This publication is one of a series of handbooks prepared by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) to help countries, particularly developing countries, implement the 1993 system of national accounts (SNA). It attempts to cover the conceptual and practical aspects of linking business accounts to national accounts through countries' experiences. The handbook aims to provide a general guide to business accounts and the possibility of linking items in them to SNA concepts allowing for local rules and regulations. It cannot provide a set of concrete and detailed international guidelines due to the diversity of business account standards among countries and the extent to which business accounts are made available to statisticians. The main target audiences for this handbook are staff responsible for the compilation of national accounts although it is also a useful reference tool for those who prepare statistics for the preparation of national accounts.