Dairy Standard Charts of Accounts

Dairy Australia has worked with industry to establish an agreed methodology for tracking farm performance based on cash, profit and wealth, captured in an agreed Dairy Standard Chart of Accounts.

This agreed way of setting up accounts for dairy farmers means that farmers, consultants, bankers and accountants are increasingly using the same way of organising financial information, allowing more meaningful comparisons and deeper conversations about farm business management, profitability and wealth.

A number of industry groups have contributed to the development of the Dairy Standard Chart of Accounts, including Murray Dairy and Agriculture Victoria.

While one of the main aims of the Dairy Standard Chart of Accounts is to drive consistency across the Australian dairy industry in how farm business performance is discussed, described, calculated and reported, it also meets many other goals.

The Dairy Standard Chart of Accounts enables dairy farmers to manage the flow of financial information through their business and establish an efficient system for paying bills and complying with Australian tax regulations. The Dairy Standard Chart of Accounts can also be converted to management accounts with relative ease to enable farmers to make informed decisions in their businesses. The management accounts enable farmers to complete end of year and comparative analysis on their business by ensuring a consistent approach to the allocation of financial information and financial terminology used within the dairy industry. It will also enable conversion to a regular cashflow and could be used for budgeting within businesses.

The Dairy Standard Chart of Accounts has not been established as a rigid tool to prescribe the exact setup of farm accounts on all dairy farms, but rather is designed as a guide to the way a dairy farmer can keep financial records. If used correctly, it will provide consistency in record keeping. As well as providing farmers with data to make informed financial and farm management decisions, the Dairy Standard Chart of Accounts allows farmers to effectively benchmark their business.

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