Accounting for financial activities begins with the adoption of correctly executed primary documents. This is due to the current legislation and is necessary for the business entity itself, its partners and inspection bodies. The facts of economic life, confirmed by primary documents, are easy to prove. In conflict situations, such help as well-executed accounting documentation will help to solve the case in favor of the company.
What is primary documentation in accounting
Business entities report to the state on the results of financial activities using accounting registers, which reflect all the features of the organization's work.
Accounting begins with the acceptance and processing of primary documents.
Primary documents (checks, invoices, acts, invoices, etc.) represent irrefutable evidence of the occurrence of events in financial life that affect the outcome of financial activities. They establish and confirm responsibility for the performed business operations.
Rules for registration of "primary organizations"
Primary documents contain mandatory information (requisites):
- title of the document;
- date of preparation of the document;
- the name of the economic entity that compiled the document;
- the content of the fact of economic life;
- the value of the natural and (or) monetary measurement of the fact of economic life, indicating the units of measurement;
- the name of the position of the person (persons) who performed (committed) the transaction, the operation and the person responsible (responsible) for its registration, or the name of the position of the person (persons) responsible (responsible) for the registration of the event;
- signatures of the persons specified in clause 6 of this part, indicating their names and initials.
The authenticity of the information of these documents is ensured by those who signed them.
What are the requirements for filling out and processing accounting documents
The primary accounting document is drawn up on paper and (or) in the form of an electronic document signed with an electronic signature.
paragraph 5 of article 9
Primary documents are filled in manually - with pens and with the help of technical means that allow you to preserve records during long-term storage in the archive. You cannot fill in the "primary" with a simple pencil. All empty positions are crossed out.
The head, with the approval of the chief accountant, appoints persons who, with signatures, certify the reality and legality of these primary documents.
Upon admission to the accounting department, they check the availability of mandatory information, the accuracy of the calculations and make a note to prevent their repeated acceptance.
List of payment documents
Each fact of economic life is subject to registration by a primary accounting document. It is not allowed to accept for accounting documents that formalize the facts of economic life that did not take place, including those that underlie the imaginary and sham transactions.
Federal Law dated 06.12.2011 No. 402-FZ (as amended on 23.05.2016) "On accounting"
paragraph of article 9
Each financial event is confirmed by the corresponding types of primary documents.
For example, the acceptance and alienation of goods is issued with invoices. The receipt and departure of funds through the bank is documented by payment orders. The movement of money through the cash desk is confirmed by cash orders. Departure of drivers to the line is accompanied by waybills.
The forms of payment orders and cash orders are approved by law. They must fully comply with the approved samples. The positions of these documents are drawn up strictly according to the instructions establishing the rules for filling out. It is not allowed to draw up payment orders and cash orders in any form and to register payment transactions through a bank or cash desk with other documents.
In what form should the "primary organization" be drawn up?
Samples of legal forms of payment documents are shown in the photos below.
Payment orders are filled out with the participation of the bank.
Receipt cash order is signed only by employees of the accounting department. The person who deposited the money is given a receipt cut off from a specific order. It confirms the fact that money was deposited under this order.
The cash outflow order, except for the chief accountant and the cashier, is signed by the manager and the recipient of the money. If an individual entrepreneur does not have an accountant, he signs the documents himself. This confirms the intended purpose of the issued amount.
How to fill out sales documents
When documenting the fact of implementation, a consignment note is usually used. It contains information about the names, addresses, bank details of the parties, the assigned number, the date of the transaction, the names of the goods, their price, quantity, value, units of measurement, the amount of the accrued tax, the attached documents. It is signed by persons authorized by the leaders of each party to the transaction. Signatures must be deciphered, indicate positions, surnames and initials. After filling in, invoices are stamped on both sides.
The invoice form is presented below.
In the case of transfer of goods through a carrier, they usually draw up a consignment note - a document confirming a three-way transaction between the seller, the buyer and the carrier. The seller hands over the goods to the carrier. The carrier accepts the goods from the seller, transports and transfers them to the buyer. The buyer accepts the goods from the carrier. In this way, the fact of transfer of ownership from the buyer to the seller is confirmed.
Taxation of transactions on the common system
Persons who are payers of value added tax draw up an invoice for each sale, which is not a primary accounting document. It does not confirm the fact of implementation, since it is signed by only one party to the transaction. The tax charged by the seller on the invoice does not affect the financial result of the seller, because the seller does not pay this VAT. The buyer does not accept the invoice for accounting, because it is signed by a person who is not responsible to him for the accuracy of the data - the seller's representative.
The invoice for payment for products issued by the seller is not recognized as the primary document. It does not prove the occurrence of an event affecting the financial result, does not confirm the transaction - the signature of one party does not confirm the payment.
Does the contract refer to primary documents
Many events in economic life are accompanied by contracts, which, as a rule, fix the intentions of the participants and do not confirm every financial transaction. For example, supply contracts establish the obligations of one party to deliver a certain amount of products before the deadline, and the other to accept and pay. Since the contracts determine events that did not take place, they are not accepted for accounting.
What an accountant should know about the forms of "primary"
The forms of primary accounting documents are determined by the head of an economic entity on the proposal of an official who is entrusted with maintaining accounting records. Forms of primary accounting documents for public sector organizations are established in accordance with the budgetary legislation of the Russian Federation.
Federal Law dated 06.12.2011 No. 402-FZ (as amended on 23.05.2016) "On accounting"
article 9, paragraph 4
The list of public sector organizations includes:
- state (municipal) institutions;
- government bodies;
- local government bodies;
- management structures of state off-budget funds;
- governing bodies of territorial state off-budget funds.
For these persons, the primary accounting forms were approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated March 30, 2015 No. 52n (as amended on November 16, 2016).
There are no invoices and contracts among the forms named in this order. Acquisition and alienation is documented by waybills and acts.
An example of one of the invoices issued by all government agencies is shown below.
How to make corrections in accounting documents
Corrections are allowed in the primary accounting document, unless otherwise established by federal laws or regulatory legal acts of state accounting regulatory bodies. The correction in the primary scientific document must contain the date of the correction, as well as the signatures of the persons who drew up the document in which the correction was made, indicating their surnames and initials or other details required to identify these persons.
Federal Law dated 06.12.2011 No. 402-FZ (as amended on 23.05.2016) "On accounting"
article 9, paragraph 7
To correct the error, cross out the wrong one and write the correct one.
Correction of an error in the primary document must be indicated by the inscription "corrected", confirmed by the signature of the persons who signed the document, and the date of the correction must be stated.
Regulations on documents and workflow in accounting (approved by the Ministry of Finance of the USSR on July 29, 1983 No. 105)
Each fix is \u200b\u200bconfirmed by:
- date of correction;
- signatures of the persons who made up the document in which the correction was made;
- indication of the surnames and initials of the persons who drew up the document or other details necessary to identify these persons.
The absence of any props from the list makes the correction illegal.
An example of correction in the invoice is shown in the photo.
In order for the correction to have indisputable legal force, it is drawn up as follows. On the free margins of the document they make the inscription: "Corrected with" and write down what turned out to be incorrect. They continue: "on" and write down what they think is correct. Then they write: "believe", indicate the date, put the signatures of the responsible persons, their names and initials. With this design, amendments exclude amendments not agreed with the signatories.
Corrections in cash and bank documents are not allowed.
A rather important place among all the documentation that the accounting department takes is primary documentation. It is constantly checked by the tax service, and must be drawn up in accordance with the necessary rules and laws in force in the Russian Federation. What concerns the primary documentation, how to properly draw up and draw up it, so that later we will not have problems with the tax inspection, we will analyze in our article.
Primary documentation in accounting what is it?
Primary documents - these are the grounds, if any, in the accounting records can be made, it can be entered in the general register. This is an important part of the management documentation of an enterprise or organization.
In all enterprises that the state has forced to keep accounting records, business transactions must be formalized in accordance with the primary documentation. A business transaction is understood as any activity of an enterprise that entails the movement of funds or the structure of its assets.
According to the law on accounting, primary documentation must be completed simultaneously with economic activities, that is, immediately documented. But if this is not possible, you can make the documentation immediately after the end of the action.
Primary documentation can be issued both on paper and in electronic form. But in the second option, all papers must be certified with an electronic signature, otherwise they simply will not have legal force. But, if the contract clearly states the presence of a paper version of the document, then it must be available.
The primary documents must be preserved for 4 years. During this period, the tax office has the right at any time to request them to check you and your counterparty. You should be especially careful about the documents in which you buy something. Remember, it is thanks to them that you can go to court if the need arises.
Separation of documents by stages of business
All transactions that are carried out by an enterprise or organization can be conditionally divided into 3 stages:
- Discussion of the terms of the deal. At this time, you must discuss all the nuances and come to a consensus. The result of this stage will be the signing of the contract and invoicing for payment.
- Payment according to the transaction. It must be confirmed by an extract from your current account, if the payment was made using a non-cash payment, or with the help of checks and forms of strict reporting if the payment was made using cash.
The second option is often used by employees of the organization when they take money on account. - Receiving a paid product or service. There must be evidence that confirms that the goods were received or the service was provided, otherwise the tax service simply will not allow the amount of tax collection to be reduced.
As confirmation, a consignment note or a check, in case of receipt of goods, or an act of completed work, in the event of a service, can be used.
What documents are required?
The list of required documents may vary depending on the operation to be carried out. Let's look at the most common list of required papers. Usually, all documents are prepared either by the contractor or the supplier of goods.
The list of documents looks like this:
Features of the accounting register
After the primary documents have been drawn up, they are checked in form and content. After that, if everything is done correctly, they are drawn up, and the economic grouping of the data that it contains in the general accounting system passes. To do this, all information about the balance of the company's property, funds, business transactions from the primary (free) documents are transferred to the accounting registers.
The accounting registers themselves are specialized tables, which are executed in a strictly specified form, in full accordance with the economic grouping of information about the company's property and the sources of its occurrence.
All existing registers are divided into 3 groups:
- By appointment. Depending on this criterion, the registers are divided into chronological, systematic, and combined. Each individual view has its own order of data storage.
- According to the generalization of data, the registers are divided into integrated and differentiated. Each can be considered from particular to general or vice versa, from reporting to primary documents.
- In appearance. They can be of almost any shape: book, magazine, card, printed sheets.
Accounting registers must have:
- Full title.
- The specified period of time for registering business transactions, to which accounting period it belongs.
- Signatures and initials of responsible persons. This makes it possible, in the event of any disputable issues, to find and indicate the persons who took part in the transaction.
Conducted business transactions must be reflected in the period in which they were carried out. If documentary reflection cannot be done directly during the business transaction, then the registration must be done immediately after its completion.
In general, accounting registers are created in order to accumulate and systematize information about the primary documents taken into account, for displaying financial statements. If the financial and primary documentation of the enterprise is stored in printed form, then at the request of other participants in economic operations or law enforcement agencies (if it is in their competence), copies must be provided by the very person who drew up them and presented them for signature.
1c accounting primary documentation
During the conduct of financial and economic activities, the accountant will have to work with a huge amount of documentation. These are all kinds of forms, contracts, accounting documentation, estimates and calculations. Some of them are not of great importance and are of secondary importance, but there are also very important documents in which even a minor mistake can lead to disastrous consequences for the whole enterprise and for certain officials. These are the primary documents of the organization.
With the help of the 1C program, you can manage and wield them much easier. In its functions there is a management with accompanying and cash documents, with warehouse documents and those related to retail.
Today the software of the 1C company occupies a leading position among the accounting programs that are constantly used in our country.
Among the most demanded functions of 1C are the following:
- Full automation of all types of accounting.
- Payroll to employees.
- Management of personnel and production accounting.
The program has a large number of modes and settings, with which you can fully customize it for yourself, adjust it in the way that is convenient for you.
Preparation of primary documentation is a complex and painstaking business, but simply necessary. Modern computer technologies and highly qualified staff will help you. If you approach it with all responsibility and knowledge of the matter, then problems will not arise.
In contact with
What documents belong to the primary, every accountant should know. This is due to the fact that it is this documentation that is the basis for accounting. They prove the fact of carrying out operations of an economic nature. A novice specialist in the field of accounting needs to figure out what it is, what the primary documents are for, how to draw up and store them. Otherwise, problems with regulatory authorities cannot be avoided.
Legal entities and private entrepreneurs can transfer funds to each other only on the basis of certain primary documentation. It is assumed that the primary is drawn up even before the business transaction has passed, however, the legislation does not exclude the possibility of drawing it up to complete the transaction, however, there must be good reasons for this.
Both primary and consolidated accounting documents must include the following details: name of the form; date and place where it was drawn up; full name of the company that prepared it; what accounts are used to transfer funds; full name of the responsible officer, etc.
What are they needed for
Primary documents (PD) are a mandatory component of accounting. They are drawn up in the course of business transactions and serve as proof that such transactions have been completed. When conducting a transaction, a different number of primary documents may be involved: it depends on the specifics of its implementation.
The list of operations that must be carried out during the transaction:
- Signing a contract with the recipient. If it is permanent, you can sign one agreement for several transactions, however, in this case, it is worthwhile to immediately discuss the timing of the work, the sequence of settlement operations and other nuances.
- Billing for payment.
- Direct payment, the confirmation of which is a cashier's check (or commodity), if we are talking about cash payment, or payment orders, if money is transferred by bank transfer.
- When the goods are shipped, the contractor hands over the invoice to the client.
- After the provision of services in full, the contractor must receive an act of completed work from the client
Existing species
There are 6 main types of PD accounting, which are most often used in various transactions:
| the contract | The contract stipulates the rights and obligations of the parties to the transaction. The contract can be drawn up for the provision of services or the sale of goods. The Civil Code does not exclude the possibility of concluding an oral agreement, but it must be remembered that only a document signed by two parties can protect the rights and interests of the injured party in the judicial authority in the event of any problems, including non-fulfillment of obligations by the other party. |
| Invoice-offer |
|
| Payment documentation | This is a confirmation of the fact that the customer has paid the invoice issued by the manufacturer. There are various types of such documents: payment requests, orders and checks, strict reporting forms. |
| Packing list |
|
| Certificate of performance of work or provision of services | Double-sided document. It confirms not only the fact of the work performed, but also the price that was paid for the product or service. This paper also serves as proof that the parties have fully fulfilled their obligations to each other and do not have mutual claims. |
| Invoice | An important document is, with the help of which the basis for the acceptance of VAT amounts submitted for deduction is laid. Obviously, this document is very important for those structures that are VAT payers. |
List of primary accounting documents
So, the list of primary accounting documentation looks like this:
| Contract | It is concluded with the client in writing. It is important to say that the law does not prohibit the oral form of such a contract, however, the parties more often prefer to fix the rights and obligations provided for by the agreement on paper. |
| Score | It contains the details for making payment and the name of the goods that are purchased. |
| Check (commodity or cash) or a form of strict reporting | Issued in case of payment in cash. In the case of a non-cash payment, the buyer of a product or service remains with a payment document as confirmation of payment, which is certified by the banking structure. |
| Invoice | Issued at the time of shipment of goods. |
| The act of providing services or performing work | It is provided after the services have been provided in full. |
The definition of the concept of "primary accounting document" is given by Article 60-1 of the Russian Tax Code: primary documents are documented evidence that a transaction was performed or there is an event that gives the right to perform it. Such documents can be in paper form or on electronic media. Accounting is based on similar documentation.
Article 60-2 provides the forms of such documents and the requirements that are put forward for their registration.
Another normative act, which defines the primary documentation, and also defines its forms - the law on accounting and financial reporting.
Russia is a country in which the legislation on accounting and payment of taxes changes from time to time. Taking into account the fact that the forms can be changed or supplemented, it is necessary to keep track of what changes are approved by various government agencies, including the Ministry of Finance. So, for example, at the beginning of 2019, a form of accounting certificate was approved, which previously had an arbitrary form.
The Administrative Code provides for a number of sanctions for the absence of primary documents in the organization, they are defined in Article 276 of the Code.
General instructions for use
PD are the basis for starting accounting for certain transactions and making entries in the accounting register. Such a document acts as a written evidence of the fact that a business transaction was performed.
Those primary accounting documents, the forms of which are not officially approved, are approved by the head of the organization by issuing a corresponding order. They must contain all the mandatory details that are provided for by law.
Such documentation must be prepared on paper and supported by the signature of the person who drew up the document. If an electronic document is used, it must be signed with an electronic signature.
Unified forms of PD are not binding for use. The exception is cash documents that are approved by authorized structures.
The PD form must contain the following mandatory data:
- title of the document;
- the exact date of the operation;
- what is the business operation in kind and value terms;
- the name of the structure that makes up the document;
- information about the persons who are responsible for ensuring that the document is executed correctly.
Such documents are divided into the following groups:
- accounting of wages;
- accounting of executed cash transactions;
- accounting of fixed assets;
- accounting of construction and repair work.
Filling rules
Reporting documents should be drawn up accurately and clearly.
Fundamental rules:
- it is allowed to use ballpoint and ink pens, you can use computers and a typewriter;
- it is necessary to draw up such documentation at the moment when the transaction is only planned;
- it is allowed to draw up documents after the operation, if there are objective reasons for this;
- all possible details are reflected in the document;
- in the absence of any information, you can put dashes.
In 2019, standard forms are used to prepare PD. Documents are divided into external and internal.
The first organization receives from the outside: from government agencies, higher organizations, banking structures, tax authorities, etc. Examples of external documents: invoices, payment orders, or claims. As for internal documents, they are drawn up directly in the organization.
If the document is filled in incorrectly, the organization will experience difficulties in determining the tax base, and this may lead to disagreements with the tax service.
Correcting content
It happens that even an experienced accountant who has drawn up a document more than once makes a mistake. It is possible to correct it only when the document was not reflected in accounting, that is, it was not posted. It must be remembered that making corrections with a stroke is unacceptable.
Only the following three methods can be used:
- additional entry;
- reversal method;
- proofing method.
The latter is applied in the case when an error was made in the accounting register, while it does not apply to the correspondence of accounts. This method is appropriate to use before the balance is drawn up. In this case, the wrong number or other sign must be crossed out with a thin line, and next to it, indicate the correct value. Indicate on the side - "to believe corrected", and put the date and signature.
An additional entry will be appropriate if the amount of the transaction that is being carried out was underestimated.
The reversal method involves correcting an incorrect entry with a negative number. The incorrect number is indicated in red ink, and the correct entry is immediately made, which is done in the usual color.
Clarifications on the reconciliation act
Reconciliation acts are not legally related to primary documents, therefore they are not regulated by regulatory documents. They display the settlements made for a certain period between companies that have the status of a legal entity, or individual entrepreneurs.
This type of documents is used on the initiative of accountants, since with its help it is possible to solve a number of controversial issues, which protects the interests of the organization.
In what cases is it important to draw up a reconciliation report:
- when the seller has a wide selection of goods;
- in the event of a deferred payment;
- if the price of the product is high;
- if there is a relationship between the parties that is of a regular nature.
This document can be used in court in case of a dispute between the parties.
Storage periods
The provision on the storage of primary documentation is fixed at the legislative level.
Different storage terms are provided for different types of documents:
| For one year | It is necessary to keep correspondence with the regulatory authorities about the terms of filing reporting documentation. |
| At least 5 years | The cash documentation and such papers as the balance sheet for the quarter, the report of the organization with the explanatory note for the quarter are stored; minutes of the meeting on the adoption of the quarterly balance sheet; primary documentation and cash book; documents on system and non-system accounting and others. |
| At least 10 years | The annual balance sheet, inventory list, transfer balance, separation, liquidation and other documents must be kept. |
| At least 75 years old | The personal account of each employee and salary sheets are kept. |
Primary accounting documents, or primary, as they are called by an accountant, is the basis of accounting, both accounting and tax. It is impossible to conduct legal business activities without proper registration, maintenance and primary documents.
The Law "On Accounting" dated 06.12.2011 No. 402-FZ indicates that "every fact of economic life is subject to registration by a primary accounting document."
To make sure you have all the necessary documents, you should regularly check your accounting department, and for those who do not have time for this, we recommend a free accounting audit service.
The primary organization proves in writing the fact of a business transaction, confirms the commission of business expenses when calculating the tax base, establishes the responsibility of performers for the performance of business transactions by them. Primary documents are requested by tax inspectors when checking declarations and reports, and they are necessary when passing checks.
Considering that not only accountants, but also managers, individual entrepreneurs, sales managers and other employees fill out and draw up primary documents, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the requirements for these documents.
Who develops the forms of primary documents?
Primary accounting documents are unified (the form of which was developed by Rosstat (formerly Goskomstat of the Russian Federation) or the Central Bank) and independently developed by taxpayers.
Article 9 of Law No. 402-FZ contains the following list of mandatory details of primary documents (unified or independently developed):
- title of the document;
- date of preparation of the document;
- the name of the economic entity that compiled the document;
- the content of the fact of economic life;
- the value of the natural and (or) monetary measurement of the fact of economic life, indicating the units of measurement;
- the name of the position of the person who made the transaction, the operation and the person responsible for its execution;
- signatures of these persons.
As for the seal, although it is not indicated in the number of required details, if there is a field "M.P." (place for printing) its imprint is required.
If the taxpayer is satisfied with the unified forms from the State Statistics Committee (fortunately, the list of them is huge), then it is not necessary to develop their own forms. There is also the concept of "modernized primary organization", i.e. unified primary documents, to which the taxpayer has made his own additions.
Note, cannot be independently developed and approved forms of the following primary documents:
- cash documents;
- payment order and other settlement bank documents;
- unified forms for calculations using the cash register;
- waybill;
- payroll and payroll.
Such primary documents can only be unified.
Where can I find samples of unified primary documents?
Development and approval of forms of primary documents is under the jurisdiction of the State Statistics Committee (now Rosstat). Today, unified forms developed in the 90s of the last century continue to be used. Only settlement (payment) documents developed by the Bank of Russia have a relatively new version - from 2012.
Such documents are called in different ways: acts, journals, invoices, statements, orders, books, instructions, calculations, powers of attorney, orders, etc. Using this table you will find in which Resolution of the State Statistics Committee the unified forms of primary documents you need are published.
Purpose of primary documents | Legal act |
Personnel, working hours and payroll accounting | Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation of 05.01.2004 N 1 |
Accounting for cash transactions | Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation of 18.08.1998 N 88; |
Accounting for settlements using KKT | |
Settlement (payment) documents | Regulation on the rules for transferring funds (approved by the Bank of Russia on June 19, 2012 N 383-P as revised on April 29, 2014) |
Accounting for trade and catering operations | Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation of December 25, 1998 N 132 |
Accounting for work in capital construction and repair and construction works | Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation of 11.11.1999 N 100 |
Accounting for works in road transport | |
Accounting for the work of construction machines and mechanisms | Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation of 28.11.1997 N 78 |
Accounting for fixed assets and intangible assets | Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation of January 21, 2003 N 7 |
Accounting for low-value items | |
Accounting for products and inventory | Rosstat resolution of 09.08.1999 N 66 |
Material accounting | Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation of 10.30.1997 N 71a |
Inventory accounting | Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation of 18.08.1998 N 88 |
On our website you can download the forms of unified primary documents and by.
A strict reporting form (SRF) is also a primary document, but there are special requirements for it. The list of mandatory SSO details is wider than the list of ordinary primary documents, in particular, it is mandatory to indicate the TIN and the presence of a seal imprint.
In the article "" you can find out in what cases it is necessary to use the unified form of this document, and when it can be developed independently.
Errors in primary documents
First of all, primary documents must contain correctly specified mandatory details. According to the Ministry of Finance, the taxpayer can take into account the costs of the primary fund if it contains only minor errors.
Such errors should not interfere with the exact establishment of the seller and the buyer, the name of goods and their value, other circumstances of the documented fact of economic life (from the letter of the Ministry of Finance dated February 4, 2015 No. 03-03-10 / 4547).
Unfortunately, the typical streamlined wording of the explanations of officials often does not make it possible to clearly understand exactly which inaccuracies or errors in the primary documents will be considered insignificant.
For example, is it a minor mistake if the taxpayer's name contains lowercase letters instead of capital letters? In another letter - dated 02.05.2012 No. 03-07-11 / 130, the Ministry of Finance indicated that such errors as replacing capital letters with lowercase letters and vice versa; changing letters in places; incorrect indication of the organizational and legal form is not an obstacle to the identification of the taxpayer (with the correct TIN and other details).
But the following errors can be recognized as significant for primary documents:
- arithmetic errors (the value / quantity of goods or the amount of tax is incorrectly indicated);
- different names of the same product (for example, the specification for the contract for the supply of candy is named "Waffle sweets in chocolate", and in the invoice - "Bear in the North");
- inaccurate job titles of those who sign the primary documents (for example, the power of attorney says “Deputy General Director”, and in the acceptance certificate - “Deputy Director”);
- the amounts in figures do not coincide with the same, but indicated in words (instead of 155,000 rubles (one hundred fifty-five thousand rubles), 155,000 rubles (fifty-five thousand rubles) are written.
The tax inspectorate may not accept expenses for such primary documents; the counterparty may also have problems when deducting VAT.
You can correct primary documents only by proofreading (the wrong text is crossed out with one thin line, and the correct text is inscribed on top). Corrections are accompanied by the inscription "Fixed", the date and signatures of the responsible persons. Corrections of incoming and outgoing orders, bank documents and SRF are unacceptable. They have to be compiled anew.
Pay attention to the fact that the primary documents are signed during the validity period of the power of attorney issued for their signing, otherwise the inspectors will consider that the documents were signed by an unauthorized employee. The same should be monitored regarding the signatures on your primary organization of counterparty representatives: the powers of attorney issued to them must be up-to-date.
When preparing primary documents, one must be careful not only to fill them out, but also to the correspondence of their dates and other details to other documents, for example, contracts and invoices. So, it will be controversial to deduct VAT on an invoice drawn up before a consignment note.
Questions from the tax authorities will cause invoices or acts signed before the contract, the execution of which is confirmed by the primary documents. There is a way out of this situation, provided for in paragraph 2 of Art. 425 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation: specify in the text of the agreement such a clause "The terms of this agreement also apply to the relations of the parties that arose before its conclusion."
Or, for example, the act states that the work was completed in the period from 10 to 30 March, while in the contract the term of work is set as from 10 to 30 April. In this case, you can draw up an additional agreement to the contract, where you can indicate the actual deadline for the completion of the work or indicate in the act itself that the work was completed ahead of schedule.
Contractors need to be careful when the customer signs the work performance certificates. If subcontractors were involved under a work contract, then the contractor must sign acts with them before the work is handed over to the customer. If these dates do not correspond, the tax authorities may consider the costs of the subcontractor unreasonable and not recognize them when calculating the tax base.
Document flow of primary documents
Document flow of primary documents includes the following stages:
- registration of the primary document;
- transfer of the document to the accounting department, where it is checked and entered into the registers;
- current storage and subsequent transfer of the document to the archive.
This is not an idle question - when should the primary documents be drawn up? The answer to this is in Article 9 of Law No. 402-FZ “The primary accounting document must be drawn up when committing a fact of economic life, and if it is not possible - immediately after its completion. "
It is unacceptable to draw up primary documents a few days after the business transaction. All employees who have the right to draw up primary documents must comply with the document flow schedule, in which, for example, the following deadlines for submitting documents to the accounting department can be set:
- incoming and outgoing cash orders - on the day of drawing up;
- documents related to registration of sales - no later than the next working day;
- advance reports - no later than three working days after spending the funds;
- certificates of incapacity for work - no later than the next working day after going to work, etc.
As for the documents signed by counterparties, the obligation to transfer them in a timely manner can be stipulated in the text of the contract, for example, as follows: "The Buyer undertakes to transfer to the Supplier the originals of the signed consignment notes, acts and invoices no later than two working days from the date of their signing."
When the signed primary is transferred to the accounting department, the form of the document is checked; the presence of required details; the legality of the conducted business transaction; arithmetic calculations. The data of the verified primary documents are entered into the accounting registers.
The current storage of primary items is usually carried out in the accounting department, and at the end of the year, documents are grouped by date, assembled into bundles and transferred to the archive. It is necessary to store primary documents for at least five years.
On January 1, 2013, Federal Law No. 402-FZ of December 6, 2011 "On Accounting" came into force (hereinafter - Law No. 402-FZ). It does not contain requirements on the need to draw up primary accounting documents according to unified forms. Does this mean that absolutely all previously used uniform forms are optional?The issue of registration of primary accounting documents is extremely important for business entities. Indeed, documents drawn up in accordance with the legislation, in particular, confirm the expenses incurred by the taxpayer for the purpose of calculating income tax, and also prove the validity of the application of VAT deductions. Therefore, the use of documents, the forms of which do not meet the established requirements, may entail unfavorable consequences for business entities.
1. Drawing up primary accounting documents
In accordance with Part 1 of Art. 9 of Law N 402-FZ, each fact of economic life is drawn up as a primary accounting document. Note that prior to January 1, 2013, in accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 9 of the Federal Law of 21.11.1996 N 129-FZ "On Accounting" (hereinafter - Law N 129-FZ), this document was drawn up for each business transaction. However, the concepts of "business transaction" and "fact of economic life" are not identical.
A fact of economic life is a transaction, event, operation that has or is capable of influencing the financial position of an economic entity, the financial result of its activities and (or) cash flow (clause 8 of article 3 of Law N 402-FZ). Law No. 129-FZ did not define the concept of "business transactions", but from clause 2 of Art. 1 of this Law followed that all operations carried out by organizations in the course of their activities were recognized as such.
Thus, the concept of "fact of economic life" contained in Law No. 402-FZ is broader than the concept of "business transaction", which was used in Law No. 129-FZ. And here the main question arises that worries specialists: what facts of economic life can be formalized by primary accounting documents, which are drawn up according to forms independently developed by the organization, and when the use of unified forms remains mandatory? After all, the resolutions of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation, which approved unified forms of primary accounting documentation, have not been canceled.
2. Own forms of primary accounting documents
According to Part 4 of Art. 9 of Law N 402-FZ, the forms of primary accounting documents used by the organization (with the exception of public sector organizations) must be approved by the head of the organization. At the same time, the specified Law does not require the mandatory application of unified forms. Recall that until January 1, 2013, it was possible to use independently developed forms of primary documents only if the required form was absent in the albums of unified forms of primary accounting documentation (clause 2 of article 9 of Law N 129-FZ). However, we note that even when compiling primary documents not according to unified forms, taxpayers were able to defend in court the legality of recognizing expenses (for more details, see the Encyclopedia of Disputable Situations on Income Tax).
When developing your own forms of primary accounting documents, you can take unified forms as a basis by adding or removing some of the details. In addition, it is advisable to use GOST R 6.30-2003 "Organizational and administrative documentation. Requirements for paperwork."
When developing, it should be borne in mind that the primary accounting document must necessarily contain the details listed in Part 2 of Art. 9 of Law N 402-FZ:
Name and date of preparation of the document;
The name of the economic entity that compiled the document;
The value of natural and (or) monetary measurement of the fact of economic life, indicating the units of measurement;
Signatures, surnames (with initials), as well as the positions of the persons who completed the transaction, the operation and who are responsible for the correctness of its execution, or persons responsible for the correctness of the event.
It should be borne in mind that the list of details for individual primary accounting documents can be expanded by other regulations. For example, the requirements for the details of the waybill are contained in the Order of the Ministry of Transport of Russia dated 09/18/2008 N 152, adopted pursuant to Part 1 of Art. 6 of the Federal Law of 08.11.2007 N 259-FZ "Charter of road transport and urban land electric transport".
As already mentioned, the head of the organization must approve the applicable forms of primary accounting documents (part 4 of article 9 of Law N 402-FZ).
You should also pay attention to the fact that the primary accounting document can be drawn up in electronic form (part 5 of article 9 of Law N 402-FZ). And as you know, for the exchange of electronic documents, it is necessary that the participants in the electronic document circulation have compatible document formats. Accordingly, when developing your own forms of documents and their formats, there will be difficulty in the implementation of electronic document management. Note that on the basis of unified forms have already been developed by the Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated 03.21.2012 N ММВ-7-6 / [email protected] the recommended formats of widely used documents were approved: a waybill (TORG-12) and an act of acceptance and delivery of works (services). In electronic form, these documents can be transferred to the tax authority (to confirm expenses for the purpose of calculating income tax and for other purposes at the request of the inspection) and counterparties.
3. Unified forms of primary accounting documents
Since January 1, 2013, there is no requirement for the use of unified forms in the preparation of primary accounting documents in Law N 402-FZ, but their use is customary for many business entities. In addition, the independent development of document forms other than unified forms requires time, special knowledge and additional costs for setting up software for new forms, and the use of such forms can cause difficulties in working both within the organization and with counterparties.
There is no prohibition on the use of unified forms in Law N 402-FZ, therefore they can still be applied by approving such a decision in the accounting policy or by a separate order of the head.
In addition, it is risky to abandon all unified forms.
In Information N PZ-10/2012, the Ministry of Finance of Russia noted that the forms of primary accounting documents established by authorized bodies in accordance with other federal laws and on their basis (for example, forms of cash documents) remain mandatory.
Indeed, the Regulation on the procedure for conducting cash transactions with banknotes and coins of the Bank of Russia on the territory of the Russian Federation (approved by the Bank of Russia on 12.10.2011 N 373-P) provides for the use of the following unified forms:
Receipt and expense cash orders (forms N KO-1 and KO-2);
- (form N KO-4);
Accounting book of funds received and issued by the cashier (form N KO-5);
Settlement and payment and payroll (forms N T-49 and T-53).
These forms were approved by the Resolutions of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation of 08/18/1998 N 88, of 01/05/2004 N 1.
Note that these are not all unified forms, which are mandatory for use in 2013, despite the freedom to develop their own forms.
In addition, the non-use of unified forms of documents when accounting for labor and its payment may entail undesirable consequences for organizations. The next section of this special issue is devoted to the application of these forms.
There are other mandatory forms of primary documents. However, the requirement contained in Part 4 of Art. 9 of Law N 402-FZ, general: the form must be approved by the head of the economic entity. Therefore, in order to avoid disagreements with regulatory authorities, it is better to approve the use of unified forms by order of the head or provide for it in the accounting policy.
4. Features of the use of unified primary formsaccounting documents for labor accounting and payment
Special attention should be paid to the issue of using unified forms for registration of events that occur in the field of labor relations (hiring an employee, granting him leave, etc.).
According to Rostrud, after the entry into force of Law N 402-FZ, that is, from January 1, 2013, non-governmental organizations have the right to use the forms of primary accounting documents developed by them independently (Letter of 02.14.2013 N PG / 1487-6-1) ...
As an example, Rostrud mentions the employee's personal card (form N T-2) and notes that the primary accounting document must contain all the mandatory details established by Part 2 of Art. 9 of Law N 402-FZ. The employee's personal card form (form N T-2), as well as other unified forms of primary accounting documents for labor accounting and remuneration, is approved by the Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation of 05.01.2004 N 1 (hereinafter - Resolution N 1).
At the same time, it is necessary to take into account that the requirements for the use of this unified form for maintaining military records are established by clause 27 of the Regulations on military registration (approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of November 27, 2006 N 719 in accordance with clause 6 of article 8 of the Federal Law of 28.03.1998 N 53-FZ "On conscription and military service").
Considering the issue of issuing primary documents when sending an employee on a business trip, the Ministry of Labor of Russia, in its Letter dated 02.14.2013 N 14-2-291, noted that the relevant documents (in particular, a travel certificate) should be drawn up according to the forms approved by Resolution N 1.
The Ministry of Finance of Russia in Information No. PZ-10/2012 indicated that from January 1, 2013, the forms of primary accounting documents established by authorized bodies in accordance with other federal laws and on the basis of such laws remain mandatory.
In addition, it should be noted that the requirements for primary accounting documents contained in Art. 9 of Law N 402-FZ, can only be partially applied to documents used to register events in the field of labor relations. So, in part 5 of Art. 9 of Law N 402-FZ provides for the possibility of drawing up a primary accounting document in electronic form. At the same time, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and other regulatory legal acts containing labor law norms do not allow this possibility. For example, in par. 3 clause 26 of the Regulations on the specifics of sending employees on business trips, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 13.10.2008 N 749, it is expressly established that the employee's report on the work performed on the business trip is submitted to the employer in writing. Unified forms of a service assignment, a report on its implementation and a business trip certificate are also contained in Resolution No. 1.
Taking into account the foregoing, it can be concluded that the execution of documents using independently developed forms for recording labor and its payment may cause claims from the inspection authorities, since the new form may not take into account (not fully taken into account) the requirements of labor legislation for a specific document.
For example, it must contain columns in which it is necessary to enter information about the work performed, transfer to another permanent job and dismissal (clause 12 of the Rules for maintaining and storing work books, making work book forms and providing employers with them, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 04.16.2003 N 225). At the same time, this information is not included in the list given in Part 2 of Art. 9 of Law N 402-FZ.
Thus, with regard to the preparation of documents for the accounting of labor and its payment, at present it is more expedient for organizations to use the unified forms approved by Resolution No. 1. And, as already noted, the use of these unified forms in accordance with Part 4 of Art. 9 of Law N 402-FZ must be approved either by a separate order of the head of the organization, or by an appendix to the accounting policy.
