The correct execution of documentation during accounting is very important for the process of generating accounting information and determining tax liabilities. Therefore, it is necessary to treat documents with special care.
Specialists in accounting services, representatives of small businesses, conducting independent accounting, should know the main requirements for the creation, execution, movement, storage of securities.
Document concept
Normative acts on accounting do not disclose the concept of a document. Therefore, it is worth using the definition that is established by 15489-1-2007 GOST R ISO.
Accounting documents are identifiable information recorded on a tangible medium, created, received and stored by an individual or organization as evidence when confirming business activities or legal obligations.
Primary documents are called documents that contain source data about processes and operations. These are accounting documents that serve as the basis for making accounting entries.
Primary accounting documents are called documents with the help of which facts of economic activity are documented. This concept of the Federal Law “On Accounting” is regulated by the article.
The main requirement put forward for their compilation is that they should be compiled when the fact of economic activity is committed or immediately after its completion (if such an opportunity exists).
Primary papers
The primary accounting document must be drawn up at the time of the business transaction, and if this is not possible, immediately upon its completion.
The main primary documents are:
- Consignment note in the form of TORG-12.
- RKO and PKO.
- Accounting information.
- Expense report.
Varieties of primary documents
Not a single normative act contains a grouping and classification of accounting documents. The following types of accounting documents can be distinguished, these are documents taking into account:
- Places of their compilation: external and internal.
- Applicable documentary forms: unified (created in accordance with the forms that were independently developed by the organization), unified (created in accordance with the forms contained in the album of unified forms).
- Type of information carrier: electronic and paper.
- Data volume: summary and primary.
- Types of liabilities, accounting areas, assets: accounting for cash transactions, accounting for accrual and payment of salaries, accounting for inventories, accounting for fixed assets, etc.
Primary accounting forms
Registration of accounting documents is, first of all, the use of unified and independently developed forms. The use of many unified ones since 2013 is not mandatory.
All forms of primary organizations must be approved by the head of the organization. The following are currently required for use:
- On the account of services of transportation of goods (272-P of the Government).
- On the accounting of labor, its payment (1-P Goskomstat).
- On the accounting of cash transactions (88-P Goskomstat, 3210-U Bank of the Russian Federation).
The standard form is also provided for a payment order. In the process of registration of unified forms, filling out accounting documents, namely, all provided columns (lines) is mandatory. If any information is missing, a dash should be placed in the appropriate box.
It is worth noting that the use of accounting documents, which are currently not required, is still used in organizations. Given the internal needs of the enterprise, these forms can be further developed. They can be made more suitable and convenient for fixing specific business activities. For example, you can refuse to use the print requisites and front and back markings.
Approval of primary accounting documents
The organization is obliged to approve the applicable forms of primary organizations (4 clause 1/2008-PBU). It is important to remember that simply linking to an album of unified forms will not be enough.
The accounting policy should list specific types of documents from albums that the organization will use, as well as a list of persons who have the right to sign primary documents.
Forms may also be approved by other local regulations. For example, an order approving the forms of primary accounting documents. The accounting policy should contain a reference to such an order.
Mandatory details of accounting documents
402- regulates the requirements for mandatory details of primary accounting documents. There are seven such details:
- Date of compilation of the document.
- Its name.
- The name of the economic entity that the document was drawn up.
- The content of the facts of economic activity.
- The value of the monetary or physical measurement (with units).
- Name of positions of persons responsible for the transaction.
- Signatures with transcripts of responsible persons.
Some documents that do not constitute primary documentation may be used as such.
If the organization reflects rental costs, then such accounting documents are acts and a lease. Articles 611 and 622 of the Civil Code establish that in such a case, bilateral acts of acceptance and transfer of an accountable object must be drawn up. If we consider article 753 of the Civil Code, then the primary documents may be acts of a unilateral nature.
Paperwork in accounting
It is important to consider the special cases that are often found during paperwork.
Refusal to use seals. The main purpose of the seal is to certify the signature supplied by the responsible person. Since 2015, enterprises are not required to print. Information about the press should be reflected in the Charter of the organization (82-FZ). Printing is necessary only in cases established by federal regulations.
She must be present on the following documents: double warehouse certificates, acts on the occurrence of industrial accidents, documents submitted to the customs authorities, a power of attorney that allows representing the interests of a legal entity in judicial instances.
The seal is not a mandatory requisite, but its presence may be provided for in the form of a primary accounting document, which is approved by the head of the business entity.
Documents drawn up in a foreign language. Only documents in Russian can be accepted for accounting. If the document is written in another language, then a translation into Russian should be present, and it should be line-by-line. Certification of a translation is not required, except as otherwise provided by the Hague Convention:
- Non-ruble meters in primary accounting documents. Valuation data in accounting documents may be reflected in arbitrary units, in currency, in rubles.
- Primary in electronic form.
402-FZ allows the issuance of primary documents by business entities not only in paper but also in electronic form.
The electronic document must contain all the required details established for the accounting documents, as well as an electronic signature.
Electronic signatures come in three varieties - simple, enhanced, unskilled, enhanced, qualified. According to the Ministry of Finance, any of these three signatures can be used.
Power of attorney for signing primary accounting documents
An employee of the organization has the right to sign if one of the following documents has been drawn up:
- The power of attorney for the signature of primary organizations (185-189 of the Civil Code article).
- Order on the right to sign.
When compared with an order giving the right to sign, a power of attorney can also be issued to persons who are not employees of the organization. By agreement of the parties, facsimiles can be used to sign the primary documents (160 article of the Civil Code).
Workflow schedule in accounting
A workflow schedule is understood as a description, which can take the form of a table or diagram, procedures for creating, moving, processing, storing accounting documents. The schedule can be approved as an appendix to accounting policies or as a local regulatory act. In the second case, the accounting policy should contain a link to this act.
The workflow schedule must necessarily reflect:
- Dates during which documents should be drawn up, transferred, processed, stored.
- Positions of persons responsible for operations reflected in the workflow schedule (105-P of the Ministry of Finance).
Journal of accounting of primary documentation
Maintaining such a journal is more likely the rule of rational document management, rather than accounting. It is necessary for registration of accounting documents - incoming and outgoing primary documents. Specialists advise keeping a similar journal in those cases when accounting is conducted without the use of specialized accounting programs.
For example, when using 1C, a documentation journal can be generated and printed out as soon as necessary. So, the register of receipt documents will display the documents of suppliers, and the register of cash documents, respectively, documentation at the cash desk of the enterprise.
Accounting, unlike tax accounting, allows for the reflection of facts of economic activity in the absence of primary accounting documents, but only if later they are received anyway.
In this case, the facts of economic activity should be reflected in the account using the estimated value. When a document arrives, it is not reversed. It is only necessary to adjust the date of receipt.
This approach is regulated by 21/2008-PBU, 119n-P of the Ministry of Finance, AKPI16-443-R of the Armed Forces.
An exception to this procedure are documents relating to intermediary transactions. The intermediary is obliged to transfer all documentation. In cases where the report on the completed transaction was drawn up with the assumption of errors or inaccuracies, the principal may have the right to raise objections within 30 days from the date of its receipt (999, 1008 of the Civil Code).
Storage and destruction of accounting documents
The storage order of primary organizations is determined by 558-P of the Ministry of Culture. The total period of storage of documentation, in accordance with 402-FZ "On Accounting", Article 9, is 5 years. The head of the enterprise is responsible for organizing the storage of documentation.
Some documents must be kept for a longer period:
- On the acquisition of movable property - at least 10 years.
- For transactions with real estate - indefinitely.
- Dividend payouts and travel certificates for business trips in the Far North - 75 years.
If the storage period for internal accounting documents has expired, they can be destroyed. The decision on the possibility of destruction should be made by an expert commission created each year or operating continuously. Based on the results of the activities of such a commission, an act must be drawn up that reflects a list of documents to be destroyed.
The company can eliminate the documentation on its own or by transferring it to a specialized organization for this.
Responsibility for the storage of primary
Penalties are provided for gross violations of accounting and financial reporting requirements. One of the roughest documents is the absence of the obligatory primary accounting documents, accounting registers, financial statements, and audit reports from the business entity.
If such violations are found, fines are imposed in the following amounts:
- Officials - 5-10 thousand rubles.
- Repeated violation by officials - 10-20 thousand rubles or disqualification for 1-2 years.