Conditions and period of storage of primary documents in accounting

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

As practice shows, in almost any modern domestic enterprise, the largest amount of documentation is generated by accounting. Of course, this is understandable: it is in this department that they work with money, and each such operation needs to be officially fixed on paper. In addition, the term for storing primary documents in an organization is legally established, which means that it will not work just like that to get rid of “pieces of paper”, you will have to store them for at least several years and only then destroy them. By the way, the process of getting rid of waste paper is also not easy, it has a number of specific features. About all this - further.

Documents, documents…

If we give statistics on the amount of documentation produced, it turns out that in almost all modern domestic enterprises, accounting is the source of 80-90% of paper documents. They don't just need to be kept. Restrictions determine not only what is the correct minimum storage period for primary accounting documents (usually varies fromfive years to a decade), but also the conditions in which these objects should be. At the same time, it should be remembered that there is a division into documentation for temporary storage and permanent.

However, as practice shows, not every company's managers are interested in understanding the intricacies of the terms of storage of primary documents. To save yourself from a headache, you can use the services of specialized archival companies. In such a company, they know exactly what type of documents for how long they need to be stored, under what conditions, under what rules. In addition, such an organization has the technical capacity to destroy documents entrusted with storage when the deadlines expire. It's really convenient, but it costs money. If you want to save money, then you will have to allocate a special room for the archive and understand what is the legal period for storing primary accounting documents in an organization.

Want - don't want

The problem, by the way, does not arise from scratch. Current laws establish the terms of storage of primary accounting documents, and within any enterprise they must be observed. It follows from the legislation that any operating legal entity is entrusted with the obligation to preserve documentation. This means that the form of activity does not matter - whether it is a private entrepreneur doing business alone, or a large concern, you still have to attend to the storage of financial statements and other documentation. It is important to study the law forthe established periods of storage of electronic primary documents, paper, so that in the event of a conflict with the contractor or during the verification by the controlling authority, you will not be in an uncomfortable position. In addition, failure to comply with the time limits established by law can provoke a considerable fine during the inspection. The current legislation contains regulations governing the minimum period of storage of primary accounting documents. It is important that business is safe, and doing business in our country is distinguished by legality and compliance with established rules.

The 125th federal law, adopted in October 2004, tells about the storage period for electronic primary documents, paper documents. Based on the name, it is dedicated to archives and the correct conduct of business. It is in this official document that the features of storing official papers produced by the accounting department are considered. Here you can find both features that allow you to distinguish between documentation of temporary and permanent storage, as well as terms specific to a particular type of paper.

Applies to whom?

Obligations to comply with the minimum storage periods for primary documents are assigned to:

• local governments;
• government agencies;
• entrepreneurs;
• enterprises;
• persons doing business.

The law will have to be observed in relation to archival documentation, including those relating to personnel. Wholethe time period specified in the law, the papers must be kept in a safe place. In addition to federal laws, the specifics of the terms of storage of primary documents and accounting registers are affected in a number of regulatory documents that are in force both on the territory of the country as a whole and in each individual region. However, the most important document is the 125th law mentioned above, which provides a complete list of documentation regulating the duration of storage of accounting papers.

Law number 129

In 1996, a federal law was issued on the features of accounting. It states that accounting can generate its documentation on paper, as well as using various machine tools. At the same time, the company must make copies of the documentation on paper on its own, so that all participants in the operations have access to data about them. If the regulatory authority requests access to the documentation, the representatives of the firm are required to provide it. Both prosecutors and representatives of the court have the right to do so.

Creation, storage in compliance with the storage periods of primary accounting documents, provision upon request must comply with the forms established in regulatory enactments. Documents must be sent to the requesting person in paper form. If this is allowed by the capabilities of the machines used in the work, if all participants agree, the reporting can be sent in electronic form. It is also permitted by the applicable laws of ourcountries.

Keep by the rules

129th federal law contains a mention of the obligatory observance of the terms of storage of primary accounting documents. In particular, Article 17 mentions that any legal entity must keep such documentation without fail, including registers and reports. The duration of the time interval is established by the rules governing archiving at the state level. The duration of this period cannot be less than 5 years.

A special period of storage of primary documents is established for the documentation regulating the accounting policy and some other categories (programs used on machines that process information, working chart of accounts). Of course, the duration here is also five years (in some cases this period can be set longer), but the period begins to count from the moment when this document was last used at the enterprise. The head of a legal entity is the person who, by law, is responsible for storing all the required documentation in compliance with time intervals. This means that any educated and responsible boss must know the period of storage of primary documents in the accounting department if he wants to keep the situation in the company under his control.

As practice shows, many organizations regularly conduct an inventory of official documentation, and local regulations establish persons responsible for storing documents, with whom the inspection authorities actually interact when monitoring compliancearchiving rules.

Creation and storage: all according to the rules

Based on the current legislation, accountants can generate both primary documentation and summary documentation not only on paper, but also in electronic form; at the same time, the obligations to create paper copies are assigned to the legal entity, and upon request from the interested person, the inspection body, the company is obliged to send paper documents to the address as soon as possible. Compilation and storage must be carried out in the form established by the current regulatory enactments.

About the period of storage of primary documents in the accounting department, the order of this process, tells the list of documentation that considers typical management papers that are formed in the course of the work of any enterprise. Those were established in 2010 in a document approved by the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Archives. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the requirements of the Tax Code, which regulates that every citizen of our country is responsible for maintaining accounting records for four years. This applies to papers related to accounting for expenditure, income, and also confirming the payment of taxes.

Be smart about things

Correct organization of the process in compliance with the terms of storage of primary accounting documents involves a professional approach, involvement of personnel responsible for accounting documentation, processing of archival information about the organization of the work process itself. Currently there are almost no placesspecialized training in archiving, so it is often difficult to find a truly high-quality specialist. On the other hand, progressive legislation requires that the terms of storage of primary accounting documents be observed, otherwise you can face categorically unpleasant fines. The best option for a sufficiently voluminous document flow is to create a department responsible for archival storage in the company’s staff and ensure regular training of the personnel responsible for documentation with internal resources. This will keep the innovations established in the laws under control and comply with all requirements.

An alternative option that also allows you to take into account the storage period of primary documents and comply with it in your work activities is cooperation with an intermediary who assumes obligations to preserve the client's papers. However, choosing an archival company for yourself is also not an easy task. It is necessary to carefully analyze all available options in order to give preference to a reliable company and not worry that it may close and the building burn down.

Features of storing some types of documentation

As follows from the current legislation, primary documentation, as well as registers, reporting and balance sheets, must be transferred to the archive. All these categories of official documentation, until they are sent to the archive, must be kept in the accounting premises, while the legal entityis obliged to provide all conditions for the safety of papers: cabinets must be closed, fire and other safety must be observed. Inside the enterprise, a person responsible for the safety of documentation is appointed by a special document.

If the company uses strict reporting forms, by law these documents must be kept in a safe or a special closet, a room that is closed and guarantees the safety of documentation. Primary documentation of the current time period, processed manually, should be collected chronologically into registers, which are then sent to the archive for permanent storage.

What else to look out for?

When storing bank statements, cash orders and advance reports, all documentation must be kept chronologically and bound for joint systematic storage. Some specific categories of documents (shift reports, work orders) can be stored without binding, but filed in folders so that nothing is lost or used for dishonest purposes.

The safety of documentation, as well as its timely sending to the archive, is primarily the responsibility of the chief accountant, although, if necessary, local regulations may contain delegation of authority to another person. The issuance of primary documentation, reporting, balance sheets is possible only in some cases if there is an official order from the chief accountant. In general, structural divisions do not have access to accounting documents. Seizure of documentation is possibleonly if there is a specialized request from the inquiry agencies, the court or other authorities that have the appropriate powers under the law. In this case, it is necessary to provide an official resolution drawn up in compliance with the law. When withdrawing, it is necessary to draw up a protocol, one of the copies of which is transferred to the representative of the organization against signature.

The storage period for primary documents is shown in the table below.

Features of workflow

The term "document flow" is applied to a set of factors associated with the movement of documentation from the moment the paper was created to its transfer to the archival business. The development of a schedule is the responsibility of the chief accountant, although in some enterprises it is delegated to a document management specialist. However, as practice shows, the most correct is the inclusion of such a schedule in the accounting policy of the organization, which is then approved by a specially issued order signed by the company's chief official.

With the help of the schedule, you can harmonize organizational processes and simplify the task of planning in the enterprise. The workflow schedule for primary documentation is a list of performers, the time intervals within which the papers must be sent to the accounting department, as well as the time frame for which the accountants process them. Be sure to describe reporting periods, including balance sheets. Often, the accounting policy contains the regulation of the storage periods for primary documents, and this period orequated to that established by law, or set higher if required by the specifics of the company's activities. When the reporting for the year is submitted, the documentation is prepared in the prescribed manner and transferred to archival storage. At the same time, it is taken into account that in the future it may be necessary to extract useful data from the volume transferred for storage. For this, it is customary to divide cases into folders, while the grouping is explained by the content. Be sure to assign a relevant title to each folder.

Case storage features

All documentation generated in the course of the enterprise's activities, as mentioned above, is divided into those intended for temporary storage and permanent. When transferring papers to the archive, it is necessary to hand over each of these categories separately, without mixing official papers in the same folders. In this case, copies must be kept separately from the originals. Also, in separate folders, you will have to sort the documentation showing reporting, plans for the year and for quarters, for months. One file must contain one piece of documentation.

To group one case, you can use documents generated in one period (quarter, year, month). The exception is the so-called transient categories - for example, personal files, the closure of which is not timed to coincide with the calendar year. If the file contains documentation generated over several months, it is necessary to separate each month from others with a special sheet, fixing on it what period the block following it documents. In this case, it is allowed to group up to 250 sheets into one file. Folder thickness can be 4 cm or less.

What else to look out for?

As can be seen from the rules of archiving, if the documentation has appendices, those (regardless of when exactly they were compiled) must be attached to the documentation they accompany. In general, the sequence for the archive of accounting documentation is very important, so it must be strictly observed. As a rule, statements are posted first, then explanatory notes, after which the balance sheet, supplemented by the attached documents.

When organizing the storage of personal accounts of company employees, it is necessary to allocate a separate case for this, in which the documentation is laid out by year with strict chronology. The annual correspondence is formed into folders indicating the calendar year and is also systematized in accordance with the dates. Each request must be followed by a response.

Some Features

The retention periods prescribed in the Tax Code may differ from those specified in the laws governing the activities of accounting. When observing such a discrepancy, it is recommended, first of all, to observe the longer time period - this will allow, if necessary, to refer to the documentation, use it, even if, according to one of the current rules, the deadline has already expired. In addition, the inspectors will have nothing to complain about. It is also necessary to remember a special list published in 2000 indicating the duration of storagesome specific documentation groups. This list is regularly updated and supplemented, so the chief accountant of the enterprise and the department responsible for document management must follow up-to-date information.

If the terms of storage have been violated, the responsibility for this lies with the head of the company, despite the fact that the issue of safety is primarily the responsibility of the chief accountant. If the order, the duration of storage are violated, the company is fined. For an official, the punishment usually ranges from two to three thousand rubles. But if the primary documentation is not kept at all, they can be punished with a fine of five thousand rubles or more.