Bitcoin Forum

Hello,

How are you handling GAAP accounting requirements in business settings if you are running bitcoind or lnd on the main network?

I am mostly thinking about the technical side of accounting bitcoin transactions not so much about the laws because those vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

Any business should do accounting already with some accounting software for all the fiat transactions. How are you integrating accounting bitcoin transactions with this software?

You're asking about tax reporting (not sure what gaap sands for)?

I use Electrum's built in fiat rate api to produce the total amount earnt. I don't know what level of accounting you need though, if you can program its easier just to run queries on exported data and work out from there how much you owe...

What sort of thing are you doing/plannung for? If it's ecommerce, you might be better off building something into the system that calculates your running profit and total or just take what you make over a week and use an average rate for that week (if you're allowed to estimate your returns).

It all depends on your GAAP.
or example, in Russia, citizens pay taxes only when they change cryptocurrency to fiat,
while in other countries you must take into account the cost of the cryptocurrency at the time of receipt to calculate taxes.
I see no problem adding the bitcoin price to your software and making the necessary calculations.
But usually, stores use partner operators in order not to accept payments in cryptocurrency.

GAAP refers to Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.

I am thinking about a business setting where a company is running bitcoind or lnd, conducting business and doing accounting with an existing accounting solution.

Accounting standards will be different per country, for example most European Union countries are compliant with IFRS and some Asian countries as well. For United Kingdom they have what they call the UK GAAP and for the United States most companies are compliant with the US GAAP. All accounting standards will differ their presentation for the financial statements on their reporting which I think will just vary on what type of Income statement will you be presenting as well as the balance sheets and cash flow statements. If you aren't that familiar with the software I think the best mode of action is to go in an accounting firm and  make them do the auditing for your financial statements but generally if we are talking about cryptocurrencies they'll just be counted as assets which will complicate the whole process of what your true earnings is depending on the accounting standards your country is in.

AICPA just put this out... should help:

https://www.aicpa.org/content/dam/aicpa/interestareas/informationtechnology/downloadabledocuments/accounting-for-and-auditing-of-digital-assets.pdf

Have you tried checking your national Accounting authorities and SEC? They probably launched a memorandum on how to treat digital assets already. If none, you can follow the AICPA guidelines shared by @CryptoSites. They will most likely adopt the same rules when they finally issue local accounting standards.

If he is purely asking about how to enter crypto trading gains into his books I think it is still considered similar to capital gains when entered by some investment and holding companies, some of their line items for that are "foreign currency gain/(loss)" or for the stocks "gains/(loss) on financial assets" which I think can also be applied for cryptocurrencies as it can be considered as a financial asset. Of course since we are talking about cryptocurrencies here if you want to take the profit out of it you must consider all the deductions needed for it such as commissions as well as the tax applied by your country on cryptocurrencies capital gains.