Most large commercial organizations have accounting policies. This may be due to both the requirements of the law and the objective needs of firms, due to the specifics of doing business, its scope, and the characteristics of business operations. The rules governing the conduct of accounting policies by enterprises can be fixed both at the level of the legislation of the Russian Federation and in local regulatory acts of the organization. What are the main sources of law that govern this area of ​​activity of Russian firms? What are their main points?
What is an accounting policy?
Under the accounting policy is understood to mean the activities of the organization, which is associated with the compilation of various documents reflecting significant events in the economic life of the company. In the Russian Federation, it is represented by 2 main types of accounting - accounting and tax. As a rule, the first type of reporting is more complicated, therefore, in order to regulate it, the state issues specialized normative acts. The accounting policy of the company, mainly related to its financial statements, should be stable, legal, relevant. It is formed on the basis of the priorities of a particular organization, but must comply with the established rules of law. Consider the sources in which they can be recorded.
Accounting accounting policies: basic rules of law
The accounting policies of PBU in the Russian Federation are governed by the provisions of regulatory acts at the federal level. The main NPA of the corresponding type is the order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia No. 106n, adopted on 6.10.2008. Through this source, the regulation “Accounting policy of the organization PBU 1/2008”, as well as PBU 21/2008, which supplements the first document, was approved. Previously, the regulatory source PBU 1/98 was operating in the Russian Federation.
It can be noted that, along with the main regulatory legal entities that regulate accounting - PBU 1/2008, sources were adopted according to which accounting should be kept for individual business transactions and payments to the budget of the Russian Federation. For example, if a company pays income tax, then the main legal act in accordance with which its accounting policy should be built is 18 PBU.
There are separate sources of norms that regulate accounting for various assets, loans, investments with which the company deals. But, one way or another, the main source of standards for accounting is PBU 1/2008. It contains general rules for all firms that govern accounting policies - regardless of the organization's tax system, the specifics of its business operations.
Consider the main provisions that contains the document PBU 1/2008 ("Accounting policies of the organization"). The years 2015 and 2016 were not characterized by significant legislative adjustments to the relevant regulatory acts. But they were. So, the current version of “Accounting Policy” was adopted on April 6, 2015. So, we will study the main provisions of this legal regulation.
PBU 1/2008: general provisions
The considered source of law forms the rules for compiling accounting policies of firms in the status of legal entities. The jurisdiction of this LA does not apply to banking organizations, state and municipal structures. If a business in Russia is run by a representative office of a foreign company, then it can adhere to the relevant standards or the rules that are established in their state, provided that they do not contradict the provisions of the Russian legislation governing accounting.
PBU "Accounting policies of the organization" regulates the activities of enterprises that are related to accounting, observation, measurement, grouping and subsequent generalization of the results of business activities in the company. Accounting in accordance with the norms of the considered source of law can be carried out by various methods. For instance:
- groupings, as well as evaluations of facts of activity;
- compensation for assets;
- document management;
- implementation of the inventory;
- use of accounting accounts;
- maintaining specialized registers;
- processing of various types of information.
Accounting Standards PBU standards apply to all Russian firms. But in terms of the actual disclosure of procedures within the accounting policy - to those organizations that publish their statements in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation, statutory documents or by virtue of their own initiative.
How is accounting policy formed?
Let us consider how the accounting policy of PBU is formed in accordance with the considered regulatory legal acts. This direction of the company is carried out under the leadership of the chief accountant of the organization or other responsible employee of the organization.
In the framework of accounting, the following should be approved:
- work plan used by the company accounts;
- forms of documents used in accounting, as well as registers;
- forms of sources used in the framework of internal reporting;
- inventory rules;
- methods for assessing the assets of the company, as well as its liabilities;
- methods of document management and information analysis;
- rules for exercising control over various business transactions.
The employees of the company responsible for accounting policies may take other decisions within the framework of the considered direction of the company.
Accounting policies of PBU also suggest that:
- the resources and liabilities of the company are considered separately from the assets and debts of the owners of the relevant organization and other companies;
- the company conducts sustainable activities, and its managers have no intentions of liquidating the business or reducing economic activity, as a result of which the company's debts will be paid according to established schemes;
- The accounting policy adopted by the company is characterized by stability, consistency and is carried out according to the same principles in different years;
- The facts of economic activities of the organization are correlated with specific reporting periods.
The legislator requires firms implementing accounting policies to provide:
- the correctness of fixing in accounting for certain facts of economic activities;
- the relevance of reporting information about the company in the reporting;
- predominant willingness to consider costs and debts than revenue and assets without the formation of hidden resources;
- reflection of the facts in the account, primarily, based on their real economic content, and not the legal form;
- the equality of accounting indicators in terms of turnover and balances on synthetic accounts in the reporting periods;
- The priority of rational accounting methods used taking into account the conditions for the company to carry out economic activities, as well as the scale of the organization.
The legislation of the Russian Federation allows small enterprises to formulate accounting policies in a simplified form.
Accounting policy of the PBU assumes that the company, not having found the necessary guidelines in the provisions of the regulatory acts of the Russian Federation, should use its own rules, as well as IFRS - international rules for the preparation of financial statements.
The company, having adopted the accounting policy, must execute it through separate administrative documents approved by the organization’s management. The accounting methods defined by the organization should be applied from the beginning of the year that follows the one in which the corresponding methods were approved. If the company was recently established, then the accounting policy in it should be adopted within 90 days from the date of registration of the company.
Accounting policy adjustment
PBU document 1/2008 (“Accounting policies of an organization”) regulates how a firm should adjust its accounting standards. So, appropriate changes can be made if the legislation of the Russian Federation has changed the regulatory provisions. Adjustment of the accounting policy can be carried out if the company has changed certain business conditions, for example, due to a reorganization or due to changes in certain types of commercial activities. If the company has decided to change the accounting policy, this action is prescribed by the considered rules on the basis of the principle of soundness.
In general, adjustments to accounting policies take effect from the beginning of the reporting year. Other periods may be due to factors that caused the corresponding changes. Accounting policies (PBU 1/2008) require firms to consider the consequences of adjusting the rules governing the business in question. So, if the corresponding changes affect the financial stability of the company, the results of its activities or the movement of capital - they are evaluated in monetary terms based on reliable data.
If the adjustment of the accounting policy is due to changes in the norms of regulatory legal acts, then they are reflected in accounting in the manner prescribed by law. Companies that have the right to use simplified accounting methods may record adjustments in accounting policies that could affect financial results potentially, unless otherwise prescribed by Russian law.
If the changes in question can have a significant impact on the dynamics of capital turnover in the organization, then they should be separately disclosed in the statements. Let's consider this aspect in more detail.
Disclosure of Accepted Accounting Policies
In accordance with the accounting policies of PBU 1-2008, firms are required to disclose their accounting policies through established methods. First of all, in such an aspect as accounting methods that have a decisive influence on the assessment process and the practical application of decisions by reporting users.
Key in this case should be considered those methods that allow for the most reliable familiarization of interested parties with the financial results of the organization. The way in which financial statements should be disclosed is determined in the legislation of the Russian Federation. If the accounting policy of the company is created taking into account possible assumptions that are provided by the rules of law, then the disclosure of such approaches may not be carried out in reporting. But if the assumptions adopted by the company are not provided by law, then they, in turn, should be disclosed.
PBU “Accounting Policy” provides an option in which some uncertainty is formed in the reporting process regarding the consideration of events and factors that could call into question the continuity of economic activity, then the company should reflect circumstances related to such a problem in the accounting documents. If the accounting policy of the company is changed, then it should disclose information reflecting:
- the reasons for the adjustment of accounting policies, as well as the nature of changes in it;
- the procedure in accordance with which the consequences of innovations in accounting policies are reflected in the statements;
- financial indicators of adjustments reflecting the changes in question, in relation to each reporting item.
If the disclosure of data due to various reasons is not possible, then this fact should be taken into account in accounting documents , provided that the period within which the company begins to use the new accounting policy is indicated.
PBU "Accounting policies of the organization" contains the rules by which firms are required to disclose information on the non-use of regulatory legal acts that have been adopted but have no effect before a certain period, as well as a prospective assessment of the consequences of applying this act in the period when it becomes legally binding. How the company conducts accounting, as well as information on the adjustment of its accounting policies, should be disclosed in a special explanatory note, which is attached to the accounting documents.
Along with PBU on accounting policies, RF Ministry of Finance Order No. 106n introduced another regulatory source - PBU 21/2008. Consider its features in more detail.
PBU 21/2008: basic standards
The document in question contains provisions that govern the procedure for recognition, as well as disclosure in accounting information regarding the adjustment of the estimated values ​​for certain accounting elements. By such a document, PBU 21/2008 prescribes to understand changes in the price of an asset or debt of a company or a value that reflects compensation for the value of an asset due to the appearance of updated significant information. Moreover, the adjustment of the method of assessing the resources and liabilities of the company is not classified as a change in the estimated value. But if any innovation in accounting cannot be considered within the framework of a separate category characterizing changes in the framework of accounting policies, then for reporting purposes it is recognized as a change in the estimated value. Let us examine how it is recognized in practice.
Recognition of Adjustment of Estimated Value
The normative legal act, which supplements the PBU-2008 document (“Accounting policies of the organization”), contains the rules according to which changes in the estimated value should be recognized in accounting by including in the revenue or expenses of the company:
- within the period in which a change is recorded, if it directly affects the accounting data;
- within the period in which the change was recorded, as well as future periods, if the adjustment affected the reporting at both intervals.
If the change affects the size of the firm’s capital, then it should be recognized by adjusting the capital shares in the statements for the period within which the corresponding innovation was recorded.
IFRS Accounting Standards
Along with PBU-1 (“Accounting policies of the organization”), the Russian source of law, accounting can be regulated by international standards. We study their specifics in more detail.
One of the main international documents establishing the PBU is IFRS 8. In accordance with its provisions, accounting policies should understand the principles, foundations, contracts, rules, as well as practical actions that are carried out by the company in order to prepare financial statements. The main principle of the international regulation of accounting is the priority of reliability over formalities.
Another noteworthy nuance that characterizes IFRS is that in the original texts of the relevant sources of law the phrase “accounting policy” most often sounds in the plural. Experts attribute this to the fact that abroad this area of ​​activity of firms involves a combination of different actions. In turn, in Russia even the latest version of the Accounting Regulations (“Accounting policies of the organization”) of 2015, involves the use of this term in the singular.
Another notable nuance of IFRS is that international standards allow companies to independently determine how information related to accounting should be disclosed. So, it can be disclosed in the form of notes or as a separate reporting component.
An exceptionally important characteristic of IFRS is that the relevant rules of law do not require firms to use uniform accounting plans in the accounting process. It is, in principle, optional - although in practice it is rather difficult to do without it, since there is usually a need to double-record transactions in firms. In turn, in Russia there is a single chart of accounts and should be applied in accordance with the norms established by law.
Quite superficially, IFRS rules govern the preparation of annexes to accounting policies. Firms, in accordance with international rules, do not have to compile them - but, again, in practice, they usually have to develop such documents.
Summary
The main source of law, according to which Russian companies must accept various business transactions for accounting, is “Accounting policy of the organization” PBU 1/2008. It can be supplemented by other regulatory enactments that govern certain aspects of accounting. Russian laws governing financial reporting may apply along with international standards. There are a number of fundamental differences between them. IFRS rules can be applied in the Russian Federation if they do not contradict the norms of Russian regulatory legal acts governing accounting.
Sources of law, in accordance with which accounting should be conducted in the Russian Federation, are mandatory, but contain fairly general requirements for firms to implement the business in question.A significant part of the work on creating a local accounting system should be carried out directly by the company - its chief accountant and other responsible employees. The accounting rules adopted by the organization are approved by its management and are binding in all financial divisions of the company.