Patent ID: 8386352

Claim:
A method for preparing a financial statement for an accounting professional of a plurality of accounting professionals participating in a community system comprising a repository storing a plurality of accounting adjustment rules, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor and from the accounting professional, a request for an accounting adjustment rule for a general ledger, wherein the request comprises an industry of the accounting professional, an adjustment rule type, and an account of the general ledger of the accounting professional; accessing, by the processor and in response to the request, the repository of the community system storing the plurality of accounting adjustment rules, wherein the plurality of accounting adjustment rules were contributed by the plurality of accounting professionals; retrieving, by the processor and in response to the request, the accounting adjustment rule specified in the request from the repository of the community system, wherein the accounting adjustment rule relates to the industry specified in the request and comprises a community rating; performing, using the accounting adjustment rule for the general ledger, an adjustment in the account generating an adjusted trial balance of the general ledger; verifying, by the processor and subsequent to performing the adjustment that a plurality of credits equals a plurality of debits in the adjusted trial balance; and preparing, by the processor and after verifying, the financial statement for the accounting professional.