Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2008 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,3, University of applied sciences, Munich, language: English, abstract: Due to a regulation of the European Union (EU) concerning financial accounting issued on June 6th, 2002, all listed companies in EU are obligated to provide their Consolidated Financial Statements (CFS) in accordance with financial accounting principles of International Accounting Standards (IAS) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) from January 1st, 2005. This regulation enables a necessary harmonization of accounting principles within the EU and supports a clear comparability of CFS worldwide. The object of this study is to analyze major differences of CFS in German GAAP and IAS/IFRS. Thereby, variations of both accounting standards are compared and a major difference is explained thoroughly with a concrete example. The major differences of CFS in IAS/IFRS and German GAAP result from different aims of both accounting standards. The German GAAP is strongly based on prudence principle for protection of creditors and authoritative principle (tax accounting based on commercial accounting). In comparison, the IAS/IFRS deliver potential investors realistic and decision useful information about assets, finance, and profit situations of a company (true and fair view / fair presentation principle). These basic principles could be reflected in several key points of the both accounting standards whose differences are clarified in this study. Furthermore, an essential key point of CFS namely the basis of consolidation (contains enterprises included in the consolidation and capital consolidation methods) is illuminated with a concrete example. Hereby, the relation between the control influence of the parent enterprise on its “sub-entities” and the correspondent capital consolidation methods are studied.

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2008 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,3, University of applied sciences, Munich, language: English, abstract: Due to a regulation of the European Union (EU) concerning financial accounting issued on June 6th, 2002, all listed companies in EU are obligated to provide their Consolidated Financial Statements (CFS) in accordance with financial accounting principles of International Accounting Standards (IAS) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) from January 1st, 2005. This regulation enables a necessary harmonization of accounting principles within the EU and supports a clear comparability of CFS worldwide. The object of this study is to analyze major differences of CFS in German GAAP and IAS/IFRS. Thereby, variations of both accounting standards are compared and a major difference is explained thoroughly with a concrete example. The major differences of CFS in IAS/IFRS and German GAAP result from different aims of both accounting standards. The German GAAP is strongly based on prudence principle for protection of creditors and authoritative principle (tax accounting based on commercial accounting). In comparison, the IAS/IFRS deliver potential investors realistic and decision useful information about assets, finance, and profit situations of a company (true and fair view / fair presentation principle). These basic principles could be reflected in several key points of the both accounting standards whose differences are clarified in this study. Furthermore, an essential key point of CFS namely the basis of consolidation (contains enterprises included in the consolidation and capital consolidation methods) is illuminated with a concrete example. Hereby, the relation between the control influence of the parent enterprise on its "sub-entities" and the correspondent capital consolidation methods are studied.

Essay from the year 2003 in the subject Business economics - Accounting and Taxes, grade: 1,5 (A), Oxford Brookes University (Business School), course: International Financial Accounting, language: English, abstract: This essay will compare and contrast the accounting systems of Germany and the United States of Amerika. First the single systems, their core concepts and purposes will be introduced. Second, the two core concepts of conservatism and true and vair value will be presented. Both systems will be examined in order to show how they incorporate these concepts and how this might affect the calculation of profits. Where data is available, selected examples from published company accounts will be shown. Finally some short comments on how the systems come closer to each other since several german companies aim for crosslistings in both countries. A conclusion will summarize the main facts. Different accounting systems might come to different results in their calculations of profits. This can be shown by drawing an example from the Siemens AG’s annual report 2000. In their report based on German GAAP (General Accepted Accounting Principles) the net income in 2000 was 7,901 million €. The same calculation based on U.S. GAAP amounts in the F-20 report for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to 8,860 million € (see figure 1). Now the Question is how come this difference of nearly 14%? Is one system more exact? [...] As we have seen in assignment 1, accounting is not a science. It has been developed to serve a purpose. Accounting systems are influenced by several social and economic factors (Radebaugh and Gray, 1997). [...] It seems that German GAAP and US GAAP have different objectives. Therefore we will analyze the two systems in their national contexts now.

Written by a team of scholars, predominantly from the Centre for Financial Studies in Frankfurt, this volume provides a descriptive survey of the present state of the German financial system and a new analytical framework to explain its workings.

International accounting standards tend to converge, as do auditing, enforcement and corporate governance, whereas trading of equity shares remains essentially national. The book provides a thorough analysis of what information investors really need, how financial accounting systems developed and their current requirements in major commercial countries, and examines current issues, particularly the benefits and costs a single or multiple accounting standards, the bases for accounting standards, and limitations to accounting disclosure in financial statements.