Chapter 1. General provisions
Article 1. Purposes and subject matter of this Federal Law
1. The objectives of this Federal Law are to establish uniform requirements for accounting, including accounting (financial) reporting, as well as to create a legal mechanism for regulating accounting.
2. Accounting - the formation of documented, systematized information about the objects provided for by this Federal Law, in accordance with the requirements established by this Federal Law, and the preparation of accounting (financial) statements on its basis.
Article 2. Scope of this Federal Law
1. This Federal Law applies to the following persons (hereinafter referred to as economic entities):
1) commercial and non-profit organizations;
2) state bodies, local government bodies, management bodies of state extra-budgetary funds and territorial state extra-budgetary funds;
3) Central Bank of the Russian Federation;
4) individual entrepreneurs, as well as lawyers who have established law offices, notaries and other persons engaged in private practice (hereinafter referred to as persons engaged in private practice);
5) branches, representative offices and other structural divisions of organizations established in accordance with the legislation of foreign states, international organizations, their branches and representative offices located on the territory of the Russian Federation, unless otherwise provided by international treaties of the Russian Federation.
2. This Federal Law is applied when maintaining budgetary accounting of assets and liabilities of the Russian Federation, constituent entities of the Russian Federation and municipalities, operations that change these assets and liabilities, as well as when preparing budget reporting.
3. This Federal Law applies when a trustee maintains accounting records of property transferred to him for trust management and related accounting items, as well as when maintaining, including by one of the legal entities participating in a simple partnership agreement, accounting for the common property of partners and related accounting objects.
4. This Federal Law is applied when maintaining accounting records in the process of implementing a production sharing agreement, unless otherwise established by Federal Law No. 225-FZ of December 30, 1995 “On Production Sharing Agreements.”
5. This Federal Law does not apply when creating information necessary for the preparation by an economic entity of reporting for internal purposes, reporting submitted to a credit organization in accordance with its requirements, as well as reporting for other purposes, if the legislation of the Russian Federation and the rules adopted in accordance with it the preparation of such reports does not provide for the application of this Federal Law.
Article 3. Basic concepts used in this Federal Law
For the purposes of this Federal Law, the following basic concepts are used:
1) accounting (financial) statements - information on the financial position of an economic entity as of the reporting date, the financial result of its activities and cash flows for the reporting period, systematized in accordance with the requirements established by this Federal Law;
2) authorized federal body - a federal executive body authorized by the Government of the Russian Federation to carry out the functions of developing state policy and legal regulation in the field of accounting and financial reporting;
3) accounting standard - a document establishing the minimum necessary requirements for accounting, as well as acceptable methods of accounting;
4) international standard - an accounting standard, the application of which is customary in international business, regardless of the specific name of such a standard;
5) chart of accounts - a systematic list of accounting accounts;
6) reporting period - the period for which accounting (financial) statements are prepared;
7) head of an economic entity - a person who is the sole executive body of an economic entity, or a person responsible for conducting the affairs of an economic entity, or a manager to whom the functions of the sole executive body have been transferred;
8) a fact of economic life - a transaction, event, operation that has or is capable of influencing the financial position of an economic entity, the financial result of its activities and (or) cash flow;
9) public sector organizations - state (municipal) institutions, state academies of sciences, state bodies, local governments, governing bodies of state extra-budgetary funds, governing bodies of territorial state extra-budgetary funds.
Article 4. Legislation of the Russian Federation on accounting
The legislation of the Russian Federation on accounting consists of this Federal Law, other federal laws and regulatory legal acts adopted in accordance with them.
Chapter 2. General requirements for accounting
Article 5. Accounting objects
The accounting objects of an economic entity are:
1) facts of economic life;
2) assets;
3) obligations;
4) sources of financing its activities;
5) income;
6) expenses;
7) other objects if this is established by federal standards.
Article 6. Obligation to maintain accounting records
1. An economic entity is obliged to keep accounting records in accordance with this Federal Law, unless otherwise established by this Federal Law.
2. Accounting in accordance with this Federal Law may not be maintained by:
1) an individual entrepreneur, a person engaged in private practice - if, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation on taxes and fees, they keep records of income or income and expenses and (or) other objects of taxation in the manner established by this legislation;
2) a branch, representative office or other structural unit of an organization established in accordance with the legislation of a foreign state located on the territory of the Russian Federation - if, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation on taxes and fees, they keep records of income and expenses and (or) other objects of taxation in the manner established by the specified legislation.
3. Accounting is maintained continuously from the date of state registration until the date of termination of activities as a result of reorganization or liquidation.
4. Organizations that have received the status of participants in a project to carry out research, development and commercialization of their results in accordance with Federal Law of September 8, 2010 N 244-FZ “On the Skolkovo Innovation Center” have the right to use simplified methods of accounting, including simplified accounting (financial) reporting established for small businesses.
Article 7. Organization of accounting
1. Accounting and storage of accounting documents are organized by the head of the economic entity.
2. If an individual entrepreneur or a person engaged in private practice maintains accounting records in accordance with this Federal Law, they themselves organize the maintenance of accounting records and storage of accounting documents, and also bear other responsibilities established by this Federal Law for the head of an economic subject.
3. The head of an economic entity, with the exception of a credit organization, is obliged to entrust accounting to the chief accountant or other official of this entity or to enter into an agreement for the provision of accounting services. The head of a credit institution is obliged to entrust accounting to the chief accountant. The head of a small and medium-sized enterprise can take charge of accounting.
4. In open joint-stock companies (except for credit organizations), insurance organizations and non-state pension funds, joint-stock investment funds, management companies of mutual investment funds, in other economic entities whose securities are admitted to trading on stock exchanges and (or) other organizers of trading on the securities market (except for credit organizations), in the management bodies of state extra-budgetary funds, in the management bodies of state territorial extra-budgetary funds, the chief accountant or other official entrusted with accounting must meet the following requirements:
1) have a higher professional education;
2) have work experience related to accounting, preparation of accounting (financial) statements or auditing activities for at least three years out of the last five calendar years, and in the absence of higher professional education in accounting and auditing - at least five years from the last seven calendar years;
3) do not have an unexpunged or outstanding conviction for crimes in the economic sphere.
5. Additional requirements for the chief accountant or other official responsible for maintaining accounting records may be established by other federal laws.
6. An individual with whom an economic entity enters into an agreement for the provision of accounting services must meet the requirements established by part 4 of this article. A legal entity with which an economic entity enters into an agreement for the provision of accounting services must have at least one employee who meets the requirements established by part 4 of this article, with whom an employment contract has been concluded.
7. The chief accountant of a credit organization must meet the requirements established by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
8. In the event of disagreements regarding accounting between the head of an economic entity and the chief accountant or other official entrusted with accounting, or the person with whom an agreement has been concluded for the provision of accounting services:
1) the data contained in the primary accounting document is accepted (not accepted) by the chief accountant or other official entrusted with accounting, or by the person with whom an agreement has been concluded for the provision of accounting services, for registration and accumulation in registers accounting by written order of the head of an economic entity, who is solely responsible for the information created as a result;
2) the accounting object is reflected (not reflected) by the chief accountant or other official entrusted with maintaining accounting records, or by a person with whom an agreement has been concluded for the provision of accounting services, in the accounting (financial) statements on the basis of a written order of the manager an economic entity that is solely responsible for the reliability of the presentation of the financial position of the economic entity as of the reporting date, the financial result of its activities and cash flows for the reporting period.
Article 8. Accounting policy
1. The set of methods for maintaining accounting by an economic entity constitutes its accounting policy.
2. An economic entity independently forms its accounting policy, guided by the legislation of the Russian Federation on accounting, federal and industry standards.
3. When forming an accounting policy in relation to a specific accounting object, the accounting method is selected from the methods allowed by federal standards.
4. If, in relation to a specific accounting object, federal standards do not establish an accounting method, such a method is independently developed based on the requirements established by the legislation of the Russian Federation on accounting, federal and (or) industry standards.
5. Accounting policies should be applied consistently from year to year.
6. Changes in accounting policies can be made under the following conditions:
1) changes in the requirements established by the legislation of the Russian Federation on accounting, federal and (or) industry standards;
2) development or selection of a new method of accounting, the use of which leads to an increase in the quality of information about the object of accounting;
3) a significant change in the conditions of activity of an economic entity.
7. In order to ensure comparability of accounting (financial) statements for a number of years, changes in accounting policies are made from the beginning of the reporting year, unless otherwise determined by the reason for such a change.
Article 9. Primary accounting documents
1. Each fact of economic life is subject to registration with a primary accounting document.
2. Mandatory details of the primary accounting document are:
1) name of the document;
2) date of preparation of the document;
3) the name of the economic entity that compiled the document;
5) the value of the natural and (or) monetary measurement of a fact of economic life, indicating the units of measurement;
6) the name of the position of the person (persons) who completed the transaction, operation and who is responsible (responsible) for the correctness of its execution, or the name of the position of the person (persons) responsible for the accuracy of the execution of the event;
7) signatures of the persons provided for in paragraph 6 of this part, indicating their surnames and initials or other details necessary to identify these persons.
3. The primary accounting document must be drawn up when a fact of economic life is committed, and if this is not possible, immediately after its completion.
4. The forms of primary accounting documents are approved by the head of the economic entity on the recommendation of the official responsible for maintaining accounting records. The forms of primary accounting documents for public sector organizations are established in accordance with the budget legislation of the Russian Federation.
5. The primary accounting document is drawn up on paper and (or) in the form of an electronic document signed with an electronic signature.
6. If the legislation of the Russian Federation or an agreement provides for the submission of a primary accounting document to another person or to a state body on paper, an economic entity is obliged, at the request of another person or government body, at its own expense, to make copies on paper of the primary accounting document drawn up in in the form of an electronic document.
7. Corrections are allowed in the primary accounting document, unless otherwise established by federal laws or regulatory legal acts of state accounting regulatory bodies. The correction in the primary accounting document must contain the date of the correction, as well as the signatures of the persons who compiled the document in which the correction was made, indicating their surnames and initials or other details necessary to identify these persons.
8. If, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, primary accounting documents, including in the form of an electronic document, are seized, copies of the seized documents, made in the manner established by the legislation of the Russian Federation, are included in the accounting documents.
Article 10. Accounting registers
1. Data contained in primary accounting documents are subject to timely registration and accumulation in accounting registers.
2. Omissions or withdrawals are not allowed when registering accounting items in accounting registers.
3. Accounting is carried out through double entry in the accounting accounts, unless otherwise established by federal standards.
4. Mandatory details of the accounting register are:
1) name of the register;
2) the name of the economic entity that compiled the register;
3) the start and end date of maintaining the register and (or) the period for which the register was compiled;
4) chronological and (or) systematic grouping of accounting objects;
5) the monetary measurement of accounting objects indicating the unit of measurement;
6) names of positions of persons responsible for maintaining the register;
7) signatures of the persons responsible for maintaining the register, indicating their surnames and initials or other details necessary to identify these persons.
5. The forms of accounting registers are approved by the head of an economic entity on the recommendation of the official responsible for maintaining accounting records. Forms of accounting registers for public sector organizations are established in accordance with the budget legislation of the Russian Federation.
6. The accounting register is compiled on paper and (or) in the form of an electronic document signed with an electronic signature.
7. If the legislation of the Russian Federation or an agreement provides for the presentation of the accounting register to another person or to a government body on paper, the economic entity is obliged, at the request of another person or government body, to make at its own expense on paper copies of the accounting register compiled in in the form of an electronic document.
8. Corrections in the accounting register that are not authorized by the persons responsible for maintaining the specified register are not allowed. A correction in the accounting register must contain the date of the correction, as well as the signatures of the persons responsible for maintaining this register, indicating their surnames and initials or other details necessary to identify these persons.
9. If, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, accounting registers are seized, including in the form of an electronic document, copies of the seized registers, made in the manner established by the legislation of the Russian Federation, are included in the accounting documents.
Article 11. Inventory of assets and liabilities
1. Assets and liabilities are subject to inventory.
2. During the inventory, the actual presence of the relevant objects is revealed, which is compared with the data of the accounting registers.
3. The cases, timing and procedure for conducting an inventory, as well as the list of objects subject to inventory, are determined by the economic entity, with the exception of the mandatory inventory. Mandatory inventory is established by the legislation of the Russian Federation, federal and industry standards.
4. Discrepancies identified during the inventory between the actual availability of objects and the data of the accounting registers are subject to registration in accounting in the reporting period to which the date as of which the inventory was carried out relates.
Article 12. Monetary measurement of accounting objects
1. Accounting objects are subject to monetary measurement.
2. Monetary measurement of accounting objects is carried out in the currency of the Russian Federation.
3. Unless otherwise established by the legislation of the Russian Federation, the cost of accounting items expressed in foreign currency is subject to conversion into the currency of the Russian Federation.
Article 13. General requirements for accounting (financial) reporting
1. Accounting (financial) statements must provide a reliable picture of the financial position of an economic entity as of the reporting date, the financial result of its activities and cash flows for the reporting period, necessary for users of these statements to make economic decisions.
2. An economic entity prepares annual accounting (financial) statements, unless otherwise established by other federal laws and regulations of state accounting regulatory bodies.
3. Annual accounting (financial) statements are prepared for the reporting year.
4. Interim accounting (financial) statements are prepared by an economic entity in cases established by the legislation of the Russian Federation and regulatory legal acts of state accounting regulatory bodies.
5. Interim accounting (financial) statements are prepared for a reporting period less than the reporting year.
6. Accounting (financial) statements must include performance indicators of all divisions of an economic entity, including its branches and representative offices, regardless of their location.
7. Accounting (financial) statements are prepared in the currency of the Russian Federation.
8. Accounting (financial) statements are considered prepared after signing a copy of it on paper by the head of the economic entity.
11. A trade secret regime cannot be established in relation to accounting (financial) statements.
12. Legal regulation of consolidated financial statements is carried out in accordance with this Federal Law, unless otherwise established by other federal laws.
Article 14. Composition of accounting (financial) statements
1. Annual accounting (financial) statements, except for cases established by this Federal Law, consist of a balance sheet, a statement of financial results and appendices thereto.
2. The annual accounting (financial) statements of a non-profit organization, with the exception of cases established by this Federal Law and other federal laws, consist of a balance sheet, a report on the intended use of funds and appendices thereto.
3. The composition of interim accounting (financial) statements, with the exception of cases established by this Federal Law, is established by federal standards.
4. The composition of the accounting (financial) statements of public sector organizations is established in accordance with the budget legislation of the Russian Federation.
5. The composition of the accounting (financial) statements of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation is established by Federal Law of July 10, 2002 N 86-FZ “On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia)”.
Article 15. Reporting period, reporting date
1. The reporting period for annual accounting (financial) statements (reporting year) is a calendar year - from January 1 to December 31 inclusive, with the exception of cases of creation, reorganization and liquidation of a legal entity.
2. The first reporting year is the period from the date of state registration of an economic entity to December 31 of the same calendar year inclusive, unless otherwise provided by this Federal Law and (or) federal standards.
3. If the state registration of an economic entity, with the exception of a credit organization, was carried out after September 30, the first reporting year is, unless otherwise established by the economic entity, the period from the date of state registration to December 31 of the calendar year following the year of its state registration , inclusive.
4. The reporting period for interim accounting (financial) statements is the period from January 1 to the reporting date of the period for which the interim accounting (financial) statements are prepared, inclusive.
5. The first reporting period for interim accounting (financial) statements is the period from the date of state registration of an economic entity to the reporting date of the period for which the interim accounting (financial) statements are prepared, inclusive.
6. The date on which accounting (financial) statements are prepared (reporting date) is the last calendar day of the reporting period, with the exception of cases of reorganization and liquidation of a legal entity.
Article 16. Features of accounting (financial) reporting during the reorganization of a legal entity
1. The last reporting year for a reorganized legal entity, with the exception of cases of reorganization in the form of merger, is the period from January 1 of the year in which the state registration of the last of the legal entities that emerged was carried out until the date of such state registration.
2. When reorganizing a legal entity in the form of merger, the last reporting year for a legal entity that merges with another legal entity is the period from January 1 of the year in which an entry was made in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities about the termination of the activities of the merged legal entity, until the date of its making.
3. The reorganized legal entity draws up the latest accounting (financial) statements as of the date preceding the date of state registration of the last of the legal entities that emerged (the date of entry into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities of the entry on the termination of the activities of the merged legal entity).
4. The latest accounting (financial) statements must include data on the facts of economic life that took place in the period from the date of approval of the transfer act (separation balance sheet) to the date of state registration of the last of the legal entities that emerged (the date of entry into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities of an entry on the termination activities of the affiliated legal entity).
5. The first reporting year for a legal entity resulting from a reorganization, with the exception of public sector organizations, is the period from the date of its state registration to December 31 of the year in which the reorganization took place, inclusive, unless otherwise established by federal standards.
6. A legal entity resulting from the reorganization, with the exception of public sector organizations, must draw up the first accounting (financial) statements as of the date of its state registration, unless otherwise established by federal standards.
7. The first accounting (financial) statements are prepared on the basis of the approved transfer act (separation balance sheet) and data on the facts of economic life that occurred in the period from the date of approval of the transfer act (separation balance sheet) to the date of state registration of legal entities arising as a result of the reorganization, for with the exception of public sector organizations (the date of entry into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities of the entry on the termination of the activities of the affiliated legal entity).
8. The procedure for preparing accounting (financial) statements of a public sector organization arising as a result of reorganization is established by the authorized federal body.
Article 17. Features of accounting (financial) reporting upon liquidation of a legal entity
1. The reporting year for a legal entity being liquidated is the period from January 1 of the year in which an entry about liquidation was made in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities until the date of making such an entry.
2. The latest accounting (financial) statements of a liquidated legal entity are drawn up by the liquidation commission (liquidator) or by the arbitration manager if the legal entity is being liquidated as a result of being declared bankrupt.
3. The latest accounting (financial) statements are prepared as of the date preceding the date of entry into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities of the entry on the liquidation of the legal entity.
4. The latest accounting (financial) statements are prepared on the basis of the approved liquidation balance sheet and data on the facts of economic life that occurred in the period from the date of approval of the liquidation balance sheet to the date of entry into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities of the liquidation of the legal entity.
Article 18. Mandatory copy of accounting (financial) statements
1. Economic entities obligated to prepare accounting (financial) statements, with the exception of public sector organizations and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, submit one legal copy of the annual accounting (financial) statements to the state statistics body at the place of state registration.
2. A mandatory copy of the prepared annual accounting (financial) statements is submitted no later than three months after the end of the reporting period.
3. Mandatory copies of accounting (financial) statements constitute a state information resource. Interested parties are provided with access to the specified state information resource, except for cases where, in the interests of maintaining state secrets, such access should be limited.
4. The procedure for submitting a legal copy of accounting (financial) statements, as well as the rules for use (including fees for use, unless otherwise provided by other federal laws) of the state information resource provided for in Part 3 of this article, are approved by the federal executive body exercising the functions of developing state policy and legal regulation in the field of state statistical activities.
Article 19. Internal control
1. An economic entity is obliged to organize and carry out internal control of the ongoing facts of economic life.
2. An economic entity, the accounting (financial) statements of which are subject to mandatory audit, is obliged to organize and exercise internal control over accounting and preparation of accounting (financial) statements (except for cases where its manager has assumed the responsibility for maintaining accounting records).
Chapter 3. Regulation of accounting
Article 20. Principles of accounting regulation
Accounting regulation is carried out in accordance with the following principles:
1) compliance of federal and industry standards with the needs of users of accounting (financial) statements, as well as the level of development of accounting science and practice;
2) unity of the system of accounting requirements;
3) simplification of accounting methods, including simplified accounting (financial) reporting, for small businesses and certain forms of non-profit organizations;
4) application of international standards as the basis for the development of federal and industry standards;
5) ensuring conditions for the uniform application of federal and industry standards;
6) the inadmissibility of combining powers to approve federal standards and state control (supervision) in the field of accounting.
Article 21. Documents in the field of accounting regulation
1. Documents in the field of accounting regulation include:
1) federal standards;
4) standards of an economic entity.
2. Federal and industry standards are mandatory for use, unless otherwise established by these standards.
3. Federal standards, regardless of the type of economic activity, establish:
1) definitions and characteristics of accounting objects, the procedure for their classification, conditions for accepting them for accounting and writing them off in accounting;
2) acceptable methods of monetary measurement of accounting objects;
3) the procedure for converting the cost of accounting items expressed in foreign currency into the currency of the Russian Federation for accounting purposes;
4) requirements for accounting policies, including determining the conditions for changing them, inventory of assets and liabilities, accounting documents and document flow in accounting, including types of electronic signatures used for signing accounting documents;
5) chart of accounts and the procedure for its application, with the exception of the chart of accounts for credit organizations and the procedure for its application;
6) composition, content and procedure for the formation of information disclosed in the accounting (financial) statements, including samples of forms of accounting (financial) statements, as well as the composition of appendices to the balance sheet and financial performance report and the composition of appendices to the balance sheet and financial statement targeted use of funds;
7) conditions under which accounting (financial) statements give a reliable picture of the financial position of an economic entity as of the reporting date, the financial result of its activities and cash flows for the reporting period;
8) the composition of the last and first accounting (financial) statements during the reorganization of a legal entity, the procedure for its preparation and the monetary measurement of objects in it;
9) the composition of the latest accounting (financial) statements upon liquidation of a legal entity, the procedure for its preparation and monetary measurement of objects in it;
10) simplified methods of accounting, including simplified accounting (financial) reporting, for small businesses.
4. Federal standards may establish special accounting requirements (including accounting policies, chart of accounts and the procedure for its application) of public sector organizations, as well as requirements for accounting of certain types of economic activities.
5. Industry standards establish the specifics of the application of federal standards in certain types of economic activity.
6. The chart of accounts for credit institutions and the procedure for its application are approved by the regulatory legal act of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
7. Recommendations in the field of accounting are adopted in order to correctly apply federal and industry standards, reduce the costs of organizing accounting, as well as disseminate best practices in organizing and maintaining accounting, the results of research and development in the field of accounting.
9. Recommendations in the field of accounting may be adopted regarding the procedure for applying federal and industry standards, forms of accounting documents, with the exception of those established by federal and industry standards, organizational forms of accounting, organization of accounting services of economic entities, accounting technology, organization procedure and the implementation of internal control of their activities and accounting, as well as the procedure for the development of standards by these persons.
11. The standards of an economic entity are intended to streamline the organization and maintain its accounting records.
12. The need and procedure for developing, approving, amending and canceling standards of an economic entity are established by this entity independently.
13. The standards of an economic entity are applied equally and equally by all divisions of an economic entity, including its branches and representative offices, regardless of their location.
14. An economic entity that has subsidiaries has the right to develop and approve its own standards, mandatory for use by such companies. The standards of the specified entity, mandatory for use by the main company and its subsidiaries, should not create obstacles for such companies to carry out their activities.
15. Federal and industry standards must not contradict this Federal Law. Industry standards should not conflict with federal standards. Recommendations in the field of accounting, as well as standards of an economic entity, should not contradict federal and industry standards.
16. Federal and industry standards, as well as the program for the development of federal standards, are approved by regulatory legal acts in the prescribed manner, taking into account the provisions of this Federal Law.
17. Documents for the organization and maintenance of accounting by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, including the chart of accounts and the procedure for its application, are approved in the manner established by the Federal Law of July 10, 2002 N 86-FZ "On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank Russia)".
Article 22. Subjects of accounting regulation
1. The state regulatory bodies for accounting in the Russian Federation are the authorized federal body and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
2. Regulation of accounting in the Russian Federation can also be carried out by self-regulatory organizations, including self-regulatory organizations of entrepreneurs, other users of accounting (financial) statements, auditors interested in taking part in the regulation of accounting, as well as their associations and unions and other non-profit organizations, pursuing the goals of developing accounting (hereinafter referred to as subjects of non-state regulation of accounting).
Article 23. Functions of state accounting regulatory bodies
1. Authorized federal body:
1) approves the program for the development of federal standards in the manner established by this Federal Law;
2) approves federal standards and, within its competence, industry standards and generalizes the practice of their application;
3) organizes the examination of draft accounting standards;
4) approves the requirements for the preparation of draft accounting standards;
5) participates in the prescribed manner in the development of international standards;
6) represents the Russian Federation in international organizations operating in the field of accounting and accounting (financial) reporting;
7) performs other functions provided for by this Federal Law and other federal laws.
2. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation, within its competence:
1) approves industry standards and generalizes the practice of their application;
2) participates in the preparation and coordinates the program for the development of federal standards;
3) participates in the examination of draft federal standards;
4) participates jointly with the authorized federal body in the prescribed manner in the development of international standards;
5) performs other functions provided for by this Federal Law and other federal laws.
Article 24. Functions of the subject of non-state regulation of accounting
Subject of non-state regulation of accounting:
1) develops draft federal standards, conducts a public discussion of these projects and submits them to the authorized federal body;
2) participates in the preparation of a program for the development of federal standards;
3) participates in the examination of draft accounting standards;
4) ensures compliance of the draft federal standard with the international standard on the basis of which the draft federal standard was developed;
6) develops proposals for improving accounting standards;
7) participates in the development of international standards.
Article 25. Accounting Standards Board
1. To conduct an examination of draft federal standards, a council on accounting standards is created under the authorized federal body.
2. The Accounting Standards Council conducts an examination of draft federal standards for:
1) compliance with the legislation of the Russian Federation on accounting;
2) compliance with the needs of users of accounting (financial) statements, as well as the level of development of accounting science and practice;
3) ensuring the unity of the system of accounting requirements;
4) ensuring conditions for the uniform application of federal standards.
3. State accounting regulatory bodies in the relevant field of economic activity have the right to send draft industry standards received by them for approval or developed by them to the accounting standards council for examination of such projects.
4. The examination of draft industry standards is carried out in the manner established for the examination of draft federal standards.
5. The composition of the accounting standards board includes:
1) 10 representatives of subjects of non-state regulation of accounting and the scientific community, of which at least three members are subject to rotation once every three years;
2) five representatives of state accounting regulatory bodies.
6. The composition of the accounting standards council is approved by the head of the authorized federal body. Proposals for candidates for members of the accounting standards council, with the exception of representatives of the authorized federal body, are submitted to the authorized federal body by subjects of non-state regulation of accounting, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, scientific organizations and higher educational institutions.
7. Candidates for members of the Accounting Standards Council must have a higher professional education, an impeccable business (professional) reputation and professional experience in the field of finance, accounting or auditing.
8. The Chairman of the Council for Accounting Standards is elected at the first meeting of the Council from representatives of non-state accounting regulation entities included in its composition. The Chairman of the Accounting Standards Board has at least two deputies.
9. The secretary of the accounting standards council is a representative of the authorized federal body from among the council members.
10. Meetings of the Accounting Standards Council are convened by its chairman, and in the absence of the chairman, by an authorized deputy chairman as necessary, but at least once every three months. A meeting is considered valid if at least two-thirds of the members of the accounting standards board are present.
11. Decisions of the accounting standards council are made by a simple majority of votes of the council members participating in its meeting.
12. Meetings of the Accounting Standards Board are open.
13. Information about the activities of the accounting standards board should be open and publicly available.
14. The regulations on the accounting standards board are approved by the authorized federal body. The regulations of the accounting standards board are independently approved by the board at its first meeting.
Article 26. Program for the development of federal standards
1. Federal standards are developed and approved in accordance with the program for the development of federal standards.
2. Bodies of state regulation of accounting and subjects of non-state regulation of accounting make proposals on the program for the development of federal standards to the authorized federal body.
3. The authorized federal body approves the program for the development of federal standards in agreement with the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
4. The program for the development of federal standards must be updated annually in order to ensure that federal standards comply with the needs of users of accounting (financial) statements with international standards, the level of development of accounting science and practice.
5. The authorized federal body ensures that the program for the development of federal standards is available to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, subjects of non-state regulation and other interested parties (hereinafter referred to as interested parties) for review.
6. The rules for preparing and clarifying the program for the development of federal standards are approved by the authorized federal body.
Article 27. Development and approval of federal standards
1. The developer of the federal standard (hereinafter referred to as the developer) can be any subject of non-state regulation of accounting.
2. Notification about the development of a federal standard is sent by the developer to the authorized federal body, published in a printed publication determined by the authorized federal body (hereinafter referred to as the printed publication), and posted on the official websites of the authorized federal body and the developer on the Internet information and telecommunications network (hereinafter referred to as - Internet").
3. No later than 10 working days after the date of publication of the notice on the development of a federal standard in a printed publication, the developer publishes the draft federal standard in a printed publication and places it on its official website on the Internet. The draft federal standard, posted on the official website of the developer on the Internet, should be available for review without charging a fee. The developer is obliged, at the request of the interested party, to provide him with a copy of the draft federal standard on paper. The fee charged by the developer for providing the specified copy on paper cannot exceed the costs of its production and shipment. There is no fee for providing this copy to state accounting regulatory bodies and non-state accounting regulatory entities.
4. From the date of publication of the draft federal standard in a printed publication, the developer conducts a public discussion of the federal standard. The period for public discussion of a draft federal standard cannot be less than three months after the day of publication of the said draft in a printed publication. Notification of the completion of the public discussion of the draft federal standard is sent by the developer to the authorized federal body, published in a printed publication and posted on the official websites of the authorized federal body and the developer on the Internet.
5. During the period of public discussion of the draft federal standard, the developer:
1) accepts comments from interested parties in writing. The developer cannot refuse to accept comments in writing;
2) conducts a discussion of the draft federal standard and comments received in writing;
3) compiles a list of comments received in writing with a brief summary of the content of such comments and the results of their discussion;
4) finalizes the draft federal standard taking into account comments received in writing.
6. The developer is obliged to save comments received in writing until the federal standard is approved and submit them to the authorized federal body upon its request.
7. The revised draft federal standard, no later than 10 working days after the date of publication of the notice of completion of the public discussion of the draft federal standard in a printed publication, is published by the developer in the same printed publication. At the same time, the developer posts on his official website on the Internet a revised draft federal standard and a list of comments received in writing from interested parties. The specified documents posted on the official website of the developer on the Internet must be available for review without charging a fee.
2 - 7 of this article, is established by the authorized federal body.
9. The revised draft federal standard, together with a list of comments received in writing from interested parties, is submitted by the developer to the authorized federal body, which organizes the examination of this draft.
10. The Accounting Standards Council shall prepare, within no more than two months from the date the developer of the draft federal standard submits, a reasoned proposal to accept such a draft for approval or to reject it on the basis of the documents specified in Part 9 of this article and taking into account the results of the examination. Such a proposal, together with the documents and examination results specified in Part 9 of this article, is sent to the authorized federal body.
11. The authorized federal body, on the basis of documents submitted by the accounting standards council, within a period of no more than one month, accepts the draft federal standard for approval or rejects it. A draft federal standard accepted for approval is prepared and approved by the authorized federal body in the prescribed manner.
12. A draft federal standard proposed for adoption by the Accounting Standards Council may be rejected if it does not comply with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
13. If the draft federal standard is rejected, a reasoned decision of the authorized federal body, with the attachment of the documents specified in Part 9 of this article, is sent to the developer of the draft federal standard within no more than 10 working days after the date of adoption of such a decision.
14. Amendments to the federal standard or its cancellation are carried out in the manner established by this article. Amendments to the federal standard due to changes in the legislation of the Russian Federation may be carried out at the initiative of the authorized federal body.
Article 28. Development of federal standards by an authorized federal body
1. The authorized federal body develops federal standards:
1) for public sector organizations;
2) if no subject of non-state regulation of accounting undertakes the obligation to develop a federal standard provided for by the approved program for the development of federal standards.
2. The development of a federal standard by an authorized federal body is carried out in the manner established by Article 27 of this Federal Law.
Chapter 4. Final provisions
Article 29. Storage of accounting documents
1. Primary accounting documents, accounting registers, accounting (financial) statements are subject to storage by an economic entity for periods established in accordance with the rules for organizing state archival affairs, but not less than five years after the reporting year.
2. Documents of accounting policies, standards of an economic entity, other documents related to the organization and maintenance of accounting, including tools that ensure the reproduction of electronic documents, as well as verification of the authenticity of an electronic signature, are subject to storage by an economic entity for at least five years after the year in which in which they were last used to prepare accounting (financial) statements.
3. An economic entity must ensure safe storage conditions for accounting documents and their protection from changes.
Article 30. Peculiarities of application of this Federal Law
1. Until the state accounting regulatory bodies approve the federal and industry standards provided for by this Federal Law, the rules for maintaining accounting records and preparing financial statements approved by the authorized federal executive bodies and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation before the entry into force of this Federal Law are applied.
2. The provisions of parts 4 and 6 of Article 7 of this Federal Law do not apply to persons who, as of the date of entry into force of this Federal Law, are entrusted with accounting.
3. The provisions of Part 2 of Article 15 of this Federal Law do not apply when changing the type of state (municipal) institution.
Article 31. On the recognition as invalid of certain legislative acts (provisions of legislative acts) of the Russian Federation
Declare invalid:
1) Federal Law of November 21, 1996 N 129-FZ “On Accounting” (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 1996, N 48, Art. 5369);
2) Federal Law of July 23, 1998 N 123-FZ “On Amendments and Additions to the Federal Law “On Accounting” (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 1998, N 30, Art. 3619);
3) Federal Law of March 28, 2002 N 32-FZ “On introducing amendments and additions to the Federal Law “On Accounting” (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 2002, N 13, Art. 1179);
4) Article 9 of the Federal Law of December 31, 2002 N 187-FZ “On introducing amendments and additions to part two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and some other acts of legislation of the Russian Federation” (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 2003, N 1, Art. 2 );
5) Article 3 of the Federal Law of December 31, 2002 N 191-FZ “On introducing amendments and additions to Chapters 22, 24, 25, 26, 26 and 27 of the second part of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and some other acts of legislation of the Russian Federation” (Meeting Legislation of the Russian Federation, 2003, No. 1, Article 6);
6) paragraph 7 of Article 2 of the Federal Law of January 10, 2003 N 8-FZ “On introducing amendments and additions to the Law of the Russian Federation “On Employment of the Population in the Russian Federation” and certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation on the financing of measures to promote employment of the population" (Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation, 2003, No. 2, Art. 160);
7) Article 23 of the Federal Law of June 30, 2003 N 86-FZ "On introducing amendments and additions to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation, recognizing as invalid certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation, providing certain guarantees to employees of internal affairs bodies, turnover control bodies narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and the abolished federal tax police bodies in connection with the implementation of measures to improve public administration" (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 2003, No. 27, Art. 2700);
8) Article 2 of the Federal Law dated
November 3, 2006 N 183-FZ “On amendments to the Federal Law “On Agricultural Cooperation” and certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation” (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 2006, N 45, Art. 4635);
9) Article 32 of the Federal Law of November 23, 2009 N 261-FZ “On energy saving and increasing energy efficiency and on introducing amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation” (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 2009, N 48, Art. 5711);
10) Article 12 of the Federal Law of May 8, 2010 N 83-FZ “On amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation in connection with improving the legal status of state (municipal) institutions” (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 2010, N 19, Art. 2291);
11) Federal Law of July 27, 2010 N 209-FZ “On Amendments to Article 16 of the Federal Law “On Accounting” (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 2010, N 31, Art. 4178);
12) Article 4 of the Federal Law of September 28, 2010 N 243-FZ "On amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation in connection with the adoption of the Federal Law "On the Skolkovo Innovation Center" (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 2010, N 40, Art. 4969).
Article 32. Entry into force of this Federal Law
President of Russian Federation
In the article presented to the attention of readers by M.L. Pyatov (St. Petersburg State University) considers the content of the norms of Chapter 1 “General Provisions” of the new Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting”, relating to the purposes and subject of this Law, its scope. A new legislative definition of accounting is being considered.
The law we've been waiting for a long time
On December 6, 2011, the President of the Russian Federation signed a new Federal Law “On Accounting”, which was assigned No. 402-FZ. It comes into force on January 1, 2013 (Article 32). Until this moment, the Federal Law of November 21, 1996 No. 129-FZ “On Accounting” continues to apply. This means that we will have a whole year to carefully study the provisions of this document and try to understand what its provisions may change in accounting practice in Russia. The appearance of this Law can be called long-awaited. For several years now we have been able to get acquainted with the relevant Draft Laws, which, in accordance with paragraph “p” of Article 71 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, were also called the “Law on Official Accounting”. More than 15 years have passed from the entry into force of the current Accounting Law (hereinafter referred to as the 1996 Law) until the signing of the new Federal Accounting Law we are considering (hereinafter referred to as the 2011 Law). Accounting practices in Russia have changed very significantly. Russian legislation regulating economic activity has changed significantly; a huge number of new regulatory legal acts have been issued that define the accounting methodology; The Tax Code of the Russian Federation, adopted during this time and already amended several times, separated financial and tax accounting; The status of IFRS in Russia has changed significantly, and the practice of management accounting by domestic companies has been formed. It is important to note that all these changes took place within the framework of the 1996 Law, which certainly indicates its merits. However, the development of accounting practice in the country required innovations in the field of its legislative regulation. And then they appeared. The law we will talk about includes a number of radically new aspects.
New definition of accounting
Defining the concept of “accounting”, the 1996 Law also defined its three “main tasks”. Let us recall that these were called:
“formation of complete and reliable information about the activities of the organization and its property status, necessary for internal users of financial statements - managers, founders, participants and owners of the organization’s property, as well as external users - investors, creditors and other users of financial statements;
providing information necessary for internal and external users of financial statements to monitor compliance with the legislation of the Russian Federation when the organization carries out business operations and their feasibility, the availability and movement of property and liabilities, the use of material, labor and financial resources in accordance with approved norms, standards and estimates;
preventing negative results from the organization’s economic activities and identifying internal reserves to ensure its financial stability.”
Defining the reliability of information not as a mandatory requirement for it, but as an accounting task, considering accounting information for external users as a means of monitoring compliance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, seeing the accounting task as preventing losses and identifying “intra-economic reserves”, as well as presenting accounting as a means of ensuring financial sustainability of the company - all these formulations sounded somewhat absurd and did not really correspond to the current legal norms. This makes their disappearance from the text of the 2011 Law good news.
Scope of the new Law
The year is called “Scope of this Federal Law”. This title is completely similar to the title of Article 4 of the 1996 Law. However, the meaning of the relevant provisions in the 2011 Law changes significantly.
The 2011 Law distinguishes between the concepts of “scope of law” and “accounting obligations”. The regulation of these issues in the 1996 Law was combined in Article 4, which, among other things, determined the exemption of a number of persons from the obligation to maintain accounting records (see paragraphs 2, 3, 4 of Article 4 of the 1996 Law). The 2011 Act defines the obligation to maintain accounting records in section 6. The article defines specifically and exclusively “the scope of this Federal Law.”
Paragraph 1 of Article 2 of the 2011 Law combines the persons covered by it with the term “economic entities”. We need to dwell on this concept separately in order to draw attention to the possibility of its incorrect interpretation.
The fact is that in commonly used economic terminology, the concept of “economic entity” is not always associated with the legal concepts of an individual and a legal entity. An economic entity can also be understood as what IFRS defines as “business”. IFRS 3 Business Combinations defines this concept as “an integrated set of activities and assets, the conduct and management of which is capable of generating income in the form of dividends, cost reductions or any other economic benefit, directly by investors or other owners, participants or members.”
The concept of “business” underlies the methods for preparing consolidated financial statements and is fully consistent with the idea of priority of economic content over legal form, as reflected in the provisions of IFRS. Consolidated reporting, combining the reporting indicators of a group of legally independent organizations, presents them as a single economic entity.
On the other hand, within the framework of one legal entity, several independent economic entities can operate, without having the powers of independent organizations.
However, in defining the scope of its action, the 2011 Law defines the obligations of participants in economic activities arising in connection with its entry into force. And responsibilities, in accordance with the current rules of law, can only arise from individuals. And here we should turn to the norms of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation - subsection 2 “Persons” of the first part of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. These are basic concepts of civil law, but here they are of decisive importance for us. Hence, when speaking about an “economic entity,” the 2011 Law means a subject of legal relations, a “person” in the legal definition of this concept.
Speaking about the extension of its scope to legal entities, the 1996 Law (clause 1 of Article 4) established that it “applies to all organizations located on the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as to branches and representative offices of foreign organizations, unless otherwise provided by international treaties of the Russian Federation.”
The 2011 Law formulates the relevant provisions differently.
According to paragraph 1 of Article 2 of this law, its effect “applies to the following persons (hereinafter referred to as economic entities)”:
“commercial and non-profit organizations”;
The question arises: what organizations are we talking about? Taking into account the content of subparagraph 5 of the same paragraph of Article 2, according to which “branches, representative offices and other structural subdivisions of organizations established in accordance with the legislation of foreign states, international organizations, their branches and representative offices located on the territory of the Russian Federation, unless otherwise provided by international treaties of the Russian Federation,” We are apparently talking about organizations, that is, legal entities created under the laws of the Russian Federation.
Further, paragraph 1 of Article 2 of the law establishes that its effect extends to
“state bodies, local government bodies, management bodies of state extra-budgetary funds and territorial state extra-budgetary funds.”
Subparagraph 3 of paragraph 1 of Article 2 of the 2011 Law specifically indicates that its effect extends to
"Central Bank of the Russian Federation".
However, above the Law determined that its effect extends to commercial and non-profit organizations. According to paragraph 1 of Article 50 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation “legal entities can be organizations that pursue profit as the main goal of their activities (commercial organizations) or do not have profit as such a goal and do not distribute the profits between participants (non-profit organizations).” The Civil Code of the Russian Federation does not provide for the existence of other types of legal entities (organizations). In accordance with Article 1 of the Federal Law of July 10, 2002 No. 86-FZ “On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia)” (hereinafter referred to as the Law on the Bank of Russia), “the Bank of Russia is a legal entity”, however, a special legal entity. This alone explains the allocation of this separate paragraph in Article 2 of the 2011 Law.
Here our commentary will not be complete if we do not pay attention to a number of provisions of the current Law on the Bank of Russia, namely:
According to which the Bank of Russia “establishes accounting and reporting rules for the banking system of the Russian Federation”;
Establishing that “the reporting period (reporting year) of the Bank of Russia is set from January 1 to December 31 inclusive”;
Determining that “The Bank of Russia annually, no later than May 15 of the year following the reporting year, submits the annual report of the Bank of Russia to the State Duma”.
According to Article 25, the annual report of the Bank of Russia, among other things, includes the annual financial statements of the Bank of Russia and the auditor’s report on the annual financial statements of the Bank of Russia.
The same Article 25 of the Law of July 10, 2002 No. 86-FZ “On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia)” establishes that for its purposes “The annual financial statements of the Bank of Russia mean:
annual balance sheet, profit and loss account, including a report on profit received and its distribution;
report on the formation and use of reserves and funds of the Bank of Russia;
a report on the Bank of Russia’s management of securities and participation interests in the capitals of organizations included in the property of the Bank of Russia;
report on the costs of maintaining Bank of Russia employees;
report on the implementation of the capital investment budget;
report on the volume of transactions carried out by the Bank of Russia at trading on stock exchanges and (or) other organizers of trading on the securities market.”
Subparagraph 4 of paragraph 1 of Article 2 of the 2011 Law also extends its effect to “individual entrepreneurs, as well as lawyers who have established law offices, notaries and other persons engaged in private practice (hereinafter referred to as persons engaged in private practice)”.
Let us recall that paragraph 2 of Article 4 of the 1996 Law establishes that “Citizens carrying out entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity keep records of income and expenses in the manner established by the tax legislation of the Russian Federation. For the purposes of this Federal Law, lawyers who carry out legal activities in a lawyer’s office are equated, with regard to the procedure for keeping records of business transactions, to citizens carrying out entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity.”.
Term “citizens carrying out entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity” corresponds to the content of Article 23 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation “Entrepreneurial activity of a citizen”, according to paragraph 1 of which “a citizen has the right to engage in entrepreneurial activity without forming a legal entity from the moment of state registration as an individual entrepreneur.” It is more difficult to define the concepts of “private practice” and “private practice”, since these terms are currently used in domestic regulations only in connection with certain types of activities. What is “private practice” and “doing it” in general, this is a question that is difficult to answer within the framework of regulatory terminology.
According to paragraph 2 of Article 2 of the 2011 Law, he “applied when maintaining budgetary accounting of assets and liabilities of the Russian Federation, constituent entities of the Russian Federation and municipalities, operations that change these assets and liabilities, as well as when preparing budget reporting.”
Article 2(3) of the 2011 Law states that: “this Federal Law applies when a trustee maintains accounting records of the property transferred to him for trust management and related accounting objects, as well as when maintaining, including by one of the legal entities participating in a simple partnership agreement, accounting for the common property of partners and related accounting objects with it.”
Let us recall that the content of the property trust management agreement is determined by Chapter 53 (Part Two) of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation "Trust management of property." In general, according to paragraph 1 of Article 1012 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, “under a property trust management agreement, one party (the management founder) transfers property into trust management for a certain period of time to the other party (the trustee), and the other party undertakes to manage this property in the interests of the management founder or the person specified by him (the beneficiary).”
Article 1018 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (clause 1) specifically establishes that “The property transferred to trust management is separated from the other property of the management founder, as well as from the property of the trustee. This property is reflected by the trustee on a separate balance sheet, and independent accounting is maintained for it. A separate bank account is opened for payments for activities related to trust management.”
The rules on a simple partnership agreement are contained in Chapter 55 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (part two).
According to paragraph 1 of Article 1041 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, “under a simple partnership agreement (agreement on joint activities), two or more persons (partners) undertake to pool their contributions and act together without forming a legal entity to make a profit or achieve another goal that does not contradict the law”.
At the same time, paragraph 2 of Article 1043 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation establishes that “keeping the accounting records of the partners’ common property may be entrusted by them to one of the legal entities participating in the simple partnership agreement.”
Paragraph 4 of Article 2 of the 2011 Law establishes that it “applied when maintaining accounting records in the process of implementing a production sharing agreement, unless otherwise established by Federal Law No. 225-FZ of December 30, 1995 “On Production Sharing Agreements.”
According to paragraph 1 of Article 2 of the Federal Law of December 30, 1995 No. 225-FZ “On Production Sharing Agreements” (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 225-FZ) “a production sharing agreement (hereinafter referred to as the agreement) is an agreement according to which the Russian Federation provides a business entity (hereinafter referred to as the investor) on a reimbursable basis and for a certain period of time, exclusive rights to prospecting, exploration, and production of mineral raw materials in the subsoil area specified in agreement, and to carry out related work, and the investor undertakes to carry out the said work at his own expense and at his own risk.”.
A special article of Law No. 225-FZ (Accounting and reporting) determines that records of the financial and economic activities of the investor when performing work under the agreement must be kept “for each individual agreement, as well as separately from such accounting when performing other activities not related to the agreement.” At the same time, paragraph 2 of Article 14 of Law No. 225-FZ establishes that “accounting and reporting when performing work under the agreement are carried out in the currency of the Russian Federation (rubles) or in foreign currency. If accounting is carried out in foreign currency, reporting submitted to government agencies must contain data calculated both in the accepted foreign currency and in rubles. In this case, all data calculated in foreign currency must be recalculated into rubles at the Bank of Russia exchange rate on the day of reporting.". The above-cited wording of paragraph 4 of Article 2 of the 2011 Law eliminates the contradiction between the provisions of Article 14 of the Law of December 30, 1995 No. 225-FZ “On Production Sharing Agreements” and Article 12 “Monetary Measurement of Accounting Objects” of the new Law of 2011 “On Accounting” "
Emphasizing the methodological freedom of organizations in maintaining management accounting for the purposes of preparing internal accounting reports, paragraph 5 of Article 2 of the 2011 Law establishes that its provisions do not apply “when creating information necessary for the preparation by an economic entity of reporting for internal purposes, reporting submitted to a credit organization in accordance with its requirements, as well as reporting for other purposes, if the legislation of the Russian Federation and the rules for drawing up such reporting adopted in accordance with it do not provide for the use of this Federal Law."
Here it should only be noted that, defining as one of the purposes of accounting the generation of information about the activities of organizations for internal users of financial statements (clause 3 of Article 1 of the 1996 Law), Federal Law of November 21, 1996 No. 129-FZ “On Accounting” did not contain special regulations regarding management accounting of organizations.
In the next article we will continue our acquaintance with the provisions of the new Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting”.
From the editor:
A number of innovations introduced by the new law on accounting are already provided for in the programs of the 1C:Enterprise system.
With the entry into force of the new law, unified forms of primary accounting documents will be abolished. Now organizations must develop and approve them independently. In 1C programs, the entire “primary” is implemented; if an organization does not want to develop its own, it can use our ready-made forms.
The law provides for the possibility of exchanging documents with counterparties and government bodies in electronic form. The corresponding functionality is already available in 1C: Trade Management 8 and will be implemented in other solutions in 2012.
The new law introduces the obligation to maintain accounting records for all economic entities, incl. organizations using a simplified taxation system (now most organizations using the simplified tax system are not required to do this). In “1C: Accounting 8”, the ability to conduct accounting for organizations using “simplified” language is supported from the very beginning - the 1C company proceeded from the fact that in order to effectively conduct economic activities, even very small companies may need full-fledged accounting.
What is accounting, why is it needed and how is it carried out? What is Accounting and Posting? How to distinguish an asset from a liability and what is an accounting policy
How to organize accounting at an enterprise
In order to competently keep records at an enterprise, draw up transactions, draw up primary documents, and calculate taxes, you need to understand how accounting is organized in an enterprise.
First of all, it should be noted that the main legislative projects that regulate the accounting process are the Federal Law “On Accounting” No. 402-FZ and the Regulations on Accounting and Financial Reporting in the Russian Federation.
The fundamental law is No. 402-FZ, and the Regulations complement and specify it. The Law “On Accounting” was last amended on July 19, 2017. In the new edition, many points of the law are presented in a new form, and various clarifications have been made.
The above documents define the basic principles of accounting.
Basic accounting rules
- The collection and processing of information at the enterprise occurs continuously.
- From the approved Chart of Accounts, a work plan is formed on which accounting will be carried out at the enterprise.
- Accounting is carried out in monetary terms in rubles and in Russian.
- For each business transaction at the enterprise, accounting entries are made using the double entry principle.
- For each business transaction, a primary document is drawn up, which must be drawn up at the time of the transaction or immediately after its completion. Posting for each operation should be carried out only if there is a supporting document.
- To prepare primary documents, standard forms are used (if they are developed and approved). If there is no unified form for the document, then it is drawn up in any form, but containing all the required details.
- Information from accounting documents is collected and systematized in accounting registers. The register forms have an approved form.
- Periodically, an inventory of the enterprise's assets and liabilities (property and liabilities) is mandatory. The frequency of the inventory is approved by the head of the organization.
- To properly organize accounting at an enterprise, an accounting policy is developed and a corresponding order from the manager is drawn up.
These basic accounting principles are fundamental; it is on them that accounting in an enterprise is based. By following the specified accounting rules, you can be confident in the competent organization of accounting in the accounting department.
How is accounting carried out in a company?
All accounting is built on a very important principle - its continuity.
Every day, an accountant or other employee responsible for accounting records business transactions. Day after day, he reflects transactions using postings, generates documents, and fills out accounting registers. It is important to understand that this process is continuous, from the moment the company is opened until the end of its existence, the accountant must keep accounts, fill out and submit accounting and tax reports.
At the initial stage of formation of the company, it develops a working chart of accounts; for this purpose, the necessary accounts are selected from the Chart of Accounts approved by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, on which all transactions will be recorded. Depending on the size of the organization, as well as the characteristics of its activities, the set of accounts may vary.
Also, when opening an enterprise, an accounting policy is approved, on the basis of which accounting will be conducted.
Then, every day, the enterprise will carry out many operations: purchase of materials, fixed assets, sale of goods, production of products, payment of goods to the supplier and receipt of payment from the buyer, etc. For each such operation, the accountant fills out the corresponding primary documents, on the basis of which he makes an entry in the accounts from the approved plan.
At the end of each month, the turnover for the month and the final balance are calculated on each account. At the beginning of the next month, all accounts are opened again, the ending balance from the previous one is transferred to the next month.
During the month, every day all business transactions are recorded on open accounts using postings; at the end of the month, the accounts are closed again, balances are calculated and transferred to the next month.
This process is endless; the same actions will be performed month after month. This will be the fundamental principle of continuity in accounting.
In order to competently organize accounting in the accounting department, you need to be able to do three things:
- know your working chart of accounts
- be able to make transactions
- be able to draw up documents and fill out accounting registers
A little about the Accounting Law (No. 402-FZ)
In November 2011, the Plan for the development of accounting and reporting of enterprises in the Russian Federation was approved. Its goal was to achieve greater accessibility of information in the field of accounting, improve the quality of reporting and bring it to international standards. The most important step in the implementation of this plan was the adoption of Federal Law No. 402-FZ “On Accounting,” which came into force on January 1, 2013.
The new legal act replaced the previously in force Law No. 129-FZ. In general, the document introduces detailed clarifications to the rules of accounting and financial reporting, clarifications are given to many concepts, and some provisions of the old edition are completely changed. Thus, the scope of application of the Accounting Law was expanded. Now entrepreneurs, private practice lawyers and notaries (except for those who pay taxes under the simplified scheme) must also keep records. State and local government bodies, various funds and branches of international organizations are also required to maintain accounting records. Another innovation is related to the definition of accounting objects. Now they are also called assets, as well as income and expenses of the enterprise.
The Federal Law “On Accounting” consists of four main sections. Let's take a brief look at each one, and also highlight the main changes compared to the old edition.
Structure of the Accounting Law
It is determined here that the main purpose of the Law is to establish uniform requirements for accounting. A definition of accounting is given as a system for generating information about economic entities taking into account the requirements and creating financial statements based on this information. Article 2 describes the scope of this Federal Law. As already mentioned, it has been expanded, and now everyone to whom the Federal Accounting Law applies is called not “organizations,” but “economic entities.”
2. General requirements for accounting.
This chapter describes in detail the procedure and rules for accounting. The responsibility of the enterprise manager to properly organize this work is noted. An important innovation is the prohibition on the head of the enterprise personally maintaining accounting records. This provision does not apply to small and medium-sized businesses. All other enterprises must have a chief accountant on staff or have an agreement for the provision of relevant services. At the same time, the minimum requirements for applicants for this position are listed.
Article 8 emphasizes that each economic entity can choose its own accounting policy.
Article 9 regulates the preparation of primary documents. Instead of the previously used unified forms, primary forms are being introduced, approved by the head of the enterprise. In this case, a mandatory list of items is provided. This article also talks about the possibility of creating documents in digital form, certified by an electronic digital signature.
Article 10 deals with the maintenance of accounting registers. The authority of the manager in terms of approving document forms has also been expanded. In addition, these documents no longer constitute a trade secret.
Articles 13–18 regulate the creation of financial statements as a source of reliable data on the position of the entity, the result of its work, and the movement of financial assets for the reporting period. Here there was a requirement to submit one copy of financial statements to the statistical authorities within a period of no more than three months from the end of the period. Reporting documents are also prohibited from being given the status of a trade secret. Federal Law 402 on Accounting, unlike its predecessor, does not regulate methods for providing financial statements to users.
3. Regulation of accounting.
This chapter talks about regulatory documents in the field of accounting, bodies authorized to carry out regulation and their functions. Law No. 402-FZ introduces a number of fundamentally new provisions in this part.
A requirement is introduced for accounting reporting to comply with federal and industry standards, as well as compliance with accepted international requirements. Such standards establish the classification of accounting objects, the content and form of the information provided and other provisions. The standards will be developed by the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank, as well as subjects of non-state regulation: unions of entrepreneurs, auditors and other interested organizations.
Articles 26–28 discuss the procedure for creating accounting standards. At the same time, the great importance of publishing drafts of such documents in print media and on the Internet is pointed out for the purpose of their public discussion.
4. Conclusion.
The final chapter talks about the procedure for storing accounting documents and the specifics of applying the Law. The storage of accounting documents must occur in accordance with the rules of archiving. In this case, the storage period cannot be less than five years.
To summarize, we can say that Federal Law No. 402-FZ, making accounting more open and democratic, requires compliance with uniform standards in this work.
Primary accounting documents - getting to know each other
All business transactions occurring daily at the enterprise must be documented. The purchase of materials, goods, fixed assets, the sale and shipment of goods to the buyer, all movements of funds, the production process, payment of wages and transfer of taxes - all these and many other operations are displayed in primary accounting documents.
The paper in question is a written certificate of business processes that have taken place, having legally approved force and not requiring any further clarifications or amendments.
Unified forms
Primary accounting documents may have a standard form, for which Goskomstat develops and approves unified forms of primary documents, which are contained in albums of unified forms of production documentation.
In accordance with the affixing of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 835 of 07/08/1997, all powers regarding the design development and approval of albums of unified forms and their digital versions have been transferred to the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation. All details of the content and regulatory composition of the albums are necessarily agreed upon by a special committee with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy of the Russian Federation.
If a standard form of primary accounting documents has not been developed, then the organization independently prepares for itself the necessary forms that it will use in its activities. At the same time, the forms developed independently must contain the mandatory details of the primary documentation.
List of mandatory details in primary accounting documents:
- A name that fully reflects the financial and economic content of the production process. A document that has an incorrect, hard to read or unclear title has no legal force.
- Name, in correct cases, addresses and current accounts in banking institutions of the parties entering into the agreement (legal entities and individuals). If the necessary requirements are not met, the document automatically loses its addressability and cannot be used in any operations.
- Date of compilation. If the date is missing or unclear, the agreement has no legal force.
- The general content of the operation performed, which reveals the essence of the name in a general form and contains a brief description of the production aspects.
- Measuring instruments of a completed business transaction. In their absence, the form remains without an accounting and settlement base, without which further operation of the agreement is not carried out.
- Signatures of persons (legal and physical) responsible for the agreement. They are the director of a particular organization and the chief accountant.
Processing of primary documents
When receiving an accounting document, you must check that it is correctly formatted and that all required details are present. All necessary lines must be filled out, the information must be readable, signatures of responsible persons must be present, and a stamp must be applied if necessary. When processing accounting papers, you need to pay attention to the seal; the information on it should be clearly readable, you can see the name, details, etc.
After the document has been checked for correctness, it must be registered in a book or journal intended for this purpose. For example, travel certificates are registered in the travel certificate journal, cash orders in the KO-3 register of incoming and outgoing cash orders.
Storage and destruction
The storage periods for primary accounting documentation and the procedure for their destruction are fully specified in List No. 41.
How to fix
No one is immune from mistakes. What to do if there are errors in the primary documents? If errors are identified at the registration stage, then everything is simple, you can simply take a new form and fill it out again. How can you correct an error in a document if it is discovered later?
In general, there are three ways to correct errors in primary accounting documents:
- A corrective method, which is allowed to be used only if errors were identified before the balance sheet was drawn up, or if they were made in the accounting registers, the errors should not affect the correspondence of accounts. The essence of this method is to carefully cross out with a thin line the erroneous value of the amount, the wrong word, etc. The required text or number is written next to or on top. In addition, you must write a disclaimer next to the error, with the corresponding date and signature of the person responsible. For example, “1000 rubles crossed out, corrected to 1200, believe corrected, date, signature”
- The method of additional entries is made when the amount of a business transaction is erroneously understated. This rule occurs in two cases: if the accounting register does not contain the necessary data from the primary document, and also when an erroneously underestimated amount is displayed in the register.
- The reversal method consists in the fact that an incorrectly made entry, usually a numeric one, is deleted by the negative value of the erroneous amount. In this case, incorrect correspondence and the value of the amount are repeated in red ink. At the same time, the required number is written using ordinary ink. This method is used when errors are made in correspondence or when the amount is exaggerated.
The right to sign primary documents
In accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, the director of the organization and the chief accountant can sign primary accounting papers. Also, the deputy chief accountant has the right to sign primary accounting documents, but in this case all responsibility for the executed agreement passes to him. The right to sign by an employee other than the manager and chief accountant must be formalized using a power of attorney for the right to sign.
To summarize the above, we can say that primary documents are one of the important components of the correct organization of accounting at an enterprise. Moreover, only if they are available is it possible to conduct accounting; it is on the basis of documents that accounting entries are made. Therefore, it is very important to fill out forms and forms correctly and check the accuracy of the format when receiving them from contractors.
Let's understand the assets and liabilities of the enterprise
In accounting, there are special concepts “assets” and “liabilities”. Both are an important component of the balance sheet and represent the most convenient way to summarize information about the activities and financial position of an organization.
Everything that an enterprise has is divided into assets that generate profit and liabilities that participate in the formation of the former. It is important to learn to distinguish between them, to understand what this or that enterprise object is.
Asset and liability balance
The concepts under consideration are the main components of the balance sheet - the main report, which is drawn up in the accounting process at the enterprise. The balance sheet is depicted in the form of a table in which assets are located on the left side and liabilities on the right. The sum of all positions on the left side is equal to the sum of all positions on the right side. That is, the left side of the balance is always equal to its right side.
Equality of assets and liabilities on the balance sheet is an important rule that must be followed at any time.
If equality is not met when drawing up the balance sheet, it means that there is an error in the accounting that needs to be found.
In order to correctly draw up a balance sheet, you need to understand what belongs to assets and what to liabilities.
Assets as an element of accounting
These are the resources of an organization that it uses in the process of economic activity, the use of which in the future implies profit.
Assets always display the value of all tangible, intangible and monetary assets of the company, as well as property powers, their content, placement and investment.
Examples of business assets:
- Fixed assets
- Securities
- Raw materials, materials, semi-finished products
- Goods
- Finished products
All this is property that the enterprise will use in the course of its operation in order to generate economic profit.
Asset classification
According to the form of the functional composition, they are divided into material, intangible and financial.
- Material refers to objects that are in material form (they can be touched and felt). These include company buildings and structures, technical equipment and materials.
- By intangible we usually mean that part of the production of an enterprise that does not have a material embodiment. This can be a trademark or a patent, which also take part in the organization’s office work.
- Financial - imply various financial instruments of the company, be it cash accounts in any currency, accounts receivable or other economic investments with different terms.
According to the nature of participation in the production activities of the enterprise, assets are divided into current (current) and non-current.
- Current assets - used to carry out the company’s operational processes and are completely consumed in one full production cycle (no more than 1 year)
- Non-negotiable - they take part in office work repeatedly, and are used exactly until the moment when all resources are transferred into the form of products
According to the type of capital used, assets are:
- Gross, that is, formed on the basis of own and borrowed capital.
- Net, which implies the formation of assets only from the company’s own capital.
According to the right of ownership of assets, they are divided into leased and owned.
They are also classified by liquidity, that is, the speed of their transformation into a financial equivalent. In accordance with such a system, the following resources are distinguished:
- Assets with absolute liquidity
- With high liquidity
- Medium liquid
- Low liquidity
- Illiquid
Long-term assets include land plots, various types of transport, technical equipment, household and industrial equipment, and other company supplies. Assets of this type are reflected at their cost of acquisition less accrued depreciation, or, in the case of land and buildings, at a price determined by a professional expert.
Liabilities of the enterprise and their participation in production activities
The liabilities of an enterprise mean the obligations that the company has undertaken and its sources of financing (including its own and borrowed capital, as well as funds attracted to the organization for some reason).
The equity capital of an enterprise with any form of ownership, except for state ownership, contains in its structure the authorized capital, shares, shares in various business companies and partnerships, proceeds from the sale of company shares (primary and additional), accumulated reserves, public finances in the organization.
For state-owned enterprises, the structure includes public financial resources and deferred deductions from revenues.
Borrowed capital
The structure of funds borrowed consists of capital for which this or that property is pledged, regardless of whether the mortgage is issued or not, loans received from banking institutions, bills of various types.
Summarize.
What refers to the assets of the enterprise:
- Fixed and production assets
- Movable and immovable property
- Cash
- Inventory
- Securities
- Accounts receivable
What refers to the company's liabilities:
- Authorized capital
- Credits and borrowings from other individuals and legal entities
- retained earnings
- Reserves
- Taxes
- Accounts payable
Difference between liability and asset
The difference is their different functions; Each of these elements of the balance sheet illuminates its own aspect of office work. However, they are closely interrelated.
When an asset increases, the liability necessarily increases by the same amount, that is, the debt obligation of the enterprise increases. The same principle also applies to liabilities.
For example, if a new loan agreement is concluded with a bank, assets automatically increase, as new finances are received by the organization, and at the same time the company has a liability - debt to the bank. At the moment when the organization repays this loan, there will be a decrease in assets, since the amount of funds in the enterprise’s account will decrease, and at the same time, liabilities will also decrease, since the debt to the bank will disappear.
It is from this principle that the equality of liabilities and assets of an enterprise follows. Any change in the former entails a change in the latter by the same amount and vice versa.
Getting to know accounting accounts
What are business accounts? This concept comes up all the time in accounting. And this is not surprising, because this is the basic concept of accounting; it is on the accounts that all business transactions occurring in the enterprise are recorded.
An accounting account is depicted as a two-sided table, the left side is called debit, the right side is credit. Each separate account is used to record certain business transactions, which are grouped according to homogeneous characteristics. For example, materials are accounted for on the account. 10 “Materials”, accounting of fixed assets – 01 “Fixed assets”, calculation and payment of wages to employees – 70 “Settlements with personnel for wages”.
There are 99 accounts in total; their list is given in a special book called the Chart of Accounts. An organization may not use them all. In the process of forming an accounting policy, it is determined which accounts will be needed to record transactions occurring at this enterprise. Next, they are selected from the standard Plan, their list is approved in the order on accounting policies. Thus, the organization forms its working chart of accounts – that is, a list that will be used in accounting, taking into account the specifics of the organization’s activities.
Each enterprise develops its own work plan, enshrining it in its accounting policies.
What is a Chart of Accounts?
This is a list of all available accounting accounts. This document is being developed by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation.
All accounts in a single Plan are divided into sections. For each, subaccounts for it are indicated and brief information about what it is intended for and what operations are taken into account on it.
Each account in the standard Plan is assigned a two-digit code and name. For example, cash is kept in an account. 50 "Cashier".
In addition, the standard Plan also contains so-called off-balance sheet accounting accounts, which are intended to account for property that does not belong to a given enterprise. They are assigned three-digit codes. For example, accounting for fixed assets leased is kept on an off-balance sheet account. 001 “Leased fixed assets.”
Plan Structure
There are 8 sections in total in a single Plan. The first 5 sections are accounts on which property, finished products, goods, materials, and the production process are recorded. For example:
- Section 1 – non-current assets – provides a list of accounts related to non-current assets (01 “Fixed assets”, 02 “Depreciation”, 04 “Intangible assets”, etc.).
- Section 2 - production inventories - a list of accounts intended to account for the production process (20 “Main production”, 23 “Auxiliary production”, etc.).
Section 6 shows the accounting accounts on which the company's liabilities are kept.
In sections 7 and 8 - where capital and financial results are recorded.
How does accounting work using accounts?
In accounting accounts, information is presented in monetary terms.
When performing any operation, a primary accounting document is required to be drawn up, on the basis of which this operation is recorded in the accounts.
This entry is made using the double entry principle and is called an accounting entry. In short, when performing any transaction, the transaction amount is simultaneously recorded as a debit to one account and a credit to another; this will be a posting.
For example, the cash desk of an enterprise received money from a buyer. The accountant must draw up a primary document, a cash receipt order, which indicates the amount of cash received at the cash desk. Based on this order, a posting will be made to the account. 50 “Cashier” and 62 “Settlements with customers” - the amount received must be simultaneously recorded as debit 50 and credit 62.
Each business transaction is subject to mandatory recording in accounting accounts, in the debit of one and in the credit of the other.
Every day for a month, the accountant records all transactions using entries.
At the end of the month, debit turnover and credit turnover are calculated for each account.
The initial debit balance, if any, is added to the debit turnover for the month (Snd). From the resulting value, the sum of the loan turnover for the month and the initial loan balance, if there was one, is subtracted (Snk)).
Formula for calculation:
Sk = (Snd + Od) – (Snk + Ok)
If the resulting balance is positive, then we have a debit final account balance, if negative, we have a credit balance.
At the beginning of the next month, each account is opened anew, the ending balance from the previous month is transferred to the current month, the debit ending balance is transferred to debit, and the credit balance is transferred to credit. This will be the opening balance.
This process is continuous, this is the main principle of organizing accounting in an enterprise - accounting continuity.
Thus, accounts are the main tool used in the accounting process.
An example of accounting for transactions on an accounting account
Let's take the account. 10 "Materials". At the beginning of the month (February), the company has materials worth 100,000 rubles in its warehouses. During February, the company purchased more materials in the amount of 20,000 and 30,000. During February, materials in the amount of 70,000 were released into production. What will the invoice look like? 10?
Account 10 is active, which means that the company’s assets (materials) are accounted for on it. All receipts are reflected on a debit basis, disposals (release into production) - on a credit basis.
February:
- At the beginning of February we have materials worth 100,000 - this will be the initial debit balance (Snd = 100,000).
- During February, materials were received for 20,000 and 30,000. These amounts should be entered in the debit of account 10.
- 70,000 worth of materials were released into production, this amount is credited to account 10.
February is over, we close account 10:
- We calculate debit turnover and credit turnover:
Od = 20000+30000 = 50000
Ok = 70000
- We calculate the final balance:
Sk = Snd + Od – Ok = 100000 + 50000 – 70000 = 80000.
March:
- We transfer the ending balance from February to March. We enter in the debit account 10 the debit balance Sk = 80000, this will be the initial debit balance for the current March.
- We record all current operations regarding the receipt of materials and their release into production.
- We close account 10 at the end of the month (we count turnover and final balance)
April:
- We transfer the ending balance from last month to the current one.
- etc.
The process continues ad infinitum.
Types of accounting accounts, description and application
Let's look at the types of accounting accounts. Let's get acquainted with active, passive and active-passive accounts, as well as synthetic and analytical.
Based on the type of relationship with the economic balance, accounting accounts are divided into active and passive, as well as active-passive. Let us consider these types in more detail, since they are the main elements in the classification of the financial balance sheet.
The concept of an active accounting account
Necessary for displaying all processes directly related to the presence and use of property assets of the enterprise. This implies reflection not only of property in tangible form, but also of the company’s intangible assets (trademarks, patents, etc.). In this case, the number of the active accounting account can tell with approximate accuracy what type of property is owned by the owner of the organization - the owner of the financial balance sheet.
In simpler terms, active accounts keep records of the company's assets. In order to understand whether an account is active or not, you need to know their distinctive features:
- The opening balance is always a debit
- The ending balance is also a debit
- The debit reflects the increase in the asset, the credit - the decrease
Examples:
Active accounts include - 50 “Cash”, 10 “Materials”, 01 “Fixed assets”, 04 “Intangible assets”, etc.
Let's take account as an example. 10 “Materials”, all three characteristics indicated above are met for it. It keeps records of assets - materials. When materials arrive (an increase in an asset), a debit entry is made, and when materials are disposed of (an asset decrease), a credit entry is made. The balance is always in debit, because it is not possible to release more materials into production than are in stock. This means that the debit will always be greater than the credit. That is, count. 10 – active in all respects.
The concept of passive account in accounting
Aimed at recording and monitoring information about all sources of financing of the enterprise, which are divided into own and attracted (borrowed). The company's own capital contains in its structure all the profit that the organization received without financial assistance from outside. Attracted sources consist of all loans and credits involved in the company's office work, which the enterprise has issued.
Thus, passive accounts keep track of the company's liabilities. Passive ones are characterized by:
- Credit opening balance;
- Credit ending balance;
- An increase in a liability is reflected in a credit, and a decrease in a debit.
Examples passive accounts:
80 “Authorized capital”, 83 “Additional capital”, 66 “Settlements for short-term loans and borrowings”, 67 “Settlements for long-term loans and borrowings”, etc.
Let's take account as an example. 67, it is intended for accounting for loans issued to an enterprise for a period of more than 1 year, that is, it keeps track of liabilities.
The appearance of a loan (increase in liability) is reflected in credit account 67, its payment (decrease in liability) is reflected in debit. The balance will remain in credit until the loan is repaid and the account is closed.
Active-passive accounts
Usually you can immediately determine it by the names of the accounting documentation. As a rule, with this type of accounting accounts, the name of the document begins with the word “calculation” (for example, “settlements with personnel”, “settlements with the budget”, etc.). They also serve to display all settlements with different types of counterparties (active and passive), to report information about receivables and payables, to monitor the results of the enterprise’s office work, its profits or losses.
That is, active-passive accounts take into account both the assets and liabilities of the enterprise. They are characterized by features of both active and passive accounting accounts.
Examples active-passive:
60 “Settlements with suppliers”, 62 “Settlements with customers”, 76 “Settlements with various debtors and creditors”, 90 “Sales”, 91 “Other income and expenses”, 99 “Profits and losses”, etc.
Example - is count 62 active or passive?
When selling goods to a buyer, a receivable from the buyer arises to the organization, which is an asset, its occurrence is reflected in the debit of account 62, when the buyer repays the debt, we will enter the repayment amount in the credit of account 62. We see that the appearance of an asset is reflected in debit, and its decrease in credit, it turns out that for the account. 62 the characteristics of active accounts are fulfilled.
Let's take another situation: the buyer makes an advance payment to the organization, until the organization ships the goods against this payment, and it will have accounts payable to the buyer. We will reflect the appearance of this debt (that is, receipt of an advance) on the credit account. 62. At the time the goods are shipped to the buyer, accounts payable will decrease, and an entry will be made in debit 62. That is, the appearance of a liability (debt) will be reflected in the credit, and its decrease in the debit. It turns out that account 62 is subject to the rules characteristic of passive accounts.
Based on this, we can conclude that account 62 is active-passive, since it is characterized by the features of both active and passive accounts; it records both assets and liabilities.
Synthetic and analytical
According to the degree to which all accounting information is detailed, they are divided into synthetic and analytical.
Synthetic Accounting accounts imply a generalized description of data in which all information is presented concisely and without clarification. Subaccounts are used to enter any additional information into the document. A subaccount is a component of a synthetic account. Accounting is carried out in monetary terms.
For the highest level of detail use analytical invoices in which the required data is displayed in detail, including all the necessary elements and nuances. In analytical accounts, accounting can be kept in other equivalents: in kilograms, meters, liters, pieces, etc., as is convenient for the accountant.
For example, an organization has an account. 41, which takes into account goods (various types of cereals) in a general form in rubles. To the synthetic count. 41, for convenience, analytical accounts “Millet groats”, “Semolina groats”, etc. have been opened, in which records are kept in kilograms.
What other types of accounting accounts are there?
In accordance with the economic content, they are divided into accounts of assets, sources of formation of assets and business transactions. They display all types of active funds, as well as those capitals that are intended for subsequent sale. Accounts showing sources of assets formation, contain information about all the ways where funds come from, including own income and borrowed capital. Business accounts include in their structure all data on the financial profit of the enterprise, as well as information on the company's expenses for various purposes.
According to the sequence of indications in the accounts, the accounts are divided into nominal And off-balance sheet.
According to their purpose and structure, they can be basic, regulatory, budgetary and distribution, operational, financial and performance, etc.
Features of the use of off-balance sheet accounts
Often, in the process of work, enterprises have to carry out operations to record the movement and storage of property that does not belong to them. In addition, it is necessary to keep records of transactions related to the fulfillment of requirements and obligations to partners. For these purposes, off-balance sheet (off-balance sheet) accounts are used.
Off-balance sheet accounts are intended for recording and entering information about material assets that do not belong to an economic entity and are at its disposal temporarily. Off-balance sheet accounts are also used to control certain types of financial transactions. Their name emphasizes that they are outside the balance sheet and are not taken into account in it.
The need for separate accounting of values that do not belong to an economic entity is explained by the fact that only own funds and the sources that form them should be taken into account in the main balance sheet. If assets that do not belong to it are reflected on the balance sheet of an enterprise, it turns out that they are taken into account twice: by the owner and by the temporary owner. This will contradict the law and distort the real financial position of enterprises.
The main purpose of off-balance sheet accounts
- control of the use and safety of material assets that are owned by the enterprise on lease, safekeeping, transferred for installation, processing and other similar purposes
- accounting for contingent rights or obligations of a business entity
- control of relevant types of business transactions
- providing comprehensive information on funds off the balance sheet for management purposes, as well as the ability to assess the financial position of the enterprise.
The off-balance sheet account has a traditional, albeit slightly simplified structure. It reflects the opening balance, receipts and write-offs of material assets during the month, and the ending balance.
Types of off-balance sheet accounts
In accordance with the Chart of Accounts, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance dated October 31, 2000 N 94n (as amended on November 8, 2010), several main types of off-balance sheet accounts are used for organizations and enterprises of the Russian Federation, which are listed below.
Off-balance sheet accounts include:
001 “Leased fixed assets.” Required to enter information about leased fixed assets. Such funds are accounted for in accordance with the valuation adopted in existing leases.
002 “Inventory assets accepted for safekeeping.” This off-balance sheet account is used to enter information about material assets for which, for one reason or another, payment has not been made, or which have been temporarily accepted onto the balance sheet.
003 “Materials accepted for processing.” Intended to display the availability and movement of raw materials or materials taken for processing and not paid for by the manufacturer. Accounting is carried out in prices reflected in the relevant contracts.
004 “Goods accepted for commission.” Used by organizations that accept goods on commission in accordance with the contract. Accounting is carried out at prices determined by acceptance certificates.
005 “Equipment accepted for installation.” An off-balance sheet account is used by contractor organizations to reflect information about all types of installation equipment that was provided by the customer.
006 “Strict reporting forms.” Displays available and issued forms for certificates, diplomas, subscriptions, tickets, receipts and other similar reporting forms. The account is kept in conditional prices. Each type of form is counted separately.
007 “Debt of insolvent debtors written off at a loss.” This contains information about written off debts. Such accounts are maintained for five years after the debts have been written off, in order to monitor the possibility of repayment if the borrowers' solvency changes.
008 “Securities for obligations and payments received.” Contains information about the availability and movement of funds received as guarantees for securing obligations, as well as security that were received for goods transferred to other organizations. The amount of the guarantee to be accounted for is determined by the terms of the contract.
009 “Securities for obligations and payments issued.” Reflects funds issued as guarantees to secure obligations.
010 “Depreciation of fixed assets.” This off-balance sheet account is intended to summarize data on the movement of amounts reflecting the depreciation of housing facilities, landscaping, road facilities and the like, as well as fixed assets (in the case of non-profit organizations). Depreciation is calculated at the end of the year according to depreciation rates.
011 “Fixed assets leased out.” Serves to display data on objects classified as fixed assets and leased. It is used in cases where, according to the terms of the agreement, the property must be reflected on the balance sheet of the lessee. Accounting is carried out at the prices specified in the lease agreement.
In addition to those listed, the list of off-balance sheet accounts can be supplemented by the organization itself, in accordance with the specifics of its activities. This should be reflected in the accounting policies.
For some types of economic entities, slightly different off-balance sheet accounts are used. Thus, Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation No. 157n determines the chart of accounts for state and local authorities, extra-budgetary funds, scientific and educational institutions, and government agencies. This plan identifies twenty-six types of off-balance sheet accounts that can be used by these organizations as needed.
Learning to make accounting entries
In every enterprise, during the course of its activities, many business transactions arise that must be taken into account in accounting. To record them, there are accounting accounts. Transactions are recorded in accounting accounts using postings. What is this wiring? How to prepare accounting entries? What is the principle of double entry in accounting?
The essence of double entry
At the time of any transaction, a change occurs in the funds and sources of the enterprise, which are recorded in the accounting accounts. Each operation affects two accounts, the transaction amount is simultaneously reflected in the debit of one and in the credit of the other. This is the double entry method.
Example:
Let us explain the principle of double entry using a simple example. Let's take any operation, for example, the receipt of cash from a buyer to the cash register. In this case, there is a simultaneous increase in cash on hand and a decrease in the buyer’s debt. Cash accounting is carried out on the account. 50 “Cashier”, all settlements with customers are reflected in the account. 62.
According to the principle of double entry, we must reflect this event on two accounts: 50 “Cash” and 62 “Settlements with customers”. The amount of cash received must be reflected as a debit for one and a credit for the other.
Cash is an asset of the enterprise, an increase in the asset is reflected in the debit of the account, that is, the amount received must be reflected in the debit of the account. 50.
The buyer's debt is also an asset; the reduction in debt is reflected in the credit account. 62.
That is, a business transaction - the receipt of cash from the buyer in the accounting department is reflected using a simultaneous double entry for debit 50 and credit 62. The entry is made for the same amount in the amount of cash received.
The concept of accounting entry
A double entry in accounting is a posting, or rather an indication of the accounts for the debit and credit of which an entry was made for the amount of the transaction.
Let's take the example above, we made a simultaneous entry for debit 50 and credit 62, an entry of the form Debit 50 Credit 62 will be a posting. For convenience, it is reduced to the form D50 K62.
The two accounts that participate in the accounting entry are called corresponding accounts. And the relationship between these accounts is called correspondence of accounting accounts.
Examples:
Here are some more examples of accounting entries:
D10 K60 – materials from the supplier are accepted for accounting.
D70 K50 – wages were paid to the employee.
D71 K50 – cash was issued on account to the employee.
D20 K10 – materials released for production.
How to wire - three simple steps
Every day the enterprise carries out many business transactions, for each of which the corresponding primary documents are drawn up. Based on these documents, posting will already be made. In order to correctly account for transaction amounts, you need to be able to correctly prepare transactions.
For a novice accountant, preparing accounting entries often causes a lot of difficulties and is in vain. Making wiring is quite simple, how to make wiring correctly?
You need to follow three simple steps:
- Step 1 - Determine which accounting accounts are involved in the transaction by taking a working chart of accounts and selecting suitable accounts from it
- Step 2 - Determine which account the transaction amount should be debited and which account should be credited
- Step 3 - Perform simultaneous double entry on these accounts
Let's look at these steps with an example.
Example of preparing accounting entries
So, some event occurred at the enterprise, for example, goods arrived from the buyer. How to make a posting?
We are analyzing the operation - the goods have arrived from the buyer, which means that there are more goods in the warehouses, and the organization began to have a debt to the supplier. Moreover, the amount of debt is equal to the cost of the goods delivered.
- Step 1- You need to select 2 accounts that are involved here:
- the goods are taken into account on the account. 41 "Products";
- all relationships with suppliers are conducted on the account. 60 “Settlements with suppliers.”
Thus, the transaction amount must be reflected in two accounts: 41 and 60. - Step 2- A product is an asset of an enterprise. The receipt of goods is an increase in the asset. On the active account. 41 increase in assets is reflected in debit.
Debt to the supplier is accounts payable (liability); the appearance of debt means an increase in liability. On the active-passive account 60, we will reflect the increase in liabilities on the loan. - Step 3- We carry out the posting according to the double entry principle - we enter the amount in debit 41 and credit 60 - we get posting of the type D41 K60.
The concept of an enterprise's accounting policy
Organizations, enterprises and other economic entities differ in their form of ownership, asset structure, number of employees and other characteristics. In such a situation, it is impossible to apply strict uniform accounting standards to all participants in economic activity. Therefore, there was a need to differentiate accounting methods for different types of enterprises. This is where the concept of the accounting policy of an economic entity emerged.
Accounting policy is a set of methods for organizing accounting by an economic entity. In other words, federal standards allow for various types of forms of accounting documents and organization of accounting, from which each entity chooses the most suitable methods for its activities. These methods include various options for grouping and assessing the activities of an enterprise, repaying the value of its assets, ensuring the circulation of documents, conducting an inventory, using accounts, accounting registers, and others.
The accounting policy is approved by order of the manager, which can be drawn up according to the following model:
Who forms the accounting policy of the organization
The accounting policy of the enterprise is regulated by Federal Law No. 402-FZ of December 6, 2011 (Article 8) as amended on July 18, 2017 and the Accounting Regulations “Accounting Policy of the Organization” (PBU 1/2008). In accordance with these regulations, the accounting policy must be developed by the chief accountant (or another person authorized to conduct accounting) and approved by its head.
Law No. 402-FZ abolishes the previously used standard forms of primary documentation; now such documentation is also approved by the head of the enterprise. A list of required items is provided. Paragraph 4 of Article 8 clarifies that in the absence of accounting methods adopted by federal standards for a specific type of object, the latter can independently develop such methods in accordance with the requirements of the law and existing standards.
Development of an enterprise's accounting policy
Regulation PBU 1/2008 explains the organization of accounting policies in more detail. Thus, in paragraph 5, implied assumptions are introduced:
- the assets and liabilities of the enterprise are separated from the assets and liabilities of its owners (and assets of other organizations)
- the organization will carry out continuous activities on a long-term basis and the fulfillment of its obligations will be guaranteed
- consistent annual accounting policies will be ensured
- the facts of the organization’s economic activities correspond to the reporting period in which they occurred, regardless of the time of receipt of funds.
Paragraph 6 of the PBU specifies the general principles of accounting policies, which should ensure:
- comprehensive display of all facts of economic activity
- timely entry of these facts into accounting documents
- priority of recognition of all expenses and liabilities before possible income and value of assets
- priority of the economic component of economic activity over its legal form
- compliance of analytical accounting results with synthetic accounting accounts on the last day of the period
- rationality of accounting in accordance with the type of activity and size of the organization.
Clause 4 of the Regulations introduces the main sections of accounting policies that make up the structure of accounting activities. The head of the organization must approve:
- accounting chart of accounts (synthetic and analytical accounts).
- forms of primary documentation, accounting registers and internal reporting
- methodology for inventorying an organization's assets and liabilities
- options for valuing these assets and liabilities
- procedure for document flow and information processing
- methods of control of economic activities
- other documents regulating accounting at a specific enterprise.
The third section of the Regulations PBU 1/2008 is devoted to changes in accounting policies. It is valid in three cases:
- changes in federal legislation and regulations on accounting
- the organization's development of more advanced and efficient accounting methods
- significant reorganization, change in the scope of activity of the enterprise.
The introduction of a new accounting policy must be carried out mainly from the beginning of the reporting period. It is mandatory to approve the new accounting structure by relevant orders of the head of the enterprise. The possible financial consequences of such a change must be reflected in the financial statements.
Managers of many organizations underestimate the importance of the connection between accounting policies and the results of the enterprise's activities. Correct accounting policies have a positive impact on the cost of production, gross profit, and other indicators of the financial position of the organization. In the absence of an effective accounting policy, it is impossible to make a comparative analysis of the enterprise’s activities in different periods, as well as compare the results obtained with the indicators of other similar enterprises.
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Small businesses
Organizations and individual entrepreneurs can be classified as small businesses if they meet the criteria established by Article 4 of Federal Law No. 209-FZ of July 24, 2007. This article, first of all, says that small enterprises include commercial organizations, individual entrepreneurs, farms and consumer cooperatives if they meet the criteria established by this article.
On June 30, 2015, Federal Law No. 156-FZ of June 29, 2015 came into force, which introduced some changes to the criteria for determining a small business entity. The criteria existing today, as well as the changes introduced by the new law, will be discussed below.
Small businesses can maintain simplified accounting, submit simplified financial statements, and apply a simplified cash discipline procedure.
Criteria for small businesses in 2015
Criterion 1 - Average number of employees
Enterprises does not exceed 15 people, then the enterprise belongs to microenterprises (a type of small business entity).
If the average number of employees does not exceed 100 people, then the organization or individual entrepreneur can be classified as a small enterprise.
If the average number of employees over 100, but does not exceed 250 people, then the enterprise belongs to medium-sized businesses.
The average number is taken for the past calendar year.
Change 2015: According to the new law, an enterprise can be classified as a small business if this condition is met for three years in a row (previously 2 years was enough). An organization or individual entrepreneur will cease to be small if the average number exceeds 100 people for 3 years in a row.
Criterion 2 - Revenue from sales of goods or services
There is a limit on revenue from the sale of goods and services, which distinguishes between small and medium-sized enterprises.
If the revenue for a calendar year is excluding value added tax does not exceed 60 million rubles., the enterprise is considered a micro-enterprise.
If revenue does not exceed 400 million rubles. per year, then this is a small enterprise.
If revenue does not exceed 1 billion rubles., then the enterprise is considered medium-sized.
Revenue limits are established by the Government of the Russian Federation.
Change 2015: To classify an organization or individual entrepreneur as a small enterprise, it is necessary that this criterion be met for at least three years in a row (previously it was 2 years). An organization or individual entrepreneur can lose the status of a small enterprise only if its revenue exceeds the limit for three years in a row.
Criterion 3 - share of participation in the authorized capital
An organization or individual entrepreneur can be classified as a small business entity if in the authorized capital of the organization:
- share of the state, constituent entities of the Russian Federation, municipalities, charitable and other foundations, public and religious organizations no more than 25%
- the share of other organizations that are not small, no more than 49%(previously it was 25%)
- share of foreign organizations no more than 49%(previously it was 25%)
Based on materials from: buhs0.ru
Comments:
The new law 402-FZ introduced fundamentally new provisions devoted to the regulation of accounting (Chapter 3).
The provisions of Chapter 3 of Law 402-FZ do not directly affect the work of an accountant; this chapter defines principles, documents, and also identifies subjects in the field of accounting regulation.
According to Art. 20Law N 402-FZ regulation of accounting is carried out according to the principles: compliance of federal and industry standards with the needs of users of accounting (financial) statements; unity of accounting requirements; using International Standards as the basis for the development of federal and industry standards.
INArt. 3 Law N 402-FZ defines an international standard as an accounting standard, the application of which is customary in international business, regardless of the specific name of such a standard. An accounting standard is a document that establishes the minimum necessary accounting requirements and acceptable methods of accounting.
Now federal and industry standards will have to be developed that regulate accounting and are mandatory for use. At their core, these are currently existing PBUs that have undergone significant modifications and amendments and are as close as possible to IFRS.
Federal standards, regardless of the type of economic activity, establish, in particular, the procedure for classifying accounting items, the conditions for their acceptance and write-off, the composition, content and procedure for generating information disclosed in accounting (financial) statements (clause 3 art. 21 Law N 402-FZ). Industry standards determine the specific application of federal standards in certain types of economic activity (clause 5 art. 21 Law N 402-FZ).
The development of standards will be carried out by the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and, what is extremely important, for the first time - subjects of non-state regulation of accounting: self-regulatory organizations, including self-regulatory organizations of entrepreneurs, other users of accounting (financial) statements, auditors interested in taking part in the regulation of accounting, as well as their associations and unions and other non-profit organizations pursuing the goals of accounting development. This is mentioned inArt. Art. 22 – 24 Law N 402-FZ.
The publication of developed draft federal standards in print and on the Internet and their public discussion by interested parties are becoming increasingly important. As a result, these projects will have to be finalized by the developers and adopted by the authorized federal body, taking into account comments received in writing from interested parties. This procedure is set out inArt. Art. 26 , 27 Law N 402-FZ.
On January 1, 2013, the new Federal Law of December 6, 2011 N 402-FZ “On Accounting” comes into force.
As stated in the explanatory note submitted by the developers of the bill to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the new edition of the Federal Law “On Accounting” was developed to eliminate outdated norms, provisions and gaps in the current Federal Law of November 21, 1996 N 129-FZ “On Accounting” identified as a result of the analysis of relevant law enforcement practice. The bill is aimed at bringing the norms of the Federal Law governing the system into line with the changed economic conditions of the activities of economic entities in order to generate and disclose reliable and useful information about the financial position of these entities, changes in their financial position and the financial results of their activities.
The new Law fundamentally changes the goals and objectives of accounting and financial reporting - the generation of data on the financial condition of the organization and cash flow is determined as a priority.
A separate chapter of the new Law is devoted to issues of accounting regulation. At the same time, the basic principles for the formation of an essentially new system of regulatory regulation of accounting are laid down, including a set of federal, industry standards, recommendations and standards of an economic entity.
In addition, the rules and requirements that were not sufficiently disclosed in the previous Law have been clarified and detailed, in particular those relating to the formation and presentation of reports during the reorganization and liquidation of organizations, as well as paper and electronic document flow.
The publication brought to the attention of readers provides a general and article-by-article commentary on the norms and requirements of the new Law.
Since the formation and establishment of a new system of regulatory regulation of accounting involves a very long transition period (during which previously adopted standards will be in effect and new ones will be adopted), the publication focuses on issues of organizing and maintaining accounting at the level of an economic entity.
The following abbreviations are used in the publication:
- the new Law on Accounting - Federal Law dated December 6, 2011 N 402-FZ;
- the former Law on accounting - Federal Law of November 21, 1996 N 129-FZ;
- Civil Code of the Russian Federation - Civil Code of the Russian Federation, parts one and two;
- Tax Code of the Russian Federation - Tax Code of the Russian Federation, parts one and two;
- RAS - Russian accounting standards;
- IFRS - international financial reporting standards.
Other abbreviations are disclosed at the first mention of a legislative or regulatory act.
Part one. General comment
Part two. Article by article comment
Chapter 1. General provisions
Chapter 2. General requirements for accounting
Working chart of accounts
Forms of primary accounting documents, as well as forms of documents for internal accounting reporting
Inventory procedure
Methods for assessing types of property and liabilities
Document flow rules and technology for processing accounting information
The procedure for monitoring business transactions
Other solutions necessary for organizing accounting
Chapter 3. Accounting regulation
Chapter 4. Final provisions
Article 31. On the recognition as invalid of certain legislative acts (provisions of legislative acts) of the Russian Federation
Part one. General comment
Federal Law dated December 6, 2011 N 402-FZ “On Accounting” establishes uniform requirements for accounting, including accounting (financial) reporting, and is also aimed at creating a legal mechanism for regulating accounting. In accordance with Art. 32 of the new Law on Accounting, it comes into force on January 1, 2013. From this date, the current Federal Law of November 21, 1996 N 129-FZ “On Accounting” ceases to apply.
In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 2 of the new Law on Accounting from January 1, 2013, its application will become mandatory, in particular, for commercial and non-profit organizations, state bodies and local governments, governing bodies of state and territorial extra-budgetary funds, individual entrepreneurs and persons engaged in private practice, branches and representative offices of foreign and international organizations, as well as the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
In addition, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 2 of the new Law on Accounting, its requirements are applied when maintaining budgetary accounting of assets and liabilities of the Russian Federation, constituent entities of the Russian Federation and municipalities, operations that change these assets and liabilities, as well as when preparing budget reporting.
The new Accounting Law retains the main provisions from the previously adopted legislative act. At the same time, there are a number of very significant clarifications that will need to be taken into account by the administration of budgetary institutions when organizing and maintaining accounting records and forming the institution’s accounting policy for 2013.
Let us list the most significant, in our opinion, changes.
Innovations in terms of general provisions and requirements for the organization of accounting
The definition of accounting, the goals and objectives of its organization and maintenance have fundamentally changed. The modern definition is focused mainly only on the preparation of financial statements, the goals and objectives of which have also been fundamentally changed. If earlier accounting and reporting had the main purpose of collecting, grouping and presenting data on the state of property and liabilities of an economic entity, now the main attention will be paid to the issues of generating information about the financial condition of an economic entity and cash flows.
Probably, the change in the definition of accounting is also due to the exclusion of accounting tasks from the text of the Law. At the same time, the text of the Law excludes the (approximate) list of users of financial statements. Thus, apparently, it is assumed that the accounting entity itself will determine the composition of the users of the statements, as well as the composition of the information that can be presented to various categories of internal and external users of the financial statements.
As already noted, the scope of the Accounting Law has been expanded - the new Law applies to commercial and non-profit organizations, institutions (state, budgetary and autonomous), as well as to public legal entities (state authorities, local governments, management bodies of state non-budgetary funds, etc.). In addition, it is specifically stipulated that the Law applies to the accounting of transactions carried out under trust management agreements and production sharing agreements.
At the same time, the text of the new Law on Accounting does not reproduce the norm that previously allowed organizations that switched to a simplified taxation system to keep accounting records according to a simplified scheme (only accounting for fixed assets and intangible assets).
The definitions of analytical and synthetic accounting have disappeared from the list of basic concepts, and the definitions of accounting and financial reporting have been significantly revised.
At the same time, a number of new concepts were introduced, such as:
- accounting standard;
- international standard;
- reporting period;
- head of an economic entity;
- fact of economic life;
- public sector organizations.
Innovations regarding general accounting requirements
The composition of accounting objects has also been significantly revised and included in a separate article of the new Accounting Law: property has been replaced by assets and expenses, facts of economic life are indicated instead of business transactions, and the income of an economic entity has been allocated to a separate group of accounting objects. In addition, a new group of accounting objects has been included - sources of financing activities, and the list of objects itself has become open.
Thus, the list of accounting objects has become as close as possible to a similar list used in the public sector, as well as in some international standards.
Specific requirements have been established for persons who can be hired for the position of chief accountant (level of education, practical experience and lack of criminal record). True, the new requirements apply only to a limited circle of chief accountants of economic entities whose shares and other securities can be traded on the organized market.
The same requirements apply to individuals hired to work as accountants under the terms of an outsourcing agreement, as well as to legal entities performing accounting work under a contract (such legal entities must have at least one accountant on staff who meets the established requirements) .
The regulation of the formation and disclosure of an organization's accounting policy has been changed - a definition of accounting policy has been introduced and, at the same time, provisions establishing the composition of the mandatory sections of the accounting policy (working chart of accounts, document flow rules, etc.) have been excluded. At the same time, from the norms of Art. 8 and some other articles of the Law, it can be concluded that the role of federal and industry standards is increasing. Thus, the composition and structure of the accounting policies of institutions in the future will continue to be regulated by the provisions of the new federal standards.
Very significant changes have occurred in terms of document flow regulation - in the new Accounting Law there is no mention of unified forms of primary documents. Thus, organizations from 2013 will no longer be required to use albums of unified forms. However, an exception has been made for public sector organizations - the forms of primary accounting documents for such organizations will be established in accordance with the budget legislation of the Russian Federation.
From 2013, heads of economic entities will be required to approve absolutely all forms of primary accounting documentation, regardless of whether they were previously unified.
For the first time, a list of mandatory details for accounting registers appeared in accounting legislation. A rule has been introduced according to which the forms of accounting registers must also be approved by the head of an economic entity. An exception is made for the forms of accounting registers for public sector organizations, which will be established in accordance with the budgetary legislation of the Russian Federation.
The procedure for correcting errors in accounting registers has been clarified - now corrections cannot be made without the knowledge of the persons responsible for maintaining this register.
The legislative regulation of inventories has changed. The list of conditions under which an inventory is mandatory has been excluded from the text of the Law. From 2013, this will generally be set by federal and industry standards.
If an inventory is not mandatory, the cases, timing and procedure for conducting an inventory, as well as the list of objects subject to inventory, will be determined by the economic entity independently.
Another very important technical clarification regarding the reflection of inventory results in accounting is that discrepancies identified during the inventory between the actual availability of objects and the data of the accounting registers are subject to registration in accounting in the reporting period to which the date as of which the inventory was carried out relates. Thus, now inventories will need to be assigned as of the last date of the reporting (verified) period.
Certain changes have occurred in terms of regulation of accounting reporting issues.
In particular, reporting periods have been established for reorganized and liquidated organizations, it has been established that financial reporting data cannot be the subject of a trade secret, and separate articles regulate the specifics of drawing up and presenting reports in the event of reorganization or liquidation of economic entities.
The article, which contained the addresses and deadlines for submitting financial statements, has not been reproduced in its previous form. Instead, the Law includes rules governing the procedure for submitting a legal deposit of financial statements. At the same time, the addressee (state statistics body) and the terms (with an insignificant clarification - three months instead of 90 days) are preserved. At the same time, rules are included regulating the use of reporting (as a state resource) by interested users, including on a paid basis.
Innovations in accounting regulation
A four-level structure of normative regulation of accounting has been established - federal and industry standards, recommendations in the field of accounting and standards of an economic entity. It is assumed that federal and industry standards are mandatory for use by accounting entities (subject to the limitations and exceptions established by the standards themselves). Accounting recommendations will be applied on a voluntary basis, provided that they do not create obstacles to the organization's activities. Economic entity standards will be developed and approved at the level of the economic entity.
Currently, the role of industry standards in the field of accounting regulation in institutions is performed by the instructions of the Ministry of Finance of Russia, the role of the standards of an economic entity is the accounting policy of the institution and other orders and instructions of the head of the institution, clarifying the organization of individual elements of accounting in a particular institution. In our opinion, dramatic changes should not be expected in this area either. However, a number of new industry standards and recommendations may emerge before the end of 2012.
A separate article of the new Law on Accounting establishes a rather complex scheme for the development and approval of federal and industry standards with the participation of an authorized body (the Ministry of Finance of Russia), a subject of non-state regulation of accounting (a self-regulatory organization created to develop standards) and the Accounting Standards Council, which will created under the Ministry of Finance of Russia.
A separate chapter of the new Accounting Law establishes general requirements for the storage of accounting documents. It also contains a list of legislative acts that have lost force due to the adoption of this Law.
A special norm stipulates that previously adopted regulatory acts in the field of accounting will continue to be in force until the development and approval of the relevant federal standards.
A detailed commentary on individual changes and legislative innovations is given in Part 2 of the publication.
October 2012
