The Legal Basis of Monthly Bookkeeping in Georgia
Monthly bookkeeping in Georgia is not merely a practical routine but a legally loaded discipline: the Law of Georgia on Accounting and Financial Reporting defines precisely by which standard, under which rules and by whom the records must be kept. Under Article 3 of the law, accounting and financial reporting are regulated by the law and other normative acts of Georgia, and must conform to the international standards of accounting and financial reporting. The system of standards is layered: the full International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS); the International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs); the standard set for fourth-category enterprises; and the standard set for non-commercial (not-for-profit) legal persons. Application of these standards is mandatory, and the Service ensures the introduction of updated standards within 6 months of their renewal; a reporting entity is entitled to use the current English-language text of the standards. Choosing the right layer and applying it consistently is the first obligation of every monthly accounting cycle.
Who Keeps the Books and Under Which Standard
The choice of standard depends on the entity's size category. Public-interest entities and first-category enterprises keep records and prepare reports under the full IFRS; second- and third-category enterprises apply the IFRS for SMEs, with the right to move up to the full IFRS; fourth-category enterprises and non-commercial legal persons apply the standards set by the Service, and they too may opt for a higher standard. The formal routes for keeping the records are likewise defined by law: an entity keeps its accounting through an employed accountant or an accountant providing professional services, or through an accounting firm or an audit firm providing the service. This means that a missed monthly cycle or an incorrectly built records structure is not a private inconvenience — it is a breach of these norms, with consequences described below.