All about primary documentation. Rules for filling out primary documents

21.10.2019

The enterprise carries out dozens of operations every day. Accountants send money to counterparties, funds and founders, calculate salaries, receive computers and furniture, charge penalties, calculate depreciation, etc. For each such operation it is necessary to draw up a primary document (Clause 1, Article 9 Federal Law dated 06.12.2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting”, hereinafter Law No. 402-FZ).

The primary document is created at the time of the transaction or upon its completion as confirmation of the fact of the transaction (Clause 3 of Article 9 of Law No. 402-FZ). Based on the primary data, accountants make entries.

An invoice, an act for the provision of services for creating a website, an accounting certificate - all these are primary documents that accountants use in their daily work. There are many types of primary products, and their diversity depends on the characteristics of the company’s activities. For example, in a transport company one of the main types primary documentation There will be a bill of lading, and in the library there will be an act of writing off literature.

Primary documents are supposed to be stored at the enterprise for at least five years, and the period begins to count after the reporting year (Clause 1, Article 29 of Law No. 402-FZ). That is, a document dated 07/03/2016 must be stored at least until 2021 inclusive. Separate storage periods for primary materials are established by the List approved by Order of the Ministry of Culture dated August 25, 2010 No. 558. To preserve accounting documents, enterprises often create special archives.

The primary document can be paper or electronic. In practice, more and more more companies use electronic document management (EDF). In particular, companies exchange contracts, invoices for payment, acts, delivery notes and invoices.

EDI significantly simplifies the processing procedure primary documents from the moment of their creation to the moment of accounting, speeds up work between counterparties. Big plus - electronic documents there is no need to print it out if this does not contradict the law or the terms of the contract (Clause 6, Article 9 of Law No. 402).

The electronic document is certified with a qualified electronic signature. If the parties make an appropriate decision, the primary document can be signed with a simple or unqualified signature (letter of the Department of Tax and Customs Policy of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated September 12, 2016 No. 03-03-06/2/53176).

The absence of primary documents in a company may entail a serious fine of 10,000 to 30,000 rubles (Article 120 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Tax authorities will also issue a fine for errors in registration. In addition, persons responsible for processing documents may be fined under Article 15.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation in the amount of 2,000 to 3,000 rubles. There is another danger: if during the audit the tax authorities do not find the required document, they can remove part of the expenses from the tax base, therefore, the company will have to pay additional income tax.

Mandatory details of the primary document

Only the primary document with all the required details has legal force (clause 4 of article 9 of Law No. 402-FZ):

title (for example, “Act of services rendered”, “Payment order”, “Accounting certificate”);
date of compilation;
name of the document originator (for example, OJSC SKB Kontur, LLC Soyuz, IP Ivanova E.V.);
content of the document or business transaction (for example, “Internet access services”, “Materials transferred for processing”, “Payment of invoice for office supplies”, “Interest accrued under the loan agreement”);
natural and monetary indicators (pieces, meters, rubles, etc.);
responsible positions (for example, “Accountant”, “Storekeeper”, “HR Manager”, “Head of Sales Department”, etc.);
personal signatures of the parties.

A properly executed document will help if necessary in legal proceedings, for example, when the buyer does not pay the debt or tries to invalidate the transaction. But a document with errors or fictitious signatures can play a cruel joke - so you should never sign for the supplier if he suddenly forgot to sign. Carefully store all primary documents and always carefully check all the details in incoming documents.

In practice, it is still possible to encounter customer complaints regarding the lack of a seal. Let us remind you that as of 04/07/2015, the seal has been canceled for most organizations and can be used at will (Federal Law of 04/06/2015 No. 82-FZ). Information about the organization's seal must be specified in the charter. If the counterparty insists on putting a stamp, and you do not have one legally, you can notify the counterparty in writing about its absence and provide an extract from the accounting policy.

Forms of primary documents

In your work you can use standardized and own forms primary documents (clause 4 of article 9 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting”). In this case, a homemade primary document must have all the required details. Many companies are forced to develop their own version of the materials write-off act, since there is no unified form of the document.

It is permissible to use a combined form of the primary document, when the unified form is taken as a basis and supplemented with the necessary columns or lines. In this case, all mandatory details must be preserved (Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation dated March 24, 1999 No. 20).

The company's choice regarding the forms of primary accounting used must be specified in its accounting policies.

In the process of activity, the need for new primary documents may arise, then they can be developed and approved by the accounting policy.

Pay attention! Since your counterparty can also use an independently developed primary document, your accounting policy must indicate that you also accept these documents for accounting.

For most documents, you have the right not to use unified forms, but cash transactions should be executed only according to approved document forms (information of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation No. PZ-10/2012).

Types of primary documents

Specialists can find the main forms of primary documents in albums of unified forms approved by the resolutions of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation. Here are the most common ones.

Documents for accounting of trade transactions

TORG-12;
Product label;
Universal transfer document.

Documents for accounting of fixed assets

OS-1 “Act on acceptance and transfer of fixed assets (except for buildings, structures)”;
OS-4 “Act on write-off of fixed assets”;
OS-6 “Inventory card for recording fixed assets”.

Primary cash register

Cash transactions are processed exclusively in accordance with the Procedure cash transactions(Instruction of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation dated March 11, 2014 No. 3210-U). You cannot, for example, design a “consumables” in free form or develop your own version.

The forms of primary cash documents are approved by Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation dated August 18, 1998 No. 88:

KO-1 “Cash receipt order”;
KO-2 “Cash expenditure order”;
KO-3 “Journal of registration of incoming and outgoing cash documents”;
KO-4 “Cash Book”;
KO-5 “Registration book of accepted and issued by the cashier cash».

Cash documents need to be checked very scrupulously, because such primary documents are directly related to the movement of cash and always attract the attention of the inspection authorities. For example, tax authorities will definitely pay attention to PKO, in which the amount exceeds 100,000 rubles. And all because you cannot pay in cash with one counterparty in an amount exceeding 100,000 rubles. The absence of signatures in cash documents will also be a reason for proceedings with the Federal Tax Service.

Let's summarize. So, primary documents are an integral part of accounting and tax accounting. Transactions cannot be carried out without supporting documents. Often accountants create accounting entries based on a copy or scan of the primary document. It is very important to replace copies with original documents in a timely manner, otherwise regulatory authorities may consider the operation or transaction fictitious. Only documents drawn up in accordance with the law are a guarantee of the security and reliability of accounting in the company.

Primary documents are necessary to confirm the implementation of business transactions. Essentially, this is a source of data for accounting in a company. The presence and correct execution of the primary document is the key successful completion tax audits, audit and correct reflection of turnover in accounts accounting, and accordingly accurate.

The requirements that primary documents must meet are set out in Article 9 of Federal Law No. 402 “On Accounting”. According to it, the following details are mandatory:

document title
date of compilation
name of the enterprise or individual entrepreneur
description reflecting the essence of the business transaction
monetary and/or in-kind value of a business transaction
units of measurement
with breakdown and indication of positions

Most often, the document is assigned a number; in many forms its affixing is mandatory. Numbering is usually done from the beginning of the year.

Please note that the need to prepare certain forms depends on the specifics of the activity, the form of taxation and the specific accounting policies of a particular organization.

Primary registration

Documentation of facts economic activity occurs at the time of their commission or immediately after completion on paper and/or electronic media. The company can develop document forms independently, with the exception of government organizations who are required to use legally approved forms. It is important to remember that unified documents, the use of which is provided for by law, are required to be completed.

If it is necessary to make changes, they must be certified by the signature of the responsible person, and the date must also be indicated. There are documents in which amendments are prohibited by law.

Different purposes differ, most often it is at least five years. Most of the documents concerning wages, are stored up to 75 years.

Based on the place of their formation, primary documents are divided into external and internal, and according to their purpose - into administrative and justificatory documents. An example of an administrative document is. A supporting document confirms a specific operation, an example is an acceptance certificate for work performed. There are documents that combine both administrative and exculpatory properties, i.e. combined, an example is a certificate for calculating vacation pay.

Documents on accounting of fixed assets and inventory items

Bill of lading (CH) is a document recording a sale or release. The seller draws up two TN forms, keeps one for himself as a basis for write-off, and transfers the other to the buyer, to whom this form gives the right to accept inventory items for accounting.

The unified form of TN is TORG-12. The upper right corner contains statistics codes. If the shipment occurs from a branch, its address must be indicated in the “actual address” column. The TN also contains all information about the product - name, articles, product code, packaging form, number of places in the batch, unit of measurement and its code, weight in one place and total, net and gross weight, price and total cost. If the inventory item is , it must also be reflected in the technical specification. TN has columns with column totals where necessary. The number of TN sheets is fixed if there are several of them. At the bottom you must enter the details of the responsible persons.

Registration of transactions in OS accounting

Registration of transactions in materials accounting

Services accounting documents

It is drawn up by an act, which can be called differently - services rendered, work performed, acceptance and delivery of work; it is important that the appropriate wording is written into the contract for these services. The customer receives one copy of the form, and the other remains with the contractor. There is no unified form of the act.

In the act, in addition to other mandatory details, the period for which the services were provided must be recorded, if they are provided with a certain frequency. Example of an entry: “Provision of cleaning services for January 2018.”

Cash documents

Documents for accounting of banking transactions

Salary documents

The main documents serving as the basis for calculating wages are listed below:

Documents for accounting taxes and fees

Most of the documents described above are primary for tax accounting. For example, amounts for acts of services rendered and invoices are included in the calculation of income tax, and contributions to funds are also calculated based on documents on wages.

I would also like to say something about the invoice. This is a form that is used to calculate VAT. It is critical that all details of this document are filled out correctly and completely, otherwise the tax authorities may refuse to accept the amount for deduction. An important detail - if the shipment is made by a branch, it is necessary to indicate its checkpoint, and not the parent organization. One copy of the document remains with the executor (seller), the second is stored with the buyer.

Attention to the preparation of primary accounting documents is the key to the correct formation of accounting registers.

Accounting registers

Accounting registers are a means of systematizing and organizing data on a company’s economic activities obtained from primary documents. Requirements for registers are regulated by Article 10 of Federal Law No. 402. An enterprise can independently decide which types of registers to use. Maintenance can be carried out on paper or electronically using an electronic signature. This information is recorded in the accounting policy.

Examples of accounting registers are the general ledger, the register of issued invoices, etc.

The following details are indicated in the registers:

register name
period
name of organization
chronological and/or systematic grouping of accounting objects (dates, names of cost items, divisions, etc.)
units of measurement
signature of the responsible person/persons and their position

There are several classifications of accounting registers:

By the nature of the records:

Chronological - data is reflected as business transactions are carried out (example - registers).
Systematic - information is grouped based on assignment to specific accounting accounts (subconto analysis).
Combined - recording is carried out on the basis of a systematic principle in chronological order, combining the first two points (example - general ledger).

By appearance:

Books.
Free sheets.
Cards.

The problem with the primary now is primarily due to the fact that significant place in circulation are transactions with individuals and individual entrepreneurs, whose documentary certificates are often not unified, special accounting programs are a great help here, but not every entrepreneur can afford them.

Answer

Document flow in organizations is an integral part of business processes. Accounting documents are designed to record in writing all events occurring at enterprises that affect working issues.

The essence and significance of accounting documents

Legislative requirements, in particular the provisions of the Accounting Law, make it mandatory to document all events in the economic sphere. Accounting documents are used to confirm the completion of any transactions and serve as written evidence of ongoing processes.

An accounting document is a form in which current events, their valuation, and other criteria that distinguish a business transaction can be recorded.

By type of financial accounting documents and their purpose may be classified as follows:

Administrative. Based on them, business transactions are not recorded. These documents act as instructions for performing certain actions. This group includes orders and instructions from management.
Exculpatory - confirm the completion of actual transactions in the current activities of the company. They are the basis for making records, for example, acts of acceptance and transfer of valuables, invoices for write-off, internal movement. Often their presence must be confirmed by administrative documents.
Accounting documents are designed to simplify the accounting procedure. They are various statements, accounting certificates that explain the procedure for performing actions and their expediency.
Combined documents bear the characteristics of administrative and exculpatory documents at the same time. They serve as the basis for the emergence of a business transaction and also contain an indication of its completion. IN in this case As an example, we can consider cash documents (expenditure cash order).

What applies to accounting documents

Documents regulating accounting are formed according to the order in which they were compiled, that is, they are divided into primary and consolidated. The basis for making accounting entries are primary accounting documents. They can be generated directly at the enterprise, or they can be received from the outside - from suppliers, buyers, and other counterparties. The main accounting documents related to the primary ones are invoices, payment, cash, bank and other documents. Summary reports are compiled on the basis of primary data and contain generalized information.

According to their content, they can take on material and monetary values. The material part reflects the presence and movement of commodity and other valuables. For example, acts of acceptance and transfer, invoices for the release of goods give an accurate idea of the types and quantities of property being moved. A cost estimate of the operation performed is also given.

Some papers relate exclusively to settlement ones. We are talking about pay slips, cash orders, bank statements. The information they carry is exclusively financial in nature - the status of settlements with contractors, wages to employees.

Until recently, the requirement for the mandatory use of unified forms in accounting remained. The entry into force of Law No. 402-FZ on accounting gives the management of organizations the opportunity to independently develop forms of primary documents. But at the same time, some requirements for the presence of mandatory details remain. That is, in primary accounting, the only valid accounting document is a form reflecting the following information:

name and date of preparation of the form;
details of the business entity;
the content of the operation and its characteristics in monetary and quantitative terms;
signatures of responsible persons.

What are accounting documents used for?

For organizations and even entrepreneurs, the importance of accounting documents is great. They not only serve as confirmation of accomplished facts of economic activity, but also help determine the current financial condition companies. On their basis, subjects carry out tax calculations, while reducing the tax base is possible only if they have documents correctly drawn up from the point of view of legislation.

The absence of the necessary primary documents, certificates, and statements can subsequently create many problems for the organization, raising additional questions from regulatory authorities. Often this fact serves as the basis for recalculating the tax base.

What accounting documents should an LLC have to ensure the ongoing operation of the enterprise? Depending on the specifics of the work, these are documents regulating the activities of the enterprise - orders, instructions, accounting policies. Confirmation of the facts of income received and expenses made are invoices, invoices, payslips with personnel, and other cash and bank documents. To simplify the accounting procedure, turnover and accumulative statements containing general information about homogeneous transactions are widely used.

Transfer of documents and storage period

Considering that the role and significance of accounting documents are undeniable for every business entity, their movement and storage must also be subject to certain rules.

Organizations independently draw up a schedule of primary document flow, which includes the following stages:

reception or registration;
processing;
storage;
transfer to the archive.

The specified schedule should contain the optimal time frame for processing the received data. If necessary, adjustments to the established periods are allowed.

Storage of primary documents is provided by employees of the accounting service. At the same time, when changing responsible persons, it is necessary to draw up an act of acceptance and transfer of accounting documents, a sample of which is developed taking into account the characteristics of the company. But at the same time, it is necessary to create a detailed register of accounting documents when transferring cases, a sample of which will be carried by full information about the existing volume of transactions.

The storage period for documents varies depending on their purpose. Information providing data on tax calculations must be available for at least 4 years. Completed employee information forms are kept for up to 75 years.

Register of accounting documents when transferring cases (sample)

Primary accounting documents are important not only in accounting matters, but also regarding tax legislation, in particular determining the scope of obligations. Therefore, it is extremely important for those responsible for drawing up primary documentation to know all the nuances of accounting, and in addition, understand their classification to simplify the work.

What are primary accounting documents

Primary documents are considered to be those that register certain business actions that have already been carried out. You can leave an entry in accounting and enter it into the register only if you have primary accounting documentation. It is considered an integral part of the enterprise management system. Based on this, we can safely say that primary accounting documents are documentary evidence of completed transactions related to the economic activities of the entity and which brought some economic effect.

Classification

All points affecting the issue regarding the primary subject are subject to the provisions and norms of 402-FZ. The regulation states that these certificates are needed when interacting with tax authorities as confirmation of the correctness of the calculations. This means that tax officials will not have any complaints regarding the process of determining the tax base.

In accordance with current regulations, primary documentation is subject to mandatory storage for 4 years. During this period, tax authorities can request documents for study and verification at any time. In addition, primary documentation often acts as evidence in litigation.

It is worth noting that specific forms of primary documentation are not fixed at the legislative level. By this issue An economic entity has the opportunity to choose the option that will satisfy its needs and serve good help in further work.

Primary accounting documents: list

As a rule, full list certificates performing fundamental functions remain unchanged and are approved at the highest level. Currently this category includes:

Agreement. They stipulate the specific terms of the transaction, the responsibilities of the parties and financial matters. In general, all the conditions that are in one way or another related to the transaction are indicated here. Please note that for some transactions a written contract is not required. So, from the moment the buyer receives sales receipt, the deal is considered concluded.
Accounts. Using documents of this type the buyer confirms his willingness to pay for the goods (services) of the seller. In addition, invoices may contain additional terms of the transaction and record specific prices that the seller sets for its products and services. If for some reason the buyer is not satisfied with the product (service) presented to him, he has the right to demand a refund of his funds based on the invoice.
Packing list. It displays full list all goods or materials that are transferred. The invoice must be drawn up in several versions depending on the number of participants in the transaction.
The act of acceptance and transfer. It is compiled based on the results of the provision of the service as confirmation that the result of the work meets the previously stated criteria and is fully approved by the receiving party.
Payslips. They display all issues related to payroll settlements with hired personnel. Moreover, all information regarding bonuses, additional payments and other mechanisms for financial incentives for employees should be displayed here.
Acceptance and transfer certificates No. OS-1. This type of documentation is used to record any activities related to the input or output of fixed assets.
Cash documents, which include incoming and outgoing cash orders, and in addition, cash book. They contain information regarding financial transactions carried out as part of the sale.

Classification

The types of primary documents in accounting are quite diverse and primarily depend on the specific purpose of using the document in the foreseeable future. However, the most popular classification feature is the division of primary documentation into internal and external.

An internal document is the property of the company and is issued by it to resolve certain issues. It is compiled by the company’s specialists and applies exclusively within the jurisdiction of this company. Thus, this category consists of those documents that are necessary for the effective conduct of business activities within one company. At the same time, if a document is received by a company from outside or is compiled by company specialists and subsequently transferred to other legal entities ( tax authorities, clients, etc.), then it will be recognized as external.

In turn, internal documents also have their own classification characteristics, which make it possible to group them into three categories:

Administrative (organizational). They indicate information that must be communicated to the employees of the company, structural divisions and branches and their managers. With their help, the company issues certain orders that must be carefully followed. This group includes a variety of orders, instructions and much more.
Executory (exculpatory), which initially display facts confirming the conduct of certain business operations and their completion.
Accounting documents. This category is generalizing and is needed to systematize information contained in other papers and their further collection into a single document.

Under certain circumstances, documentation may also be combined. IN this group we can include those papers that can simultaneously contain key features of organizational and supporting documentation. The most striking examples here are various cash orders, requirements, advance reporting and much more.

Accounting registers and their classification

When making any transaction, primary documentation is prepared. As soon as it is fully completed, all information specified in it must be duplicated in the appropriate accounting register. And it is a kind of carrier that accumulates basic information on the transaction. Based on the essence of the register, several classification criteria can be identified. For example, in appearance, registers appear to users in the form of books, simple sheets and index cards.

Based on the mechanisms for maintaining the register, three more groups can be distinguished:

Chronological, in which all events that occurred are indicated with strict adherence to time frames. That is, you first need to indicate those operations that occurred earlier and so on. Such registers are the most complex, since they contain a huge amount of information, and quite often some action can be left out.
Systematic, in which initially all transactions are entered in the form of economic indicators. Thus, registers of this type reflect the economic effect of completed business transactions and analyze indicators of expenses and income. The most a shining example The systematic register is the cash book.
Combined, which have the fundamental features of both systematic and chronological registers.

Contents of primary documentation

Many users have questions about what constitutes primary accounting documents and what requirements apply to them. At the legislative level, several provisions are enshrined that establish that certain information must be present in the documents of the primary couple. In particular, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 9 of Federal Law-402, the primary documentation must contain the following information:

name of the document;
date of compilation;
information about the person who made the specified document(full name of the enterprise);
the essence of the economic activity related to this document;
financial calculations regarding the transaction;
signatures of the officials responsible for the transaction and their initials.

Sample primary accounting document

Rules for document preparation

The legislator establishes certain rules for the preparation of primary accounting documents. Yes, one of key requirements accuracy and the absence of any grammatical and punctuation errors and typos are considered. If tax service finds certain shortcomings, the violator will have to redo the document again, and if the violation is repeated, you may be subject to penalties. In general, this issue should be addressed close attention to the following recommendations:

The use of ballpoint and ink pens, special computing equipment and computers is allowed.
Compilation can begin when it is planned to carry out certain business transactions that need to be displayed. At the same time, in exceptional situations, it is entirely possible to draw up a document after the completion of the transaction.
All calculation data must be shown in both numerical and written form. Thus, there should be a caption next to each number.
It is extremely important to fill out all the details indicated on the form. If for some reason there is no information, you cannot leave a blank line. A dash should appear in it.

If you do not follow these recommendations, you may encounter significant difficulties. Thus, if the tax service finds the document incorrect during an audit, doubts will arise about the correctness of the calculations made and the determination of the tax base.

If for some reason it is necessary to make certain adjustments, under no circumstances should you use correctors and shading, as they are unacceptable. Corrections can be made in the following ways:

Contour correction. If incorrect information is provided, it must be crossed out with a thin line and the correct information indicated next to it. In this case, there must be a footnote in place of each such correction. "Corrected Believe" indicating the date of correction and the signature of the official who made the correction. However, we note that in the case of documents showing the receipt and expenditure of funds, this method will be inappropriate.
Additional entry. This method is used in situations where the total values of transactions are executed with significantly reduced indicators. In order not to draw up the document in a new way, you can make additional entries for the missing amounts in the current period or the next one.
Reversal. An incorrect entry is corrected using negative values. All incorrect information is repeated in red ink, and the correct entries are indicated next to it.

The primary report can be compiled both in written and electronic form. IN lately many companies duplicate information and create both paper and electronic versions. The former are subsequently used for internal interests, but electronic copies are submitted for verification to the Federal Tax Service upon request.

Several conclusions can be drawn. The state does not approve any mandatory forms for primary documentation, which gives business entities the right to independently determine the form of the document that will be used in practice in the future. Immediately after registration of the document, all data from it must be transferred to the accounting register.

Primary accounting is documentary evidence of the completion of certain business transactions.

Such documentary evidence is fully legal force Its main tool is the primary accounting documents.

Forms and types of primary documents

Depending on what type of transaction needs to be reflected, primary accounting documents may have a standard or specialized form.

The first form of primary accounting documents is used when registering homogeneous business transactions, which are typical for most enterprises in one or a number of industries.

Simply put, for routine operations that most organizations in our country carry out.

A specialized uniform is required for highly specialized operations

Primary documents include:

payment orders,
cash receipts and debit orders,
waybills,
bills, etc.

Any primary document must include the following:

Rules for filling out primary documents

All primary accounting documents must be filled out clearly and accurately.

It is allowed to use ballpoint pens, ink pens, computer equipment and a typewriter.
Primary documents must be drawn up at the very moment when a business transaction is planned.
In some cases (when there are objective reasons for this) necessary documents can be created immediately after the operation.

Today, most organizations use ready-made standard forms for primary documents: invoices, orders, invoices, coupons, statements, etc.

Primary accounting documents are divided into two types: external and internal.

External documents come to the organization (company) from outside.

The sender can be government agencies, higher organizations, banks, tax inspectorates (in this case, these are the primary tax accounting documents), founders, suppliers, buyers, etc.

They are compiled according to a standard form.

An example of an external accounting document would be an invoice from a supplier, payment order, payment request, payment order-demand, etc.

Internal accounting documents are created exclusively within the organization

In turn, internal accounting documents are divided into the following types of primary documents:

administrative. Type of documents that contain certain orders or instructions regarding the performance of certain operations;
exculpatory (executive). Such documents highlight the fact of a certain operation. As an example, we can take an act of acceptance of materials (goods), receipt orders, an act of acceptance of manufactured products, an act of acceptance and disposal of fixed assets, etc.
combined. This is the type of document that is both exculpatory and administrative. These are payroll statements, cash receipt orders (documents), expense reports, etc.;
accounting registration. Such documents are drawn up if it is not suitable for recording a business transaction. standard form primary documents. For example, distribution sheets, certificates, etc.

Corrections in primary documents

There are times when even an experienced accountant makes a mistake in the preparation of a primary document.

This raises the question: is it possible to correct it, and will the document have legal force after that?

An error can be corrected only if it (the primary document) has not yet been reflected in accounting, that is, not posted.

Corrections in primary documents should under no circumstances be made using a “stroke”.

There are specifically three ways to do this:

proofreading,
additional entry,
reversal

The corrective method of correction is used exclusively in cases where an error was made in the accounting registers, and does not affect the correspondence of accounts.

This method is appropriate before drawing up a balance sheet. An incorrect number, amount or text must be carefully crossed out with a thin line and the correct value written next to it.

You need to make a footnote on the side of the document: believe what has been corrected, sign and date the correction.

The method can be used on primary fixed asset accounting documents. On monetary documents using this method is unacceptable.

The additional entry method can be used if the amount of a business transaction is underestimated.

For example, if the supplier transferred 1000 rubles from the current account. Business transaction carried out by correct correspondence of accounts, and only the amount itself was mistakenly underestimated to 500 rubles.

This issue is resolved very simply: additional posting is made for the missing amount

It can be done both this and next month.

And finally, the reversal method. It involves changing an incorrect entry using a negative number.

Roughly speaking, they repeat incorrect correspondence and numbers in red ink.

At the same time, a correct entry is immediately made (regular ink is used). This method is used when recording an exaggerated amount or incorrect correspondence of accounts.