Chart of Accounts (SKR03/SKR04)
A chart of accounts is the systematic master list of every account a company can use in its bookkeeping – structured into account classes with a fixed numbering system. In the German Mittelstand, the DATEV standard charts SKR03 (ordered by business process) and SKR04 (ordered by the structure of the balance sheet and P&L) dominate.
A chart of accounts is the systematic, industry-standard master list of every account a company can use in its financial accounting. It assigns each possible business transaction to an account with a fixed number and groups these accounts into account classes – from fixed assets through inventories and liabilities to revenues and expenses. The chart of accounts is thus the binding framework by which documents are recorded in double-entry bookkeeping and condensed at year-end into the balance sheet and the profit and loss statement.
In Germany, the two DATEV standard charts SKR03 and SKR04 have become established and are known to practically every tax advisor and every accounting software package. SKR03 groups the accounts by business process (process structure), SKR04 by the structure of the balance sheet and P&L (financial-statement structure). Both map the same facts, merely in a different order and with different account numbers. From the general chart of accounts, each company derives its individual account plan – the actually used, usually shortened selection.
At a glance
- Systematic master list of all possible accounts, ordered into account classes 0–9
- SKR03: grouped by business process; SKR04: grouped by balance sheet/P&L structure
- DATEV standard – the basis for handing data over to the tax advisor in the DACH region
- Chart of accounts = template, account plan = the selection a company actually uses
- Others: SKR14 (agriculture/forestry), SKR49 (associations), EKR in Austria
How a chart of accounts is structured
A chart of accounts is built on a decimal system: it divides the entire account inventory into ten account classes (0 to 9), which branch further into account groups, account types and finally individual accounts. The first digit of an account number therefore immediately reveals which area an account belongs to. As a rule, the standard charts of accounts work with four-digit account numbers; for finer differentiation – for instance by cost center or revenue type – the numbers can be extended to five or more digits.
Each account is uniquely assigned via its number to an item of the balance sheet or the P&L. As a result, the accounting department – and likewise the ERP system – knows at every posting where the balance will end up at year-end. This fixed assignment is the actual value of a chart of accounts: it makes postings comparable, automatable and instantly legible for third parties such as tax advisors or auditors.
Account classes and numbering logic
In SKR03, the classes are 0 (fixed-asset and equity accounts), 1 (financial and private accounts), 2 (accruals, neutral expenses and income), 3 (goods received and inventories), 4 (operating expenses), 7 (finished-goods inventories), 8 (revenues) and 9 (carry-forward and statistical accounts). SKR04 uses the same classes but aligns them with the balance sheet and P&L structure: class 0/1 for fixed and current assets, class 2/3 for equity and liabilities, class 4 for revenues and class 5/6 for expenses. Anyone who knows SKR03 therefore has to deliberately relearn the account numbers when switching to SKR04.
SKR03 or SKR04: the difference
The key difference lies in the structuring logic. SKR03 is process-oriented: the accounts follow the operational flow from purchasing through production to sales. This matches the familiar thinking of many trading and craft businesses and is considered somewhat more intuitive in day-to-day posting. SKR04 is financial-statement-oriented: the accounts follow exactly the order of the balance sheet and profit and loss statement under Sections 266 and 275 of the German Commercial Code (HGB). This makes preparing the annual financial statements easier, because the account order already matches the structure of the financial statements.
Both charts are equivalent and legally permissible – there is no obligation to use one or the other. In practice, the choice often depends on the tax advisor, the industry and the existing software landscape. A later switch is possible but laborious, because all account numbers and their assignments in the system as well as in reports and interfaces have to be adjusted. The decision should therefore be made as early and permanently as possible.
Distinction: chart of accounts vs. account plan
Chart of accounts and account plan are frequently confused but mean different things. The chart of accounts is the general, industry-wide standardized template with the complete stock of possible accounts. No business uses it in full – most accounts remain empty.
The account plan, by contrast, is the concrete, individually derived selection of a single company: only the sales-ledger accounts actually needed, often supplemented by its own sub-accounts for particular revenue types, cost centers or tax keys. The chart of accounts is thus the map of all possibilities, the account plan the route actually travelled. A well-maintained account plan ensures that similar transactions always end up on the same account – the prerequisite for comparable analyses over the years.
The chart of accounts in the ERP system
In an ERP or merchandise management system, the chosen chart of accounts is stored as an account plan and interlinked with the operational processes. The system usually ships SKR03 and SKR04 as pre-configured templates, one of which is selected during setup. Via stored account-determination and automatic-posting rules, the ERP derives the correct posting directly from the transaction: a sale at the standard tax rate automatically addresses the appropriate revenue account and the associated VAT account, a goods receipt the inventory or expense account.
For this to work, articles, revenue categories, tax keys and control accounts have to be mapped correctly to the chart of accounts. Once the assignment is set up cleanly, the system delivers trial balances, business analyses, balance sheet and P&L at the push of a button and exports the postings in DATEV format to the tax advisor. A chart of accounts that matches the tax advisor is therefore a central configuration decision in every ERP implementation.
Why the choice should be fixed early
The chart of accounts is a fundamental setting that is anchored deep in automatic postings, analyses and interfaces. If it is changed after go-live, already-posted documents, account assignments and reports have to be migrated – an intervention that can easily disrupt ongoing accounting. It is best if companies coordinate the chart with the tax advisor before setup and adopt their specification, so that the data handover runs smoothly.
DACH specifics and further charts of accounts
SKR03 and SKR04 are DATEV standards for Germany, but not the only ones. DATEV maintains special charts of accounts for individual industries and legal forms – for instance SKR14 for agriculture and forestry, SKR30 for retail, SKR49 for associations and non-profit organizations or SKR51 for the motor-vehicle trade. They follow the same systematics but are tailored to the typical accounts of the respective industry.
In Austria, the standardized chart of accounts (Einheitskontenrahmen, EKR) is widespread; its structure is oriented toward the requirements of the Austrian Commercial Code (UGB), and the BMD software plays a similar role there to DATEV in Germany. In Switzerland, the SME chart of accounts (Kontenrahmen KMU, after Sterchi, building on the scheme by Käfer) dominates, aligned with the Swiss Code of Obligations. Anyone posting across national borders or working across multiple clients must keep these different charts cleanly separated in the ERP system while still keeping them consolidatable.
Example
Example: a mid-sized company chooses SKR04 during the ERP rollout
A growing online retailer of household goods migrates from simple accounting software to an ERP system. Together with the tax advisor, the decision falls on SKR04, because the business is a GmbH obliged to prepare a balance sheet and the financial-statement-oriented structure simplifies the annual balance-sheet preparation. During setup, SKR04 is loaded as the account-plan template and reduced to the accounts actually needed – for instance separate revenue accounts for sales domestically, within the EU and to third countries.
Article groups and tax keys are then mapped to the appropriate revenue and VAT accounts. From then on, the system posts every sale automatically to the correct account, and the monthly export in DATEV format reaches the tax advisor with no rework. Had the retailer instead tried to switch from SKR03 to SKR04 after go-live, all account numbers, automatic-posting rules and analyses would have had to be readjusted – the early decision saves exactly this effort.
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