The official normative act that defines and establishes the procedure for the execution and preparation of documents (as well as working with them) in any organization is an instruction on paperwork.
It must be available at every enterprise, in every company and institution. An instruction on paperwork is being developed, without fail, on the basis of national regulatory and methodological documents. But, at the same time, it should reflect the individual characteristics of the clerical work of a particular organization, the composition of posts and documents, the structure of the service, the availability of archives and the degree of computerization of all clerical operations. From this it follows that the instruction for the clerical work of a certain organization is always original and will take into account all the nuances and features of the composition and processing of documents that are inherent only to this structure.
When drafting this regulatory document for your company, you can use the generally accepted standard instructions for paperwork, take key points from it that are mandatory for everyone, and supplement with points that must be specified exclusively for your organization.
As a rule, the instruction on office work includes general provisions, various thematic sections and various kinds of applications. General provisions specify the scope of the instruction, the regulatory framework and the responsibility for non-compliance. Thematic sections contain information on the types of documents and the procedure for their preparation, sighting, reproduction, certification and storage. In accordance with the specifics of the enterprise, this section can be significantly expanded. Depending on the changing working conditions and the introduction of new technologies, thematic sections can be changed and supplemented. The appendices to the instructions contain illustrated reference material: sample forms, prints of seals and stamps, document flow diagrams, as well as sample forms.
In some cases, the instruction may be temporary in nature (instruction for clerical work in a district court or in the armed forces). The temporary instruction for office work is approved for a certain period, for example, before the commissioning of a permanent. This is decided individually!
Properly written instructions for paperwork reflects the entire process of working with documents and the logical sequence of all technological operations. It regulates the activities of not only office management, but the entire management apparatus. The instruction is approved and enforced only by order of the head of the organization and subsequently serves as a normative act on the basis of which all documents of the enterprise are drawn up and executed.
The correct organization of office work is an important condition for the proper work of the organization. The clerks of the clerical service are obliged to qualitatively fill out all the documentation, introduce new employees to the procedure and rules for filling out forms, submit reports on time and without errors, correctly and timely fulfill assigned tasks, and start working immediately (immediately after receiving an incoming document or order). If the head himself sets the priorities for the urgency of the execution of orders or documents, then the work is carried out on the basis of this. In other cases, upon receipt of a significant number of documents, their processing occurs in accordance with the date of appearance.