Financial reporting process

The purpose of the financial reporting process is to map the coding and processing of a business transaction through to the preparation of the required annual financial statements.

The objective of the accounting-related ICS/RMS is to ensure compliance with accounting standards and regulations and to safeguard proper accounting.

Rentenbank prepares its financial statements in accordance with the provisions of the German Commercial Code (HGB) and the German Regulation on the Accounting of Banks and Financial Services Institutions (Verordnung über die Rechnungslegung der Kreditinstitute, Finanzdienstleistungsinstitute und Wertpapierinstitute; RechKredV).
These rules are documented in manuals and work instructions. The Finance division monitors them regularly and adapts them to changes in legal, regulatory and procedural requirements. The involvement of the Finance division in the New Products Process ensures that new products are properly reflected for accounting purposes.

The documentation of the accounting process complies with the principles of proper accounting (Grundsätze ordnungsgemäßer Buchführung; GoB) and is understandable to knowledgeable third parties. The statutory retention periods are observed when storing the relevant documents.

The functions of the organisational units that are material to the accounting process are clearly segregated. Separate sub-ledgers are assigned to, and monitored by, the respective organisational units for money market business, loans, securities and liabilities accounting. The data from the sub-ledgers are transferred to the general ledger via automated interfaces. The Finance division is responsible for accounting, defining posting rules, the posting logic, the control of posting programs and the administration of the financial accounting system.

Rentenbank uses standard software for financial reporting. The allocation of task-specific access rights protects the financial reporting process against unauthorised access. Plausibility checks are performed on a regular basis. In addition, the four-eyes principle, standardised reconciliation routines and budget versus actual comparisons in the finance system are intended to ensure that errors are identified and corrected promptly. At the same time, these measures serve to ensure the correct recognition, presentation and measurement of assets and liabilities.

The effectiveness of the accounting-related ICS/RMS is monitored through regular process-independent audits by Internal Audit.

Within the framework of the management information system, reporting to those responsible is timely, quality-assured and relevant. The Supervisory Board and its committees are regularly informed by the Management Board about current business developments. In addition, they are informed promptly about special events.