Accounting in Germany

eBooks

The Library provides full text access to a selection of key business and reference eBooks from leading publishers. eBooks are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users. If you are unable to access an eBook, please see our Help and support advice or contact library@icaew.com.

Comparative International Accounting
Christopher Nobes and R.H. Parker (2016)
In-depth book exploring differences between IFRS and US GAAP, as well as differences in accounting practices between other countries. It includes sections covering:

• Who makes the accounting rules?: Germany
• Which business enterprises are subject to accounting rules?: Germany

Accounting standards

Accounting Standards Committee of Germany
Standard setting body and official source of DRS.

Germany
Accounting standards updates and background information from Deloitte's IAS Plus service.

Accountancy associations and groups

• Accountants Group in Germany (AGiG)
• Deutscher Buchprüferverband (DBV) [German Certified Accountants Association]
• Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW) [Institute of Public Auditors]
• Wirtschaftsprüferkammer (WPK) [Chamber of Public Accountants]

For regional organisations and networks, see our list of international accountancy bodies

Comparisons

IFRS versus German GAAP (revised): Summary of similarities and differences
Review from PwC, published February 2010, of IFRS, IFRS for SMEs and German accounting standards.

IFRS compared with USGAAP and German GAAP
Extract from a KPMG GAAP comparison published in March 2003. The summary looks at the regulatory background, general issues relating to financial statements/accounts, specific balance sheet items, specific income statement items and special topics.

Model financial statements

Models and checklists – Germany
Example accounts and checklists produced and regularly updated by Deloitte member firms to help users prepare reports in compliance with local GAAP.

ICAEW contact members

Contact member in Germany
ICAEW’s network of Contact Members around the world are a point of contact for enquiries and act as ambassadors in promoting ICAEW's strategy and brand in each region.

Guides and resources

Overview of the profession in Germany
Accountancy Europe, July 2020
Survey of the structure and organisation of the accountancy profession across Europe. Each country profile compares the status of different professional titles and shows whether they are restricted titles, which are reserved activities and authorisations, and whether they are regulated or supervised. The profiles also list the necessary qualifications and requirements to work in this country, such as registration costs and insurance, and gives basic statistics on the number of qualified professionals and trainees in each country.

Overview of the accounting requirements in force on January 31, 2013 per entity type
Information collated by the European Commission and EY as part of a wider Accounting guide for SMEs published in 2015. Tables summarise accounting practices for medium-sized, small-sized and micro entities across EU countries, covering requirements for:

• legal entity name
• size thresholds
• accounting systems
• accounting framework
• recording of financial transactions
• components of financial statements
• management report
• auditing
• publication of financial statements.

Accounting for financial instruments / Rechnungslegung von Finanzinstrumenten IFRS/HGB
A bi-lingual publication by Dr Knut Henkel on accounting for financial instruments under IFRSs and HGB, available from the IAS Plus website. Published in November 2009.

Enforcement bodies

Financial Reporting Enforcement Panel (FREP)
The Financial Reporting Enforcement Panel (Deutsche Prüfstelle für Rechnungslegung) is a government appointed private organisation for financial statement oversight in Germany established in 2004. The organisation publishes the results of their work in annual activity reports (available in English) which include statistics on the number of financial statements found to be erroneous and analysis of the types of errors found.

Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin)
Official website of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority established in May 2002. The website includes a list of those companies subject to enforcement.

Firms

The market research and consultancy firm Lünendonk publishes rankings and surveys in Germany as well as other publications.

• Leading Audit, Tax and Advisory Companies in Germany 2022

Model financial statements and disclosure checklists

Finanzberichterstattung nach IFRS Muster-Konzernabschluss
IFRS model financial statements (in German) published by PwC in November 2012.

IFRS Disclosure Checklist 2016
IFRS disclosure checklist published by PwC.

IAS Plus
The IAS Plus website from Deloitte provides IFRS model financial statements and IFRS presentation and disclosure checklists (in German) which are available to download.

IFRS adoption

Use of IFRS standards by jurisdiction: Germany
Country profile prepared by the IFRS Foundation with notes on the extent of IFRS application, relevant jurisdictional authority, IFRS endorsement and translation of standards.

Online articles

The Library provides access to leading business, finance and management journals. These journals are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users subject to suppliers' terms of use. 

Articles and books in the Library collection

Selected books

Each selected book features specific accounting information on this country or territory; click on the links for more details. Alternatively, contact us if you have a particular enquiry or need further help consulting these titles.

European Accounting Guide (5th ed.)
David Alexander and Simon Archer (eds.) (2003)
Individual country and region chapters cover background information, accounting policies and practices, discuss the form and content of published financial statements and offer sample accounts.

International Corporate Procedures
LexisLibrary
This regularly updated database includes information on tax and accounting and features model company accounts. The model accounts are presented in the standard format for each country or territory with original language and English language versions presented together. Contact us to request documents from the database.

World Accounting
Kurt S Schulzke (ed.)
Each country or region entry contains sections on the framework of accounting (including the regulatory and standard setting regimes), individual accounting topics, auditing and appendices which can include commonly used terms and acronyms and example financial statements. This is a regularly updated looseleaf reference work in three volumes.

Find more resources

• View a list of articles and books in our collection on accounting in Germany
• View a list of glossaries and dictionaries for German accounting terms

To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to book loans. You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports through our document supply service.