Accounting in trade organizations is carried out in accordance with the law "On Accounting", which involves the establishment of common standards for its organization and maintenance. At the same time, there are features of accounting in trade, due to the very specifics of the work of this sector of the economic mechanism.
Accounting is a system of accumulation, fixing, classification and generalization of information on property, expressed in monetary form, which is maintained on the basis of constant documentary accounting. The presence of the law allows us to guarantee the unification of these activities throughout the country.
The law formulates the general objectives of accounting:
- formation of information about the work of the enterprise and its position;
- providing data used in the organization of control over compliance with the economic legislation of the Russian Federation;
- prevention of negative consequences in the activities of enterprises and the search for on-farm reserves.
These tasks are universal and face all business entities, regardless of industry affiliation. However, each type of business includes a lot of features determined by factors of both an internal nature and external circumstances. Trade, as a type of business, also has its own accounting features. In trade, first of all, it should be borne in mind that it is an enterprise that is directly related to the purchase and sale operations and the services it is called upon to provide to consumers of marketable products.
There are two types of trade, these are wholesale and retail. This classification significantly affects the features of accounting in trade. For example, depending on what type prevails at a particular enterprise, the technology of warehouse accounting, the procedure for accounting and posting of stored products, the procedures for its design and delivery to consumers depend to a large extent.
Management of an enterprise that engages in trading activities is impossible without a high-quality statement of accounting, which should be organized in accordance with all standards and rules.
The main features of accounting in trade are as follows:
- uniformity of valuation procedures for all operations of the trade chain from the posting of goods to its sale;
- the need to select a valuation method (cost methods, FIFO, LIFO) of goods when they are written off;
- the need to establish a method for reflecting in accounting the acquired commercial products;
- guaranteed reliability of accounting information and reporting, which is ensured by conducting regular inventories;
- the development of the necessary templates for accounting records, if not provided for by standard samples;
- the development of internal procedures and workflow technologies;
- development of methods for monitoring business activities that take into account the characteristics of accounting in trade.
As economic practice shows, the implementation of these methods and standards of accounting can significantly increase the efficiency of trade enterprises.
One of the main documents of the accounting system in trade is a book of accounting for income and expenses, which should be kept, except for state-owned enterprises of trade, and other entities, including private entrepreneurs, which use a simplified system for taxation.
The main requirements for maintaining this document are:
- opening a new book for each new accounting period;
- the possibility of maintaining a book both in traditionally paper form and in electronic form;
- the book must be laced up and numbered without fail, on the last page it must be written by the head of the enterprise;
- the correction of errors must be justified and certified by the signature of the official with the date and certification of the correction with the seal of the organization.
Responsibility for the correct maintenance of the document lies with the head of the enterprise and the chief accountant.