Principles of group accounting under IFRS.

Abstract

This book is designed as a handbook for practitioners, written by a practitioner. It does not only introduce in group accounting and the tasks that are necessary to prepare consolidated financial statements, it also provides answers and solutions to selected group accounting issues. Due to the intention of this book, it has to be assumed that the reader of this book has appropriate knowledge on accounting as the book does not introduce in general accounting topics. Even if this book will give an overview of group accounting and discusses various aspects in preparing consolidated financial statements, the book should not be seen as the ultimate reference for all accounting details in applying IFRS on groups. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to apply the latest IFRS and refer to them when preparing consolidated financial statements. Only this official source offers the full set of accounting and disclosure requirements. The structure of the book is based on the lifecycle of a company (regardless if it is a subsidiary, a joint venture or an associate) that is part of the group. General topics like accounting and legal requirements, definitions and organizational issues of groups are discussed upfront followed by the lifecycle of a company. The lifecycle itself is divided into the main stages of a company in the group: the initial and subsequent accounting, changes in the status of the company and finally the disposal from the group. General and special issues that impact the company and its accounting along the whole lifecycle complement the previous chapters. The preparation of consolidated financial statements, management consolidations, foreign currency translations, taxation and similar issues can be found in this area. As a practitioner’s handbook, examples are presented for selected topics to visualize the accounting treatment. These examples are taken from the consolidation of a midsize group. They represent one possible option to deal with accounting issues. Nevertheless, other options are available to cope with accounting issues. Therefore, the examples presented should not be understood as the one and only or ultimate solution. Which solution is feasible depends on the group, its accounting structure and the accounting problem to be solved. To simplify the reading of this book, a set of conventions is used throughout the book. The following conventions are used in the book: • Journal entries are presented using the Anglo-Saxon format. • The structure of the balance sheet is based on the nature and liquidity of assets. • All amounts presented in examples are in '000s of EUR unless otherwise mentioned. • The presentation of figures in trial balances and calculations is following the accounting sign convention: Debits are presented as positive numbers and credits are presented as negative numbers.