An example of an organization's accounting policy

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

The set of principles that are applied in the preparation of financial statements is called the accounting policy of the organization. The purpose of its formation is to establish the best option for accounting for PBU in an organization. A set of internal rules is formed immediately after the formation of the organization and is adjusted as necessary.

What you need to know

Today, any enterprise should have a clearly defined format for document management, tax and accounting reporting. The accounting policy of the organization, an example of which will be presented below, is drawn up in a separate administrative document, which contains excerpts from the legislative acts applied by the organization.

Principles

A good example of an accounting policy should be based on the principles:

• Continuous Operations - There is no need to reorganize or stop operations in the near future.
• Sequences - the same accounting policy is usedannually.
• Temporal certainty - each action in the work process must refer to a certain time period.

These principles should be kept in mind when drafting an example business accounting policy.

How many documents does an organization need

Accounting and tax records are kept simultaneously at each enterprise. Their presence is mandatory under the current legislation. According to the rules of NU and BU in a particular area, you can choose one of the proposed methods of accounting or develop and approve your own scheme. All these algorithms must be written in the accounting policy. For NU and BU, two regulatory documents are drawn up. At the same time, the rules for maintaining tax records should contain an algorithm for calculating income tax, VAT and "simplified".

In addition to NU and BU, an organization can also maintain management accounting (MC). It contains information for internal use. The principles of its formation and the algorithm of use should also be prescribed in the accounting policy. The legislative framework regulates the principles of conducting NU and BU. In relation to the TC, the organization can independently form the rules of work, based on the specifics of the activity and goals.

Definitions

The accounting policy of an LLC, an example of which will be presented below, is developed in accordance with the norms of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and federal legislation. Therefore, you should familiarize yourself with the terminology used in them in advance.

Accounting policy is understood as a set of formats for maintainingreporting. The principles of work apply to all stages: from observation to the generalization of activity factors. This is a designation of a group of documents according to which a commercial enterprise operates.

Accounting and tax reporting is the process of doing business and forming the basis for calculating taxes, documented. These two documents can be formed jointly or separately.

Property isolation is the separation of property from the organization. An example of the accounting policy of an organization, LLC, which does not reflect this paragraph, is not the best example. If the document does not indicate how the alienation takes place, then the property of the organization may be seized for the debts of the owners.

Required data

To draw up a set of rules by which the organization will act, you need to know the nuances of the company:

• What accounting accounts does the organization use?
• What primary accounting documents does it use?
• How does IBE keep track of inventory?
• Which depreciation method is chosen?

Regardless of the field of activity, the rules of work must be formed in accordance with the requirements of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Regulations

An example of an accounting policy can be made in any form. The main thing is that the document be drawn up in accordance with:

• Order of the Ministry of Finance No. 100;
• PBU Accounting Policy;
• FZ 129, 81, 402.

The current legislation changes frequently. This results in a lot of errors. Accounting policy makers may simply not be aware of the latest developments.

For enterprises that operate outside the Russian Federation, there is an example of an accounting policy - IFRS. This document is based on IFRS standards developed in 2001 by IASC.

Formation order

In the absence of experience in compiling documents of this kind, an example of an accounting policy for 2017 should be studied in detail. The compilation algorithm is standard for enterprises of all forms of ownership. The process begins with the definition of elements, structure and responsible persons.

The structure of the document depends on the direction of the enterprise. But there are also a number of required elements:

• Method of recognizing income and expenses for income tax calculation.
• A method for determining prices for all inventories.

According to the current Tax Code, there are two main ways to recognize income:

• Deduction methods: income and expenses are taken into account at the time of occurrence (regardless of payment).
• Cash basis: income and expenses are recognized as such at the time of cash flow.

In practice, the second method is replaced by the STS.

Inventory value is determined either by the average price or by the unit cost of inventory from the last batch.

The main feature of the document is personal responsibilitythe person who signs it. It can be a chief accountant, director or individual entrepreneur. For non-compliance with the instructions, an administrative fine is imposed on the responsible person.

Required items

The set of rules for the work of the organization should contain the following information:

• Form of ownership, legal status of the organization; occupied industry; Kind of activity; availability of branches; scale of the organization.
• Current and long-term business goals.
• Features of activities in all areas: production (enterprise structure, consumed resources); commercial (how sales are carried out, what forms of payment are used); sectoral (the accounting policy of a medical organization differs from a similar document of a manufacturing company), financial (relationships with banks used by the tax system), management (level of technical support).
• Personnel information. What qualifications do organizations need? What are their challenges?
• Description of the economic situation. An example of an accounting policy should contain information about the market infrastructure, the state of tax legislation, and the investment climate.

What to describe?

The document should allow the organization to fully reflect all business transactions. If an enterprise does not use intangible assets in the course of its activities, then the procedure for their accounting should not be described.

According to the latest amendments to PBU No. 1/2008, if some issue is not disclosed in federal standards, then the organizationIFRS rules apply.

Let's consider an example. The Russian company sells a batch of machine tools to Tatarstan. The selling price includes the cost of further maintenance. According to IAS No. 18, if a company can calculate the cost of service, then it has the right to recognize revenue from this service evenly over the entire service period. Federal standards stipulate that revenue in such cases is recognized at a time. This allows you to calculate the correct financial result.

The document should reflect a rational way of accounting for income and expenses. An example of an accounting policy for a construction organization should include the procedure for recognizing revenue and expenses in accordance with the requirements of PBU No. 2/2008, and a trading company will need to reflect the accounting for discounts and surcharges. At the same time, both organizations may have the same principles for calculating depreciation or writing off MBP.

IA, OA, obligations

An example accounting policy for fixed assets should reflect:

• scheme for determining the period of use of the OS, its name;
• the procedure for determining the market, liquidation and initial cost of fixed assets;
• depreciation calculation procedure;
• scheme for assigning an ID to equipment;
• features of accounting for library stock, software;
• list of valuable property and the procedure for its accounting;
• principles of accounting for intangible assets, minimum wages;
• order of division of expenses into direct and indirect.

In UE for transactions with current assets should be included:

• orderaccounting;
• "cash" transactions;
• scheme for issuing funds for reporting, etc.

The OC section on liabilities should include accounting for taxes, social security, raising funds, transferring assets between activities.

Other details

If an organization plans to create reserves from the new year for debts, for vacation pay or for repairs, then the algorithm for carrying out these operations should also be reflected in the PM. For example, for vacation pay reserves, enter:

• formation date;
• deduction calculation formula;
• size limit;
• inventory algorithm;
• charge scheme.

Responsibility

The absence of an organization's accounting policy or description of key provisions in it is considered by the tax authority as a gross violation, for which a fine of 10 thousand rubles is provided. (Article 120 of the Tax Code). The official will also have to pay 5-10 thousand rubles. to the budget, and if a repeated violation is detected - 10-20 thousand rubles.

Adjustment

Accounting policy is fixed in the form of an administrative document. If the changes cover a large part of the text and change its structure, then it is easier to reissue the order than to issue new orders. An example of an accounting policy with changes is attached to the annual accounts. In particular, in 2017, the methods for assessing the IBE, intangible assets (Order of the Ministry of Finance No. 64n) changed, a new procedure for accounting for fixed assets and depreciation methods was introduced. Now smallenterprises can accrue it once a year, and write off the costs of scientific research daily.

The entity's accounting policies, an example of which was presented earlier, should be applied consistently and annually. Changes should only be made in exceptional cases, such as:

• amending the statutory documents;
• change in the requirements of government agencies that regulate accounting;
• adjustment will provide a more reliable reflection of information.

For example, a car rental company wanted to take advantage of a depreciation bonus. In this case, the chief accountant in December 2016 should have prepared a new example of OSNO accounting policy. The document should state that a premium in the range of 10-30% of the cost is applied to the purchased vehicles. You should also make a link to the letter of the Federal Tax Service No. 16-15, which allows the use of this scheme of work.

Accounting policy of a budget institution: an example

The structure of the UE should include:

• chart of accounts used;
• algorithms for valuation of property, liabilities;
• property security procedures;
• scheme for reflecting events after the submission of the report;
• forms of primary registers, document flow order.

UP of a budgetary organization contains a lot of applications:

• instructions for taking inventory, making commitments, etc.;
• composition of commissions conductingrevision;
• list of officials with full liability;
• business travel regulations;
• other documents (methods, schemes).

PM should regulate the features of work on those aspects that are not regulated by law. The adopted provisions should be used annually.

Features of accounting for transactions for NU purposes should be reflected in a separate chapter and in the following areas:

• setting up the chart of accounts for the needs of NU;
• algorithm for applying data from BU to NU;
• the system of taxation used;
• reporting options;
• responsible for maintaining NU;
• forms of primary used;
• register filling order;
• VAT, income tax, property tax aspects.

Introduction

In order for an organization to start using the developed set of rules, it is necessary to carry out a set of works:

• approve by order the provisions of the UE and indicate the date from which their implementation will be considered mandatory;
• with persons whose functions are related to the implementation of the accounting process, you should study the UE in detail;
• place extracts from the UE at workplaces;
• customize the software according to the established requirements;
• determine the persons responsible for the implementation of the provisions of the OP.

The process of developing and using PM is a whole range of activities, each stage of which requires strict discipline and knowledge of the law.