According to the current legislation, legal entities are required to generate financial statements. By order of the Ministry of Finance dated July 6, 1999. No. 43n a regulatory act was introduced establishing the rules for its preparation. It is PBU 4/99.
Organization Accounting (Consultant Plus)
Normative rules regulate the structure of internal financial documents of the enterprise, determine the methodological basis for their formation. PBU 4/99 "Accounting statements of the organization" (the current act) applies to all legal entities. The exception is banking institutions, as well as municipal and state enterprises.
When is it permitted not to use the Regulation?
The "financial statements of the organization" (PBU 4/99 ) is allowed not to be applied at enterprises compiling financial documents for internal use. The norms of this act do not apply to companies providing information to interested parties according to the rules not regulated by the order of the Ministry of Finance indicated above.
Goals
PBU 4/99 (“ Financial Statements of the Organization”), in short, is intended to determine the standard forms of financial documents and their explanations. This document is used by the Ministry of Finance to establish the order of reflection of information of small businesses and NPOs. In addition, the "Accounting Organization" (PBU 4/99 ) defines the rules for the formation of summary tables, documentation in the event of a change in the status of the company. In the latter case, the liquidation or reorganization of the company is meant. The normative act also determines the publication of financial documents. The goals listed above are fixed in paragraph 3 of PBU 4/99. The financial statements of the organization should be prepared by competent staff. They are required to understand the terms used in accounting. The basic concepts are disclosed by the statutory act " Accounting statements of the organization" (PBU 4/99).
Definitions
The main terms that are used in the normative act include:
- Accounting statements.
- Users.
- Reporting periods and dates.
The first should be understood as a comprehensive system of information about the financial status of the company, the results of its business activities. On the basis of what data is the financial statements of the organization? PBU 4/99 names accounting documents (registers, primary securities, etc.) as sources. The control period is the time period within which financial results are formed and reflected. The reporting date is the day at which the entity provides the documents. Another important definition used in a regulatory act is the user. It is an entity interested in obtaining the relevant reality, complete information about the financial status of the company.
The composition of the documentation
“ Organization's financial statements” (PBU 4/99 ) defines the mandatory forms that must be filled in by the business entity. These include:
- Balance.
- Tables showing losses and profits.
- Applications
- Explanatory Note.
In some cases (defined by law), an audit report is additionally included in the documentation structure. The specified list is present in paragraph 5 of PBU 4/99. The financial statements of the organization , therefore, is a comprehensive document that reflects various aspects of the company’s activities and the results of work.
Documentation Requirements
“ Organization's financial statements” (PBU 4/99) contains a number of requirements that must be observed by persons reflecting financial data. First of all, the documents should contain complete and reliable information about the position of the company, the results of its business activities. In this case, the main criterion is compliance with the requirements enshrined in regulatory enactments of control bodies. If during the compilation of any data is not enough, the documentation should be supplemented with the necessary indicators and explanations.
Nuances
The company may not comply with the order on the completeness of the information provided, if it is impossible to obtain the required indicators for objective reasons. The data that is collected in the process of generating financial documentation should be neutral. In particular, it is understood that information cannot affect decisions made by interested users who evaluate the information provided.
Data complexity
This requirement is considered one of the key. The information presented in the reports should contain indicators reflecting the results of the activities of all structural units of the organization, representative offices, other units, including those that maintain independent balances. Documents must be compiled sequentially. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the continuity of the structure of forms in which indicators are recorded for different time periods. Accordingly, the forms containing information used for the subsequent preparation of the balance should be permanent. They can be changed only in exceptional cases. For example, when switching to another type of activity. At the same time, the enterprise should be ready to justify the changes, making explanations to the financial documentation. Reporting must be formed taking into account the continuity of results for different periods. If discrepancies are identified, the specialist who is preparing the documentation may adjust the indicators. At the same time, he needs to provide explanations of the operations performed in the appendices to the report and balance sheet.
Specificity of information reflection
There are several nuances that should be considered when working with PBU. Consider the main ones. First of all, the indicators of liabilities, assets, expenses, and revenues of the company are reflected separately if they are essential for a reliable analysis of the state of the enterprise. If they are not of particular importance for assessing the financial position of the company, they can be included in additions to the report and balance sheet.
Key dates and periods
They are given special attention in PBU. The key date is the last day of the year. The reporting period is equal to the calendar year. For a newly registered company, it is a time period from the date of registration until December 31. In this case, one should take into account the nuance. If the company is registered after October 1, then for it the reporting year lasts from the date of registration until 12/31 of the next year.
Additional Rules
There are several more special requirements established in the PBU. First of all, it is worth saying that each element of financial documentation must contain a set of mandatory details. These include:
- Company name.
- Reference period and date.
- Document's name.
- Information about the legal type.
- A way of reflecting indicators.
In the Order of the Ministry of Finance, it is also prescribed to draw up documentation in Russian, and use the ruble as a monetary unit. Reporting must be certified by the head, ch. accountant or other employee with the appropriate authority.
Balance sheet
There is a liability and an asset in it. The indicators contained in them characterize the financial position of the company on the reporting day. Assets and liabilities are classified into long- and short-term. The latter include funds / debt, the period of use / repayment of which is less than a year. For long-term assets / liabilities, the term is more than 12 months.
Loss statement
Based on the report, the income of the enterprise and its costs are classified. The document reflects the results of business operations performed during the control period. The analysis of the report is of particular practical importance for managers and interested users. The results of the company show the level of its stability, solvency, payback.
Applications
They contain explanations to the report and balance sheet. The purpose of the applications, therefore, is the disclosure of information that is present in the financial documents provided for review to interested users. In the explanations, the specialist, reporting, provides a justification for certain deviations from the rules, indicates their reason. The annexes also reflect the financial consequences of the inconsistency with the standards governing the formation of financial documentation. In additions to information sources, information may be present that relates directly to business operations performed by the enterprise. As a result, interested users receive complete and reliable data on the financial condition of the company, their sources of income.
Conclusion
The financial statements must comply with legal requirements, the provisions of local acts adopted by the organization, if necessary, in accordance with the policy. Documents reflecting the financial condition of the company should be transparent and understandable to users. If the experts had to refuse to apply these or other standards in reporting, this must be justified in the appendices. The indicators presented in the documents should correspond to the actual state of affairs. Otherwise, liability for false information is possible. PBU corresponds with many regulations governing the formation of financial documentation. In the regulatory act, far from all the nuances are disclosed. Therefore, those responsible for reporting should have quick access to all other legal acts.