Reporting Package

German GAAP group reporting package: the subsidiary's single-entity numbers

A group reporting package is how a German subsidiary hands its stand-alone HGB numbers up to a foreign parent for consolidation. This page explains what belongs in the package, how to map the German chart of accounts to the group's, and where the single entity's statutory work ends and the parent's consolidation begins.

What a reporting package actually is

The reporting package is the German subsidiary's single-entity figures, prepared under the HGB and then translated into the format the parent needs for group reporting. It is not a consolidated statement — it is one entity's numbers, packaged so the parent can drop them into its own consolidation.

jahresabschluss.io prepares that single entity's statutory HGB statements. The parent performs the consolidation (Konzernabschluss) under its own framework — that step is deliberately outside this product's scope.

What's inside the package

  • The HGB trial balance, mapped from SKR03/SKR04 to the group chart of accounts.
  • Intercompany balances and transactions, separately identified for the parent's eliminations.
  • Movement schedules — the fixed-asset schedule (Anlagenspiegel, § 284 Abs. 3), provisions and equity movements.
  • A bridge of HGB-to-group-GAAP adjustments (fair value, provisions, development costs, deferred taxes).
  • Local tax data and the disclosures the group needs for its own notes.
  • The final German statutory statements, so the group holds the filed local truth.

Mapping SKR03/04 to the group chart of accounts

German bookkeeping typically runs on the SKR03 or SKR04 standard chart of accounts. The group, however, reports on its own account structure. The core of the package is a mapping table that assigns every German account to the correct group line, so revenue, cost, asset and liability captions land where the parent expects them.

Building this mapping once and reusing it each period is what makes group reporting sustainable. The HGB Bilanz and GuV captions (§§ 266, 275 HGB) are stable, so the mapping only changes when you add new account detail — not every close.

Local book vs group submission

One HGB source of truth

Keep the German statutory numbers as the local book of record in euros (§ 244 HGB). Everything the group sees is derived from that single reconciled trial balance.

Group adjustments on top

Layer the framework differences (US GAAP, IFRS or FRS 102) as an explicit adjustment schedule rather than editing the statutory numbers themselves.

Intercompany reconciliation

Match balances with counterparties before submission so the parent's eliminations net cleanly and don't surface late in the group close.

Currency and timing

The statutory book is in euros; any group presentation currency is a downstream translation. The package usually goes up before the statutory filing is finalised.

Where the statutory work ends and consolidation begins

The line is clean: the German entity produces its own single-entity statutory statements and the reporting package derived from them; the parent takes it from there and consolidates. This product covers the first half only.

That boundary is not a limitation for most groups — it is the correct division of labour. Local statutory accuracy is a German compliance matter; consolidation is a group-framework matter. Keeping them separate keeps both defensible.

Frequently asked questions

What is a group reporting package for a German subsidiary?

It is the subsidiary's stand-alone HGB numbers — trial balance, movement schedules, intercompany data and a GAAP-difference bridge — mapped into the group's format so the parent can consolidate. It is single-entity data, not a consolidated statement.

Does jahresabschluss.io prepare consolidated group accounts?

No. The product prepares the single entity's HGB statutory statements only. Consolidation (Konzernabschluss, §§ 290/297 HGB) stays with the group; the subsidiary's numbers feed it as a reporting package.

How do I map SKR03/04 to our group chart of accounts?

Build a mapping table that assigns each German standard-chart account to the corresponding group line, then reuse it every period. The HGB Bilanz and GuV captions are stable, so the mapping only changes when you add account detail.

Do the statutory accounts and the reporting package differ?

They start from the same HGB trial balance. The statutory statements are the filed German document; the reporting package restates those numbers into the group's chart and framework with an explicit adjustment bridge.

What currency and language does the package use?

The statutory book is in German and euros (§ 244 HGB). The reporting package is usually delivered in the group's language and can be translated to a presentation currency downstream, but the local truth stays in euros.