DRS 28
Active
Segment reporting – completing the full DRS library, beyond the 1–27 range
Segmentberichterstattung
1
Scope – Elaborating a Genuinely Optional HGB Disclosure
Voluntary at the statutory level, but genuinely common in practice
DRS 28 elaborates the OPTIONAL segment reporting §297(1) sentence 2 HGB permits (established in the earlier HGB poster series covering Konzernabschluss content) – genuinely distinct from the mandatory Konzernbilanz/Konzern-GuV/Konzernanhang core, but widely adopted in practice by larger, diversified groups given the genuine analytical value segment information provides to investors and analysts.
2
The Management Approach – Segments Defined by How the Business Is Actually Run
Internal reporting structure, not an externally-imposed scheme
DRS 28 defines reportable segments based on how the enterprise's own internal management ACTUALLY organises and reviews its business – typically mirroring the same internal reporting structure used by the chief operating decision-maker for resource allocation and performance evaluation – rather than a rigid, externally-imposed segmentation scheme (such as a fixed industry classification or geographic template).
What this changes in practice
Segments can genuinely differ from how an outside analyst might expect a company's business to be divided Segment measures may use internal management metrics, not necessarily identical to the Konzernabschluss's own GAAP measures Reconciliation to the consolidated totals is required, bridging internal management figures back to the statutory Konzernabschluss
3
Why This Convergence Choice Is Genuinely Notable
A voluntary standard aligning with IFRS anyway
Recall this poster series' own observation when DRS 3's withdrawal was first documented: even for a disclosure with NO direct legal mandate, the DRSC chose to align its own recommended approach with IFRS 8's methodology rather than developing an independently German framework. This reflects a genuinely pragmatic recognition – many groups preparing HGB group accounts also have international investors and stakeholders familiar with IFRS 8's own segment concept, and internal management reporting systems increasingly already follow IFRS-influenced structures regardless of the primary accounting framework used for external reporting.
4
Worked Example – Segments Defined by Internal Management Structure
A group whose internal reporting doesn't match its legal entity structure
A German industrial group has, at the LEGAL ENTITY level, twelve separate subsidiaries across various product lines. INTERNALLY, however, management reviews the business through just three reportable units – "Industrial Equipment," "Consumer Products," and "Services" – each spanning multiple legal entities, and this is the structure the CEO and board actually use for resource allocation decisions.
Under DRS 28's management approach, the Konzernabschluss's own OPTIONAL segment report presents THREE segments – "Industrial Equipment," "Consumer Products," and "Services" – matching the group's genuine INTERNAL management structure, rather than twelve entity-based segments or some other externally-imposed classification scheme, with a reconciliation bridging the segment totals back to the consolidated Konzernabschluss figures.
5
Relationship to IFRS (IFRS 8)
A deliberate, near-total convergence – genuinely unusual for this DRS library
DRS 28's own management approach is, by design, essentially IDENTICAL to IFRS 8's own methodology – a genuinely unusual degree of deliberate convergence in a library where most other standards (DRS 18/IAS 12, DRS 23/IFRS 3) retain a persistent goodwill- or measurement-driven divergence even where the underlying structure is broadly similar. DRS 28 stands out as the clearest case in this entire library of the DRSC choosing full methodological alignment rather than merely structural similarity.