What is the former chief accountant responsible for? Accounting and accountant: their role in the organization. See what “Accounting” is in other dictionaries

An accountant is a specialist on whom the financial well-being of a particular company largely depends. A person who wants to become a professional in the field of accounting needs to regularly make various calculations. Real specialists also understand the basics of economics and communication.

First of all, a person must ask himself the question of whether he is ready to connect his life with important but routine work. The profession of an accountant does not imply creativity or even a regular change of environment. And you need to be mentally prepared for all this. You can’t choose a profession based on the principle: “just so long as it takes.”

If a person is serious about becoming an accountant, then there are two options for the development of events:

Homeschooling. You can “attend” webinars, take online courses, read books and articles. You definitely need to master, in particular, C1. There are now many resources and opportunities available for the self-study student.
Studying at a higher educational institution. In principle, the accounting profession is provided in many colleges, so people with 9 years of education can also go to study. But later you will still have to get a higher education, since this is more valued among employers.

It is worth considering that a self-taught accountant will also need to undergo practical training. Not every company needs personnel without a diploma and recommendations, so you will have to try hard to get the desired position. It is recommended to take training courses to obtain a certificate.

A true specialist constantly improves his skills, masters new programs and monitors specialized literature.

Is it possible to become a professional at home? Yes, you can. But you should understand that without the appropriate education it will be much more difficult to find a job. Therefore, it is recommended to study at colleges, universities and universities. A person with “crusts” can be firmly confident that he will not be left without work.

An accountant is a specialist who controls the losses and profits of a particular company, as well as prepares financial documentation.

There are representatives of this profession in every organization: commercial, public, government.

Accountants work in a special system (1C), which allows them to organize all the necessary information and make calculations.

The responsibilities of accountants include the following tasks:

calculation of production costs and profits received;
control of financial discipline;
preparation and submission of reports on the financial condition of the organization;
issuing wages to employees;
interaction with tax companies.

Not all accountants perform a large volume of tasks. It all depends on the turnover and size of the company, as well as its field of activity. Many organizations employ a whole staff of accountants. Each professional deals with specific tasks: for example, issuing wages to employees or calculating total expenses for the month.

Every company, even the smallest one, needs accountants. Since 2013, the need for accounting according to the simplified tax system was introduced, which made the profession even more in demand. Now even small business owners are required to have an employee responsible for financial and tax reporting.

What qualities does an accountant need? First of all, the ability to perform monotonous paperwork. Also, representatives of this profession must be sociable, intelligent and resourceful. It depends on them whether the company will stay afloat (especially if it has recently opened). Accounting professionals are highly valued and well paid.

There are many specific terms and definitions used in the accounting field. A novice accountant must master the basic terminology:

The LIFO method of estimating the cost of goods is prohibited and has not been used since 2008.

This is not all the terminology that is used in the field of accounting. The remaining definitions can be learned from books or through an educational program. It is extremely important to know the basic terms as they help you understand the basics of accounting as well as reporting.

Accounting training for 2018

There are many options for studying accounting in 2018. You can learn a profession through webinars or get a full-fledged education at an educational institution, and then take advanced training courses.

Modern companies need professionals who keep up with the times.

You can master your specialty at a college or university. It is best to choose educational institutions located in Moscow or St. Petersburg.

The central cities of Russia have the highest level of education, meeting all the necessary requirements. You can study to become an accountant at the following universities and universities:

MATI;
University of Humanities and Economics;
MNEPU (non-state academy);
Academy of Management and Business (international);
Institute of Business and Law.

The list includes leading educational institutions in Moscow. The specialty that will need to be mastered is called accounting, analysis and auditing. After obtaining a diploma, a person can also become an economist.

Homeschooling is suitable mainly for those who do not want to connect their lives only with accounting activities. Mastering a profession at home will take a minimum of time if a person approaches the process responsibly.

Supporting literature (all books published in 2016):

Accounting and analysis. Authors: Eremina and Rachek. The book consists of 2 sections. The first contains information about the development of accounting in different time periods, starting with the ancient world. The second section includes a description of the various accounting methods.
Accounting theory.
All about tax audits. Authors: Sukhovskaya, Myrtynyuk, Sharonova. As mentioned earlier, accountants constantly have to deal with tax inspectors. This book describes in detail which aspects of a company's activities are most often inspected by inspectors.

These manuals are the most informative and new. It is also recommended to read books such as: Accounting in 10 days (2012), Workshop on accounting (2010). They contain useful and relevant information, despite the fact that they were released quite a long time ago.

Exists five forms of financial statements:

Balance— reporting on the financial condition of the enterprise for a specific period of time. It is calculated using a form (table) consisting of two parts: the first contains information about the company’s liabilities, the second - about assets.
Loss and Profit Report— information that allows you to display the results of the financial activities of an enterprise for a specific time period. When drawing up a document, you must indicate all information about the organization’s income, even if the revenue was not received from the main activity.
About budget (capital) changes. The document must be filled out based on letter of the Ministry of Finance No. 117 (dated December 23, 1997). It is important to adhere to the basic provisions in order to correctly prepare reports. All information about capital should be indicated step by step, using not only general data (about use and receipts), but also information about cash balances on the account.
About cash flow. The reporting indicates data on funds received and spent for the year. At the same time, all amounts are divided into several parts corresponding to the current, financial and investment activities of the organization. The goal of current activities is to obtain maximum profit from the sale of goods or services. Investment cash movements are associated with the purchase or sale of equipment, real estate, and assets. Financial activities are called financial activities that do not greatly affect the overall budget of the company.
. The document must be filled out in accordance with the requirements set out in Letter of the Ministry of Finance No. 4n (dated January 13, 2000). The letter contains information about all forms of accounting. reporting of organizations.

All documents must be drawn up correctly, since the main activity of the enterprise depends on this. If the accountant makes a mistake in the calculations, the company may suffer large losses.

Primary documentation is papers that are needed primarily for reporting to tax companies. They are stored for 4 years.

Primary documentation includes:

sales receipts and invoices;
certificates of services performed;
cash receipts;
expense reports;
current account statements;
documents confirming payments to employees;
statements and limit-fence cards.

Primary documentation is drawn up in a generally accepted form or on forms developed by the organization itself.

How long does it take to study to become an accountant? People who have completed 9th grade will need 3 years and 10 months to master a profession in college. Training based on 11 classes will take 2 years and 10 months.

Some educational institutions offer an accelerated program. You can study it in 2 years and 10 months (based on 9 classes) or in 1 year 10 months (based on 11 classes).

There are also special courses, the duration of which rarely exceeds 6 months. On average - 2.5-4. You need to choose your courses carefully, as some people teach with an outdated or incomplete curriculum.

The duration of home study directly depends on a person’s abilities and his desire to master a specific profession. Some people learn completely in a year, while others take 3-4 years.

How long will it take to become a chief accountant? A person with a higher education can apply for this position after 3 years of work in one company.

A lecture on accounting for beginners is presented below.

An accountant is a specialist whose duty is to document economic and financial accounting for an enterprise. In his work, the accountant strictly follows the established regulations of the current legislation.

The main areas of accounting activities include: wages, cash, currency transactions and warehouse.

In addition, many large enterprises have a whole staff of highly qualified accountants, each of whom is engaged in a certain type of activity, and each accountant has his own job responsibilities:

accounting;
reception and control of everything;
payroll preparation;
carrying out operations that are associated with the movement of cash and fixed assets, as well as various commodity and material assets;
deduction of funds to insurance services, tax authorities, trade union or pension funds.

accountant:

ability to operate with large cash flows;
knowledge of tax and labor codes;
work in special accounting programs;
mandatory knowledge of the basics of statistics, economics and mathematics.

A qualified accountant who is well versed in everyone and, accordingly, tax legislation is an indispensable employee in the enterprise. After some time, such professionals rightfully occupy the position of chief accountant. But as a result, the accountant’s responsibility also increases.

The responsibilities of an accountant include:

accounting at the enterprise;
participation in the development and further activities directly aimed at the rational and correct use of resources;
receiving and monitoring primary documentation;
reflection on the accounts of transactions related to the constant movement of cash and fixed assets, inventory items;
calculation and further transfer of taxes and other fees to the local and federal budgets, various payments to banking institutions, insurance contributions to extra-budgetary state funds, and more;
providing investors, creditors, managers, and auditors with reliable financial statements.

In addition, the accountant's job responsibilities include: developing a working chart of accounts; participation in the implementation of economic analysis of the financial and economic activities of the organization; ensuring the safety of documents; formation, accumulation and maintenance of a database on the organization’s accounting; execution of the leader.

Depending on the direction of accounting activity, accountants at an enterprise can carry out a certain type of activity, so they have their own responsibilities. The job responsibilities of a materials accountant include conducting documentary audits of the economic activities of the organization to carry out accounting of the property available at the enterprise, timely registration of the audit results, providing the necessary recommendations to facility managers to eliminate the detected causes of deficiencies and violations, monitoring the accuracy of the accounting of fixed and material assets , registration of incoming and outgoing documents, and more.

The accountant bears financial responsibility to the employing organization, as well as to state and non-state control bodies.

The material department deals with settlements with suppliers, takes into account the movement of fixed assets, materials, packaging. Checks the correctness of warehouse accounting of material assets, draws up a report on the availability and movement of material and other property assets.

The production and costing department accounts for production costs, calculates the cost of production, and draws up reports on the implementation of the production plan and its cost. The functions of this accounting department also include general management and control over the availability, movement and safety of semi-finished products of own production and work in progress.

The sales operations accounting department takes into account the availability and movement of finished products in the warehouses of the sales department. This department keeps records of finished products and their sales. The department keeps records of settlements with customers, monitors the correctness and timeliness of receipt of payments from them.

The same criteria apply to individuals who provide accounting services on the basis of civil contracts. If the contract is concluded with an outsourcing organization, then its staff must have at least one employee who meets the above requirements.

The chief accountant is responsible for the formation of accounting policies, ensures control and reflection of business transactions in the accounting accounts, presentation of operational information, preparation of financial statements in a timely manner, conducting (together with other services) an economic analysis of financial and economic activities in order to identify and mobilize intra-economic enterprise reserves. The chief accountant, together with the head of the enterprise, signs documents that serve as the basis for the acceptance and issuance of inventory and cash, as well as settlement, credit and financial obligations and business contracts. The specified documents without the signature of the chief accountant are considered invalid and will not be accepted for execution. The right to sign may be granted to persons authorized to do so by a written order from the head of the enterprise.

The appointment, dismissal and relocation of financially responsible persons (cashiers, warehouse managers, etc.) are coordinated with the chief accountant. The list of persons who have the right to sign primary accounting documents is approved by the head of the enterprise in agreement with the chief accountant. The requirements of the chief accountant for documenting business transactions and submitting documents and information to the accounting service are mandatory for all employees of the enterprise.

When the chief accountant is released, the cases are handed over to the newly appointed chief accountant (and in the absence of the latter, to the employee appointed by order of the manager). At the same time, the state of accounting and the reliability of data is checked and a report is drawn up, approved by the head of the enterprise.

Accounting policies of organizations

The accounting policy of an organization is defined in PBU 1/2008 as “a set of accounting methods - primary observation, cost measurement, current grouping and final generalization of the facts of economic (statutory) activity*. Accounting methods include methods of grouping and assessing facts of economic activity, repaying the value of assets, methods of organizing document flow, inventory, methods of using accounting accounts, systems of accounting registers, information processing, etc.

The choice of accounting policy depends on the specifics of the organization, the characteristics of the management organization, the characteristics of commercial activities, current and long-term goals. The accounting policy is influenced by tax conditions, benefits, state monetary policy, nature of ownership, forms of ownership, personnel qualifications, etc.

When choosing an accounting policy, the following requirements are taken into account:

consistency of accounting policies over a long period;
regulation of accounting policy principles by the current regulatory framework;
notifying external consumers of information about changes in accounting policies.

The accounting policy is formed by the chief accountant or another person who conducts accounting in the organization, and is formalized by order of the manager. It is uniform and is used by all departments of the enterprise, regardless of their location.

Accounting policies are applied consistently over a number of years and should ensure:

completeness of reflection in the accounting records of all business transactions for the reporting period;
greater readiness to account for losses (expenses) and liabilities than possible income and assets;
reflection in accounting of facts of economic activity, based on the legal norm and economic content of the facts and conditions of business;
equality of analytical and synthetic accounting data, as well as compliance of reporting indicators with records in accounting accounts;
rational accounting, taking into account economic activities and the size of the organization.

Changes in the accounting policy of the organization are allowed during: reorganization of the enterprise (merger, division, accession), change of owners, changes in the legislation of the Russian Federation and regulatory accounting regulations, development and application of new accounting methods.

An order on accounting policy must consist of two parts - accounting policy for accounting purposes and for taxation purposes.

The following are attached to the accounting policies:

forms of primary documents;
document forms for internal accounting reporting;
regulations on the inventory of assets and liabilities of the organization.

Tax accounting policies are accompanied by tax register forms independently developed and approved by the organization.

1. In the section “Accounting for fixed assets” of the tax and accounting policy, it is necessary to specify the procedure for accounting for fixed assets worth no more than 40 thousand rubles. per unit, as well as books, brochures and other publications.

2. Determine:

methods for calculating depreciation and applying depreciation bonuses in tax accounting, provisions for changing the useful life of fixed assets after reconstruction, modernization or technical re-equipment;
method for assessing inventories when released into production and other disposal;
method of accounting for costs of procurement and delivery of goods to central warehouses (bases) until they are transferred for sale (Article 320 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
method of recognition of commercial and administrative expenses (Article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
list of created reserves;
procedure for maintaining separate accounting;
the procedure for calculating income tax and advance payments (Article 286 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
the procedure for paying taxes in the presence of structural divisions;
procedure for applying PBU 18/02 “Income Tax”;
procedure for maintaining tax accounting.

A special place in accounting policy is occupied by its methodological and organizational aspects.

Methodological aspects:

The procedure for calculating depreciation for fixed assets and intangible assets.
The procedure for recording transactions for the acquisition and procurement of material assets in the accounts.
A method for assessing inventories and calculating their actual cost.
Options for accounting for production costs and calculating production costs.
Methods for distributing general production and general business expenses.
List of reserves for upcoming expenses.
The procedure for accounting and financing the repair of fixed assets.
Deadlines for repayment of future expenses.
Options for accounting for production output.
The procedure for creating a reserve for doubtful debts.
Options for determining revenue from sales of products (works, services).
Timing for writing off future income.
Options for distribution and use of net profit.
The procedure for calculating and paying dividends.
Procedure for assessing accounts payable.
Formation of reserve capital.
Method of allocating selling expenses.

Organizational aspects:

Choosing a form of accounting.
Organization of work in accounting.
Systems of internal production accounting, reporting and control.
The procedure for conducting an inventory of property and liabilities.
Chart of Accounts.
Technology for processing accounting information.
Scope, timing and addresses for reporting.
System of relationships with audit services.

Thus, when developing an organization’s accounting policy, it should be taken into account that since it is approved by order of the head of the organization, it acquires legal force. Therefore, it is necessary to include all the above aspects, which must be supported by regulatory documents. The given list is approximate; the number of items may change upward or downward depending on the direction of economic activity and the size of the organization.

Basic requirements for accounting and its tasks

In accordance with the Law “On Accounting” dated December 6, 2011, all organizations, regardless of their legal form of ownership, must maintain accounting records. Accounting reflects financial and economic activities and influences them. It provides important information that allows you to plan the organization's activities, make optimal use of resources, monitor and evaluate performance results. Accounting provides information on the dynamics of assets and liabilities, financial results, and controls payment and financial discipline. Accounting provides:

correct, complete and timely documentation of the facts of economic life;
control over the safety of material, labor and financial resources;
state of budget, financial and payment discipline;
timely preparation of reports;
formation of complete and reliable information about the business processes and results of the organization’s activities, necessary for operational management and management, as well as for use by banking, tax authorities, suppliers, investors;
identification and effective use of internal resources.

Accounting requirements are determined by the Regulations on accounting and financial reporting in the Russian Federation No. 34n:

Accounting for property, liabilities and facts of economic life is carried out in the currency of the Russian Federation - rubles. Documentation of property, liabilities and other facts of economic activity, maintenance of accounting registers and financial statements is carried out in Russian.
Property that is the property of an enterprise is accounted for separately from the property of other legal entities owned by this organization.
Accounting is maintained by the enterprise continuously from the moment of its registration as a legal entity until reorganization or liquidation in the manner established by the legislation of the Russian Federation.
The organization maintains accounting records of property, liabilities and facts of economic life by double entry on interrelated accounting accounts included in the working chart of accounts, which is approved by the manager on the basis of the Chart of Accounts.
Maintaining the equality of analytical accounting data with the turnover and balances of synthetic accounting on the first day of each month.
All facts of economic life and inventory results are subject to timely registration in accounting accounts without any omissions or withdrawals.
In the accounting of organizations, current costs for production of products, performance of work and provision of services and costs associated with capital and financial investments are taken into account separately.

Accounting has the following main tasks:

1. Formation of complete and reliable information about the activities of the enterprise and its property status, necessary for internal users of financial statements - managers, founders, participants and owners of property of the enterprise, as well as external - investors, creditors and other users of financial statements.

2. Providing information necessary for internal and external users of accounting statements to monitor compliance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, the presence and movement of property and liabilities, the use of material, labor and financial resources in accordance with approved norms, standards and estimates.

3. Prevention of negative results of the organization’s economic activities and identification of intra-economic reserves to ensure its financial stability, forecasting and planning of upcoming income and expenses.

In accordance with the Federal Law “On Accounting”, all organizations located on the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as branches and representative offices of foreign organizations (unless otherwise provided for by international treaties of the Russian Federation) are required to maintain accounting records. Citizens carrying out entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity keep records of income and expenses in the manner established by the tax legislation of the Russian Federation.

The manager is responsible for organizing accounting in organizations. The manager is also responsible for compliance with the law when carrying out business transactions.

The legal status of the accounting service in organizations is regulated by current legislation, accounting regulations and is determined by the scale and organizational structure of the organization's management. In accordance with the Federal Law “On Accounting” (Article 6), heads of organizations can, depending on the volume of accounting work:

establish an accounting service as a structural unit headed by a chief accountant;
add an accountant position to the staff;
transfer on a contractual basis the maintenance of accounting to a centralized accounting department, a specialized organization or a specialist accountant;
maintain accounting records personally.

Attributing the issue of the form of organization and maintenance of accounting to the competence of the manager means that the founders, shareholders or other participants of the relevant legal entity, as well as property owners, do not have the right, by their decisions, to directly determine the form of organization of accounting work.

In practice, the head of an organization rarely leads himself. In all cases of organizing an accounting service, the manager must create the necessary conditions for proper accounting, ensure strict compliance by all structural divisions and employees of the organization related to accounting with the requirements of the chief accountant or the accountant performing his functions regarding the preparation and presentation of the necessary accounting documents and information.

The Federal Law “On Accounting” defines the main tasks facing the organization’s accounting service:

generation of complete and reliable information about the organization’s activities and its property status, necessary for internal users of financial statements - managers, founders and owners of the organization’s property, as well as external users - investors, creditors and other users of financial statements;
providing information necessary for internal and external users of financial statements to monitor compliance with the legislation of the Russian Federation when the organization carries out business operations and their feasibility, the availability and movement of property and liabilities, the use of material, labor and financial resources in accordance with approved norms, standards and estimates;
preventing negative results from the organization’s economic activities and identifying internal reserves to ensure its financial stability.

Organizational structure of the accounting service

The management structure of an organization is understood as an ordered set of specialized functional services and production units interconnected in the process of justification, development, adoption and implementation of management decisions. Within the framework of this structure, the entire management process takes place: the movement of information flows, reliability control and analysis, management decision-making, in which all personnel participate. The structure is necessary to ensure that all processes occurring in the organization are carried out in a timely and high-quality manner.

The key concepts of the management structure are elements, connections (relationships), levels and authorities. Elements of the management structure can be both individual employees and services that employ specialists performing their functional duties. The relationships between the elements of the management structure are maintained through connections, which are divided into vertical and horizontal (linear and functional).

An accounting service is a structural unit of an organization that performs the functions of collecting, processing and grouping information in the form of consolidated accounting documents and making entries into accounting accounts. The structure of the accounting service depends on the type of activity, size of the organization, etc.

The accounting service (accounting) is the most organized part of the information support for management decisions. This is the only source of supply of documented and systematically supported economic information about the actual availability and use of the organization’s property and resources, economic processes and results of operations, debt obligations, settlements and claims.

The rationality of the organization of accounting largely depends on the correct determination of the structure of accounting and the accounting apparatus. Accounting is an independent structural unit of the organization.

The quantitative composition of the accounting department depends on the size of the organization, types of activities and their industry affiliation, organization and production technology, the presence of structural divisions and their territorial location, qualifications of accounting workers and automation of accounting work, etc.

In modern conditions, three main types of organization of the accounting service structure have emerged: linear (hierarchical), vertical (headquarters) and functional (combined).

At linear (hierarchical) organization accounting structure, all accounting employees receive tasks and report directly to the chief accountant (Fig. 1). This accounting structure is used in small organizations.

Rice. 1. Linear (hierarchical) organization of accounting

At vertical (line-staff) organization In the accounting apparatus, intermediate management links (departments, sectors, groups) are created, headed by senior accountants. Accounting employees receive assignments from senior accountants at the relevant management levels (Fig. 2) and report directly to senior accountants.

This accounting structure model is used in medium and large organizations. In this case, the following departments can be created in the accounting structure:

settlement, which records settlements with personnel for wages, social insurance authorities, suppliers, buyers and customers, etc.;
material, which keeps records of the receipt and expenditure of inventories;
cash, which takes into account cash transactions, transactions on bank accounts;
production, which accounts for costs and output, calculates the cost of production, and prepares reports on costs and output;
accounting of finished products, which carries out accounting of finished products in warehouses and their sales;
Taxation, which keeps records of tax payments and prepares tax returns;
the general one, which carries out other operations and reflects them in the General Ledger, draws up accounting and statistical reporting.

In large organizations, in addition to those listed, there may be departments for accounting for capital investments, accounting for fixed assets, etc. In addition, the sectors of internal audit, management accounting, and tax accounting can be included in the accounting structure.

Rice. 2. Vertical organization of accounting

At functional (combined) organization special structural units of accounting are created for areas of accounting work that perform a closed cycle of work. The rights of the chief accountant in this case are transferred to the heads of accounting departments within the established competence. This structure of the accounting apparatus is used in large organizations and organizations in which responsibility centers have been created on the basis of the organization of intra-economic financial and economic relations.

When using any type of organization of the accounting structure, only well-established relationships with other services and divisions make it possible to obtain the necessary information to manage and ensure control over the economic and financial activities of the organization. If necessary (large volume of work), the position of deputy chief accountant can be added to the accounting staff, through whom the interaction of the chief accountant with employees and their groups is carried out.

If there are more than two accountants, the accounting service must be formalized as a structural unit of the organization, headed by the chief accountant, who manages the accounting department.

Most accounting systems in world practice are characterized by the presence of two accounting departments: financial (general) and management (analytical, industrial).

Financial (general) accounting solves problems of the organization’s relationship with the state, banks, shareholders, suppliers, customers and other counterparties. The organization of financial accounting, corresponding to the national accounting system, is to one degree or another regulated by the state, and in many cases by a group of states represented by intergovernmental organizations. Financial accounting employees are engaged in determining the financial and property position of the organization, assessing the assets and liabilities of the balance sheet, profit margins, and areas of use. Financial accounting provides information that is published in the open press.

Managerial (analytical, industrial) accounting solves internal problems related to increasing the efficiency of work across responsibility centers and business segments. Management accounting organizes synthetic and analytical accounting of the movement of material assets, finished products, and settlements with personnel. The activities of management accounting are not regulated by the state. Its main purpose is to present information and analyze it by responsibility centers, the profitability of business segments, and ensure accounting of income (margin) and expenses.

The structure of large organizations can include branches, separate divisions, and representative offices.

Article 55 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation determines that branches or representative offices are separate divisions of a legal entity located outside its location. The main difference between them is that branches fully or partially perform the functions of the legal entity that created it, including the functions of representing the interests of the parent organization and protecting them.

The following items are common in the provisions on branches and representative offices:

these are legal entities;
they act on the basis of a power of attorney;
they are endowed with property by the legal entity that created them (the owner).

According to Art. 55 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, separate divisions (branches and representative offices) must be indicated in the constituent documents of the legal entity that created them.

The Tax Code of the Russian Federation stipulates that separate divisions of an organization are any territorially isolated divisions from it, at the location of which stationary workplaces are equipped. A workplace is considered stationary if it is created for a period of at least one month.

A separate division may be recognized regardless of whether its creation is reflected or not reflected in the constituent documents. The recognition or non-recognition of the existence of a separate division determines the procedure for calculating and paying taxes to the budget both by the parent organization and by individual separate divisions allocated to an independent balance sheet. Divisions can be allocated to a separate balance sheet, or they can remain part of the parent organization.

The following options for organizing accounting in the structural divisions of an organization are possible:

the structural unit is not allocated to a separate balance sheet, the accounting process is carried out by the parent organization;
the structural unit is allocated to a separate balance sheet, but does not have settlement (current) accounts;
the structural unit is allocated to a separate balance sheet, has a current account, but does not independently sell goods, products, works, services (essentially, it is a costly unit - a representative office of the parent organization in the region);
the structural unit is allocated to a separate balance sheet, has current accounts, and independently sells goods, products, works, and services.

Depending on the level of concentration of accounting functions in the accounting service of the organization, centralized and decentralized options for organizing accounting are distinguished (Fig. 3 and 4).

Rice. 3. Centralized accounting organization

At centralization of the accounting process The accounting service apparatus is concentrated in the main accounting department, where synthetic and analytical accounting is maintained on the basis of primary and consolidated documents coming from the organization’s divisions. In the divisions themselves, only the primary registration of facts of economic activity occurs.

When decentralization of the accounting process accounting service personnel are dispersed among the production divisions of the organization, where analytical and synthetic accounting is maintained, and separate balance sheets and reports of workshops, branches, and structural divisions are compiled. In this case, the general accounting department brings together the balances of the divisions, consolidates the balance sheet and reporting for the organization, and controls the organization of accounting in the divisions of the organization.

Rice. 4. Decentralized accounting organization

The profession of an accountant has always been necessary and important, and in recent years it has also become prestigious. An accountant is aware of all the affairs of the enterprise, since he must record financial and business transactions and, by correctly using the benefits, minimize taxes. How much will be transferred to the budget and whether the company will have to pay fines depends on his work. Therefore, many managers treat accountants with respect and trust them.

But we should not forget that this profession is associated with financial responsibility. Serious violations in work, both unconscious and accidental, and intentional, for using his official position for personal gain, an accountant can be brought not only to disciplinary and administrative, but also criminal liability. We will tell you exactly how and why in this article.

Responsibilities of an accountant

Typically, accounting for business transactions is carried out by an accounting service, or, as it is often called, accounting. It is headed by the chief accountant. But sometimes an organization has such a small staff that all its affairs are handled by one accountant. In this case, the functions of the chief accountant are assigned to him. In addition, accounting may be entrusted to a specialized organization or a specialist accountant. This follows from the Regulations on accounting and financial reporting in the Russian Federation, approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 29, 1998 N 34n (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations on accounting and reporting).

Clause 2 of Article 7 of the Federal Law of November 21, 1996 N 129-FZ “On Accounting” establishes that the chief accountant is responsible for the formation of accounting policies, accounting and timely submission of complete and reliable accounting reports.

The chief accountant is appointed to the position and dismissed from it by the head of the organization, and he reports to him. Well, what should you do in case of disagreement? An accountant, by written order of his boss, is obliged to accept documents on controversial transactions for execution, but then only the manager will be responsible for the consequences.

Issues related to the work of an accountant at an enterprise are regulated by the Regulations of Chief Accountants, approved by Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 59 of January 24, 1980. However, this document is practically not used today. However, it has not been officially cancelled, so accountants can be held accountable in the cases provided for here. For example, it is punishable:

incorrect accounting, which resulted in neglect in accounting and distortions in financial statements;

accepting the execution and execution of documents for transactions that were not carried out according to established rules;

untimely and incorrect reconciliation of transactions in bank accounts, settlements with debtors and creditors;

incorrect write-off of shortages, accounts receivable and other losses;

untimely inspections and documentary audits;

leaving inaccurate reporting due to the accountant's fault.

Along with the manager, the chief accountant is responsible for non-compliance with the rules and regulations that regulate the financial and economic activities of the enterprise. In addition, in cases where quarterly and annual reports are not submitted to the relevant authorities on time, the chief accountant is also to blame.

As you know, without the signature of the chief accountant, cash and settlement documents are considered invalid and cannot be accepted for execution. Therefore, the accountant is responsible for the contents of these documents.

By the way, instead of an accountant, primary documents can be signed by authorized persons (clause 14 of the Regulations). Their list is approved by the manager in agreement with the chief accountant. A document flow schedule for the enterprise is also drawn up. But only the chief accountant controls the execution of this schedule, and he is also responsible for its violation.

As for primary documents, accounting registers, accounting reports and balance sheets (before transferring them to the enterprise archive), then, of course, their execution and safety are under the responsibility of the accountant.

It remains to add that in accordance with the letter of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation dated October 4, 1993 N 18 “On approval of the Procedure for conducting cash transactions in the Russian Federation,” control over the correct conduct of cash transactions is entrusted to the chief accountant of the enterprise. Consequently, the appointment, dismissal and relocation of all financially responsible persons (cashiers, warehouse managers, etc.) must be coordinated with him.

Disciplinary responsibility

Of course, an accountant, like any employee of an enterprise, can be held liable for violating labor discipline. This is, first of all, a failure to fulfill all the above responsibilities: after all, for an accountant they are labor duties. Of course, being late, absenteeism, showing up at work while drunk are also violations of discipline for which the employee must be punished.

The punishment is determined in accordance with labor legislation. This could be a reprimand, a reprimand, a severe reprimand, or dismissal. Moreover, dismissal is possible only in cases expressly provided for in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Please note that any other measures of liability for violation of discipline cannot be applied to an accountant. For example, the manager does not have the right to fine him or reduce the vacation allotted to him by law. Of course, an employee’s salary can be lowered, but this cannot be made dependent on his misconduct.

When imposing disciplinary sanctions, the head of the enterprise should adhere to a certain procedure. Let's analyze this order using a conditional example. Suppose an accountant missed one of his working days. The employee can be punished for this one offense no later than six months after it was committed. As soon as the administration finds out about absenteeism, the accountant should be required to provide a written explanation. From this moment on, management has exactly one month to punish the offender. The collection is formalized by order of the organization, with which the accountant must be familiarized with the receipt. Here it is necessary to add that, based on the results of an audit or inspection of financial and economic activities, penalties can be imposed within two years from the date of the commission of the offense.

Material liability

The financial liability of the organization's employees is provided for by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. An accountant, like any other employee, is responsible only for direct damage caused to the enterprise, and in an amount not exceeding his monthly salary. Note: the accountant does not directly deal with valuables. Therefore, full financial responsibility cannot be assigned to him. Moreover, he does not even have the right to receive money and inventory items for the enterprise himself. However, an exception has been made for small enterprises: in agreement with the bank, the chief accountant can also perform the functions of a cashier. In this case, an agreement on full financial responsibility must be concluded with him.

The accountant of Gvozdika LLC signed a power of attorney, according to which an employee of this enterprise was to receive 15,000 rubles from another organization. and bring them to the accounting department. It was necessary to deliver the money urgently, so an agreement on full financial responsibility was not concluded with the employee. The employee received the money, but lost it on the way. The head of the enterprise issued an order in which he obliged the chief accountant to compensate for the damage caused: after all, he signed a power of attorney and sent the employee with valuables, without concluding an agreement with him on full financial responsibility. The accountant refused to pay the money and went to court. The case was decided in his favor. The court indicated that the accountant did not bear any responsibility in this case, since he himself did not service the valuables. The court ruled that the employee who received the goods under a one-time power of attorney should be punished. In this case, the court referred to paragraph 5 of Article 31 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Unlike an accountant, a cashier bears full financial responsibility. Based on Article 121.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the enterprise concludes a corresponding agreement in writing. Please note that such contracts can only be concluded with employees who have reached the age of 18 and perform work directly related to the storage of valuables, their transportation, sale, etc.

The cashier discovered that 20,000 rubles were missing from the cash register. He informed the head of the organization about this. He decided that the cashier himself was to blame for the loss and demanded a refund from him. The cashier wrote a statement of theft to the police and stated in it that the money was stolen by a worker who, two days before the discovery, replaced the wiring in the cash register premises. However, the head of the organization still went to court demanding that the cashier recover the missing money. The court ruled in favor of the employer, and the cashier had to pay 20,000 rubles. Two months after this, law enforcement agencies detained the installer, who admitted to stealing money from the cash register. The court reviewed the case and found that the cashier did not bear financial responsibility, since he was innocent of the loss. According to this decision, the money was returned to him.

Administrative responsibility

First of all, let us turn to Article 15 of the RSFSR Code on administrative offenses. It is established here that officials are responsible for administrative offenses related to failure to fulfill official duties. This rule also applies to an accountant who is an official of the organization.

What is an administrative offense? This is an unlawful act or omission that was committed with intent or negligence. Intent occurs if the offender was aware that his action was illegal, foresaw harmful consequences, desired or consciously allowed them. Negligence is a situation where the offender knew about the possibility of harmful consequences, but frivolously counted on preventing them or did not foresee such consequences, although he should have and could have foreseen them.

The chief accountant bears administrative responsibility only in cases where he violated the laws on taxes and fees, the implementation of which is entrusted to him.

Indeed, sometimes organizations charge taxes and other obligatory payments at the wrong time or not in full. Then the federal tax police authorities have the right, as a preventive measure, to issue written warnings to the managers, chief accountants and other officials of these enterprises. Accountants who fail to comply with such requirements must pay a fine of up to 100 minimum wages, that is, 10,000 rubles. Let us recall that since January 1, 2001, fines are calculated based on a base amount equal to 100 rubles. This is stated in Article 5 of Federal Law No. 82-FZ of June 19, 2000 “On the minimum wage.”

Criminal liability

The head of the organization and the chief accountant, as well as the persons actually performing their duties, may be held liable under Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). What accounting offenses does the Criminal Code prosecute? This is the indication in documents of deliberately distorted data on income or expenses or the concealment of any taxation objects, if as a result a large amount of taxes was not paid, namely 1000 minimum wages, that is, 100,000 rubles.

Well, what is the punishment? Those found guilty are deprived of the right to engage in accounting activities for up to five years. Arrest for a term of four to six months or imprisonment for a term of up to four years is also possible. But in each specific case, the punishment is determined by the court.

There are no exact criteria here, but the court always takes into account the mitigating circumstances specified in Article 61 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: for example, a confession or the fact that the perpetrator has young children. In such cases, the maximum penalty is four months of arrest. In addition, a suspended sentence or deferment of the sentence is possible.

If there are aggravating circumstances listed in Article 63 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the sentence is more severe and there can be no conditional sentence.

If an accountant has repeatedly evaded paying taxes and the non-payment amounted to a particularly large amount, or he was in conspiracy with a group of people, then he may be imprisoned for a term of two to seven years. A particularly large amount is 5,000 minimum wages, that is, 500,000 rubles.

The accountant deliberately did not take into account part of the tax base, which is why the organization underpaid the tax to the budget. This was revealed by the inspection. As a result, the organization recovered 100,145 rubles. tax and penalties, as well as a fine of 1900 rubles. The tax police opened a criminal case against this accountant under Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. However, it was later closed because the accountant managed to prove that there was no crime. He proved that he was right in the following way. Although the budget collected 100,145 rubles, the amount of unpaid tax is only 95,000 rubles, the rest is 5,145 rubles. - penalties for 65 days of delay. The penalty was calculated as follows: 95,000 rubles. * ((25%/300%)*65 days) =5145 rub. Note that the refinancing rate during this period did not change and amounted to 25 percent. Thus, the amount of hidden tax is only 95,000 rubles. In accordance with the Criminal Code, this cannot be considered large in size, therefore, there is no corpus delicti.

But let’s assume that the accountant himself did not commit a crime, but only facilitated its commission with advice, instructions, etc. This means that he will be held liable under Article 33 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation as an instigator or accomplice.

It must be said that when deciding on the punishment of an accountant, the court always takes into account the dependence of the accountant on the head of the organization. After all, as we have already said, the chief accountant is obliged to carry out the written order of his boss, despite his inner conviction of its illegality. This relieves the accountant of criminal liability. As Part 1 of Article 42 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation says: “It is not a crime to cause harm by a person acting in pursuance of an order or instruction that is binding on him.” In such cases, criminal liability is borne by the person who gave the illegal order, that is, the head of the organization.

Particular attention should be paid to the situation when the chief accountant is employed by government agencies or municipal institutions. He can be attracted if he: abuses his official powers (Article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), exceeds these powers (Article 289 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), illegally participates in business activities (Article 289 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), takes bribes (Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), commits forgery (Article 292 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) or neglect of one’s official duties (Article 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

By holding accountants criminally liable for such crimes, the court may apply the following sanctions to them:

deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities;
compulsory work, in which the convicted person performs unpaid community service during his free time from his main job;
correctional labor served at the place of work of the convicted person;
confiscation of property;
restriction of freedom when a convicted person is kept in a special institution without isolation from society;
arrest, that is, keeping a convicted person in conditions of strict isolation from society;
deprivation of liberty.

It remains to add that every accountant may not be afraid of liability and severe penalties. To do this, he only needs to comply with the rules established by law, as well as fulfill his official duties with the utmost precision and in a timely manner.