Requirements for accounting

What accounting requirements must be met so that high-quality financial statements can be generated on its basis?

When preparing financial statements, companies must proceed from the fact that such statements must give a reliable picture of its financial position as of the reporting date, financial results and cash flows for the reporting period, which are necessary for users of these statements to make economic decisions (Article 13 of the Federal Law dated December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting”).

The preparation of financial statements begins with checking the correctness of the generated turnovers and balances in the accounting accounts.

And in order for financial statements to be reliable, it is necessary to comply with accounting requirements. After all, if the turnover is formed in accordance with the current accounting standards and accounting policies of the company, and the accounting program provides the necessary detail (analytics) of the accounts, then the preparation of financial statements is, in fact, a technical work.

Important! In many 1C software products there is an express check of accounting and analysis of the state of accounting. One of the purposes of such checks is to analyze accounting results, the presence of account balances that must be distributed, etc.

However, in a number of non-standard, complex business transactions, it would be useful for an accountant to trace the movement in the accounts of synthetic and analytical accounting and evaluate the correctness of the formation of the corresponding line of accounting statements.

How to do accounting?

Companies keep accounting records of property, liabilities and business transactions (facts of economic life) by double entry on interconnected accounting accounts.

Accounting registers are used to systematize and accumulate information contained in primary accounting documents accepted for accounting, for reflection in accounting accounts and in accounting (financial) statements.

The procedure for reflecting individual facts of economic life in accounting is established by federal and industry accounting standards, as well as by company methodological documents.

All transactions carried out in the company are documented by supporting documents drawn up in accordance with the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation on accounting. These documents serve as primary accounting documents on the basis of which accounting is maintained and the company's accounting (financial) statements are compiled.

Data contained in primary accounting documents (accounting objects) are subject to timely registration and accumulation in accounting registers.

Omissions or withdrawals are not allowed when registering accounting objects in accounting registers, as well as registration of imaginary and feigned accounting objects in accounting registers. An imaginary accounting object is understood as a non-existent object reflected in accounting only for appearance (including unrealized expenses, non-existent obligations, facts of economic life that did not take place). A sham accounting object is understood as an object reflected in accounting instead of another object in order to cover it up (including sham transactions recognized as such in accordance with clause 2 of Article 170 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Reserves, estimated liabilities, funds provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation, and the costs of their creation are not imaginary objects of accounting.

Such requirements for accounting are established in Part 3 of Art. 6, parts 2 and 3 art. 10, part 2 art. 12 of Law No. 402-FZ.

Important! Micro-enterprises and non-profit organizations have the right to conduct accounting using a simple system (that is, without using double entry), having prescribed such a procedure in the accounting policy (clause 6.1 of PBU 1/2008, part 4 of article 6 of Law No. 402-FZ).

Starting from 2013, the forms of primary accounting documents used (with the exception of government organizations) are determined by the head of the economic entity (clause 4 of article 9 of Law No. 402-FZ). These can be unified forms or your own, developed in compliance with the mandatory details of the primary documents. Before this date, when using unified forms, it was impossible to delete the existing details of such documents; it was only possible to supplement the form with new lines or columns.

At the same time, as practice shows, few economic entities have abandoned the use of the usual unified forms for which most accounting software products are designed.

And only for registration of business transactions for which unified forms of primary accounting documents are not provided, companies independently develop the necessary forms of documents, which are approved by separate administrative documents for the company (usually an appendix to the company’s accounting policy).

For example, to account for production costs, a route sheet is used, which is generated in the software product “1C: Enterprise 8.3” and contains the following information:

• Order number;
• division carrying out order fulfillment;
• basis of order (specification number).

Primary accounting documents can be compiled electronically using an electronic signature in the prescribed manner. A primary accounting document drawn up in electronic form can be accepted for accounting only if it is signed with the electronic signature of the responsible persons in compliance with the requirements and conditions of Art. 6 of the Federal Law “On Electronic Signature” dated April 6, 2011 No. 63-FZ.

A primary accounting document signed with a non-qualified electronic signature can be accepted for accounting if the use of such a signature is provided for by agreement of the parties (Letter of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation dated November 24, 2011 No. ED-4-3 / [email protected] ).

Liability for non-compliance

So, we figured out what the basic requirements for accounting are. But what can happen to those who do not comply with them? Administrative liability for gross violation of the rules of accounting and reporting is established by Article 5.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. The note to this article states that such a violation is considered:

• distortion of accounting data, which led to an understatement of the amount of tax or fee by more than 10%;
• distortion of any data from the reporting form by at least 10%;
• maintaining accounting accounts outside the applicable registers;
• registration in accounting registers or primary documents of a fact of economic life, an imaginary object that did not take place in reality or a feigned (imaginary) object;
• absence of primary accounting documents, and (or) registers, and (or) accounting (financial) statements, and (or) audit report on accounting. (financial) statements (if an audit of accounting (financial) statements is mandatory) within the established retention periods;
• reporting not based on accounting data.

For this offense, company officials may be subject to an administrative fine in the amount of 5,000 to 10,000 rubles. However, if the accountant managed to notice and correct his mistake before the audit by submitting an updated report to the relevant authorized body (Federal Tax Service or Rosstat), then he is released from liability.

Legal documents

• Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402
• Article 5.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation

Who is completely exempt from accounting?

Completely exempt from accounting:

• an individual entrepreneur (if he keeps records of income or income and expenses and (or) other objects of taxation or physical indicators in the manner established by Russian tax legislation);
• A branch, representative office or other structural unit of a company located on the territory of Russia, created in accordance with the legislation of a foreign state (if they keep records of income, expenses and (or) other objects of taxation in the manner established by tax legislation).

Such rules are established by clauses 1 and 2 of Article 6 of Law No. 402-FZ.

Regulatory regulation

The basics of organizing and maintaining accounting are enshrined in Federal Law No. 402 of December 6, 2011. In addition to Law No. 402-FZ, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation has developed and approved many instructions and regulations that regulate the specifics of accounting in economic entities of Russia. The key provision approved by the Ministry of Finance is Order No. 34n dated July 29, 1998 (as amended on March 29, 2017).

Both regulations establish a wide range of requirements for accounting, but their composition differs. Let us consider the provisions of the legal acts in more detail.

Who can do accounting in a simplified way?

“Kids” (small businesses) can do accounting in a simplified way.

However, the situation changes if the “kids” are subject to mandatory audit. In this case, the company is faced with the need to ensure the maintenance of accounting records in full, including the formation of differences between accounting and tax accounting in the accounting accounts (i.e., apply PBU 18/02, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated November 19, 2002. No. 114n), create a reserve for vacation pay (i.e. apply PBU 8/2010, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated December 13, 2010 No. 167), etc.

The simplified method can be used by organizations that have received the status of participants in the Skolkovo project and non-profit organizations (clause 4 and clause 5 of Article 6 of Law No. 402-FZ).

Modern accounting requirements

Let us define a detailed list of modern requirements and rules related to the organization and maintenance of accounting for domestic organizations:

1. Accounting must be carried out exclusively in the currency of the Russian Federation, namely rubles. Transactions made in foreign currency are subject to translation.
2. Accounting in an economic entity must be carried out continuously, from the moment of creation of the organization until the moment of its liquidation.
3. The head of the economic entity is responsible for the organization of accounting. Law No. 402-FZ determines that the manager has the right to conduct accounting independently.
4. To record transactions, the double entry method is used, in which the transaction amount is reflected simultaneously in two accounts - in the debit of one account and in the credit of the second.
5. Primary documents and accounting registers must contain the mandatory details regulated by Law No. 402-FZ. If the documentation is in a foreign language, such forms are subject to line-by-line translation.
6. Each business entity must develop and approve an accounting policy that reflects the key methods and principles of accounting, taking into account current legislation.

When drawing up an accounting policy, the company must be guided by the principles of completeness, priority of content over form, prudence and rationality, and the norms of the approved accounting policy cannot contradict the law. When changing the methods and methods of accounting or changing the regulatory framework, the accounting policy should be adjusted.

Legal documents

• Federal Law No. 402 of December 6, 2011
• Order No. 34n dated July 29, 1998

Entrust your accounting to professionals - specialists!

Errors and inattentive attitude of company management to accounting issues can lead to penalties. It is extremely important to either provide the staff with a sufficient number of specialists with the necessary experience, or, which is more reliable, simpler and more profitable for the manager, to transfer the solution of these tasks to a third party.

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Key accounting requirements

Thus, the second chapter of Law No. 402-FZ establishes the fundamental requirements for accounting:

1. A unified list of objects classified as accounting objects.
2. A list of economic entities required to maintain accounting records, as well as conditions that allow keeping records in a simplified form.
3. The fundamental principles of organizing accounting in terms of identifying responsible persons, their qualification level, education, etc.
4. Key rules for drawing up accounting policies.
5. Rules for compiling primary documentation and accounting registers, mandatory details and structure of documents.
6. The procedure for determining the monetary measurement of accounting objects.
7. Rules and frequency of inventory checks.
8. Basics of reporting and reporting.
9. Obligations to organize internal control of an economic entity.

At the same time, PBU 34n (Order of the Ministry of Finance dated July 29, 1998 No. 34n) includes the following as mandatory accounting requirements:

• mandatory use of the double entry method when recording business transactions;
• features and procedure for approving payment of bills for the organization;
• features of monetary valuation of accounting objects;
• key principles for the development and approval of accounting policies;
• requirements for maintaining separate accounting of current and capital expenditures;
• obligation to use the Russian language when preparing documentation and reporting.

Basic requirements for accounting and its tasks Accounting in all organizations, regardless of their form of ownership, is subject to the same requirements, regulated by various regulatory documents. Let's list the main ones. 1. The organization maintains accounting records of property, liabilities and business transactions by double entry on interrelated accounting accounts included in the working chart of accounts, which is approved by organizations on the basis of the chart of accounts. 2. Accounting for property, liabilities and business transactions of organizations is carried out in the currency of the Russian Federation - in rubles. Documentation of property, liabilities and other facts of economic activity, maintenance of accounting registers is carried out in Russian. 3. Compliance with the adopted accounting policies during the reporting year is mandatory for all organizations. This policy generally includes the following requirements: completeness; timeliness; prudence (avoid hidden reserves); priority of content over form (based not so much on the legal form, but on the economic content of the facts); consistency (equality of analytical accounting data with the turnover and balances of synthetic accounting accounts on the last calendar day of each month); rationality (rational accounting, based on the specifics of the activity and the size of the organization). 4. In accounting, current costs for production of products, performance of work and provision of services and costs associated with capital and financial investments are accounted for separately. 5. Property owned by an organization under proprietary rights is accounted for separately from the property of other legal entities owned by this organization. 6. Accounting is maintained by the organization continuously from the moment of its registration as a legal entity until reorganization or liquidation in the manner established by the legislation of the Russian Federation. 7. Responsibility for organizing accounting in organizations, providing financial statements, complying with legislation when carrying out business transactions, and ensuring mandatory audits in cases established by the legislation of the Russian Federation are borne by the heads of organizations.
Heads of organizations can, depending on the volume of accounting work: establish an accounting service as a structural unit headed by a chief accountant; add an accountant position to the staff; transfer on a contractual basis the maintenance of accounting to a centralized accounting department, a specialized organization or a specialist accountant; enter accounting in person. The manager is obliged to: create the necessary conditions for proper accounting; ensure compliance with the requirements of the chief accountant regarding the preparation and presentation of documents and information for accounting by all structural divisions and employees of the organization related to accounting.

The tasks of accounting include: • the formation of complete and reliable information about the activities of the organization and its property status, necessary both for internal users of financial statements - managers, founders, participants and owners of property of organizations, and external - investors, creditors, etc.; • providing information necessary for internal and external users of financial statements to monitor the organization’s compliance with the legislation of the Russian Federation when carrying out business operations and their expediency; use of material, labor and financial resources in accordance with approved norms, standards and estimates; • timely prevention of the emergence of negative phenomena in the financial and economic activities of organizations, identification and mobilization of intra-economic reserves and forecasting of the organization's performance for the current period and for the future; • promoting competition in the market in order to obtain and maximize profits.