Accounting Manual

An accounting manual contains corporate standards and accounting rules that are uniformly applicable across the reporting units of a group. It provides a binding and common basis for standardized accounting in a network of business units which in most cases have to prepare consolidated financial statements.

It contains rules for

• accounting of business transactions

• closing the books

• preparing financial reporting data for disclosure

The purpose of an accounting manual is to

• standardize rules for the recognition of assets and liabilities

• establish corporate standards where the reporting framework provides alternative accounting options (e.g. IFRS, HGB, FER)