Do I need to approve accounting policies every year?

Why is accounting policy needed?

An accounting policy is a document in which an organization consolidates the chosen methods of accounting. Those that take into account the specifics of its activities.

The accounting policy requirements are specified in paragraph 6 of PBU 1/2008. Among them, for example:

• a complete reflection of all factors of economic activity, that is, all transactions without exception must be reflected in accounting;

• timely accounting of transactions, that is, they must be shown in the periods in which they were completed;

• priority of the economic content of the facts of economic activity over their legal form. For example, operations related to the acceptance and transfer of a leased property must be reflected in accounting, regardless of the date of state registration of the lease agreement (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-Western District dated February 25, 2005 No. A42-6647/03-20).

The regulatory side of the issue

Accounting policies must be drawn up in each company, regardless of the types and scale of its activities, the number of employees, the applied taxation system and other conditions.

It is important to note that the accounting policy includes two parts: tax and accounting UP. At the same time, the need to formulate a tax accounting policy is regulated by Article 313 of the Tax Code, and its accounting part - by the Law on Accounting dated December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ (clause

5–6 tbsp. and PBU 1/2008 “Accounting policy of the organization” (Order of the Ministry of Finance dated October 6, 2008 No. 106n).

Many specialists, who are particularly scrupulous about the formation of accounting policies, draw up separate documents for their company, one of them relates to tax accounting, and the other to accounting. However, there are no legal acts in the legislation that would impose such strict requirements. Therefore, the organization has the right to draw up one accounting policy, in which separate sections should be created for the accounting process for tax and accounting purposes.

It is also worth paying attention to the fact that Article 313 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation clearly states the requirements for the tax part of the management program, which must be approved by order or directive of the head of the company. For accounting policies, similar requirements are reflected in PBU 1/2008

At the same time, the law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ focuses more on the methods of accounting in the company.

But in neither case, the above legislative acts contain mandatory requirements for the annual approval of the management program.

Composition of accounting policies

Accounting policies should include:

• working chart of accounts;

• forms of primary documents;

• accounting registers;

• forms of documents for internal accounting reporting (if the organization plans to prepare it);

• inventory procedure;

• methods for assessing assets and liabilities;

• document flow procedures, accounting information processing technology;

• the procedure for monitoring business operations;

• other elements and principles influencing the organization of accounting.

Such rules are established by paragraph 4 of PBU 1/2008.

Transport costs in accounting policies

Transport costs can be accounted for in the following ways:

• Including the cost of inventory;
• Considering separately.

When drawing up accounting policies, you also need to rely on the accountant's program. If the program does not provide settings for accounting for transportation costs, then the arrival of the delivery must be accompanied by certain actions.

For example, the accounting policy contains a provision that delivery is included in the cost of inventory. In this case, expenses will be reflected in the program as a separate document.

Inventory can also be accounted for in a separate account. At the same time, costs at the end of the month will be written off in proportion to the cost of inventories transferred to production during the month. In the program, goods and materials will be processed through receipt, and delivery costs will be recorded in a separate receipt document.

Who should develop accounting policies

The accounting policy is developed by the chief accountant or another employee responsible for accounting in the organization (for example, a manager). The accounting policy is approved by the head of the organization. This is stated in paragraph 4 of PBU 1/2008.

An order for approval of accounting policies can be drawn up in any form.

Situation: is an organization applying the simplification required to develop accounting policies for accounting purposes?

Yes, I must.

Organizations using the simplified system are required to keep accounting records in full (Article 2, 6 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ). Therefore, an organization applying the simplification is obliged to develop and approve an accounting policy for accounting purposes. Such conclusions can be drawn from the provisions of paragraphs 1–3 of PBU 1/2008 and Article 8 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ.

Is it still necessary to approve the accounting policy every year?

Thus, legislative and regulatory acts do not contain requirements for approval of accounting policies every calendar year.

The decision to approve the accounting policy for the new calendar reporting year is made by the entity itself. The company organization independently establishes and consolidates the procedure for approving accounting policies either annually or as necessary.

When making this decision, the subject must take into account the following facts:

If certain facts arise, the accounting policy will need to be reviewed in full, for example, a decision was made to categorically change either tax or accounting accounting.

When making changes to the accounting policy, you must:

1.Prepare a text that contains changes explaining the reasons for the changes;

2.Set the date from which the relevant changes will take effect;

When and how often to approve accounting policies

The newly created organization and those that emerged as a result of the reorganization must approve the accounting policy within 90 days from the date of state registration. This document must be applied from the moment the new organization (successor organization) is created. This procedure is established by paragraph 2 of clause 9 of PBU 1/2008. At the same time, there are no penalties for violating the deadlines for approving accounting policies.

The adopted accounting policy can and should be applied consistently from year to year (Part 5 of Article 8 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ). That is, there is no need to approve a new document every year.

The organization's accounting policies must be changed every year

It is not true. Change accounting policies as necessary. To do this, it is not necessary to approve a new accounting policy annually. It is enough to make additions or changes to the current accounting policy by issuing an appropriate order.

Of course, if you wish, you can approve the accounting policy every year. In this case, the approval date must be no later than December 31 of the previous year. For example, the accounting policy for 2017 should be approved before December 31, 2021 inclusive. That is, the approval date must be exactly December 31 or earlier.

But let us repeat once again - it is enough to draw up an accounting policy once when creating an organization, and then only make additions or changes.

Selecting accounting methods

The accounting policy establishes accounting methods selected from several provided by law. The list of possible options from which you need to choose one is presented in the table. If the law specifies the only method of accounting for specific transactions, then it is not necessary to indicate it in the accounting policy.

However, regulatory documents do not provide accounting methods for all transactions. In this case, develop your own methodology based on the provisions of other PBUs or IFRS rules.

This procedure is provided for in paragraph 7 of PBU 1/2008.

Organizations that belong to the category of micro-enterprises or non-profit organizations can conduct accounting using a simple system (without using double entry) or in a general manner - using the double entry method. Therefore, such organizations can choose to maintain their records. They must register their choice in the accounting policy. This procedure is provided for in paragraph 6.1 of PBU 1/2008 and part 4 of article 6 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ.

Situation: is it possible in the accounting policy for accounting purposes to establish different valuation methods for different groups of inventories?

Yes, you can.

For each group (type) of inventories, the organization has the right to choose the most convenient way to evaluate them upon disposal (write-off for production) (clause 16 of PBU 5/01). Each of the selected methods in relation to each group of inventories must be fixed in the accounting policy for accounting purposes (clause 7 of PBU 1/2008).

Information about accounting policies in reporting

Information about accounting policies must be disclosed in the Notes to the Balance Sheet and the Statement of Financial Results. There you will also need to provide information about the changed accounting policy.

Thus, having updated the accounting policy in the reporting year, the following information must be disclosed in the Explanations to the Balance Sheet and the Financial Results Report:

• the reason for the change;

• content of updated or new items;

• the order in which the consequences of changes in accounting policies will be reflected in the financial statements (retrospectively or prospectively);

• the amount of adjustments associated with changes in accounting policies for each item in the financial statements for each of the reporting periods presented;

• the amount of the corresponding adjustment relating to reporting periods prior to those presented in the financial statements, to the extent practicable.

This procedure is provided for in paragraph 21 of PBU 1/2008.

At the same time, changes in accounting policies that have had or are capable of having a significant impact on the financial position of the organization, the financial results of its activities and (or) cash flows must be shown separately in the financial statements (clause 16 of PBU 1/2008).

Changes to accounting policies in 2021

There is no direct obligation to review accounting policies annually. This is the right of the organization. But due to the fact that many legislative changes have been adopted that come into force on January 1, 2021, the accounting policy for 2021 should be reviewed and updated.

Innovations from 2021

A new restriction has been introduced when switching from a linear to a non-linear method of depreciation of fixed assets - no more than once every 5 years. Until January 1, 2021, the five-year moratorium was valid only for the transition from non-linear to linear. From 2021 - any change in the depreciation method - no more often than after 5 years.

From January 1, 2021, the following changes have been made to the depreciation procedure:

• Depreciation on fixed assets transferred for free use cannot be recognized as expenses that reduce the tax base for income tax.
• The useful life of the object will not be extended for a period of conservation of more than 3 months. For a conservation period of more than 3 months, fixed assets are excluded from depreciable property.

These are direct provisions of the Tax Code - mandatory rules. They need to be taken into account in the work, but there is no need to include them in the accounting policy.

The horizon for applying the investment income tax deduction has been expanded:

• deductions are allowed for fixed assets of 8-10 depreciation groups (except for buildings, structures, transmission devices). Currently it only applies to 3-7 groups;
• The list of expenses that can be covered by deductions has been expanded: up to 100% of the amount of expenses for the creation of transport and utility infrastructure facilities and no more than 80% of the amount of expenses for the creation of social infrastructure objects. Provided that the creation of these objects is provided for in an agreement on the comprehensive development of the territory for the construction of standard housing.

The 50% limitation on the carry forward of losses from previous years has been extended until December 31, 2021.

If for 2021 you decide to change the procedure for making advance payments for income tax - based on actual profits, monthly or quarterly advance payments for income tax - this should be reflected in your accounting policies. If the procedure does not change from January 1, 2020, no changes need to be made.

Accounting policy and accounting program

Some companies do not pay special attention to accounting policies and use the developed templates annually. In addition, such organizations also do not make changes to legislation. A customized accounting program based on such an accounting policy will generate transactions using outdated algorithms. It is also a common situation when changes have been made to the policy, but not to the program. This accounting error is one of the most common. The consequences of such an error are quite serious; the company may face significant fines.

Discrepancies most often occur during verification:

• Direct expenses, namely the procedure for writing them off;
• Method of inventory accounting;
• Write-off of transportation expenses.

Is it necessary to submit accounting policies to the Federal Tax Service?

All companies must have two accounting policies - accounting and tax. And businessmen have only tax accounting policies. Entrepreneurs do not need accounting, since they do not necessarily maintain accounting.

The service on our website “Accounting Policy” will help you create an accounting policy in one minute. Our electronic assistant will make the accounting policy document flawless and include all the necessary provisions.

So, many accountants ask whether it is necessary to specifically submit accounting policies to the tax office? The answer is negative - no, it is not necessary. This is not provided for by the Tax Code.

Inspectors may only ask you for your accounting policies during an on-site inspection to simply find out what standards you use to keep records. And then you are obliged to provide them with this document. If it is not available or it is drawn up incorrectly (that is, it does not contain all the norms necessary for your work, which are clearly not provided for by law), the accountant may be fined for gross violation of accounting rules in the amount of 2,000 to 3,000 rubles. (Article 15.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

Therefore, if for some reason your accounting policy has not yet been drawn up for the current year 2015, correct it. Draw up a document that includes provisions for which the law gives you several accounting options to choose from. Or it generally suggests that you develop exclusively your own accounting procedure. The same policy may continue into 2021 if you issue an approval order accordingly. Namely, approve the document not for one specific year, but provide for the application of the policy from a specific date. However, do not set an end date for use. If necessary, make adjustments to the document for 2021.