The balance sheet purpose-adequate representation of distance, decommissioning, and similar obligations is controversial. This is largely due to the fact that they occupy a materially significant position in the annual financial statements of industrial companies in certain sectors and touch upon environmental protection, an area that has gained increasing importance in recent years. The IASB arrived at a conceptual framework for the accounting representation of such obligations that was almost unknown in the context of commercial law. Building on a fundamental analysis of the current normative framework of IFRS, Stefan Wich examines to what extent the existing regulations for accounting for decommissioning obligations within IFRS appear adequate to fulfill the overarching balance sheet purpose. In addition to the question of the criteria for recognition.