General Code of Accounting Standards (CGNC – Code Général de Normalisation Comptable) has force of law in Morocco. Indeed, its application is mandatory by virtue of the Dahir of December 25^th , 1992 on the accounting law (loi n° 9-88).

The CGNC defines all the rules and procedures that allow accounting to reflect a true and fair image of the company’s financial situation.

You can download the complete document through this link: Code Général de Normalisation Comptable.

What does the General Code of Accounting Standards cover ?

The General Code of Accounting Standards deals with all the rules and guidelines for the bookkeeping of a Moroccan company. It is divided into two main sections:

Part I: General Accounting Standard
Part II: General Chart of Accounts for Companies

The CGNC has a wide scope of application. In fact, it is applicable to all Moroccan companies as well as all traders, including natural persons.

In short, the CGNC is the accounting standard applicable in Morocco.

Fundamentals of the standard

The standard adopted by the CGNC meets the two main objectives of any accounting standard. Indeed, the CGNC states that accounts that comply with its principles allow :

On the one hand, to serve as a foundation for the information and management of the company;
On the other hand, to provide a true image of the company to accounts’ users (third parties)

The General Code of Accounting Standards sets deliberately a broad scope of application. In fact, it specifies that it applies to all economic operators regardless of their nature and size.

Fundamental Accounting Principles of the CGNC

Accounting is a standardized discipline. In other terms, one cannot do their accounting as they wish. When one is doing their own personal accounting, they have the liberty to do so as they see fit. However, standardized accounting is not intended solely for one party.

In fact, it will be used by several external parties. As such, it needs to be established according to clear rules in order to be understood by all: account makers and account users.

The main accounting principles adopted by the CGNC are as follows:

Continuity of operations;
Consistency of methods;
Historical costs;
Separation of accounting periods;
Caution;
Clarity;
Significant importance.