What is the primary documentation in accounting? Definition, types, features and filling requirements

Accounting of any enterprise deals with primary reporting. The list of primary documentation in accounting includes several mandatory papers. Each of them is related to the stages of the business process. In the event that the organization’s employees do not conduct primary documentation in 1C: Accounting, tangible sanctions await the company.

What it is?

Accounting primary documentation in accounting is a priority. All activities carried out in this direction are regulated by the Federal Law "On Accounting". So, in the first paragraph of the ninth chapter it is said that the primary documentation can be attributed to any paper correctly executed and certified by the management, reflecting various episodes of the company's business activities. By the way, these episodes are called:

• receiving money for goods or services provided by the enterprise;
• transfer of funds for goods and materials received.

Thus, in addition to the mandatory list of primary documentation in accounting, there is an additional one. It, as a rule, is made up at the request of the management of the company. And they bring in forms with information about offsets that have no financial basis.

Features of working with primary documentation in accounting

The first thing you should pay attention to is that all forms of "primary" should be associated with the transfer of funds. Therefore, you should not include a power of attorney for receiving documents in this list.

Storage of this type of securities is carried out for a minimum of five years from the date of signing. In tax audits, the inspector requires initial documentation for a period of one to three years. Thus, papers with a longer term can be sent for storage to the archive. After five years, they can be completely disposed of. Destruction of the “primary” is carried out in accordance with the company's internal charter and the country's legislation. This procedure is quite complex and time-consuming. Therefore, many enterprises keep the "primary" as long as there is a place in accounting. The period of storage of papers in the archive in Russia is in no way limited.

List

To understand what primary documentation is in accounting, you need to know what types of documents are included in it. It should be recalled that we are talking about securities related to the movement of funds. Here is a list of what is included in the primary documentation in accounting:

1. Contract.
2. An invoice for payment.
3. Cash and sales checks.
4. Forms of strict reporting.
5. Acts.
6. Overhead.

More information on each of these primary documents is provided in the following paragraphs.

Contract

This item causes a lot of controversy among the employees of the accounting department. The fact is that the primary documentation in accounting should be kept in any case, but contracts are sometimes settled by lawyers or even in the personnel department. But there is another side to the coin. After all, it is the agreement that is the basis for the transaction related to cash flow movements.

Score

This form refers to the primary documentation in accounting. What is an account, every participant in the business process knows. In fact, this document is the basis for the transfer of funds for goods or services received. If one of the parties accepts the account, this means that it tacitly agrees to conduct the transaction. It may also contain information regarding the agreement reached earlier. The account records not only these data, but also the procedure for the return of funds in the event of this need.

Packing list

This paper is one of the most prominent representatives of the primary documentation in accounting. The fact is that it specifies the complete list of goods shipped to the buyer. In this case, we are talking about both finished products and raw materials. An invoice is drawn up in an unlimited number of copies. This moment has no clear regulation and in fact is based only on how many parties need this kind of document. That is, how many participants in the transaction, so many copies should be provided. It is worth remembering that only those forms on which the signature of the responsible person is valid are valid. Printing or stamping is not required in this situation.

Acceptance Act

The processing of primary documentation in accounting is carried out by ordinary employees of this department. Most often, they receive acts of completed work (services) as a supporting document. This paper, as its name implies, is compiled after the provision of services or the performance of work. A deed of acceptance is considered to be valid, signed bilaterally. There are times when one of the counterparties refuses to endorse the document. In this situation, the form can be certified by only one party, but provided that observers are present at its signing. In addition to the basic information, the act of reception and transmission may include clarifying or clarifying data. As a rule, they are entered in a specially formed table. As for the sight, the seal is always welcome, but if there is no print, this does not invalidate the paper. It is worth noting that when maintaining the primary documentation in accounting, the act reflecting the movement of the enterprise’s OS should also be included in the list of primary documents.

Payslip

This kind of primary documentation reflects the cash flow between the enterprise and its employees. In addition to the main amount of wages, it includes all bonuses and compensation. The witness of the statement in this situation is the chief accountant together with the head of the enterprise. For a document to be valid and able to enter into force, it is necessary to endorse it with a seal. If this is not done, the form can be considered invalid. It is worth noting that in the two documents presented above this seal is not mandatory.

Cash documents

This list includes the following forms:

• receipt order
• withdrawal slip,
• cash book.

This primary documentation contains the most complete information regarding cash flows. Cash orders are divided into several types. So, most often in the work of accounting used KO-1, KO-2 and KO-4. They reflect all the facts of the economic life of the organization. Thus, during a tax audit, inspectors are most picky about them. In addition to these types, there are KO-3 and KO-5 forms. The third is a cash register register, and the fifth takes into account cash flows at the enterprise. As a rule, inspectors pay much less attention to these types of primary documentation. As for their storage and registration, these processes are carried out in accordance with the general procedure.

Separation depending on the stage of the transaction

Any transaction is divided into three stages. And each of them corresponds to specific documentation.

First, the parties always agree on the terms of the transaction. At this point, they conclude a contract and issue invoices for payment. After that, one of the parties makes a contribution upon request. And in confirmation of this, the payer is obliged to provide supporting papers. If the funds were sent from the current account, an extract must be presented. In the event that the payment is made using cash, confirmation is carried out by submitting cash receipts, strict reporting forms or receipts. The final stage of any transaction is the provision of paid goods or services. This moment must be confirmed by the act of work (services) or the waybill, if we are talking about all kinds of products.

Filling requirements

For proper document management it’s not enough just to know what primary documentation is in accounting. It is important to consider the basic requirements for its completion. First of all, each form should have its own name. Also, the compiler of the document must indicate the date of formation of these reports and the name of the company. By enterprise is meant a supplier, contractor or buyer. Bank details, initials of officials and the name of the transaction are also displayed in separate columns of the primary documentation in accounting. What is the name of the operation, everyone knows, just remember that this value must be expressed in quantitative form. The final moment of the preparation of this type of paper is the signing and printing of responsible persons.

Editing

In working with a large number of documents, employees often make mistakes. Correct them according to the rules established by law. There are two types of edits:

1. For rigorous reporting. If you need to make a small amendment to the form, the responsible person must cross out the incorrect line with a thin line and indicate the correct entry on top of it. To confirm the accuracy of the revision made on paper, it is necessary to write “Corrected Believe” and certify the form with the signature and seal of the official. If the document cannot be corrected pointwise, the person responsible must cross out the wrong form from thin to large with a thin red line. The “Canceled” mark must also be entered. After creating the correct instance, the erroneous is forbidden to destroy.
2. For lax documentation. In this case, the damaged form is destroyed and a paper is created with the correct information.

It is worth knowing that strikethroughs need to be done only with a very thin line. If an employee crosses out a text in such a way that it becomes unreadable, this is a very gross error.