But almost any entrepreneurial activity is accompanied by a considerable amount of various documentation. A reasonable question becomes, what are the primary documents?
Basic information
Primary accounting means initial stage generalizations of individual business operations that 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 by documentation. Information about business processes and related nuances is displayed in the 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. Compiled this document at the time of the operation or immediately after 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:
- payment 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 operations, primary documentation is divided into papers accounting for fixed assets, wages, cash transactions, cash and so on.
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 all the 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 are not considered mandatory, nothing prevents their use.
The decision on this matter is made by the head of the economic entity. 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:
| The primary document is signed by a person from a specially approved list | The list of persons who have the right to sign primary documents is determined by the head of the organization in agreement with the chief accountant. If the documents relate to transactions of a financial nature, then they are signed by the manager and the person in charge. It is prohibited to reproduce the manager’s signature by facsimile during the preparation of primary documents. |
| The primary document should be drawn up at the time of completion | A business transaction or immediately upon its completion. A document drawn up after some time is not recognized as legal. |
| It is prohibited to correct bank and cash documents | Corrections may be made to other primary documents, but only if there are confirming signatures of the responsible persons and the date of the amendment is indicated. |
| It is necessary to carefully check the correctness of the primary documents | The absence of mandatory details does not allow the document to be unambiguously recognized as an official confirmation. Even if the taxpayer is able to prove the legality of the document through supporting documentation, he will have to spend a lot of time on controversial disputes and possibly litigation |
| A mandatory requirement is the preparation of primary documents | In the state language in national currency. If you have documents for foreign language it is necessary to translate them into Russian |
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 accounting policy organization or by agreement of the parties.
Who is responsible for their safety?
Article 17 of the Federal Law “On Accounting” obliges organizations to maintain 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. Contents of accounting registers and financial statements constitutes a trade 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 to the archive for storage. 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...
All business transactions must be carried out with the preparation of primary documents on the basis of which accounting is maintained.
Documents accounting classified according to various criteria:
by appointment;
by the volume of transactions reflected in them;
by method of use;
by the number of transactions taken into account;
at the place of compilation;
according to the filling method.
Accounting documents can be divided into groups according to their purpose:
TO organizationally-administrative documents include orders, instructions, instructions, powers of attorney, etc. These documents contain an order, permission, instruction or the right to conduct a business transaction. The information contained in these documents is not entered into accounting registers, since they do not reflect the very fact of the transaction.
TO acquittal(executive) documents include invoices, requirements, receipt orders, acceptance certificates, etc. Supporting documents are drawn up at the time of the transaction, reflecting its execution, and represent a source of primary accounting information or the first stage of the accounting process. The information contained in them is entered into accounting registers.
There are a number of documents that combine permitting and exculpatory nature; such documents are classified as combined(payroll, cash order).
Accounting documents filled out by an accountant to justify entries that have no other documentary evidence. These are various calculations and certificates that play a supporting role and are compiled to facilitate and speed up the work of the accounting department (accounting department certificate for reversing an erroneously made entry; distribution of enterprise profits, general production, general business, non-production expenses, etc.). Information from such documents is also entered into accounting registers.
Unified forms of primary accounting documentation
In accordance with the Law on Accounting and Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated July 8, 1997 No. 835 “On Primary Accounting Documents,” the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation, in agreement with the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Economy of the Russian Federation, approves albums of unified forms of primary accounting documentation.
The use of unified forms of primary accounting documentation is regulated by the Regulations on accounting and reporting in Russian Federation.
Primary documents are accepted for accounting if they are compiled according to unified forms approved by the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation. Unification of forms of primary accounting documentation is of great importance for improving accounting, as it establishes and consolidates uniform requirements for documentation economic activity organizations, systematizes accounting, eliminates outdated and arbitrary forms from circulation, and promotes the rational organization of accounting.
The State Statistics Committee of Russia, as necessary, makes changes and additions to the unified forms of primary accounting documentation, and also ensures the further development of unified forms of primary accounting documentation.
The forms of unified documents are adapted for accounting in conditions of mechanized processing of accounting data, as well as for manual processing. Duplicate details are excluded in the forms, the location areas of indicators subject to machine processing are outlined with thick lines, form formats are used in accordance with GOST 9327-60 - A3 ( 297 x 420); A4 (210 x 297); A5 (148 x 210). The formats of the forms indicated in the albums of unified forms are recommended and may change.
Each of the forms is assigned a code designation according to the All-Union Classifier of Management Documentation (OKUD), which is indicated as a separate requisite in the upper right corner of the form.
If necessary, the organization can enter additional details into the unified forms. In this case, all details of the unified forms of primary accounting documentation approved by the State Statistics Committee of Russia must be left unchanged, and the requirements of the standards for their structure and design must be met. Removing individual details from unified forms is not allowed. Changes made must be documented in the relevant organizational and administrative document of the organization.
Documents, the form of which is not provided for in these albums, must be approved in the order on the accounting policy of the enterprise and must contain the following mandatory details:
name of the document (form);
form code;
date of compilation;
business transaction indicators (in physical and monetary terms);
names of positions of persons responsible for carrying out business transactions and the correctness of its execution;
personal signatures and their transcripts.
The forms of such documents may be a separate appendix to the organization’s accounting policy for the corresponding year and approved by a separate order (instruction) of the head of the organization.
Registration of a wide variety of primary accounting documents is an integral part of the daily business practice of any enterprise. Primary accounting documents are used in personnel and financial activities. This article will discuss the preparation and storage of these documents.
From the article you will learn:
Mandatory forms of primary accounting documents
Primary documents contain accounting information on the basis of which confirmation of the implementation of management actions or business transactions is carried out. In the economic and organizational activities of a company, such papers are used very widely.
In the most general form, the document flow of any organization can be classified into three large groups:
- Management documents. Through business papers of this group, administrative management decisions are received and transmitted. These also include papers that contain information used to compile various reports. In turn, management decisions are made on the basis of these reports;
- Personnel documents. These papers contain information about the personnel of the enterprise, data on personnel records, as well as about the organization of work with personnel. This also includes information on personnel rotation, data on changes in positions, and dismissal of employees. Information about rewards and punishments is also included in this group. Finally, vacation schedules, staffing schedules and all primary personnel records are another type of personnel documents.
- Accounting and financial documents. These papers contain information about the economic and production activities of the enterprise. This group includes planning, accounting, analytical and financial statements, various agreements, regulations and all primary accounting documents.
Standard forms of primary accounting documents
In 2017, different forms of primary documents exist both in personnel and accounting records. This also includes supporting and supporting documents containing initial information about different types organizational and economic activities of the organization. In view of the fact that primary documents that were drawn up in accordance with established rules have legal significance, these papers become confirmation of the fact of an organizational action or the fact of performing some business transaction and they are filled out immediately after this fact has occurred.
List of forms of primary accounting documents
Personnel and accounting records are maintained on the basis of standard forms of primary documents. Thus, these business papers are divided respectively into primary personnel and accounting documents.
For example, primary personnel records include an employee’s personal card, an order for the provision of leave or an order for the transfer of an employee, a staffing table, a vacation schedule, an order for dismissal, an order for sending on a business trip, a travel certificate, if it continues to be used by the organization in 2017, orders for rewarding and punishing employees.
The types of accounting primary documents are much more diverse. For example, these include records of working hours, settlements with employees regarding wages, evidence of cash and trade transactions, cash receipts received as a result of settlements with individuals when making transactions, settlement and payment documents, records of fixed assets and intangible assets and much more.
It should be borne in mind that primary documents, according to their origin, can be divided into external and internal. External, i.e. incoming from external sources, represent various payment orders, payment requests, demands-orders and invoices. Internal, that is, created within the company, are of four types: administrative, accounting, executive and combined.
Read also:
In 2017, the main document on the basis of which the creation of archives of organizations and the storage of primary documents of all types discussed above is carried out remains the Federal Law of October 22, 2004 No. 125 Federal Law. As follows from this legislative act, the storage periods for business documents are determined not only by federal, but by other regulations.
Application of forms of primary accounting documents
With the introduction a few years ago of a new Federal Law“On Accounting” have become optional for the use of forms of primary accounting documents, which are contained in albums of unified forms of primary accounting documentation. In this regard, employees of the personnel service, accounting department and preschool educational institutions faced a logical question - do they need to develop their own forms or continue to use the old ones that were approved by the State Statistics Committee?
Using old forms
In order to develop their own versions of primary accounting documentation forms, employees of these departments need special knowledge and experience. When deciding to develop your own forms, you need to clearly assess the feasibility of this step.
The existing unified forms continue to remain relevant and fulfill their accounting function. Moreover, if they are adequate to the business processes in the organization, then there is no point in switching to new forms.
It should also be borne in mind that employees of regulatory authorities are more lenient towards old forms and are prejudiced towards new ones. A labor dispute, if one arises, will be easier to win if you use the old forms of primary documentation.
Another argument in favor of the previous forms is that if you keep records of documentation using software, then continuing to use unified forms will not require changes to existing systems.
For some companies, primarily joint ventures or branches of foreign companies in Russia, the transition to new forms may be very relevant. The fact is that they have to simultaneously keep records according to the laws of their country and according to Russian legislation. Developing their own forms that take into account all the details required by the laws of both countries will help them avoid double preparation of documents.
Please keep in mind that even if you decide to keep office work using old forms, you will have to make some adjustments to them. For example, remove OKUD and OKPO codes, remove the link to the State Statistics Committee Resolution, allocate space for deciphering the signature of the person signing the document (last name and initials), etc.
Application of new forms
The first step in developing new forms should be to determine who will perform this task. By law, the responsibility for developing such forms lies with the person involved in accounting. The problem is that primary documents include not only accounting papers, but also personnel documents. An accounting employee may not know all the intricacies of personnel records management. Therefore, it is necessary to involve an employee of the HR department in the development of new forms.
Our recommendation for creating unified forms for an enterprise is that the template part of the form must be formulated very briefly, avoiding the possibility of double interpretation of the text. It is advisable to use templates, stencils, standard phrases and expressions: “Control over the execution of (document title) is entrusted to (position and surname), “In connection with...”, “Taking into account...”, “Based on...”.
Do not rush to abandon those forms that are often used - time sheets, vacation schedules, staffing tables - you can create new forms based on them. If older forms seem too data-heavy, you can simplify them and remove some lines, columns, or redundant information.
Let's give an example. There is a standard form No. T-3 " Staffing table" It contains columns 6, 7 and 8, intended for recording the allowances that are established for the employee. If these columns are no longer needed, they can be deleted.
The Accounting Law requires that all business transactions carried out by an organization be documented with supporting documents (Article 9). These documents are the primary accounting documents on the basis of which accounting is conducted.
Unified forms
Primary accounting documents are accepted for accounting if they are drawn up in accordance with the form contained in the albums of unified forms of primary accounting documentation. By Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 07/08/97 No. 835 “On primary accounting documents”, the functions of developing and approving albums of unified forms of primary accounting documentation and their electronic versions are assigned to the State Statistics Committee of Russia. The content and composition of the unified forms of primary accounting documentation are agreed upon by the committee with the Ministry of Finance of Russia and the Ministry of Economy of Russia.The State Statistics Committee of Russia, in development of the above-mentioned resolution of the Government of Russia, approved the Procedure for the use of unified forms of primary accounting documentation, as well as albums of unified forms of primary accounting documentation for certain accounting objects. The table provides a list of these decisions.
Accounting object | Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of Russia |
||
Name |
|||
| Fixed assets | On approval of unified forms of primary accounting documentation for accounting of fixed assets | ||
| Intangible assets, materials, capital construction work | On approval of unified forms of primary accounting documentation for accounting of labor and its payment, fixed assets and intangible assets, materials, low-value and wearable items, work in capital construction | ||
| Products and inventories in storage areas | On approval of unified forms of primary accounting documentation for accounting of products, commodity- material assets in storage areas | ||
| Accounting for trade transactions | On approval of unified forms of primary accounting documentation for recording trade operations. | ||
| Work on construction machines and mechanisms, work in road transport | On approval of unified forms of primary accounting documentation for recording the work of construction machinery and mechanisms, work in road transport | ||
| Agricultural products and raw materials | On approval of unified forms of primary accounting documentation for accounting of agricultural products and raw materials | ||
| Cash in hand, inventory results | On approval of unified forms of primary accounting documentation for recording cash transactions and recording inventory results | ||
| Inventory results | On approval of the unified form of primary accounting documentation No. INV-26 “Record of results identified by inventory” | ||
| Cash issued on account | On approval of the unified form of primary accounting documentation No. AO-1 “Advance report” | ||
| Labor and its payment | On approval of unified forms of primary accounting documentation for labor accounting and payment | ||
Let us note that by Decree of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated December 25, 1998 No. 132, albums of unified forms of primary accounting documentation for recording trade operations were approved. Namely:
Of the previously approved unified forms of primary accounting documentation, by Decree of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated October 30, 1997 No. 71a, forms for accounting for intangible assets, materials, as well as work in capital construction continue to be in effect.
After the introduction of the new Chart of Accounts for accounting the financial and economic activities of organizations (approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia on October 31, 2000 No. 94n), low-value and wearable items disappeared from the objects accepted for accounting. However, some of these objects continue to be accounted for as fixed assets. When translating them, to simplify accounting, the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 27, 2001 No. 16-00-14/573 allowed, instead of issuing an acceptance certificate (invoice) for each of them - the transfer of fixed assets in Form No. OS-1, to use the previously used unified forms for small business enterprises:
Therefore, when writing off completely depreciated former small business enterprises accounted for as part of fixed assets, if they are unsuitable for further use, it is logical to use the following unified forms developed for small business enterprises:
The above-mentioned forms, in our opinion, are quite appropriate to use when accounting for inventory and household supplies.
We emphasize once again that the unified forms of primary accounting documentation, which are contained in albums of forms, are mandatory.
At the same time, in some cases, the indicators that these forms contain are not enough for organizations, since they cannot take into account all types of activities of the organization, the features of technological cycles, and their structure. In connection with this, the Procedure for the Application of Unified Forms of Primary Accounting Documentation stipulates that the formats of the forms indicated in the albums of unified forms of primary accounting documentation are recommended and may be changed. Therefore, to reflect business transactions, organizations have the right to supplement them at their discretion. But this does not apply to unified forms for recording cash transactions.
When making appropriate changes to the unified forms of primary accounting documentation approved by the State Statistics Committee of Russia, the organization must comply with the following:
Organizations engaged in the production of forms of unified forms of primary accounting documentation, when producing them, for the convenience of placing and processing the necessary information, can make changes in parts:
In addition to the unified forms of primary documents approved by the State Statistics Committee of Russia, there are also “departmental” forms of primary documents.
So, for the transportation of goods by rail, a railway consignment note is used, the form of which was approved by Order No. 39 of the Ministry of Railways of Russia dated June 18, 2003 (the same order also approved the rules for filling it out).
Self-developed forms
However, with the diversity of production and economic activities, there are also more complex cases when there are no standardized forms for certain operations. In this case, the organization has the right to develop the form of the primary document independently. But at the same time, the document must provide the mandatory details that are established by paragraph 2 of Article 9 of the Accounting Law. The document being developed must contain:The forms of primary accounting documents developed independently by the organization, used to document the facts of economic activity, for which standard unified forms of primary accounting documents are not provided, are approved when forming its accounting policy (clause 5 of PBU 1/98 “Accounting Policy of the Organization”; approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 09.12.98 No. 60n).
Such independently developed documents can be: reports and memos (substantiating the need for certain expenses for the business activities of the organization), defective statements and acts justifying the need for repair work, acts on entertainment expenses, etc.
Example 1 On September 27, 2004, Intkompleks LLC incurred expenses for entertainment expenses. To write off spent inventories, a primary document independently developed by the organization was used.
ACT No. 41
on the attribution of expenses to entertainment expenses
We, the undersigned, financial director Sludnov R.M., chief accountant Derzhavets N.V., head of department Rykov V.V., by this Act, confirm the expediency of classifying entertainment expenses associated with commercial activities, costs for organizing the reception of representatives of OJSC Pasat (Tula) .
The reception took place on September 27, 2004 at the office of Intcomplex LLC at the address: Moscow, Leningradsky Prospekt, 47, office. 410 in accordance with the Business Meeting Program approved on September 20, 2004.
During the meeting, issues regarding the further supply of products under agreement No. 25/04-k dated March 29, 2004 were discussed.
Meeting participants:
from OJSC "Pasat": general manager Bykov I.V., deputy director Sherankov D.Yu., head of department Murzin K.L., leading specialist Roman A.L.;
from Intkomplek LLC: general director Slukhov M. D., financial director Sludnov R. M., head of department Rykov V. V.,
The following supplies were consumed during the meeting:
| Sausage “Festive” - 278 gr | ||
| Pork boil – 198 gr | ||
| Wine and vodka products – Ararat cognac | ||
| Red fish “Salmon” - 264 gr | ||
| Coffee | ||
| Candy - 1 box. | ||
| 7. | Bakery products. | |
TOTAL: | RUR 415.00 |
Receipts confirming the purchase of the specified inventories are attached to advance report Surkova V.V. No. 98 dated 09.27.04. The costs were incurred within the budget attached to the Business Meeting Program.
During the reception process, an electric kettle “Tefal” was used with an initial cost of 980 rubles (accounted for as part of fixed assets), dishes worth 450 rubles. (accounted for as household supplies).
Financial Director ______________________ R. M. Sludnov
Chief accountant ______________________ N. V. Derzhavets
Head of Department ______________________ V.V. Rykov
___________________
End of example 1
Among the independently developed primary documents, it is necessary to mention the accounting certificate. For budgetary organizations form accounting certificate approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 30, 1999 No. 107n - form No. 433. Accountants of commercial organizations can also use this form. However, nothing prevents the organization from developing a more convenient form based on it.
Note that accounting is forced to refer to this document quite often. Any corrective entry in the accounting accounts, various calculations, ranging from the calculation of monthly depreciation amounts to the accrual of taxes, penalties, fines, recalculation tax obligations etc. must be issued with such a certificate.
Example 2 When conducting an inventory of goods in September 2004, Intkompleks LLC identified a shortage of goods in the amount of 5,300 rubles. The commission found the organization's employee guilty of the shortage. Sokolnik V.P., who bore full financial responsibility, voluntarily agreed to compensate for the damage from her wages(her salary is 10,500 rubles)
In accordance with the requirements of the tax authorities, the VAT previously accepted for deduction on the missing goods is 954 rubles. (RUB 5,300 x 18%) is being restored. This value increases the amount of the shortage to 6254 rubles. (5300 + 954).
The administration decided to withhold the amount due for three months, taking into account the limitation established by Article 138 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
In September and October, the maximum possible amount is withheld from the employee’s salary - 2,100 rubles. (RUB 10,500 x 20%), in November - the remainder - RUB 2,054. (6254 – 2100 – 2100) .
The type of prepared accounting statement is presented below.
Organization LLC "Intcomplex"
ACCOUNTING REPORT No. 17
date of compilation
Debt accrual Sokolnik V.P. for shortage of goods and deduction of due
reason for issuing the certificate, justification for accounting entries
Amounts _________________________________
calculations of amounts reflected in accounting accounts
accounting entry |
||||||
| 1 | 22.09.04 | The cost of missing goods is reflected | ||||
| 2 | 22.09.04 | VAT on shortage of goods has been restored | ||||
| 3 | 22.09.04 | Recovered VAT is included in the amount of the shortfall | ||||
| 4 | 22.09.04 | Employee debt accrued | ||||
| 5 | 22.09.04 | |||||
| 6 | 29.10.04 | Partially repaid the debt | ||||
| 7 | 30.11.04 | The debt has been repaid in full | ||||
Accountant _________________ V.V. Serikova
signature signature decryption
Chief accountant _________________ N.V. Sovereign
signature signature decryption
____________________________
End of example 2
With introduction tax accounting The importance of accounting information has increased. Together with other primary documents, the accounting certificate is the basis for making entries in the analytical tax accounting registers (Article 313 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Forms for tax accounting
When calculating income tax, income received is reduced by the amount of expenses incurred that meet the requirements provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Among them, documentary evidence of costs is also mentioned. In this case, documented expenses mean expenses confirmed by documents drawn up in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
Tax accounting data can be confirmed by primary accounting documents (including an accountant’s certificate), analytical tax accounting registers and calculations tax base(Article 313 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
The concept of “primary accounting document” is not specifically disclosed by the legislator in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Therefore, based on the norm of paragraph 1 of Article 11 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which establishes that the institutions, concepts and terms of civil, family and other branches of legislation of the Russian Federation used in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation are applied in the meaning in which they are used in these branches of legislation (unless otherwise provided for by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), the primary documents used in tax accounting must comply with the requirements for them in accounting.
This was confirmed by tax officials in Methodical recommendations on the application of Chapter 25 “corporate income tax” Tax Code Russian Federation (approved by order of the Ministry of Taxes and Taxes of Russia dated December 20, 2002 No. BG-3-02/729). The document states that the procedure for preparing primary documents is provided for by the regulatory legal acts of the relevant executive authorities. These bodies, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, are given the right to approve the procedure for drawing up and forms of primary documents used to formalize business transactions.
Therefore, the use of standard unified forms of primary accounting documentation, approved by the relevant resolutions of the State Statistics Committee of Russia in 1997-2004, or independently developed by the taxpayer of primary documents that meet the requirements of the law on accounting, when recording expenses incurred, will allow the taxpayer to take them into account in expenses that reduce income received when calculating income tax.
However, the standard unified form of the primary accounting document used in accounting will not always allow taking into account all the necessary data for tax accounting. In this case, additional lines and columns can be added to the form to reflect the missing indicators.
Example 3 When accounting for a fixed asset item in depreciable property, standard interindustry form No. OS-6 “ Inventory card accounting of fixed assets" (approved by Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated January 27, 2003 No. 7), does not contain information:
If the useful life of a fixed asset in tax accounting differs from the useful life determined for accounting purposes, then it must also be indicated.
With a non-linear depreciation method, data is also required on:
Consequently, the organization needs to modify the card accordingly or independently develop an additional analytical tax accounting register that provides for entering the mentioned data.
__________________________
End of example 3
The absence of a primary document in tax accounting is classified as a gross violation of the rules for accounting for income and expenses, as well as objects of taxation (Article 120 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Gross violation of the rules for accounting for income and expenses and objects of taxation, if committed within one tax period, in the absence of signs tax offense entails a fine of 5,000 rubles. If the tax base was underestimated, then the fine will be 10% of the amount of unpaid tax, but not less than 15,000 rubles.
Vladimir ULYANOV
Auditor
1. Why are primary accounting documents needed and what will happen if they are missing.
2. What to consider when developing your own forms of primary documents.
3. In what cases is the use of unified forms mandatory?
As is known, the current law on accounting (No. 402-FZ) does not contain requirements for the mandatory use of unified forms of primary accounting documents. That is, organizations and entrepreneurs are given the right to independently develop forms of primary documents, taking into account their needs and characteristics of their activities. However, such a right hides many pitfalls. For example, all primary documents, including those independently developed, must meet certain requirements, and some documents must be drawn up only according to unified forms due to other federal laws. It is necessary to know about such nuances of drawing up primary documents both when drawing up your own documents and when accepting documents from counterparties, because primary accounting documents are the foundation on which not only accounting, but also tax accounting is built. How to make this foundation reliable - we’ll figure it out in this article.
Why are primary accounting documents needed?
To begin with, let's remember why primary accounting documents are needed in principle, and why it is so important to pay attention to the correctness of their execution. As stated in Law No. 402-FZ, Every fact of economic life must be documented in a primary accounting document(Part 1, Article 9). In this case, a fact of economic life is understood as any event, operation, transaction that has or may have an impact on the financial condition of an economic entity, the financial result of its activities and (or) cash flow. Facts of economic life include, for example, the acquisition of a fixed asset and the calculation of depreciation on it, the calculation of wages and salaries to employees, etc. Thus, virtually all accounting records must be based on the relevant primary accounting documents.
In tax accounting, primary documents also play an important role: according to the provisions of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, justified and documented expenses of the taxpayer are recognized as expenses. That is the presence of primary accounting documents is one of the grounds for recognizing expenses and, accordingly, to calculate the tax base for income tax (or according to the simplified tax system “income-expenses”).
The absence of primary documents is considered by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation as a gross violation of the rules for accounting for income and expenses, objects of taxation, for which a fine is provided (Article 120 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):
- from 10 to 30 thousand rubles. – if the lack of primary documents did not lead to an understatement of the tax base;
- from 40 thousand rubles. up to 20% of the amount of unpaid tax - if the lack of documents led to an underestimation of the tax base.
In addition, the absence of primary documents may serve as a basis for bringing officials to administrative responsibility for gross violation of accounting rules and the presentation of financial statements in the form of a fine of 2 to 3 thousand rubles. (Article 15.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation). A gross violation of the rules of accounting and presentation of financial statements is considered:
- understatement of accrued taxes and fees by at least 10% due to distortion of accounting data;
- distortion of any article (line) of the financial reporting form by at least 10%.
From all of the above, two main conclusions follow:
1. primary accounting documents must be available;
2. primary accounting documents must be properly prepared.
If everything is clear with the first requirement, then the second, concerning the correct execution of primary accounting documents, should be discussed in more detail. The fact is that, in accordance with the current Law “On Accounting” No. 402-FZ, the forms of primary documents used are determined by the head of the economic entity himself on the recommendation of the official who is entrusted with accounting (clause 4 of Article 9 of Law No. 402 -FZ). The following options for establishing the forms of primary documents are possible:
- use of unified forms of primary documents;
- use of independently developed forms of primary documents (completely independently developed, or created by making changes to unified forms);
- It is also possible to combine these two options for different documents. For example, the use of independently developed forms of an accounting certificate and an act for writing off materials and unified forms of all other documents.
! Whatever option for using the forms of primary documents is chosen, it must be reflected either in the accounting policy itself for accounting and tax accounting purposes, or in a separate order. At the same time, independently developed forms of primary accounting documents are usually given in the appendix, but if unified forms are used, a link is made to the corresponding document (Resolution of the State Statistics Committee). If the used forms of primary accounting documents are not approved by the head, then in the event of an inspection, inspectors may consider that the documents were drawn up in an unspecified form, that is, in violation of the law, and, accordingly, are not the basis for accepting expenses.
Self-developed forms of primary accounting documents
When developing your own forms of primary accounting documents, two options are possible:
- completely independently developed form;
- a form developed based on an existing unified form (for example, by removing or adding details).
In any case, the resulting form of the primary accounting document must contain the following: required details, established by Part 2 of Art. 9 of Law No. 402-FZ:
- name and date of preparation of the document;
- name of the economic entity that compiled the document;
- content of the fact of economic life;
- natural value and (or) monetary measurement fact of economic life indicating units of measurement;
- signatures, surnames (with initials), as well as positions of the persons who made the transaction, operation and those responsible for its execution, or the persons responsible for the execution of the accomplished event. The list of persons authorized to sign primary accounting documents, as well as the forms of documents, must be approved by the manager.
! Please note: Law No. 402-FZ does not include affixing a seal on the primary document as a mandatory requirement. Therefore, including this detail in the document form or not is the choice of the organization itself. For organizations that have refused to use a round seal (this right is granted by Federal Law No. 82-FZ dated April 6, 2015), it is advisable to exclude this detail from all used forms of primary accounting documents.
For some documents the following the list of required details can be expanded in accordance with other regulations. For example, a waybill must necessarily contain the following details (clause 3 of Order of the Ministry of Transport of Russia dated September 18, 2008 No. 152):
- name and number of the waybill;
- information about the validity period of the waybill;
- information about the owner (holder) of the vehicle;
- information about the vehicle;
- driver information.
Thus, developing your own forms of primary accounting documents requires in-depth knowledge and analysis of current legislation. Therefore, in some cases it is preferable to use ready-made forms. For example, the form of a universal transfer document recommended by the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation (Letter No. ММВ-20-3/96@ dated 10/21/2013). This document combines the details of the primary accounting document for the transfer of material assets, as well as the details of the invoice, and therefore can be used both for accounting purposes and for tax accounting purposes (for the purpose of calculating VAT). In addition to the universal transfer document, the Federal Tax Service of Russia has also developed a recommended form of a universal adjustment document, which is drawn up in the event of a change in the cost of delivery after shipment (Letter No. ММВ-20-15/86@ dated 10/17/2014). The fact that the organization has decided to use the UPD and UCD forms must be enshrined in the accounting policy or in a separate order of the manager.
Unified forms
Law No. 402-FZ does not contain a mandatory requirement to use unified forms of primary accounting documents, but at the same time does not contain a ban on their use. Therefore, an economic entity has the right to use unified forms of those documents for which they are established. The use of unified forms has a number of advantages:
- unified forms are familiar to most counterparties, so their use will avoid questions and misunderstandings when processing transactions;
- Accounting software typically focuses on the use of standardized forms. The implementation of independently developed forms will require additional costs for setting up programs.
In addition, replacing all unified forms with independently developed ones is risky, since forms of primary accounting documents established by authorized bodies in accordance with federal laws and on their basis are still mandatory for use (Information of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation No. PZ-10/2012 to the Federal Law No. 402-FZ). Such documents include, for example, registration documents. Directive of the Bank of Russia dated March 11, 2014 No. 3210-U “On the procedure for conducting cash transactions by legal entities and the simplified procedure for conducting cash transactions by individual entrepreneurs and small businesses” provides for the use of the following unified forms:
- incoming and outgoing cash orders (forms No. KO-1 and KO-2);
- cash book (form No. KO-4);
- book of accounting of funds accepted and issued by the cashier (form No. KO-5);
- settlement and payment statements (forms No. T-49 and T-53).
Thus, cash transactions must be formalized with documents drawn up according to unified forms approved by Resolutions of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation dated August 18, 1998 No. 88, dated January 5, 2004 No. 1.
Particular care must be taken when developing personnel documents, as well as documents on labor accounting and payment, and, if possible, use unified forms of such documents. This is due to the fact that personnel documents and labor accounting documents must meet the requirements of labor legislation, which do not always coincide with the requirements of Law No. 402-FZ: starting from the composition of the details (for example, a time sheet, an employee’s personal card, etc. .) and ending with the form of the document (the Labor Code of the Russian Federation does not provide for the preparation of personnel documents in electronic form).
So, in this article we recalled the importance of primary accounting documents for accounting and tax accounting, and also made sure that in the case of primary documents, “form matters.” To summarize, let us once again briefly formulate main conclusions:
- Each fact of economic life must be documented in a primary accounting document.
- The form of the primary accounting document must contain the mandatory details established by Law No. 402-FZ, and in some cases - details established by other regulations.
- The forms of primary accounting documents used must be approved by the manager in the accounting policy or in a separate order - this applies to both independently developed forms and unified ones.
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Regulatory framework
- Tax Code of the Russian Federation
- Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation
- Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting”
- Federal Law of April 6, 2015 No. 82-FZ “On Amendments to Certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation regarding the abolition of the mandatory seal of business companies"
- Directive of the Bank of Russia dated March 11, 2014 No. 3210-U “On the procedure for conducting cash transactions by legal entities and the simplified procedure for conducting cash transactions by individual entrepreneurs and small businesses”
- Order of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation dated September 18, 2008 No. 152 “On approval of mandatory details and the procedure for filling out waybills”
- Information of the Ministry of Finance of Russia No. PZ-10/2012 “On the entry into force on January 1, 2013 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting”
- Letters from the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation
- dated October 21, 2013 No. ММВ-20-3/96@
- dated 10/17/2014 No. ММВ-20-15/86@
Find out how to read the official texts of these documents in the section
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