Without a piece of paper you are nothing! And with a piece of paper - a businessman conducting his business conscientiously and professionally. Or a competent accountant who helps him. Correct design documents in accounting is also important for data generation accounting, and to determine the tax obligations of the organization. And if you want to protect what is most valuable, do not treat documents leniently, and carefully study what requirements they must meet. At least read this article first!

Accounting specialists and small business representatives who keep records on their own need to know the basic requirements for the procedure for creating, processing, moving and storing documents.

1. Concept of a document

2. Types of primary accounting documents

3. Forms of primary accounting documents

4. Approval of primary accounting documents

5. Mandatory details of accounting documents

6. Preparation of documents in accounting

7. Power of attorney for signature primary documents

8. Document flow schedule for accounting documents

9. Journal of primary documents

10. Correction of accounting documents

11. Storage of accounting documents

12. Responsibility for storing primary documents

So, let's go in order.

1. Concept of a document

The concept of “document” is not disclosed in accounting regulations. Let's use the definition established by GOST R ISO 15489-1-2007:

Document: identifiable information recorded on a tangible medium created, received and maintained by an organization or an individual as evidence when confirming legal obligations or business activities (clause 3.3 of GOST).

What documents are primary? Primary documents are documents containing initial information about operations and processes. These are the documents on the basis of which accounting entries.

Primary accounting documents- these are documents that document the facts of economic life (clause 1 of Article 9 of Law No. 402-FZ of December 6, 2011 “On Accounting”).

The main requirement for their preparation is that primary documents must be drawn up when the facts of economic life occur, or immediately after their completion (if such a possibility exists).

Examples of primary documents:

• incoming and outgoing cash orders,
• consignment note (according to TORG-12 form),
• advance report,
• accounting information.

2. Types of primary accounting documents

There is no harmonious classification or grouping of accounting documents in any regulatory act.

The following types of primary accounting documents can be distinguished depending on:

1. places of compilation:

• internal,
• external,

1. Document forms used:

• unified (created according to forms contained in albums of unified forms),
• non-unified (created according to forms developed by the organization independently),

1. type of storage medium:

• paper,
• electronic,

1. volume of information:

• primary,
• summary,

1. type of assets and liabilities, areas of accounting:

• on accounting of fixed assets,
• on inventory accounting,
• accounting for accruals and payment of wages,
• for accounting of cash transactions,
• others are similar.

3. Forms of primary accounting documents

Preparation of documents in accounting involves the use of both independently developed and unified forms. Since 2013, the use of most unified forms is not mandatory.

All forms of primary documents are approved by the head of the organization. Currently The following types of unified forms are required to be used:

1. on accounting for cash transactions (Resolution of the State Statistics Committee dated August 18, 1998 No. 88, Directive of the Bank of Russia dated March 11, 2014 No. 3210-U),
2. on accounting of labor and its payment (Decree of the State Statistics Committee dated January 5, 2004 No. 1),
3. on accounting for cargo transportation services (Government Decree No. 272 ​​dated April 15, 2011, Charter various types transport).

The payment order also has a standard form, all of its fields are us.

When completing unified forms, all provided lines (columns) are filled in. If any indicators are missing, a dash is placed in them.

Example 1.

The supplier supplied the materials, provided TORG-12 and an invoice, the last lines of which are filled in as “delivery services”; there are no other documents.

Possible consequences are non-acceptance of VAT deductions and income tax expenses, recognition of the transaction as fictitious (imaginary), since the reality of the transaction (the fact of delivery of materials, and possibly the purchase of materials itself) has not been confirmed. A bill of lading is required.

Unified forms, which are not mandatory, are still used in organizations. Based on the internal needs of the company, such forms can be modified to make them more convenient and suitable for reflecting specific business facts.

For example, you can remove the “printing location” attribute and refuse to use the “front/back side” marking.

4. Approval of primary accounting documents

The organization is obliged to approve the forms of primary accounting documents used in its accounting policies (clause 4 of PBU 1/2008 “Accounting policies of the organization”). It must be remembered that simply a link to one of the albums of unified document forms is not enough.

The accounting policy (in the appendix to the accounting policy) must list specific documents from the albums of unified forms that the company will use, as well as a list of persons who have the right to sign primary documents (information of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation No. PZ-10/2012).

An example of the design of an application to an accounting policy can be found in our article “”. Samples of independently developed forms are attached to the accounting policy with explanations for filling them out.

The forms can also be approved by other local regulations. For example, an Order on approval of primary documents. A reference to such an order must be contained in the accounting policy.

5. Mandatory details of accounting documents

Requirements to mandatory details of primary accounting documents established by the Federal Law “On Accounting”. There are only 7 such details:

1. Title of the document,
2. date of document preparation,
3. name of the economic entity that compiled the document,
4. content of the fact of economic life,
5. the value of natural and (or) monetary measurement with indication of units of measurement,
6. the names of the positions of the persons responsible for the transaction,
7. signatures responsible persons with decryption of the signature.

Some documents that are not primary accounting documents can be used as such.

When reflecting rent in expenses, such documents are lease agreements and acts. In accordance with Articles 611 and 622 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, in this case, it is mandatory to draw up bilateral acts of acceptance and transfer of accounting objects.

Example 4.

The company rents office space. The documents on the basis of which the monthly rent will be calculated are the lease agreement and the acceptance certificate of the leased property.

In accordance with Article 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, unilateral acts can be used as primary documents.

6. Preparation of documents in accounting

Let's consider special cases that are often encountered when preparing documents.

Refusal of stamps

The purpose of the seal is to certify the signature of the responsible person.

From 04/07/2015, organizations are not required to have a seal. Information about the seal must be specified in the company's Charter (Federal Law No. 82-FZ of 04/06/2015).

A seal is required only in cases established by federal law.

• Power of attorney to represent interests legal entity in court (Article 53 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, Article 61 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation),
• documents submitted to the customs authorities (311-FZ dated November 27, 2010),
• act on an industrial accident (Article 230 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation),
• double warehouse certificate (Article 913 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

A seal is not a mandatory requisite, but its presence may be provided for in the form of the primary document approved by the head of the organization (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated 08/06/2015 No. 03-01-10/45390).

Documents in foreign languages

Only documents in Russian are accepted for registration (clause 9 of Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation No. 34n).

There must be a translation into Russian, and a line-by-line translation. The translation is not required to be certified (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated April 20, 2012 No. 03-03-06/1/202). Cases when notarized translation is required are stipulated by the 1961 Hague Convention.

Non-ruble meters in primary documents

It is permissible to reflect cost data in accounting documents in rubles, currency, and conventional units.

For comparison, in tax accounting the requirement to fill out invoices for payments in rubles only in rubles is established by Government Decree No. 1137 dated December 26, 2011 (clause 1 of the Procedure for filling out invoices).

Electronic primary documents

The Federal Law “On Accounting” allows the preparation of primary documents both in paper and electronic form.

The electronic document must contain all mandatory details of accounting documents and an electronic signature (ES).

There are three types of electronic signatures: simple, enhanced unqualified, and enhanced qualified. The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation considers it possible to use any electronic signature (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated September 12, 2016 No. 03-03-06/2/53176).

7. Power of attorney to sign primary documents

An employee of an organization has the right to sign when one of the documents is drawn up:

• order on the right to sign,
• power of attorney to sign primary documents (Articles 185 – 189 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Unlike an order on the right to sign, a power of attorney to sign primary documents can also be issued to a citizen who is not an employee of the organization.

For signature, by agreement of the parties, a facsimile can be used (Article 160 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, determination of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated December 17, 2009 No. VAS-16259/09).

8. Document flow schedule for accounting documents

A document flow schedule is a description in the form of a diagram or table of the procedure for creating, moving, processing and storing documents. The schedule can be approved as an appendix to the accounting policy, or in the form of a local normative act. In the latter case, the accounting policy must contain a reference to such an act.

The document flow schedule must include:

• deadlines for registration, transfer, processing and storage of documents,
• positions of persons who are responsible for the operations specified in the document flow schedule (clauses 5.4, 5.6 of Order of the Ministry of Finance dated July 29, 1983 No. 105).

9. Journal of primary documents

Keeping a journal of primary documents is more a rule of rational document flow, rather than accounting.

To register incoming/outgoing documents, such a journal of primary documents is necessary. We advise you to keep such a journal even in the case when accounting is carried out without using an accounting program.

When using, for example, the 1C program, a document log can be generated and printed at any time. Thus, the journal for accounting of suppliers’ documents will be formed as “Register of documents “Receipt (act, invoice)””, the journal for accounting of cash documents as “Register of cash documents”.

In accounting, unlike tax accounting, it is possible reflection of the fact of economic life in the absence of primary documents, provided that they arrive later.

In this case, the fact of economic life is reflected in accounting in estimated value. When a document is received, the previously made posting is not reversed, but is only adjusted to the date the document was received.

This approach is confirmed in the following documents:

1. PBU 21/2008
2. Order of the Ministry of Finance dated December 28, 2001 No. 119n “ Guidelines on accounting of inventories" (subsection 5 of section 1)
3. Decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated July 8, 2016 No. AKPI16-443.

An exception to this procedure is documents on intermediary transactions. The intermediary must hand over all documents related to the transaction. If a transaction report is drawn up with errors or inaccuracies, the principal can raise an objection only within 30 days from the date of receipt of the report (Articles 999, 1008 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

10. Correction of accounting documents

Preparation of documents in accounting is sometimes accompanied by errors and inaccuracies. In this case, corrections will be required.

Corrections are prohibited only in cash and banking documents (for example, paper payment orders). All other documents can be amended.

Correction of accounting documents is carried out as follows:

1. the incorrect entry is crossed out with one line so that what has been crossed out can be read,
2. the correct value is indicated next to it,
3. the entry “Corrected” is entered,
4. the date of correction and the signature of the person who compiled the document are indicated with a transcript of his signature.

Such rules are established by the Federal Law “On Accounting” No. 402-FZ (clause 7 of Article 9) and Order of the Ministry of Finance dated July 29, 1983 No. 105.

There is no need to put a stamp. An exception is corrections on the certificate of incapacity for work, which are certified by a seal.

The correction must be made by the employee who compiled the document. If this is not possible, for example, the person quits, then the correction is made by the newly hired employee or his immediate supervisor.

11. How to store and destroy accounting documents

The procedure for document storage is determined by Order of the Ministry of Culture dated August 25, 2010 No. 558. The general storage period for documents in accordance with Article 29 Federal Law“On accounting” - 5 years. The manager is responsible for organizing the storage of documents.

Many documents have extended retention periods:

Accounting documents can be destroyed if their storage period has expired (clauses 2.3, 4.11 of Order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated March 31, 2015 No. 526). The decision on destruction is made by an expert commission, which can be created annually or can act on an ongoing basis.

Based on the examination of documents, proposals are first drawn up on the allocation for destruction of documents that are not subject to storage, and then directly an act on the allocation for destruction of documents that are not subject to storage. The act includes documents whose storage period has expired by January 1 of the year in which the act is drawn up.

The act must be approved by the manager.

You can destroy documents:

1. on one's own. In this case, it is necessary to draw up an act on the destruction of documents. Such an act must indicate which documents, in what quantity and in what manner were destroyed,
2. P then transferred for destruction to a specialized organization. At the same time, an invoice is drawn up, which indicates the number of documents transferred and their weight (clause 2.4.7 of the Rosarkhiv Rules, approved by the decision of the Rosarkhiv Board of 02/06/2002). In this case, the act of destruction of documents is drawn up by a specialized organization.

12. Responsibility for storing primary documents

Penalties for working with primary documents are established by Article 15.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

Sanctions are provided for gross violation of accounting requirements, including accounting (financial) reporting.

One of gross violations accounting is:

“the economic entity lacks primary accounting documents, and (or) accounting registers, and (or) accounting (financial) statements, and (or) an auditor’s report on the accounting (financial) statements (if the audit of the accounting (financial) statements) reporting is mandatory) within the established storage periods for such documents.”

Amounts of fines:

1. for officials in the amount of five thousand to ten thousand rubles,
2. for repeated commission - on officials in the amount of ten thousand to twenty thousand rubles or disqualification for a period of one to two years.

At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the fact that when checking, the absence of primary documents will also be understood as the case when there are documents, a sufficient number of them, but they are drawn up in forms that are not approved.

Tax liability The Tax Code of the Russian Federation also establishes for failure to ensure the safety of primary documents (Article 120):

1. During one reporting period - up to 10 thousand rubles,
2. For more than one tax period - up to 30 thousand rubles,
3. If the tax base is understated - 200% of the amount of the unpaid tax (contribution), but not less than 40 thousand rubles.

If you still have questions about the preparation of primary documents in accounting, ask them in the comments below.

Preparation of documents in accounting: the most important

Document flow in organizations is an integral part of business processes. Accounting documents are designed to record in writing all events occurring at enterprises that affect working issues.

The essence and meaning of accounting documents

Legislative requirements, in particular the provisions of the Accounting Law, make it mandatory to document all events in the economic sphere. Documentation accounting registration are used to confirm the completion of any transactions and serve as written evidence of ongoing processes.

An accounting document is a form in which current events, their valuation, and other criteria that distinguish a business transaction can be recorded.

By type, financial accounting documents and their purpose can be classified as follows:

1. Administrative. Based on them, business transactions are not recorded. These documents act as instructions for execution certain actions. This group includes orders and instructions from management.
2. Exculpatory - confirm the completion of actual transactions in the current activities of the company. They are the basis for making records, for example, acts of acceptance and transfer of valuables, invoices for write-off, internal movement. Often their presence must be confirmed by administrative documents.
3. Accounting documents are designed to simplify the accounting procedure. They are various statements, accounting certificates that explain the procedure for performing actions and their expediency.
4. Combined documents bear the characteristics of administrative and exculpatory documents at the same time. They serve as the basis for the emergence of a business transaction and also contain an indication of its completion. In this case, as an example, we can consider cash documents (expenditure cash order).

What applies to accounting documents

Documents regulating accounting are formed according to the order in which they were compiled, that is, they are divided into primary and consolidated. The basis for making accounting entries are primary accounting documents. They can be generated directly at the enterprise, or they can be received from the outside - from suppliers, buyers, and other counterparties. The main accounting documents related to the primary ones are invoices, payment, cash, bank and other documents. Summary reports are compiled on the basis of primary data and contain generalized information.

According to their content, they can take on material and monetary values. The material part reflects the presence and movement of commodity and other valuables. For example, acts of acceptance and transfer, invoices for the release of goods give an accurate idea of ​​the types and quantities of property being moved. A cost estimate of the operation performed is also given.

Some papers relate exclusively to settlement ones. It's about about pay slips, cash orders, bank statements. The information they carry is exclusively financial in nature - the status of settlements with contractors, wages to employees.

Until recently, the requirement for the mandatory use of unified forms in accounting remained. The entry into force of Law No. 402-FZ on accounting makes it possible for the management of organizations to independently develop forms of primary documents. But at the same time, some requirements for the presence of mandatory details remain. That is, in primary accounting, the only valid accounting document is a form reflecting the following information:

• name and date of preparation of the form;
• details of the business entity;
• the content of the operation and its characteristics in monetary and quantitative terms;
• signatures of responsible persons.

What are accounting documents used for?

For organizations and even entrepreneurs, the importance of accounting documents is great. They not only serve as confirmation of accomplished facts of economic activity, but also help determine the current financial condition companies. On their basis, subjects carry out tax calculations, while reducing the tax base is possible only if they have documents correctly drawn up from the point of view of legislation.

The absence of the necessary primary documents, certificates, and statements can subsequently create many problems for the organization, raising additional questions from regulatory authorities. Often this fact serves as the basis for recalculating the tax base.

What accounting documents should an LLC have to ensure the ongoing operation of the enterprise? Depending on the specifics of the work, these are documents regulating the activities of the enterprise - orders, instructions, accounting policies. Confirmation of the facts of income received and expenses made are invoices, invoices, payslips with personnel, and other cash and bank documents. To simplify the accounting procedure, turnover and accumulative statements containing general information about homogeneous transactions are widely used.

Transfer of documents and storage period

Considering that the role and significance of accounting documents are undeniable for every business entity, their movement and storage must also be subject to certain rules.

Organizations independently draw up a schedule of primary document flow, which includes the following stages:

• reception or registration;
• treatment;
• storage;
• transfer to the archive.

The specified schedule should contain the optimal time frame for processing the received data. If necessary, adjustments to the established periods are allowed.

Storage of primary documents is provided by employees of the accounting service. At the same time, when changing responsible persons, it is necessary to draw up an act of acceptance and transfer of accounting documents, a sample of which is developed taking into account the characteristics of the company. But at the same time, it is necessary to create a detailed register of accounting documents when transferring cases, a sample of which will be carried by full information about the existing volume of transactions.

The storage period for documents varies depending on their purpose. Information providing data on tax calculations must be available for at least 4 years. Completed employee information forms are kept for up to 75 years.

Register of accounting documents when transferring cases (sample)

But almost any entrepreneurial activity accompanied by a considerable amount of various documentation. A reasonable question becomes, what are the primary documents?

Basic information

Primary accounting means the initial stage of generalization of individual business operations, which characterize the main processes of the organization.

The following are recognized as accounting objects:

• procurement of raw materials for the production process;
• purchase of material resources and their subsequent expenditure;
• expenses for production activities;
• movement of manufactured products and unfinished production;
• volume of finished products;
• shipment and sale of products;
• settlement transactions with suppliers, customers and buyers;
• reporting to banks, founders and financial institutions;
• other.

All these operations are accompanied documentation. Information about business processes and related nuances is displayed in primary documentation.

Basic Concepts

The definition of a primary document is a document that covers the initial information about the results of an activity.

The primary document is written evidence of the implementation of a business transaction. This document is drawn up at the time of the transaction or immediately upon its completion.

That is, accounting documents that confirm the fact of a business transaction are considered primary. Any information present in primary documents is required for display in accounting.

To accumulate and systematize it, accounting registers are used. They contain data on all business transactions carried out in the organization.

After a certain period, information from the accounting registers in a grouped form is moved to the financial statements.

The main types of primary documents are:

• money orders;
• / etc.

These documents contain information about the business transaction carried out. In some cases, forms of primary documents are classified as strict reporting forms.

Based on the type of transactions, the primary documentation is divided into papers accounting for fixed assets, wages, cash transactions, cash, etc.

It deserves special attention. In fact, this document is hardly primary, since it does not outline a specific business transaction, being an appendix to the primary document.

The need for an invoice arises during the VAT collection process. However, at the same time you will need to present an invoice or act.

At the same time, the Tax Code mentions an invoice in direct connection with primary documents.

What are their functions

The fundamental purpose of the primary document is to confirm the legal validity of the completed business transaction.

At the same time, for carrying out operations, responsibility is established for some performers for the completed operations.

The primary document stores everything necessary information about a specific business transaction, and the fact of the existence of the document confirms the execution of the action.

That is, primary documents store data on all business activities of the organization. Primary documentation is stored to meet the personal needs of the enterprise, as well as for provision to regulatory authorities.

It is on the basis of primary documents that accounting is carried out. Based on the data available in the documents, financial and tax reporting is created.

Current regulatory framework

The basic rules on primary accounting documents are defined in Federal Law No. 402 of December 6, 2011 “On Accounting”.

But although the use of some unified forms is not considered mandatory, nothing prevents their use.

The decision on this matter is made by the head of the subject economic activity. It is he who approves the forms for primary documents upon the proposal of the person responsible for accounting.

On the form, the code is located in the upper right corner. If a business operation is completed using not a standard form, but using an independently developed form, then it is not necessary to register the “code”.

In accordance with clause 19 of this provision, the presence of corrections, blots and erasures, or the use of corrective means in banking documentation, cash receipts/expenditure orders, attached receipts and documents replacing them is not permitted.

If an error is detected, bank and cash documents cannot be accepted for execution. They need to be re-drafted taking into account the basic requirements.

It is important that incorrectly executed or damaged cash documents cannot be destroyed. They must be crossed out and then attached to the cash report (register) for the day they were issued.

Emerging nuances

In the process of drawing up and processing primary documents, many different nuances arise. Among the main ones the following can be noted:

What is a two-sided document

In some cases, when preparing primary documentation, it is allowed to use a two-sided primary document. This is the form of a universal transfer document (UDD).

Video: primary documents

The UPD form is a functioning form of an invoice, which is supplemented with essential indicators of the primary documentation.

The “1” status of the UPD allows this document to replace not only an invoice, but also a document or invoice.

At the same time, the UTD is simultaneously used in calculations for and in the recognition of expenses in the process of taxation of profits. UPD with status “2” replaces only the act or invoice.

The UPD combines elements of an invoice and a primary document confirming the completion of a business transaction. The legislation does not prohibit the issuance of invoices or delivery notes on both sides of one paper medium.

Do I need to stamp it?

Seals are not among the mandatory details of primary documents. There is no mention of it in Article 9 Part 2 of Federal Law No. 402.

Therefore, it is necessary to put a stamp if the organization uses its own document that requires a seal.

But at the same time, it is imperative to certify with a seal those documents for which the presence of a seal is provided for by law. For example, these include invoices and.

Also, the need for a seal may be determined by the accounting policy of the organization or by agreement of the parties.

Who is responsible for their safety?

Article 17 of the Federal Law “On Accounting” obliges organizations to preserve primary documentation, accounting registers and financial statements for a specified period.

According to the standards of the state organization of archival affairs, this period cannot be less than five years. During storage, protection against unauthorized edits must be ensured.

Any corrections must be justified and properly certified. The contents of accounting registers and financial statements are a commercial secret.

For its disclosure, persons who have access to information are responsible in accordance with the norms of the legislation of the Russian Federation. Initially, primary accounting documents are stored in closed cabinets under the supervision of the organization's chief accountant.

Properly processed documents are transferred for storage to the archive. The owner of the enterprise is directly responsible for their safety.

The presence of primary accounting documents is an integral part of the activities of any organization.

Without them, the normal existence of an enterprise is practically impossible. Therefore, it is so important to know and follow the procedure for drawing up and processing primary documents.

Each company must use standard forms to reflect the facts of business transactions. Let's consider which unified forms of primary accounting documents are approved by the government. ContentsImportant aspects What forms of primary accounting documents are used (list)? What is their shelf life...

Accounting is a complexly organized system. On its basis, information is collected in primary documents, registrations and their further analysis. Those. accounting is the expression of all financial and economic transactions in monetary terms. You will learn how primary accounting is carried out in the article.

Everything has its price

Accounting allows you to bring all transactions into monetary terms. For example, labor Relations, relations between buyers and suppliers, keeping records of working hours, relations with the state - paying taxes. It reflects not only the conduct of such operations, but also their analysis. This then allows us to draw a conclusion about the solvency and creditworthiness of the organization as a whole. And based on this eliminate weak sides financial policy and choose the direction further development.

Important: the basis for the direction of further development of the organization is the maintenance of primary accounting.

This is the foundation that allows you to collect all the necessary information.

Source documents

Above, we called primary documentation the foundation of accounting at an enterprise. It can also be compared to the roots of a tree, from which a trunk and branches – registers – later grow. Leaves are synthetic accounting of accounts, which allows you to accurately and completely assess the work of the company.

Let's give a definition. Primary documentation is a specific document of a clearly established form by law, filled out in accordance with all the rules of accounting, recommendations of tax, banking, statics and a number of other authorities interested in this.

Approval of primary documentation takes place in the statistical authorities. More specialized and narrowly focused documents are issued by departments for individual types of activities.

Such documentation allows you to record and track financial and economic transactions at the enterprise. Those. This is the basis of used equipment in individual companies.

Filling rules

In addition to the fact that the statistical authorities are in charge of approving documents, they have developed a number of requirements for filling them out.

Required filling:

• Full name of the document (abbreviations are not allowed);
• Date the document was issued;
• Full information about the organization that draws up the document and to whom it is intended;
• Full bank details of the counterparty, if required;
• Complete information about the business operation, expressed quantitatively and monetaryly;
• Information about the employee who has the right to certify the document (position, signature, transcript);
• Stamp or seal (wet).

Despite the fact that the above requirements are mandatory, in some cases, due to inattention or other reasons, one or more points may be missed. This violation does not entail the invalidity of primary accounting.

Types of primary documentation

A specific document is issued for each individual financial and economic transaction. Let's list the main ones.

• Invoice – for buyers, which indicates the name of the product or service, bank details of the supplier;
• Payment order - for the supplier from the buyer, confirming the fact of payment, non-cash form;
• Receipt - for the buyer, according to which he paid the supplier in cash;
• Bank statement – ​​allows you to see the cash flow on current account enterprises for a certain period;
• Cash order – allows you to see the movement of funds in the organization’s cash register;
• Waybill or universal transfer documents, invoice – confirms the shipment of material or provision of services after payment. It indicates the name of the product, volume and cost.
• Bill of lading - for transporting materials from the supplier to the buyer. It indicates the full name of the supplier and buyer, TIN, legal address, place from where and where the cargo is being transported, information about the carrier.
• A sales receipt, like a delivery note, confirms the shipment of goods from the supplier to the buyer. Must have a date, number and be registered with the tax office.
• Advance report is a reporting document confirming how the accountable funds issued to the employee were spent. Additionally, cash receipts, receipts, application agreements confirming expenses are attached to it on sheet A4.
• Time sheet - it records the number of hours that the employee worked in the organization per month;
• Payroll, payroll or payroll - on the basis of the first, wages are calculated, and on the basis of the second, payroll is issued.

Important: The above documents are standard and strictly unified by law. They cannot but be carried out at the request of the leader or be changed in some way.

It is allowed to enter additional documentation based on the specifics of the work.

Corrections in primary documentation

It is not always possible to fill out the form correctly. Some allow corrections, others need to be rewritten. How the correction occurs is given below.

Corrections in primary documentation:

• Corrections are not allowed in a non-strict reporting document - it must be completely rewritten;
• In a strict reporting document: cross out the error with a red line diagonally in one cell and mark “cancelled”; if the form is incorrect, be sure to save it;
• Any correction: cross it out, write the correct version on top and write “believe the corrected person”, stamp and signature of the correcting employee;
• Never shade or make a thick line through the strikeout; the incorrect entry must be visible.

Shelf life

The shelf life of different forms varies. They must be stored for a minimum of 5 years. For example, all documents related to employees (wages, taxes, personal files) must be kept for at least 75 years. This is due to frequent requests former employees for calculating pensions.

If you decide to empty the shelves of old documents, after the storage period has expired, draw up a special act and assemble a commission for the disposal of primary documentation.

Results

So, we looked at how primary documentation is maintained. It is the basis for the entire accounting department of the enterprise. Therefore, primary accounting should be handled with all responsibility and care.

Primary accounting documents are unified. They are developed by statistical authorities. The organization does not have the right to make its own changes to them. The title of the document, the date of execution, the full name of the buyer's and supplier's counterparty, the name of the product in value and quantity terms, and the signature of an authorized person must be filled in.

Corrections in primary documentation are permitted. To do this, the incorrect entry should be crossed out and the correct version written on top, attributing “corrected believe”, the date, signature and seal of the organization.

The storage period for primary documentation is 5 years or more.

This material will give you an idea about:
users of accounting information;
functions of the enterprise in organizing accounting;
primary accounting documents, their types and mandatory details;
document flow;
accounting registers and their types;
accounting accounts and their structure;
simplified working chart of accounts for a small enterprise;
various forms of accounting organization.

1. Documents in accounting

In accordance with Article 9 of the Law “On Accounting”, all business transactions carried out by an organization must be documented with supporting documents. These documents serve as primary accounting documents on the basis of which accounting is conducted.

Primary accounting documents are accepted for accounting if they are compiled in accordance with the form contained in the albums of unified forms of primary accounting documentation, and documents whose form is not provided for in these albums must contain the following mandatory details:

• Title of the document;
• date of document preparation;
• name of the organization on behalf of which the document was drawn up;
• content of a business transaction;
• measuring business transactions in physical and monetary terms;
• the names of the positions of the persons responsible for the execution of the business transaction and the correctness of its execution;
• personal signatures of these persons.

A primary document is written evidence of a business transaction (payment for goods, issuance of cash on account, etc.).

In the course of its activities, an enterprise can use independently developed forms of primary documents, taking into account the established requirements for primary documents. The forms of such documents are approved by the order on the accounting policy of the enterprise.

All primary documents can be divided into the following groups:

1. organizational and administrative;
2. exculpatory;
3. accounting documents.

Organizational and administrative documents– these are orders, instructions, instructions, powers of attorney, etc. These documents permit the conduct of certain business transactions.

Supporting documents- this includes invoices, requirements, receipt orders, acceptance certificates, etc. These documents reflect the fact of a business transaction and the information contained in them is entered into accounting registers.

Some documents are both permitting and exculpatory. These include, for example, a cash order, a payroll, etc.

Accounting documents filled out by an accountant. Among them are various reports and certificates. The information contained in them is also entered into accounting registers.

Accounting registers- These are specially adapted sheets for recording and grouping accounting data. By appearance accounting registers are:

• books (cash register, main);
• cards (fixed asset accounting, materials accounting);
• magazines (loose or lined sheets).

According to the types of records made, registers are divided into:

• chronological (registration log);
• systematic (general ledger of accounts);
• combined (journal orders).

According to the level of detail of the information contained in the accounting registers, they are:

• synthetic (general ledger of accounts);
• analytical (cards);
• combined (order journals).

Primary documents received by the accounting department (accountant) must be checked:

• by form (completeness and correctness of the document, filling in the details);
• arithmetically (counting amounts);
• by content (connection of individual indicators, absence of internal contradictions).

For correct management primary accounting is developed and approved document flow schedule, which determines the order and timing of the movement of primary documents within the enterprise and their receipt in the accounting department. The movement schedule of primary accounting documents may have the following form:

Entries in primary documents must be made by means that ensure the safety of these entries for the period of time established for their storage in the archive.

After acceptance, information from the primary document is transferred to the accounting registers, and a mark is made on the document itself to exclude the possibility of its double use (for example, the date of entry into the accounting register is indicated).

Primary and consolidated accounting documents can be compiled on paper and computer media. In the latter case, the organization is obliged to produce, at its own expense, copies of such documents on paper for other participants in business transactions, as well as at the request of authorities exercising control in accordance with the law. Russian Federation, courts and prosecutor's offices.

Organizations are required to store primary accounting documents, accounting registers and financial statements for periods established in accordance with the rules for organizing state archival affairs, but not less than five years.

Documents for archiving are selected in chronological order, completed, bound and filed in folders. Submission of documents to the archive is accompanied by a certificate.

An account is a way of grouping and reflecting changes in funds (property), their sources and obligations of an enterprise.

Transactions on the accounts are reflected in a monetary measure, that is, all property, its sources and obligations (debts) of the enterprise are assessed, and its value is recorded on the accounts.

A company's funds can either increase or decrease. To separately account for increases and decreases in funds, the account is divided into two parts. The left side of the account is called debit, A right part the account is called loan.

Graphically, the account is usually presented in the form of a table consisting of two columns:

Depending on what is reflected in the accounts, they can be:

1. active;
2. passive;
3. active-passive.

On active accounts the accounting of the enterprise's funds and their movement is reflected (for example, fixed assets, inventories, finished products, cash, settlements, etc.).

An active account increases by debit, that is, transactions that increase it are reflected on the left side (debit) of the account.

The balance of the active account - the balance at the end and at the beginning of the period - is also recorded as a debit.

Active account structure:

On passive accounts sources of funds of the enterprise are reflected (for example, the authorized capital or authorized capital, profit) and liabilities of the enterprise (for example, a bank loan, unpaid wage and so on.).

A passive account increases with credit, that is, transactions that increase it are reflected on the right side (credit) of the account.

The balance of the passive account - the balance at the end and at the beginning of the period - is also recorded as a credit.

Passive account structure:

On active-passive accounts the balance can be either a credit or a debit.

The chart of accounts is approved by the Ministry of Finance.

3. Accounting forms

Accounting forms differ in the number of registers used, their purpose, appearance and content.

There are the following three main forms of accounting:

• memorial warrant;
• journal-order.

The simplest form is “”, since any operation on a primary document (or a group of similar operations) is recorded in the “Journal-Main” book, which combines the registration journal of business transactions (chronological record) and synthetic accounts (systematic record). The Main Journal book looks like this:

In this book, account balances at the beginning of the reporting period are first recorded, then all transactions on documents are recorded, after which the turnover for the reporting period is determined (the correctness of the entry is checked: the amount of turnover for the reporting period must be equal to the sum of the debit turnover of all accounts and the sum of credit turnover of all accounts) and account balances at the end of the reporting period are identified. Based on the account balances, the final balance is compiled.

This form is used in enterprises with a small number of employees and with a small number of operations. The book can be maintained by one accountant.

The “journal-main” accounting scheme looks like this:

Memorial order form of registration is based on separate maintenance of chronological and systematic records. Registration of accounting entries is carried out with special documents - memorial orders, which are drawn up on the basis of primary documents. Memorial orders are registered in a special journal (chronological record) and based on them, ledger account entries(systematic recording).

The form of the general ledger accounts is built with a breakdown of debits and credits for each corresponding account and looks like this:

General ledger with this form it is also called a check-chess sheet.

The general ledger accounts take into account only current turnover for the reporting period. Therefore, according to the data of the general ledger accounts, a turnover sheet for synthetic accounting accounts is compiled (at the same time, the completeness and correctness of the recording of business transactions is checked; the total of turnover in the debit and credit of accounts is verified with the total in the registration journal). It also determines account balances at the end of the reporting period, for which a new balance is drawn up.

Compared to the main journal, the memorial order form does not limit the number of transactions taken into account, specifies changes in funds in accounts, and expands the possibilities of division of labor between accounting workers and accounting automation.

The scheme of this accounting form is as follows:

However, in this form of accounting, the same entries are repeated many times in different accounting registers, which increases the amount of work. There is a simplified version of this form for small businesses - using accounting statements: fixed assets, accrued depreciation (wear and tear); inventories and finished products; production costs; cash and funds; settlements and other transactions; settlements with suppliers; wages.

The statement is an accounting account that reflects the opening balance, turnover for the reporting period by debit and credit based on documents broken down by corresponding accounts, and the balance at the end of the reporting period. For example, the form of a cash register statement looks like this:

The data from the statements is summarized in a chess sheet, on the basis of which the turnover sheet is compiled. Based on the turnover sheet data, a balance sheet is drawn up.

The simplified form of accounting is as follows:

At journal-order form of accounting On the basis of primary documents, cumulative statements and development tables are compiled. In this case, homogeneous transactions related to a specific account are recorded in journals in chronological order according to the corresponding accounts. At the end of the month, each journal calculates the total turnover of the corresponding accounts. These totals represent journal entries (memo orders) to be recorded in the general ledger accounts.

Cumulative journals are called order journals. Order journals are built on a credit basis, i.e. records of transactions are made on the credit of a specific account in correspondence with the debit of different accounts.

The journal order looks like this:

The totals of turnover for the month from the order journals are transferred to the general ledger accounts, which have the following form:

Credit turnover is transferred to the general ledger account in one total amount per month, since it is contained in expanded form in the order journal. Debit turnover on the general ledger account is taken into account in correspondence with other accounts. In the general ledger account, debit turnover is collected as data is posted from different order journals. Upon completion of the posting of turnover from the order journals to the general ledger accounts, the totals for the debit of each account are calculated, the balance at the end of the month is determined, and a balance sheet is drawn up.

The journal-order form of accounting can be presented in the following form: