Legal basis
The acceptance of sampling-type inventory

Since the 1st of January 1977 the legislator permits sampling procedures for carrying out inventories:

"For the listing of inventory it is permitted to determine the stock of property in type, number and value with the support of accepted mathematic-statistical procedures based on sampling methods. The procedures must correspond to the basic principles of a proper bookkeeping. The validity of a listed inventory based on these methods must amount to the validity of a physical stock taking."
(HGB, § 241 clause 1)

Due to the resulting legal basis, not every stocktaking procedure is being accepted:

The in detail documented inventory system must ensure that samples, which are being drawn out of a stock keeping unit, are randomly selected. The extrapolation which follows the stock taking must result in an exact determination of the inventory value, so that the actual value of the stock is reflected with a maximum deviation of just 2 percent.

The Swiss and Austrian legislator treats this issue in a similar way and also allows the use of sampling-type inventory. In Austria additional national requirements have to be met, while the authorities in Switzerland follow closely the same conditions which exist in Germany.

Tax consultants and qualified auditors accept sampling-type inventory on condition that the procedures follow the recommendations of the German Institute of Auditors (IdW).

INVENT is certified by leading international auditing companies and by all fiscal authorities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

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