The inventory is represented by the procedure for comparing existing assets with the information that is available in the company's records. The process is carried out by a special commission appointed by issuing an order by the head of the enterprise. Often, as a result of the procedure, shortages or surpluses are revealed. Therefore, the registration of the results of the inventory should be carried out with the help of competent and official documents. They are compiled and signed by members of the commission.
Inventory concept
It is represented by the standard and frequently used method of accounting verification of the status and movement of various property and money in the enterprise. With its help, discrepancies between entries in the records and the actual balances of various items or cash in the company are identified.
An inventory is being taken of various property of enterprises. During its implementation, special Methodological Instructions approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance No. 49 are taken into account. The procedure for registration of inventory results is also given here.
Objectives
Inventory can be carried out several times a year on the basis of an order issued by the director of the company. The process is necessarily implemented if the company is redeemed, leased or sold. In addition, it is carried out before the formation of annual reports, the change of financially responsible person, or if theft is detected in the company. Fixed assets should be studied every three years. After various natural disasters or emergency situations, companies must identify the losses incurred, for which an inventory is carried out.
Using this process, you can achieve several goals:
- literacy verification of accounting by the company's accountant;
- detection of various unaccounted operations;
- identification of errors made by employees of the accounting service;
- control over the preservation of values and the timeliness of settlements;
- checking the condition and conditions of storage of property;
- identification of goods that are slow-moving or stale;
- verification of the integrity of the work of financially responsible persons;
- the study of the movement of inventories in the enterprise;
- detection of transactions that for various reasons were not reflected in accounting.
To achieve the above goals, it is important to competently study the procedure for conducting and processing the inventory results. If the documentation compiled after this process contains any violations or errors, then the results are not recognized as reliable.
Process Types
Inventory can be presented in several forms. It can be full or private, as well as selective or continuous.
Additionally, an unscheduled, planned, control, or repeated procedure is distinguished.
How is it carried out?
Carrying out an inventory and recording its results are complex processes that are implemented only by the inventory commission. It includes company specialists who are not interested in the results of the process, and also possess the necessary knowledge and experience.
The inventory procedure is divided into the following steps:
- initially issued a management order, on the basis of which this process begins;
- an inventory commission is appointed;
- selected experts study incoming and outgoing documents, as well as various reports regarding the movement of money or material assets;
- the chairman of the commission endorses all the documentation that is attached to the registers;
- receipts are compiled by financially responsible persons;
- compares real material values with records in the documentation;
- at the end of the process, control checks may be carried out;
- only after that the results are drawn up.
The commission must correctly draw up documents on the results obtained, which are then transferred for study to the head of the enterprise. Proper registration of the results of the inventory is the key to the legitimate and profitable activities of the company. That is why people who are interested in the results are not allowed to conduct the process.
The procedure for documenting the results of the inventory
At the end of the process, numerous documents should be prepared. They are studied and filled out by the members of the inventory commission, after which they are transferred for study to the management of the company. On the basis of these papers, a decision is made to hold financially responsible persons or accountants accountable, so members of the commission should be serious about drawing up the results of the inventory. Documents that are drawn up in this case are represented by the following papers:
- an order on the basis of which the verification procedure begins, and it is issued by the head of the enterprise;
- the control journal, which indicates how the orders of the director are carried out by members of the inventory commission;
- inventory of various property represented by fixed assets, intangible assets, goods or cash;
- the act of studying shipped values;
- inventory of property accepted for storage or in transit;
- certificate of inventory of precious metals or precious products;
- inventory of securities and BSO;
- an act of verification of settlements made with buyers, creditors, debtors or suppliers;
- collation statements made in respect of fixed assets or other property;
- the act of verification, with which you can verify the correct implementation of the procedure;
- management order regarding the results obtained.
Each document has its own characteristics. It is the correct documentation of the results of the inventory that allows you to use them to bring to justice violators or to identify theft.
Rules for issuing an order
The inventory is carried out solely on the basis of an official order issued by the head of the enterprise. This document is included in the control book, on the basis of which the effectiveness and efficiency of the execution of the director’s orders is evaluated.
An example of such an order can be studied below. The document can be formed even for an unscheduled audit.
The nuances of inventory
Registration of the results of the inventory is the formation of various acts and inventories. The rules for their preparation include:
- they contain relevant data that appear during the verification process by members of the commission;
- you can fill them out using a computer or manually;
- errors, blots or corrections are not allowed;
- the name of the various values that are being checked are certainly registered on the basis of information from the nomenclature;
- units of measurement should be the same as in the accounting records;
- on all pages of inventories the number of material assets that were actually identified, as well as their number on the basis of accounting documents;
- if a mistake is made, then it must be corrected by striking out, after which the correct data are given above, and such a correction is certified by the signature of the chairman of the commission and the materially responsible person of the company;
- there can be no empty lines in the inventory, so all the remaining space is simply crossed out;
- at the end of the documents, a note is made that prices and taxes were checked, as well as all calculations were made by members of the commission.
If the inventory is carried out due to a change in the materially responsible person, then the document is signed by the former employee and the new employee.
The order of the head of the audit
Registration and accounting of the results of the inventory is a significant step in this procedure. It necessarily includes the publication of an order by the management of the company. This order is formed only after the director of the company studies the acts of inventory, collation statements, inventories and other similar documents.
Based on the data received, a decision is made by management regarding the results of the audit. This decision is approved with the help of an official order. The following data is included in this document:
- Company name;
- Selected organizational form
- date of publication of the document;
- documents are provided that the head of the organization was guided in the decision-making process;
- Validation of the verification results;
- the procedure is given on the basis of which the revealed violations or discrepancies will be eliminated;
- persons who are executors of the order, as well as responsible for the execution of the director’s decision, are appointed.
This order is signed by the direct manager of the company, and after that it is endorsed by an accountant, who is obliged to familiarize himself with the prepared text. After this, the documentation is transferred to the accounting department, whose employees are responsible for the execution of the director’s decision.
Why is paperwork required?
According to the results of the audit, official primary documents must be compiled. It is they who confirm that a qualitative inventory was carried out, as well as all the identified information is reliable.
The correct presentation of the inventory results makes it possible to conclude as to how much the information from accounting corresponds to the actual number of different values. Often, with the help of an audit, it is possible to identify arrears, fraud, or even theft by company employees.
Conclusion
Inventory is a significant way to verify the correctness of accounting. Its results should be properly formatted, for which a lot of primary documents are compiled. They should be formed directly by the members of the inventory commission, after which they are studied and signed by the head of the company.
Based on these documents, you can evaluate how well the accounting is conducted in the organization.