DRS 04 Business combinations in consolidated financial statements

This standard has been withdrawn.

Current Standard

Part of the DRS consolidation wave

DRS 4, first issued in August 2000, was the DRSC's original standard elaborating capital consolidation and business combination accounting for group accounts – directly supplementing HGB §301's own capital consolidation mechanics, covered in detail in the earlier HGB poster series. It was last amended for BilMoG (2009) changes before its final withdrawal.

Why withdrawn – a fundamental rewrite, not a minor update

Rather than incrementally amend DRS 4 again, the HGB-Fachausschuss undertook a GROUND-UP rewrite, addressing numerous practical issues DRS 4 had never resolved – including the mechanics of multi-tier ("mehrstufiger") group structures, given HGB's own conceptual model assumes a single-tier group as its baseline. The result, DRS 23 "Kapitalkonsolidierung (Einbeziehung von Tochterunternehmen in den Konzernabschluss)," was adopted 25 September 2015 and formally announced in the Bundesanzeiger on 23 February 2016, with DRS 4 withdrawn effective for fiscal years beginning after 31 December 2016.

Status summary

FieldDetail

Original topicBusiness combinations / capital consolidation in group accounts

First issuedAugust 2000

WithdrawnEffective for fiscal years beginning after 31.12.2016

SuccessorDRS 23 – Kapitalkonsolidierung (ground-up rewrite, including multi-tier group mechanics)