The costs for the settlement of operating and heating bills can only be settled in the following year.

For example, the settlement for 2013 will not take place before summer 2014 at the earliest. The reason why you always receive your utility and heating bills in the following year depends on the preparation of the final invoices of the responsible utilities (e. g. waste, gas, water, house lighting). Many invoices that can be passed on to the tenant during settlement are often only received at the beginning of the following year. The German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch) also supports this fact in § 556 Agreements on Operating Costs Section 3:

"[...] The tenant is to be notified of the settlement of the settlement no later than the expiry of the twelfth month after the end of the settlement period. [...]"