Within this paper a comparison of different reinforcement concepts for timber beams with round holes is carried out. Therefore currently applied standardized methods and two recently developed approaches are considered. By means of numerical and analytical investigations it becomes apparent that the analysed reinforcement methods divergent to those given in current standards have great potential: shear stresses as well as tensile stresses perpendicular to the grain in the critical areas around the beam opening can be reduced significantly. Hence, the maximum load carrying capacities of the new reinforcement concepts supposedly exceed the standardized ones considerably. For verification of the results experimental investigations on beams with different reinforcement methods are planned.