Document flow in accounting: maintenance order

To properly organize the circulation of documentation, it is necessary to comply with the requirements of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting” and the federal accounting standards (FSBU “Documents and document flow in accounting”) for public sector enterprises.

The structure of document circulation at an enterprise includes three main flows:

1. Incoming - received from other persons or organizations (requests, letters).
2. Outgoing - sent from the institution to third-party recipients (responses to requests).
3. Internal - created within the enterprise and does not go beyond its boundaries, used by employees in the management process (organizational and legal, instructive, regulatory, organizational and administrative, etc.).

ConsultantPlus experts discussed how to organize document flow not only in accounting, but also in other departments of the organization. Use these instructions for free.

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Source documents

Each fact of economic life must be confirmed by a primary document. It is impossible to take into account documents that document facts of economic life that did not take place (including imaginary and feigned transactions). This is stated in Part 1 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ.

The forms of primary documents are determined by the head of the organization upon the recommendation of the person entrusted with accounting (Part 4 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ).

The primary document must contain the following mandatory details:

• Title of the document;

• date of document preparation;

• name of the economic entity (organization) that compiled the document;

• content of the fact of economic life;

• the value of the natural and (or) monetary measurement of a fact of economic life, indicating the units of measurement;

• the names of the positions of the persons who completed the transaction, operation, and those responsible for its execution, or the names of the positions of the persons responsible for the execution of the accomplished event;

• signatures of these persons with transcripts and other information necessary to identify these persons.

Such a list is established by Part 2 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ.

The primary document must be drawn up when a fact of economic life is committed, and if this is not possible, immediately after its completion (Part 3 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ).

Primary documents are drawn up on paper and (or) in the form of an electronic document signed with an electronic signature (Part 5 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ).

Standard forms

Unified forms of documents from albums of unified forms approved by the resolutions of the State Statistics Committee of Russia are not mandatory for use. At the same time, the forms established by authorized bodies on the basis of federal laws remain mandatory for use. Thus, the organization is obliged to use standard forms of documents approved by the Government of the Russian Federation, the Bank of Russia (for example, payment orders, expenditure and cash receipt orders) and other authorized bodies in pursuance of federal laws. Such clarifications are contained in the information of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 4, 2012 No. PZ-10/2012, letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated June 23, 2014 No. ED-4-2/11941.

If for any fact of economic life a unified form of the primary document is established by a resolution of the State Statistics Committee of Russia, then the organization has the right, at its own choice:

• or develop the document form yourself;

• or use a unified form.

According to the general rule, the forms of primary documents are determined by the head of the organization upon the recommendation of the person entrusted with accounting (Part 4 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ). That is, the manager must approve either the form independently developed by the organization, or the fact that the organization uses unified forms.

In any case, the primary document must contain all the mandatory details listed in Part 2 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ. The information included in this list is identical in composition and content to the details of documents compiled according to forms from albums of unified forms. That is, the current unified forms comply with the requirements of Part 2 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ.

If necessary, you can add details to unified forms (additional rows, columns, etc.) or exclude them. Approve the corrected unified form by order (instruction) of the manager as the primary document.

Such conclusions follow from the provisions of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ and are confirmed by information from the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 4, 2012 No. PZ-10/2012. The correctness of this approach was confirmed by the Federal Tax Service of Russia in a letter dated February 12, 2015 No. GD-4-3/ [email protected] , having sent a letter from the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated February 4, 2015 No. 03-03-10/4547 to lower inspections. This letter from the tax service is posted on the official website of the Federal Tax Service of Russia in the section “Explanations that are mandatory for use.”

An example of how to add additional information to a unified form

At Alpha LLC, repayment of debts to accountable persons sometimes occurs in non-cash form. In order to display this operation in the unified form of the advance report, it was decided to add an additional line to it: “Overexpenditure in the amount of___ was transferred to the employee’s salary card according to the payment order dated “__” ________ 200__. No. ___.” This form was approved by order of the head of the organization.

How to approve forms

Approve the forms of primary documents in the accounting policy (clause 4 of PBU 1/2008).

In this case, standard forms without changes do not need to be attached to the accounting policies. The fact of using unified forms can be reflected in the accounting policies in the following ways:

• write: “The unified forms contained in the albums of unified forms approved by the State Statistics Committee of Russia are used as forms of primary accounting documents, without changes.” In this case, you will need to use uniform forms for each operation for which a form exists;

• prescribe for different accounting objects which unified forms the organization will use, something like this: “...use the unified form _____, approved by the resolution of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated _____ No. _______.” For example, when using the unified form No. TORG-12, you can make the following entry: “Use the unified form No. TORG-12, approved by Decree of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated December 25, 1998 No. 132, to register the sale (release) of inventory items to a third party organization.” .

Include samples of independently developed forms approved by the manager in the appendix to the order approving the accounting policy.

About accounting registers

The Accounting Law emphasized that every enterprise is obliged to carry out accounting of property, transactions using double entries in the accounting accounts. For dummies it can be explained this way. Accounts are methods of coordinated reflection and grouping of property by location and composition, sources of its receipt, according to homogeneous characteristics, which are expressed in natural, labor and financial indicators.

This definition is formal and complex. Simply put, accounts are tables with two columns - debit and credit. It reflects all procedures carried out in the organization.

On the left side, all receipts to the accounts of a legal entity are recorded without exception, and on the right side are expenses. The data in the table is reflected in monetary terms.

In any legal entity, a great many procedures are carried out every day - new funds are credited to its account, some of them are withdrawn, wages are paid, taxes are paid, and many other bills are subject to payment. All procedures are divided according to a common characteristic. Each group is assigned to the corresponding account.

For example, all operations for accounting for material assets are assigned to account 10. Each action related to cash is assigned to account 50, and so on. In general, there are dozens of types of accounts in accounting.

Those who are just starting to master accounting think that the chart of accounts is an incredibly difficult thing to understand and implement. However, this documentation is extremely useful. The chart of accounts is not learned by heart. Each legal entity uses only a separate list of necessary accounts; most accounts are simply not used by accountants.

Using a specific example, he expresses it this way. The month begins, and the organization begins to maintain accounting records for the new period. Open a new table. The balance is entered at the beginning of it - the balance from last month. It can be debit or credit.

Then, for a full month, each business transaction performed is reflected. So, if an enterprise maintaining account 51 “Settlement” had 10,000 rubles left in its account at the end of last month, then this is the amount that is entered into the table at the beginning of the new period. Time passes, a legal entity carries out many monetary transactions, the account balance is constantly changing, every slightest change is recorded in the table.

Be sure to count the turnover at the end of the reporting period (month), adding up the values ​​of each column. And then they calculate the final balance by adding all the numbers in the debit column and subtracting the total value of the credit column from the resulting amount.

In cases where the amount turned out to be positive, the balance became a debit. But if it is negative, the balance is credit. This information is entered into the table. When the balance has already been calculated, the account is closed. With the onset of a new month, a new account is opened.

To systematize and accumulate information contained in primary documentation already accepted for accounting, and reflect it on the accounting accounts, organizations create appropriate registers.

They are written in separate books, on maps and sheets in the form of machine diagrams, which are issued by computer technology. They are also released on a variety of media, including tapes and floppy disks.

This format of activity is called “journal-order”. This is how most businesses operate. The order journals are based on a credit or debit sign for registering procedures on synthetic accounts. Their indicators are recorded based on information from primary documentation only on the credit of accounts. The use of this accounting format at the legislative level is reflected only in the form of recommendations.

The memorial-order form of record keeping is much less commonly used. In it, based on information from primary documentation, memorial orders are formed, which are reflected in the registration journals, and then in the general ledger.

Organizations use machine-oriented forms of accounting, based on the journal-order or sometimes memorial-order form.

The form used by the enterprise is necessarily reflected in the accounting policy. In addition, if an organization has formed its own special registers, they are reflected in the album of non-unified forms of documentation.

It is important to know that small businesses choose the order in which accounting information is reflected. This can be carried out similarly to other enterprises that use uniform accounting forms, according to the accounting forms that have been established for small organizations, as well as according to a simplified taxation system.

As for tax accounting, the information about it reflects how the income was received, what the expenses were, the sequence of calculating the share of expenses, the amount of the balance of expenses, which is attributed to expenses in different reporting periods.

Tax accounting information is confirmed by primary accounting documents, analytical tax accounting registers, and calculation of the tax base.

In such cases, the primary documentation used is the same as in accounting. Calculate the tax base in declarations. But organizations determine analytical tax accounting registers themselves, taking into account the requirements of tax laws and the need to maintain appropriate records.

Analytical tax accounting registers are consolidated forms of systematization of tax accounting information in the reporting period, which are grouped taking into account the requirements of tax legislation.

The form of data from tax accounting registers of an enterprise is developed by the subjects of tax relations themselves, but in any case it includes the name of the register, the date of registration, indicators of transactions, their name, signatures of responsible persons.

Registers are maintained in special forms, both electronic and printed. The organization has a choice whether to independently develop forms or take ready-made samples from the Ministry of Taxes of the Russian Federation.

Also, the law imposes on each enterprise the obligation to create supporting primary documentation. The legislation specifies the necessary procedure for moving these documents. However, it may also be based on an internal administrative document of the enterprise. The internal organization of these movements is called “document flow of the organization.” The rules of this process are specified in the accounting policies of the enterprise.

Registers

The data contained in the primary documents is reflected in the accounting registers. Accounting registers are lists of transactions in chronological order, grouped by accounting accounts (for example, statements, reports in tabular form).

The register forms are approved by the head of the organization. The required details of the accounting register are:

• register name;

• name of the organization (economic entity) that compiled the register;

• the start and end dates of maintaining the register and (or) the period for which it was compiled;

• chronological and (or) systematic grouping of accounting objects;

• unit of measurement;

• names of positions of persons responsible for maintaining the register and their signatures with a transcript.

Registers are compiled on paper and (or) in the form of an electronic document signed with an electronic signature.

When making corrections to the registers, you must indicate the date of the correction, as well as the signatures of the persons responsible for maintaining this register (with a transcript).

When registering accounting objects in registers, the following are not allowed:

– omissions or withdrawals;

– reflection of imaginary and feigned accounting objects.

Such rules are defined by Article 10 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ.

The employee responsible for preparing the primary document must ensure its timely transfer for inclusion in the accounting registers. In this case, this employee is responsible for the accuracy of the data recorded in the primary document. This is stated in Part 3 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ.

Persons responsible for document flow

Ensuring document flow in the accounting system is carried out by persons drawing up and signing accounting documents. In doing so, they must do the following:

• prepare primary documents in a timely and high-quality manner;
• transfer primary documents within the prescribed period so that the data contained in them is reflected in accounting;
• ensure the veracity of the information contained in primary documents.

All documents that accountants work with are divided into the following groups:

• accounting;
• tax accounting and reporting.

In turn, accounting documents can be divided into 3 groups:

• source documents;
• registers;
• reporting forms.

Reporting documents include tax reporting and registers.

Entrepreneur on OSNO

Documentation of business transactions carried out by an individual entrepreneur applying the general taxation system is regulated by the Procedure approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia No. 86n dated August 13, 2002 and the Ministry of Taxes of Russia No. BG-3-04/430.

The requirements for primary accounting documents are contained in paragraph 9 of this procedure. They almost completely coincide with the requirements for primary accounting documents used by organizations. The only addition is that individual entrepreneurs must attach to the primary document that documents the sale of goods or their purchase, a primary document confirming payment for this product.

Separate division

Situation: can a separate division reflect business transactions on the basis of primary documents issued on behalf of the head office of the organization? A separate division is allocated to a separate balance sheet and conducts accounting independently.

Yes maybe.

At the same time, the accounting policy must reflect the condition that all primary documents are drawn up on behalf of the head office.

The organization establishes the methods of accounting independently and prescribes them in the accounting policy for accounting purposes (Article 8 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ). The provisions specified in the accounting policy apply to all separate divisions of the organization (clause 9 of PBU 1/2008). Therefore, if the organization’s accounting policy states that all primary documents are drawn up on behalf of the head office, then a separate division has the right to conduct accounting on the basis of such registers.

In addition, one of the mandatory details of any primary document is the name of the economic entity that compiled the document (subclause 3, part 2, article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ). Economic entities are considered, in particular, commercial and non-profit organizations (subparagraph 1, part 1, article 2 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ). An organization is recognized as a legal entity registered in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation (Clause 1, Article 48, Article 51 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). A separate division is not an independent legal entity; it is part of it (Article 55 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Consequently, a separate division, conducting accounting independently on the basis of documents drawn up on behalf of the head office of the organization, does not violate accounting legislation.

additional information

You need to know that accounting records are maintained in different ways in different types of enterprises. The uniform procedure for its implementation is laid down in Article 13 of Federal Law No. 67n. But, for example, in small enterprises, the list of financial statements is shortened. Enterprises that include a number of structural divisions with separate balance sheets or separate ones (for example, branches) reflect in their accounting policies the sequence of reporting for the enterprise as a whole. They also reflect the composition of internal reports, the distribution of accounting procedures between divisional accounting departments and the central accounting department.

In addition, the Accounting Regulations, paragraph 91, state that if enterprises have subsidiaries, they maintain consolidated reporting, which includes reports of subsidiaries. This feature is necessarily prescribed in the accounting policy of the organization. Along with accounting, tax reporting is also submitted to the Federal Tax Service.

Accounting information

Situation: in what cases is it necessary to prepare an accounting certificate?

An accounting certificate must be prepared in any cases where an accountant needs to justify transactions or calculations. For example:

• when submitting updated declarations to justify the calculations reflected in them (letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated December 14, 2006 No. 02-6-10/233);

• to confirm the amounts reflected in accounting, for example, when calculating dividends;

• to justify reversal entries, etc.

This primary document must contain the mandatory details listed in Part 2 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ.

When is HR electronic document management needed and is it possible to do without it?

Electronic personnel document management is one of the elements of the electronic document management system in an organization.

In terms of diversity, personnel documents are not inferior to the accounting service - the leader in the volume of primary documents created and received. Much depends on such nuances as:

• scale and structure of the organization;
• the specifics of its activities;
• geographical fragmentation of structural divisions;
• staff turnover;
• other features (presence of remote workers, harmful and dangerous working conditions, etc.).

All these nuances are taken into account when deciding whether an organization needs electronic personnel document management.

If a company consists of a director, chief accountant and 5-7 employees, electronic document management can become a very costly and impractical undertaking. If the company is large with an extensive branch network and specific working conditions, it is impossible to do without automation of documentary procedures.

We will talk further about the specifics of organizing personnel electronic document exchange.

Signatures in documents

Draw up all primary documents when performing a transaction (transaction, event). And if this is not possible - immediately after the end of the operation (transaction, event). Responsibility for registration lies with the employees who signed the primary document.

Such rules are established by Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ.

The list of employees who have the right to sign primary documents can be approved by the head of the organization by his order.

At the same time, the procedure for signing documents used to formalize transactions with funds is regulated, in particular, by Bank of Russia Directive No. 3210-U dated March 11, 2014 and Bank of Russia Regulation No. 383-P dated June 19, 2012.

In any case, the primary document must be signed in such a way that it is possible to identify those who signed it (the persons responsible for processing the transaction). That is, the signatures in the document must be decrypted.

This follows from Part 2 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ and is confirmed by the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated September 10, 2013 No. 07-01-06/37273.

Let’s say an organization that is not a small (medium) enterprise has entered into an agreement with a third-party contractor for the provision of accounting services. Who should sign the primary documents for the chief accountant in this case?

The manager himself must appoint a list of people who have the right to sign primary accounting documents (clause 14 of the Regulations approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 29, 1998 No. 34n, information of the Ministry of Finance of Russia No. PZ-10/2012). These can be employees of the organization (cashier, manager, etc.), as well as representatives of a third-party organization that does accounting.

The right to sign bank documents can be transferred to full-time employees, as well as to persons providing accounting services (clause 7.5 of Bank of Russia Instruction No. 153-I dated May 30, 2014). Thus, in addition to the head of the organization, bank documents can be signed by an employee of the organization or the head of a third-party organization that keeps records.

At the same time, the head of the organization himself cannot sign for the chief accountant. The fact is that, since the organization is not a small (medium) enterprise, the manager cannot take over the accounting. This conclusion follows from Part 3 of Article 7 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ.

Unlike organizations, an individual entrepreneur cannot transfer the right to sign primary documents to third parties. This is directly indicated in paragraph 10 of the Procedure, approved by order of August 13, 2002 of the Ministry of Finance of Russia No. 86n and the Ministry of Taxes of Russia No. BG-3-04/430.

Situation: can the chief accountant sign contracts if he is the founder of the organization?

Yes, it can, but only if he has a power of attorney for the right to sign, issued by the head of the organization (Clause 4 of Article 185.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

In other cases, the right to sign contracts on behalf of the organization belongs to the head (unless otherwise provided by the organization’s charter) (Clause 1, Article 53 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Situation: what color of ink should be used to sign primary documents, as well as invoices?

As a general rule, any color, but there are special requirements for bank documents.

The legislation does not impose requirements on the color of ink that must be used to sign primary documents, as well as invoices. Clause 2.8 of the Regulations approved by the USSR Ministry of Finance dated July 29, 1983 No. 105 (applied to the extent that does not contradict current legislation) states that entries in primary documents must be made in ink, crayon or ballpoint pen paste. Do not use a pencil for writing.

An exception is provided only for bank documents. Clause 1.7.2 of the Rules approved by Bank of Russia Regulation No. 385-P dated July 16, 2012 states that each document submitted to a credit institution on paper must have the signatures of authorized officials and a seal imprint and correspond to the declared samples. In this case, signatures on all documents must be made with a pen with black, blue or purple ink.

Tip: Sign source documents as well as invoices using traditional ink colors (black, blue or purple).

The fact is that when copying primary documents and invoices filled out using red or green ink, the data specified in this way may not appear on the copies of the documents. This may lead to negative consequences when submitting copies of documents for a tax audit (see, for example, Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the East Siberian District dated February 14, 2006 No. A19-13900/05-43-F02-290/06-S1).

Preparation of documents in accounting: the most important

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

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

The content of the article:

1. Concept of a document

2. Types of primary accounting documents

3. Forms of primary accounting documents

4. Approval of primary accounting documents

5. Mandatory details of accounting documents

6. Preparation of documents in accounting

7. Power of attorney to sign primary documents

8. Document flow schedule for accounting documents

9. Journal of primary documents

10. Correction of accounting documents

11. Storage of accounting documents

12. Responsibility for storing primary documents

So, let's go in order.

Document concept

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

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

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

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

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

Examples of primary documents:

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

Types of primary accounting documents

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

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

1. places of compilation:

• internal,
• external,

1. Document forms used:

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

1. type of storage medium:

• paper,
• electronic,

1. volume of information:

• primary,
• summary,

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

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

Forms of primary accounting documents

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

All forms of primary documents are approved by the head of the organization. Currently, the following types of unified forms are required :

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

The payment order also has a standard form; we have discussed all its fields in detail here.

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

Example 1.

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

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

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

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

Approval of primary accounting documents

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

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

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

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

Mandatory details of accounting documents

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

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

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

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

Example 4.

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

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

Preparation of documents in accounting

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

Refusal of stamps

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

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

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

It should contain, for example, the following documents:

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

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

Documents in foreign languages

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

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

Non-ruble meters in primary documents

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

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

Electronic primary documents

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

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

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

Power of attorney to sign primary documents

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

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

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

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

Document flow schedule for accounting documents

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

The document flow schedule must include:

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

(An example of document flow schedule design can also be found in our article about accounting policies.

Logbook of primary documents

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

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

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

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

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

This approach is confirmed in the following documents:

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

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

Correction of accounting documents

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

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

Correction of accounting documents is carried out as follows:

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

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

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

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

How to store and destroy accounting documents

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

Many documents have extended retention periods:

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

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

The act must be approved by the manager.

You can destroy documents:

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

Responsibility for storing primary documents

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

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

One of the gross violations of accounting is:

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

Amounts of fines:

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

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

Tax liability for failure to ensure the safety of primary documents is established by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (Article 120):

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

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

Preparation of documents in accounting: the most important

Electronic documents

Primary documents can be prepared both in paper and electronic form (Part 5 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ). The last option is possible if an electronic signature is placed on the documents (Article 6 of the Law of April 6, 2011 No. 63-FZ).

The requirements for an electronic signature are provided for by the Law of April 6, 2011 No. 63-FZ.

There are the following types of electronic signature: simple unqualified, enhanced unqualified and enhanced qualified (Article 5 of the Law of April 6, 2011 No. 63-FZ). The legal force of the document will depend on what signature the organization uses.

Thus, primary documents certified with a simple or enhanced non-qualified electronic signature cannot be accepted for accounting and tax purposes. They are not recognized as equivalent to paper documents certified by a handwritten signature.

On the contrary, documents certified by an enhanced qualified electronic signature are equated to those signed personally and are accepted for accounting and tax purposes.

Similar conclusions follow from paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 6 of the Law of April 6, 2011 No. 63-FZ and confirmed by letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated April 12, 2013 No. 03-03-07/12250, dated December 25, 2012 No. 03- 03-06/2/139, dated May 28, 2012 No. 03-03-06/2/67, dated July 7, 2011 No. 03-03-06/1/409.

The format for submitting a document on the transfer of goods during trade operations in electronic form was approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated November 30, 2015 No. ММВ-7-10/551. The format for presenting the document on the transfer of work results (document on the provision of services) in electronic form was approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated November 30, 2015 No. ММВ-7-10/552. These formats are relevant both in business activities and when submitting documents at the request of the inspection in electronic form.

The Federal Tax Service of Russia does not plan to develop formats for standard forms.

If the legislation of Russia or an agreement provides for the submission of a primary document to a counterparty or to a government agency (for example, a tax office) on paper, the organization is obliged to make a paper copy of the electronic document at its own expense (Part 6, Article 9 of Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402 -FZ).

What if an organization draws up documents not according to the format approved by the Federal Tax Service of Russia? Then submit the forms to the inspectors on paper - certify the copies with a note that the documents are signed with an electronic signature.

Similar clarifications are given in the letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated November 10, 2015 No. ED-4-15/19671.

For details on how to submit documents to tax inspectors, see:

• How to submit documents at the request of inspectors during a desk tax audit;

• How to submit documents at the request of inspectors during an on-site tax audit.

If an organization decides to process primary documents in electronic form, this method of maintaining documentation must be reflected in the accounting policy. In particular, the accounting policy needs to record:

• list of documents participating in electronic document flow;

• list of employees authorized to sign electronic documents;

• method of electronic exchange of documents (with or without the involvement of an electronic document management operator);

• procedure for storing electronic documents;

• method of submitting documents at the request of the tax office (electronically or on paper).

This follows from Article 8 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ.

But the formats of electronic documents that the organization uses do not need to be reflected in the accounting policies. This was confirmed by the Federal Tax Service of Russia in a letter dated November 10, 2015 No. ED-4-15/19671. Although this letter deals with accounting policies for tax purposes, the conclusion of the Federal Tax Service of Russia is also relevant for accounting policies for accounting purposes.

Regulations on electronic document management

Sometimes companies develop a separate document on working with electronic documents, combining in it all the related instructions and regulations. This document is called “Regulations on Electronic Document Flow”.

The company itself decides what to include in this provision and how detailed certain issues regarding working with the system should be. An approximate set of partitions is shown in the figure:

Sample Regulations on electronic document flow in an organization (excerpt):

Printing on documents

The seal is not listed among the mandatory details of the primary documents listed in Part 2 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ.

Therefore, put a stamp on the document:

• if the organization, at its own choice, uses an independently developed form approved by the head, which includes a seal;

• if the organization, of its own choice, uses a unified form contained in the album of unified forms, which includes a seal. At the same time, the manager approved that the form is used without changes (or the changes do not affect the seal);

• when applying standard mandatory forms established by authorized bodies (the Government of the Russian Federation, the Bank of Russia, etc.) on the basis of federal laws, if the standard forms require a seal.

Such conclusions follow from the provisions of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ.

The list of documents on which the organization’s seal is required (optional) is given in the table.

In agreements that an organization usually concludes (purchase and sale, provision of services, etc.), a seal also does not need to be affixed. A seal must be affixed only if this is expressly provided for in the contract (Clause 1, Article 160 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

One more thing. From April 7, 2015, LLCs and joint stock companies may not have seals at all. This is provided for in Articles 2 and 6 of the Law of April 6, 2015 No. 82-FZ.

Legal electronic document flow in the company

Legal issues in business activities arise regularly.

If the company has a lawyer or legal service, it is rational to organize electronic document flow of legal documentation with its subsequent integration into the general electronic document flow of the company. Such a system allows:

Coordinate the contract approval process

Coordination of ready-made contract templates is a process common to all companies. It takes a lot of time and requires the involvement of specialists from various services (financial, technical, legal and others). In this process, electronic document management allows you to coordinate the entire approval process and promptly send the completed contract to the counterparty.

The legal electronic document management system should allow:

• create a list of persons for approval;
• control the timing of review and adjustments;
• resolve other issues (on sending the contract for revision, submitting it for signing, etc.).

Effectively handle claims and lawsuits

To conduct claim and claim work, a legal service specialist must have a complete package of source documents. These documents can be generated both within the company itself and come from outside (from counterparties). To collect all this scattered information, prompt interaction with various services (accounting, sales department and other departments) is necessary.

It is important in the regulations to detail issues related to the procedure for collecting all the information necessary for lawyers in electronic form.

The system must be configured in such a way that:

• all source documents were received by the contractor in a timely manner;
• templates of ready-made documents from lawyers were automatically sent to management for approval;
• the possibility of making adjustments was implemented;
• all stages of working with the document could be traced;
• The timing of the preparation of claims and lawsuits was monitored.

Process requests promptly

Lawyers have to prepare letters to counterparties, copies of various documents, responses to requests from regulatory and law enforcement agencies, etc. The introduction of electronic document management will make it possible to track:

• when the request is received by the contractor;
• how much time is there to complete it;
• date of sending the completed response.

This kind of control makes it possible to discipline not only the lawyer (performer), but also the initiators of the request, which contributes to the timely transmission of the request and its execution.

The entire procedure for working with electronic requests must be described in the regulations: deadlines for generating the request, requirements for the completeness of the source data, time to complete the request.

Documents in a foreign language

Documents written in a foreign language must have a line-by-line translation into Russian. This is necessary both for accounting and tax purposes (clause 9 of the Regulations on Accounting and Reporting, Article 313 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated February 28, 2012 No. 03-03-06/1/106).

There is no need to add anything to the documents themselves. Attach separate translations signed by the translators. A document can be translated into Russian by either a professional translator or an employee of an organization who speaks a foreign language (letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated April 20, 2012 No. 03-03-06/1/202, dated March 26, 2010 No. 03-08- 05/1).

However, the organization may retain some words in a foreign language if they are a registered trademark, for example, the name of the airline on an airline ticket (Article 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of March 20, 1883) or are not essential for confirming the expenses incurred, for example, in an air ticket in a foreign language - the terms of application of the fare, rules of air transportation, rules for the transportation of baggage and other similar information (letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated March 24, 2010 No. 03-03-07/6, dated September 14, 2009 No. 03- 03-05/170).

If documents in a foreign language are compiled according to a standard form (identical in the number of columns, their names, decoding of works, etc. and differ only in the amount), then with regard to their constant indicators, a one-time translation into Russian is sufficient. Subsequently, only the changing indicators of this primary document need to be translated. Such clarifications are contained in the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated November 3, 2009 No. 03-03-06/1/725.

Error correction

Corrections in primary documents are allowed (Part 7, Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ).

The procedure for correcting errors in primary documents should be established in the accounting policy for accounting purposes or in an appendix to it. The organization independently develops ways to make corrections to the primary document (both on paper and in the form of an electronic document). Focus on the requirements of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ, accounting regulations and take into account the peculiarities of document flow. When developing such methods, you can focus on current regulations governing similar issues (for example, Rules for filling out invoices, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 26, 2011 No. 1137). This was stated in the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated January 22, 2021 No. 07-01-09/2235.

Correct errors in primary documents as follows: cross out the incorrect text and write the corrected text above the crossed out text. Crossing out is done with one line so that the correction can be read. Certify corrections in documents with the signatures of the persons who compiled the document (indicating their last names and initials or other details necessary to identify these persons), and indicate the date the correction was made.

You cannot make corrections to cash and bank documents. Such rules are established by paragraph 7 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ, section 4 of the Regulations approved by the Ministry of Finance of the USSR on July 29, 1983 No. 105, and paragraph 4.7 of the Bank of Russia directive of March 11, 2014 No. 3210-U .

An error in the accounting register can be corrected on the basis of an accounting certificate. This document must provide a rationale for the correction.

Corrections not authorized by the persons responsible for maintaining the relevant register are not allowed in accounting registers (Part 8, Article 10 of Law No. 402-FZ of December 6, 2011). If the correction in the register is authorized by the responsible persons, then certify it with the signatures of these persons (indicating their surnames and initials or other details necessary to identify these persons), and indicate the date the correction was made. Such rules are established by paragraph 8 of Article 10 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ.

Results

To develop an electronic document management system, it is necessary to analyze the current document flow in the company, determine the main tasks, and formalize the project.
Then put the system into operation, train staff and consolidate the procedure for working with electronic document management in an internal local act (regulations, instructions). You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.

Internal control

The organization is obliged to organize and carry out internal control of the facts of economic life. And if its reporting is subject to mandatory audit, then it is obliged to maintain internal control over accounting and reporting (except for cases where the manager has assumed the responsibility for accounting). Such requirements are established by Article 19 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ.

In addition, one of the tasks of the chief accountant is to organize and control the creation (reception), processing and storage of documents (clause 6.6 of the Regulations approved by the USSR Ministry of Finance on July 29, 1983 No. 105 (valid to the extent that does not contradict the law)). The following tools can be used to perform this task:

• document flow schedule;

• nomenclature of cases.

The procedure for generating and processing documents must be fixed in the document flow schedule (clause 5.1 of the Regulations approved by the USSR Ministry of Finance on July 29, 1983 No. 105). The development of the schedule is organized by the chief accountant. The schedule is approved by order of the head of the organization (clause 5.2 of the Regulations approved by the USSR Ministry of Finance on July 29, 1983 No. 105).

The document flow schedule should describe:

• stages of creating (receiving), checking and transferring a document for storage;

• timing of each stage;

• a list of employees performing business operations and preparing documents;

• list of employees checking documents;

• relationship between responsible persons.

The schedule can be drawn up in the form of a diagram or a list of works indicating the operations and relationships of the performers. An approximate form of this document is given in the appendix to the Regulations approved by the USSR Ministry of Finance on July 29, 1983 No. 105. However, you can develop your own schedule structure. Such rules are established by paragraph 5.4 of the Regulations approved by the USSR Ministry of Finance on July 29, 1983 No. 105.

An example of a document flow schedule in tabular form

The chief accountant of Alpha LLC has developed a document flow schedule in tabular form (see, for example, the part of the document flow schedule dedicated to bank documents).

An example of a document flow schedule in the form of a diagram

Alpha LLC has decided to continue issuing travel certificates for employees going on business trips. The chief accountant of Alpha has developed a document flow schedule in the form of a diagram (see, for example, the scheme for processing a travel certificate).

In organizations with a small document flow, everything can be reduced to drawing up separate memos for employees. The employee should describe in detail what documents he must fill out so that there are no claims against him from the accounting department. For example, an employee goes to pick up paid goods from a supplier. The memo should state what documents he must bring, as well as the period within which they must be submitted to the accounting department. You can also attach samples of the required documents to the memo.

An example of a memo to the contractor on the procedure for completing documents

Document flow at Alpha LLC is organized by drawing up separate memos for employees (see, for example, the memo for a posted employee).

Control over the execution of the document flow schedule is assigned to the chief accountant (clause 5.7 of the Regulations approved by the USSR Ministry of Finance on July 29, 1983 No. 105). Employees of the organization must be familiar with this document or an extract from it. The chief accountant's requirements for document preparation are mandatory for all employees of the organization. For failure to comply with the requirements of the chief accountant, disciplinary action may be taken against employees. Some organizations prescribe compliance with paperwork requirements as one of the bonus conditions.

After processing the document, it is necessary to ensure its safety and subsequent transfer to the archive.

One way to organize the storage of documents is to compile a list of cases. It contains information about which documents should be kept in which department and for how long they should be stored. Form the nomenclature of affairs in the accounting department similarly to the nomenclature of affairs in the personnel department.

Organization of document flow at the enterprise

Another guideline is the FSBU standard “Documents and document flow in accounting”, which fixes the requirements for the “primary” and its movements in the enterprise. A visual diagram of the process looks like this:

The process consists of five main stages, which are supplemented and finalized depending on business conditions and management requirements. When introducing document flow, it is important to approve its schedule and develop a regulation that indicates the timing and stages of the movement of official papers in the organization.

Responsibility for the absence of primary documents

Attention: the absence (failure to submit) of primary documents is an offense (Article 106 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Article 2.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), for which tax and administrative liability is provided.

The absence of primary documents, invoices, as well as accounting and tax registers is recognized as a gross violation of the rules for keeping records of income and expenses. Responsibility for it is provided for in Article 120 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

If such a violation was committed during one tax period, the inspectorate has the right to fine the organization in the amount of 10,000 rubles. If a violation is detected in different tax periods, the fine will increase to RUB 30,000.

A violation that led to an understatement of the tax base will entail a fine of 20 percent of the amount of each unpaid tax, but not less than RUB 40,000.

In addition, at the request of the tax inspectorate, the court may impose administrative liability on officials of the organization (for example, its head) in the form of a fine in the amount of:

• from 300 to 500 rub. for failure to submit primary documents necessary for tax control (part 1 of article 23.1, part 1 of article 15.6 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation);

• from 2000 to 3000 rub. for failure to comply with the procedure and terms of storage of primary documents (part 1 of article 23.1, article 15.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

In each specific case, the perpetrator of the offense is identified individually. In this case, the courts proceed from the fact that the manager is responsible for organizing accounting, and the chief accountant is responsible for its correct maintenance and timely preparation of reports (clause 24 of the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of October 24, 2006 No. 18). Therefore, the subject of such an offense is usually recognized as the chief accountant (an accountant with the rights of the chief). The head of an organization may be found guilty of:

• if the organization did not have a chief accountant at all (resolution of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated June 9, 2005 No. 77-ad06-2);

• if accounting and tax calculation were transferred to a specialized organization (clause 26 of the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of October 24, 2006 No. 18);

• if the reason for the violation was a written order from the manager, with which the chief accountant did not agree (clause 25 of the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of October 24, 2006 No. 18).

Primary documents are lost

Situation: what to do if the primary documents are lost?

If documents confirming recorded transactions are lost, the organization must take action to investigate the causes and restore the loss. To do this, the employee who discovered the loss must write a memo, on the basis of which an order is issued from the manager to appoint a commission to investigate the loss. Document the results of the commission’s work in an act.

If during the work of the commission the tax inspectorate requests documents that were lost, the organization will be able to ask to increase the deadline for submitting documents (clause 3 of article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, the order to create a commission will be a documentary substantiation of such a request.

If, based on the results of the commission’s work, the documents are not discovered (restored), the organization will not be able to confirm the accounting and tax accounting data. In addition, the organization may face liability for the lack of documents.

Order on the transition to electronic document management

In order for the electronic document management system to legally begin to function, an order is issued in which:

• the start date of the system is indicated;
• the entry into force of the accompanying organizational documentation (regulations, instructions, rules) is confirmed;
• a list of persons who are granted access to the system is approved;
• the timing of briefings and training of employees is detailed;
• other nuances related to the implementation of an electronic document management system are deciphered.

Sample order on the transition to electronic document management (excerpt):

All involved employees must be familiarized with the order.