areas, helping practitioners filter the important information from the flood of professional news.

A distinctive feature of the journal is its visual presentation of IDW pronouncements, which makes the institute's standards, statements, and professional guidance accessible in a clear format. The journal thus serves as the primary channel through which the IDW communicates its professional standards to the auditing community, and its coverage of the institute's auditing standards, from the IDW PS standards to the adopted ISA [DE], gives practitioners the authoritative interpretation of the rules that govern their work.

The journal's coverage reflects the broadening of the auditor's role beyond the classic financial-statement audit to encompass corporate governance, sustainability reporting, and advisory services, addressing the questions that auditors, tax advisors, and corporate finance professionals face in their daily work. This expanded scope mirrors the evolution of the auditing profession itself, which has grown from the examination of historical financial information to a multifaceted assurance and advisory function.

Organization and Ownership

Die Wirtschaftsprüfung is published by the IDW-Verlag GmbH, the publishing house of the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer in Deutschland e.V., based in Düsseldorf. The institute is the publisher and the journal's editorial content is produced under its auspices, making the journal the official organ of the German auditing profession and the authoritative voice of the IDW in the professional public.

The journal appears twice a month with 23 issues per year, on the 1st and 15th of each month, with the August issues combined. The comfort subscription, covering 24 issues with 12 months of access to the journal's content including the archive via the IDW Bibliothek Online and the IDW Bibliothek app for Windows, iOS, and Android, is priced at 453 euros for 12 months, with the first month free for annual subscriptions and the option to cancel without further obligations if the content does not convince in the first month. The digital subscription is priced at 389 euros per year, with volume discounts for multiple users extending down to 205 euros per user for 1,000 or more users.

Digital Presence

Die Wirtschaftsprüfung maintains a strong digital presence through the IDW's platforms. The journal's contents since 2009 are available in the IDW Bibliothek Online, together with many other products from the IDW Verlag, and the IDW Bibliothek app provides offline access to the journal's content for Windows, iOS, and Android. The journal's website wpg.de serves as the portal for subscribers, with registration, confirmation, and content activation through the publisher's systems, and the same login credentials work across the online library and the app.

The journal is also available through the beck-online specialist module for IDW auditing content, extending its reach into the legal and tax publishing ecosystem, and a monthly AI-supported offering combines the journal with the MAIK AI assistant for subscribers who want AI-supported access to the journal's content. Whether the journal maintains dedicated social media channels is not publicly confirmed from the sources consulted, but the IDW maintains a publisher newsletter and a job market alongside the journal's platforms, serving the professional community around the publication and keeping the journal's readers connected to the institute's services.