Industry Rule Packs
Specialized posting rule packs for different industries, built on a layered pack chaining architecture.
Overview
Axiomatic's posting engine uses a pack chaining architecture that lets you compose multiple rule packs on a single book. Instead of duplicating common rules across industries, each book inherits from a chain of packs — from general accounting standards down to industry-specific and entity-level customizations.
Pack Chaining
Rule packs are organized in layers. When the posting engine processes an event, it resolves rules across all chained packs in priority order:
| Layer | Priority | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Financial Kernel | Lowest | Core accounting primitives (cash movements, equity, adjustments) |
| Accounting Standard | Medium | Standard-specific rules (GAAP, IFRS, Tax) |
| Industry Pack | Higher | Industry-specific posting logic |
| Entity Pack | Highest | Custom overrides for your specific business |
Higher-priority rules take precedence. An industry pack can override a standard rule for domain-specific behavior without duplicating the entire rule set. For example, a Construction pack can override revenue recognition to use percentage-of-completion while inheriting all other GAAP rules.
Assigning Packs to Books
Packs are assigned to books through Settings. Each assignment has a priority that determines the resolution order. You can assign multiple packs to a single book.
For example, a construction company's GAAP book might chain:
- GAAP Standard Pack (priority 10) — general revenue, expense, and equity rules
- Construction Industry Pack (priority 20) — percentage-of-completion revenue, job costing, retention
- Entity Custom Pack (priority 30) — company-specific overrides
Available Industry Packs
Real Estate
Specialized rules for property management, rental income, and real estate transactions.
| Rule | Description |
|---|---|
| Rental income recognition | DR Cash/Receivable, CR Rental Income per lease terms |
| Tenant security deposits | DR Cash, CR Deposit Liability (not income until applied) |
| Property depreciation | DR Depreciation Expense, CR Accumulated Depreciation |
| CAM charges | DR Receivable, CR CAM Revenue for common area maintenance |
| Mortgage interest | DR Interest Expense, CR Cash with principal applied to liability |
| Capital improvements | DR Building/Improvements (capitalize), CR Cash |
Construction
Rules for project-based accounting with percentage-of-completion revenue recognition.
| Rule | Description |
|---|---|
| POC revenue (ASC 606) | DR Receivable, CR Revenue based on cost-to-cost completion percentage |
| Job costing | DR WIP (by job), CR Cash/Payable for materials and labor |
| Retention receivable | DR Retention Receivable, CR Revenue for withheld amounts |
| Change orders | DR WIP adjustment, CR Revenue adjustment when approved |
| Equipment depreciation | DR Equipment Depreciation, CR Accumulated Depreciation (per asset) |
| Mobilization costs | DR Deferred Mobilization, CR Cash (amortized over project life) |
Retail & E-commerce
Rules for point-of-sale transactions, returns, and marketplace operations.
| Rule | Description |
|---|---|
| POS sales with tax | DR Cash, CR Revenue + CR Sales Tax Payable |
| Returns and refunds | DR Revenue + DR Sales Tax Payable, CR Cash/Receivable |
| Gift card sales | DR Cash, CR Deferred Revenue (recognized on redemption) |
| Gift card breakage | DR Deferred Revenue, CR Breakage Income for unredeemed balances |
| Shipping revenue | DR Receivable, CR Shipping Revenue |
| Marketplace fees | DR Marketplace Fee Expense, CR Cash/Payable |
Manufacturing
Rules for inventory costing, production overhead, and finished goods.
| Rule | Description |
|---|---|
| Raw materials purchase | DR Raw Materials Inventory, CR Cash/Payable |
| WIP costing | DR Work-in-Process, CR Raw Materials + Labor + Overhead |
| Finished goods transfer | DR Finished Goods, CR Work-in-Process |
| Production overhead | DR Manufacturing Overhead, CR Various (allocated to WIP) |
| Scrap and waste | DR Scrap Loss, CR WIP (production waste write-off) |
| Warranty reserves | DR Warranty Expense, CR Warranty Reserve (estimated claims) |
Professional Services
Rules for time-based billing, retainers, and partner distributions.
| Rule | Description |
|---|---|
| Time-based revenue | DR Receivable, CR Service Revenue (per billable hours) |
| WIP for unbilled hours | DR Unbilled WIP, CR WIP Revenue (recognized on billing) |
| Retainer deposits | DR Cash, CR Client Retainer Liability (drawn down as billed) |
| Reimbursable expenses | DR Reimbursable Receivable, CR Cash (passed through to client) |
| Partner draws | DR Partner Draw, CR Cash (reduces partner capital) |
Nonprofit
Rules for fund accounting, restricted donations, and grant compliance.
| Rule | Description |
|---|---|
| Unrestricted contributions | DR Cash, CR Unrestricted Contribution Revenue |
| Restricted contributions | DR Cash, CR Temporarily Restricted Revenue (released on use) |
| Grant revenue | DR Grant Receivable, CR Deferred Grant Revenue (recognized per milestones) |
| Program expense allocation | DR Program Expense, CR Cash/Payable (allocated by program) |
| In-kind donations | DR In-Kind Asset, CR In-Kind Contribution Revenue (at fair value) |
| Pledge receivables | DR Pledge Receivable, CR Contribution Revenue (net of allowance) |
Crypto & DeFi
Rules for digital asset accounting, staking, and decentralized finance.
| Rule | Description |
|---|---|
| Token receipt | DR Digital Asset (at fair value), CR Revenue/Gain |
| Staking rewards | DR Digital Asset, CR Staking Income (at FMV on receipt date) |
| LP fee income | DR Digital Asset, CR LP Fee Revenue |
| Impermanent loss | DR Impermanent Loss Expense, CR Digital Asset |
| Gas fees | DR Transaction Fee Expense, CR Digital Asset (ETH/native token) |
| Token swaps | DR New Token (at FMV), CR Old Token (at cost basis), +/- Realized Gain/Loss |
Creating Custom Rules
If an industry pack doesn't cover a specific transaction type for your business, you can create custom rules in your entity's rule pack. These take highest priority and override any inherited rules. See the Rules documentation for the DSL syntax reference.