Accounting using a corporate bank card

Which card is better to have - debit or credit?

For corporate purposes, it is possible to issue various versions of bank cards:

• debit only (the card will be replenished with funds before they can be spent);
• credit (funds on the card are provided by the bank within the limit);
• debit with overdraft (there is the possibility of spending funds in excess of the debit balance - as a rule, also limited).

Which card to choose depends on the purposes for which it is issued, as well as on a certain degree of trust in the employee who will use it. For example, if a card is issued to a manager for use on business trips, including foreign ones, it is advisable to provide for the possibility of spending funds on a loan or overdraft (“extra” money may come in handy). If the card is issued to a business owner for regular small purchases within the budget, the best option may be a debit card with a fixed monthly replenishment.

NOTE! If a credit card has a period of interest-free use of credit funds, the economic benefit from such use for tax purposes does not need to be calculated (see letter of the Ministry of Finance dated April 18, 2012 No. 03-03-10/38).

There's plenty to choose from

Legal entities can open two main types of cards for their employees:

• payment card. Intended for transactions by its holder within the limits of the amount of funds established by the bank, settlements for which are carried out at the expense of the company’s money in its bank account;
• credit card. Settlements on it are carried out at the expense of funds provided by the bank within the established limit in accordance with the terms of the loan agreement.

Using a corporate card, employees can receive cash, pay expenses related to business activities, including travel and entertainment expenses, on the territory of the Russian Federation, receive cash in foreign currency outside the territory of Russia, and also pay for travel allowances and entertainment expenses in foreign currency outside the territory of our country. By the way, most often companies use bank cards to pay for hospitality and travel expenses.

How should card transactions be regulated?

If corporate cards are used in an organization, it is advisable to approve by local regulations the procedure for using cards and submitting reports on spent funds.

Such regulations will also help in the following cases:

• Settlement of possible claims from tax authorities regarding the procedure for reflecting spent funds on corporate cards in accounting. For example, if the internal regulations do not establish a clear procedure for an employee to report on funds withdrawn from the card through an ATM, tax authorities may consider that in this case all amounts withdrawn from the card should have been transferred through the organization’s cash desk (recorded according to the PKO and immediately issued a cash register for issuance for the report). Of course, such a claim is based on rather weak grounds, because in fact the money did not end up in the enterprise’s cash register. But in order to avoid such nuances, it is better to register all options for spending funds from the card and reporting on them in the internal regulations.
• Submitting claims to an employee in case of misuse of card funds or detection of shortages and abuses. If the internal regulations are correctly drawn up, it will be possible not only to withhold losses from the misuse of funds from the salary of the guilty employee, but also to apply disciplinary action to the employee under Art. 192 and part 1 of Art. 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (for violation of the provisions on discipline in the organization).

For information on drawing up an order for discipline, read the article “Order for disciplinary punishment - sample and form.”

Cash withdrawal

When developing a report form, it is necessary to provide for a situation where an employee will not be able to pay for services or goods by bank transfer. Accordingly, the employee will have to cash out the required amount.

To reflect such operations, the following lines are added:

• "Taken from the map."
• “Cash expended.”
• “Entered onto the card via the terminal.”
• "Cash balance."

All transactions with funds are reflected on the front part of the report.

Do I need to submit information about corporate cards to the tax office?

The Law “On Amendments...” dated April 2, 2014 No. 52-FZ, from May 2014, abolished the obligation of taxpayers to submit information on opening (closing) bank accounts to the tax authorities.

As noted above, the issuance of bank cards itself also refers to the operations of the issuing bank, and not the enterprise.

Thus, there is no requirement to inform the tax office that you have issued a corporate card.

How to take into account the costs of issuing corporate cards for income tax, see ConsultantPlus. Trial access to the legal system is free.

Opening an account

To create an account with corporate cards, the company will first need the documents necessary to open a regular account. In addition, you must write an application, the form of which is provided by the bank. It is written for each employee-card holder. Documents by which the relevant employees are identified are also attached. We are talking, in particular, about a passport, as well as documents confirming the employment relationship with the enterprise (copy of the contract). The bank may require other documents if necessary.

How does an employee account for funds spent from the card?

The money on the card belongs to the company and is at its disposal. Consequently, the employee’s obligation to report arises only when he paid with a card or withdrew cash from an ATM.

As a general rule, funds used by an employee from a corporate card are considered as accountable amounts. Accordingly, the reporting procedure for them is similar. The employee should:

• Prepare an advance report on the amounts spent. This can be done using the standard AO-1 form, but it can also be done using a form approved within the organization (for example, internal regulations on the use of corporate cards may also contain a special report form).

All details of preparing an advance report when expenses are paid with a corporate bank card are set out in the Ready-made solution from ConsultantPlus. Get trial access to K+ for free.

• Attach supporting documents to the report: cash register receipts, invoices, acts, etc.
• Submit the report to the accounting department of the enterprise in the manner and within the time limits provided for by the regulations on the use of corporate cards.

NOTE ! Banks periodically (usually monthly) compile and send statements to clients on their card products. Thus, the reports of employees using cards are quite easy to check regarding non-cash payments and withdrawals through ATMs.

Spending goals

Regulatory acts establish a list of operations that can be carried out in foreign currency using a corporate card:

• Receiving cash foreign currency abroad of the Russian Federation to pay for hospitality and travel expenses.
• Payment of expenses (representative/travel expenses) in trade/service organizations in foreign currency outside Russia.

Other transactions are considered illegal. Monitoring compliance with the list is carried out by the banking structure.

Is it possible to withhold damages from an employee for using funds for other purposes?

Yes, you can. Subject to a number of conditions:

• the amount of damage can be estimated;
• the employee’s guilt in the damage has been proven (for example, the purchase of goods for personal needs is confirmed by a bank statement on a personal card and copies of the seller’s payment documents);
• a decree (order) was issued from the head of the enterprise to withhold amounts of damage from the employee’s salary no later than 1 month from the moment the fact of damage and guilt was established (Article 137 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);
• The amount of deduction made corresponds to the standards established in Art. 138 Labor Code of the Russian Federation;
• the employee does not challenge the withholding (Article 137 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

more about the terms of salary deductions here .

The employee did not submit the report

If an employee does not submit an advance report on time or does not submit supporting documents, the amount of the shortfall can be withheld from his salary. Postings:

D 73 K 71

D 70 K 73

In the absence of an agreement on full financial liability, the employer can deduct damage from the salary no more than the average monthly salary. Exceeding this amount is recovered in court. To avoid trouble, the spending limit on the card should not be higher than the employee’s average earnings.

What are the typical transactions for transactions with corporate cards?

In accounting, card transactions are reflected using accounts 55 “Special accounts in banks” and 71 “Settlements with accountable persons.” Typical operations are presented in the table:

Read about the types of fraud associated with bank cards in the article “ Fraud using payment bank cards . ”

Receipt for document receipt

The reporting employee must provide a report to the accountant or the head of the enterprise. After this, the document is checked and then approved by the director of the organization.

Goods and services purchased by the employee are accounted for. The employee receives a receipt for acceptance of the report - the bottom part of the form. If it is not provided for in the form developed by the enterprise, the receipt is drawn up in any form.

Results

Accounting for corporate cards is carried out according to general rules. At the same time, for accounting purposes, card accounts opened in banks are classified as special bank accounts, and funds spent from cards by employees are classified as accountable amounts. It is recommended to approve the procedure for using cards in a separate internal document, which records all aspects of their use, paying special attention to the procedure for reporting on the expenditure of funds.

Sources:

• Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated April 18, 2012 N 03-03-10/38
• Labor Code of the Russian Federation

You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.

Features of reflection

Accounting for the current account is carried out at the enterprise on the account. 55. A subaccount 55.4 is opened for it.

If the account has a minimum balance, it is advisable to create second-order subaccounts: “Minimum balance” and “Payment limit”.

If an organization has opened several accounts (for each card), then subaccount 55.4 is created for each of them. If several cards of different employees are issued for one account, who make payments within the general limit, the need to maintain analytical records in the context of holders is determined by the enterprise independently.

In cases where a corporate card is linked to a single current account, it is advisable to create a subaccount for the account. 51 or 52.

Characteristics

Corporate card to a current account (the second name for linked “plastic”):

• Cannot be used to make social sector payments, as well as to pay salaries to employees.
• Linked to the account of a legal entity.
• It is an analogue of cash transferred to a legal entity on reporting terms.
• Available in two types: credit or debit.
• The permissible number of cards linked to a current account is determined by the banking institution.

Can I withdraw cash using a corporate card?

If you withdraw money by card, the bank will reflect the operation as follows: issuance of funds for reporting purposes. This means that purchases with withdrawn money also need to be confirmed with documents and an advance report. This only applies to companies.

Individual entrepreneurs do not need to report for cash withdrawals and return unspent money back to their account. Their amount will be reflected as a withdrawal of personal funds of the individual entrepreneur. But this does not apply to employees working for individual entrepreneurs.

How much cash can you withdraw without falling under bank suspicion?

It is believed that up to 600 thousand rubles at a time is a safe amount. When you withdraw more, the bank's financial monitoring is activated. If financial monitoring suspects something wrong, they can block the account until the bank is convinced that everything is fine. They will ask for documents and may even insist on personal presence.

What is a business card and how is it useful?

A business card for an enterprise or individual entrepreneur performs the same functions as a regular debit card for an individual. When opening an account, the bank can “link” one or more such business cards to it. Sometimes a separate account is opened for a business card, but it is also tied to the company. The only difference with a separate account is that before purchasing anything you will have to transfer money from your main account to such an account.

Some banks (for example, Sberbank) also offer business credit cards. There is also an analogy with “credit cards” for individuals: the bank sets a certain limit within which a businessman can use borrowed funds. Also, the conditions for using a business credit card usually include a grace (interest-free) period.

The head of the company or other authorized persons can finance the expenses necessary for the business by paying by card.

Using a business card allows you to:

1. Practically stop working with cash. Those. no need to go to the bank, store large sums of money at the enterprise, or prepare cash documents.
2. If you still need cash (for example, the seller does not accept cards), then you can get money without any problems at the nearest ATM.
3. Limit and control current expenses.
4. Exchange currency quickly and without problems, for example, on business trips abroad.
5. Reduce the cost of making payments by returning a percentage of the amount paid (cashback).
6. Receive additional bonuses, for example, discounts on purchases from partner companies of the bank.
7. Return the advance payment according to a simplified scheme if the seller has not fulfilled his obligations. If a “regular” non-cash payment was made, then you can get your money back only by agreement with the seller, or through the court. And when paying with a business card, it is possible to make a refund out of court based on the payment rules established by the payment system (chargeback).