Accounting act of reconciliation sample. Example of drawing up an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements
And the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is a document that reflects the status of settlements for a certain period of time between two counterparties. Despite the fact that the legislation does not stipulate the obligation to draw up reconciliation acts, this should be done regularly. Timely reconciliation will save you from errors in tax and accounting reports. The act of reconciliation also testifies to the recognition of debt by the counterparty. Moreover, on the day of signing the document, the limitation period is interrupted and starts anew.
We develop the form of the act of reconciliation
Organizations develop the form of the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements independently. The legislation does not provide for a unified form of this document (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated February 18, 2005 No. 07-05-04 / 2).
Before you start developing the details of the act, you should understand whether it refers to primary accounting documents. There are two opposite points of view.
On the one hand, the Federal Tax Service of Russia, in a letter dated December 6, 2010 No. ШС-37-3/16955, noted that the reconciliation act is not a primary accounting document confirming the completion of a business transaction. Officials explained this by the fact that when the document is signed, the financial condition of the parties does not change. In our opinion, this position is quite logical.
On the other hand, the same tax authorities have repeatedly tried to prove in courts that if the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is drawn up without taking into account the mandatory details of the primary accounting document, then it is not a basis for interrupting the limitation period. Note that this point of view of officials does not find support among the arbitrators.
Arbitrage practice
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The judges considered that the reconciliation act is not a strict accounting document, the form and mandatory details of which are determined by law (decrees of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated September 4, 2013 in case No. in case No. A56-44437 / 2012, Ural District dated March 27, 2012 No. F09-933 / 12).
Here is a list of details that, in our opinion, the act of reconciliation of settlements should contain:
- Title of the document;
- names of the parties;
- date of signing the act;
- the period for which the reconciliation is carried out;
- details of the contract under which the reconciliation is carried out;
- links to primary documents (invoices, acts of acceptance and transfer of the results of work performed / services rendered, payment orders, cash orders, etc.);
- the amount of transactions (the fact of economic life) in monetary terms;
- closing balance in monetary terms;
- signatures of the parties and F.I.Oh. persons who signed the act;
- side prints.
At the same time, we note that the absence of any of the listed details does not automatically entail the invalidity of the act (see the sample of the reconciliation act in the Example).
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Arbitrage practice
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The supreme arbitrators took into account the reconciliation act, which did not contain references to the primary accounting documents, the basis for the indebtedness and the date of signing of the act. They explained this by the fact that according to Part 2 of Art. 71 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the court evaluates both the relevance, admissibility, and reliability of each piece of evidence individually, as well as the sufficiency and interconnection of evidence in their totality. In this case, the court compared the amounts of debt contained in the reconciliation report with the amounts indicated in the signed acts of work performed and the certificate of work performed and costs. The absence of evidence of other contractual obligations between the parties also played a role (Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated March 05, 2013 No. 13031/12).
Nevertheless, most often judges insist on the presence in the act of reconciliations of references to primary documents.
Arbitrage practice
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The court did not recognize the debt, t.to. in the reconciliation act there were no references to primary documents (numbers and dates were not indicated) and the date of signing of the act (determination of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated February 27, 2013 No. VAS-1472/13).
In another case, the arbitrators did not accept an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements, in which there were no references to the disputed consignment notes (decree of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Volga-Vyatka District dated April 26, 2010 in case No. A31-3047 / 2009).
In another case, the act was not adopted by the court, because. it mentioned a work contract and an act of offset (Decree of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Central District dated 05.06.2009 No. F10-2002/09).
Who will sign the act?
The reconciliation act is drawn up in two copies - one for each of the parties. He) or a representative acting on the basis of a power of attorney issued by such a body.
In order for the reconciliation act to become lawful, it must be signed by both parties.
Arbitrage practice
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The acts of reconciliations of mutual settlements submitted by the seller were recognized by the courts as inadmissible evidence, since they were signed unilaterally and are not confirmed by primary accounting documents (determination of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated January 30, 2013 No. VAS-48/13).
At the same time, the courts do not accept reconciliation acts signed by unauthorized persons as evidence.
Arbitrage practice
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The act of reconciliation of settlements was not accepted by the court as evidence of the interruption of the limitation period, since it was signed by an unauthorized person (determination of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated 09.01.2013 No. VAS-17480/12).
The act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is one of the primary accounting documents. It is intended to mark the status of mutual settlements between partners on a certain date. To avoid mistakes and misunderstandings, you need to know how to make the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements correct and relevant.
When is an act required?
Periodic completion of the reconciliation act takes place between constantly cooperating entities. The partners can be the supplier and recipient of the goods, the taxpayer and the state fund, two divisions of a large corporation, etc.
The reasons for this, in addition to long-term interaction, are:
- the ability to pay for goods and services in the future;
- the need to navigate in a large number of items;
- work with expensive products;
- conducting an inventory of settlements;
- the need to present the status of settlements to superiors or government agencies.
What are the optimal timings?
The act of reconciliation of mutual settlements, by agreement of the parties, can be developed for a month, half a year, a year and even a longer period. There are no fixed deadlines. However, in any case, the act must include all transactions that took place during the selected period. Most companies issue statements monthly.
In some cases, two separate documents between the same partners are required. This is possible and even desirable when cooperation is heterogeneous: for example, firm A is a supplier for firm B for some goods, and a buyer for others. In this case, the frequency of execution of acts in different areas may vary.
To maintain the relevance of the acts, they must be filled out from the beginning of joint activities, and in the future - immediately after the signing of the next act.
How to fill out a reconciliation act?
There are no uniform requirements regarding how the correct reconciliation act is formed. However, there are several principles on how to fill out a reconciliation act:
- The document must have the name and date of execution, as well as the names of both parties.
- The document must indicate the officials whose signatures are placed at the bottom of the reconciliation act.
- All data must be strictly distributed according to contracts.
In addition, it is desirable that the accountant comply with the basic requirements applicable to primary documents in general. Usually the act is drawn up in the form of a list of documents ordered in chronological order. Instead, you can specify the nature of the action (acquisition of goods, transfer of money, sale of property).
A sample of the correct reconciliation act is shown in the figure:
How to conduct reconciliations?
Settlements with regular business partners are carried out under one article - a contract, name of a product or service, a separate delivery, etc. To avoid double work, reconciliation can be organized during the inventory period, which is carried out once a year.
If any discrepancies were noticed in the accounts payable or receivable, it is necessary to immediately draw up an act and send it to your counterparty with the appropriate notification. It happens that a long-standing debt cannot be repaid by the counterparty due to the fact that he has become bankrupt, and then the amount of debt is taken into account in the expense item. To avoid such troubles, reconciliations should be carried out as often as possible.
What to do after the act is drawn up?
Even taking into account the fact that accountants are involved in compiling the document, the form of the reconciliation act assumes that it contains the signature of the manager. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to present the document to the director for signature.
Then the representative of the firm that drew up the act sends two copies to the partner firm in person or through postal services. The counterparty, in turn, gets acquainted with the document, signs both copies, and then sends one of them back.
Does the act have legal force?
Valid from the point of view of the law is the original of the correct act of reconciliation, which bears the signatures and seals of the directors of both companies.
The partner retains the right to refuse to sign the act, and then the document will not have legal force. Refusal to confirm the act by a partner in most cases means an unwillingness to admit the presence of one's own debt.
To avoid such situations, the procedure for reconciling mutual settlements and signing acts should be fixed in the contract. In case of its violation, sanctions should be provided. There are no other legal methods to force the counterparty to sign.
According to the judges, the act is not sufficient proof of the debt, but it acts as a good additional artifact in the presence of primary documents directly related to the debt. In addition, with the help of an act, the limitation period can be increased, because. it begins to be counted not from the day the disputed transaction was concluded, but from the day the last of the reconciliation acts was signed.
Thus, the reconciliation act is not just a formal document, it is a real instrument of legal influence on business partners.
An almost integral part of the cooperation between the two organizations is the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements. With its help, debts are identified and accounting errors are prevented. Is it possible to fill out a reconciliation act online and how to do it?
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The act of reconciliation on mutual settlements is drawn up in two copies, which must be transferred to the counterparty. At the same time, the method of transmission is not strictly regulated and is chosen at the discretion of the partners.
Recently, electronic document management has become increasingly popular. With its help, time costs are significantly reduced. How to fill out an act of reconciliation online?
Basic concepts
Draw up an act of reconciliation of the calculations of the organization, between which there is a long-term cooperation. For example, one organization periodically delivers goods, and the second is calculated, but not in fact, but by regularly transferring "round" amounts.
Often, such payments form debts. Clarify the amount of debt and helps. Before drawing up the act of reconciliation, the period is determined, the data for which are included in the document.
For what period is it advisable to carry out reconciliation. When organizations reconcile calculations not for the first time, it is reasonable to start counting from the date of the last reconciliation.
Thus, the results of the last reconciliation will become an indicator at the beginning of a new period. When drawing up a reconciliation report for the first time, it is desirable to include the entire period of cooperation in the period under review.
When the period is too long, you can divide the reconciliation into several stages, that is, separately check different periods sequentially.
What is subject to reconciliation? With the help of the act of reconciliation, the calculations of organizations are compared, namely the amounts displayed in the accounting of each of the organizations regarding cooperation.
Simply put, the amounts accrued for payment and paid on the one hand and the amounts received on the other. Of course, accountants of two organizations can simply check each other's accounting data together, but in practice this is almost impossible.
Therefore, the reconciliation scheme looks like this:
What it is
The act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is a document that displays the settlements of two organizations in a certain period.
Ideally, data from one organization should match data from a partner. In this case, we can talk about the reliability of accounting for both sides.
In practice, discrepancies often occur. The reason may be not only an accounting error. Sometimes the discrepancies are due to the difference in the dates of the primary documents.
For example, one organization displays payment on one date, and the counterparty makes payment on a different date. Due to this, inconsistencies may occur during reconciliation.
It happens that individual primary documents are not accepted for accounting due to the inattention of the accountant. The cause of any discrepancies is identified by the act of reconciliation.
An act of reconciliation of settlements is drawn up in an arbitrary form. The form of the act can be developed by the organization independently.
The completed act in two copies is transferred to the counterparty - in person, by courier delivery, by mail. You can fill out and download the reconciliation act online or send the completed act to the e-mail of the partner organization.
Purpose of the document
The main purpose of drawing up an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is to identify debt or assess the correctness of calculations. The act displays all the operations carried out in a certain period between organizations.
After receiving the reconciliation act, the counterparty must sign one copy and send it back. In case of discrepancies, discrepancies are indicated at the end of the act and links to primary documents are given.
The act of reconciliation is important when checking settlements with the budget and non-budgetary organizations. Before preparing annual financial statements, it is necessary to check whether taxes and contributions are correctly listed.
For this, an act of reconciliation of settlements with the FIU and with the tax office is drawn up. Drawing up an act contributes to the timely repayment of arrears and the offset of overpaid amounts.
The reason for drawing up a reconciliation act may also be the need for offsetting. For example, two organizations have been concluded between organizations, for each of which there are mutual debts.
In this case, it is easier not to transfer funds to pay off the debt, but simply to offset the debts. Moreover, the lesser of the two debts is extinguished by offsetting.
And the amount thereof helps to determine the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements. Another important feature of the settlement reconciliation act is its ability to influence the statute of limitations.
This period lasts for three years from the moment the debt arises. When signing the reconciliation act, the counterparty confirms its debt, if any.
The act of reconciliation extends the statute of limitations, since its countdown begins anew from the moment the document is signed.
The legislative framework
The reconciliation act is filled in in any form, since there is no unified form for it.
This document cannot be classified as primary, since its presence or absence does not affect the content of business transactions and the financial condition of entities.
However, when drawing up the act, one should adhere to the requirements for primary documentation. In particular, the mandatory details of the primary documents listed in.
Under certain circumstances, the act of reconciliation becomes evidence of a debt. For example, when the counterparty does not want to pay the debt.
In this case, the organization has the right to go to court with. A signed act of reconciliation with the attachment of primary documents can serve as confirmation.
At the same time, the correct execution of the document, namely the presence of mandatory details, acquires importance. Another nuance is the signing of the act of reconciliation of settlements.
The document can be signed by the accountants of the parties when the reconciliation is a purely technical point and there are no accounting discrepancies.
But the reconciliation act acquires legal significance only when it is signed by the heads of organizations. This is due to the fact that only the head has the right to represent the organization from a legal point of view.
How to draw up a reconciliation act online
To draw up an act of reconciliation online, you can use various services. Most of them can offer a ready-made form of the act, in which it remains only to enter the necessary data.
Sometimes the program allows you to send a ready reconciliation act immediately, by sending it to the e-mail address of the partner organization.
When using online programs for compiling reconciliation acts, the process of checking calculations is noticeably simplified. Firstly, there is no need to develop a document form, you can use the proposed service.
Secondly, all necessary calculations are performed automatically. After entering the accounting data into the reconciliation act, the accountant must display the final balance of the accounts.
Video: creating an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements in 1C
The slightest mistake can cause discrepancies. In some programs, it is possible to save all compiled documents in a personal archive.
To do this, just go through a simple registration and create an account. At any time, you can raise the old reconciliation acts and, if necessary, print them.
Required data
What should be displayed in the act of reconciliation of settlements? All transactions carried out in a certain period. But you need to comply with other requirements for registration.
Thus, a correctly completed act of reconciliation of mutual settlements should contain the following data:
- document's name;
- date and place of drawing up the act;
- names of partner organizations with their details;
- reconciliation period showing the date of the beginning of the period and its end;
- details of the contract under which the reconciliation is carried out;
- the amount of debt of the counterparty at the beginning of the period;
- the amounts of economic operations indicated by each of the parties;
- details of supporting documents;
- the amount of debt of the counterparty at the end of the period;
- presence/absence of discrepancies;
- signatures of the parties and seals.
Filling order
The procedure for drawing up an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements online can be displayed by the example of filling out an act on the EASYBLANK website, specially designed for creating online documents and forms.
The reconciliation act on this site is drawn up by filling out a special form. The form includes the following columns:
"Reconciliation Act" | This is the document number |
"From" | The date of the act is written |
"Agreed with the counterparty" | Set to "yes" or "no" |
"Place of signing the act" | — |
"Information about the organization" | In the appropriate columns, the name, position and full name are entered. representative |
"Information about the counterparty" | Filled in the same way |
"Period" | Specifies the beginning and end of the reconciliation period |
"Opening Balance" | The debit and credit balance is written, then detailed data on each operation are signed |
After the document is completed, you can click the "Check" button. If there are obvious errors, the system will mark them and offer to correct them.
Mutual accounting, control and strict regulation of financial and economic activities is the main cleanliness, timeliness and absence of disagreements on settlements with counterparties. For these purposes, in modern document management, an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is used.
What is an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements
The act of reconciliation of mutual settlements (mutual settlements) is an accounting document that is drawn up to reconcile mutual settlements between the parties (organizations, individual entrepreneurs, etc.) for a certain period of time (month, quarter, year). The data indicated in the act by the initiating organization must match the information of the counterparty. If discrepancies are found in the data, this is recorded in the final part of the document.
Currently, the legislation does not establish the official form of such a document. Also, the obligation to draw up an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is not enshrined in law, however, this is one of the most common and sought-after documents in business circulation, which is necessary to comply with all the terms of contracts. If necessary, each organization can develop its own form of the reconciliation act. However, it should be drawn up taking into account the requirements for primary accounting documentation.
The act of reconciliation of mutual settlements must indicate the number, period of reconciliation, name of organizations. The act must contain a table in which the debit and credit data are entered on the numbers and dates of the primary documents confirming the delivery, payment for goods. The end of the form must contain the turnover for the period and the closing balance.
The act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is necessary:
- when the seller of products provides a deferred payment
- when providing standard, regular services
- at high cost of goods and services
- when concluding a large number of contracts and additional agreements to them
The form of the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is compiled by the accounting unit of the organization and signed by the general director and certified by the seal of the organization. The act is drawn up in two copies, which are subsequently sent to the address of the counterparty. When sending the act, it is important to indicate the period during which the counterparty must sign the act and return one copy to the initiating organization. If representatives are sent from organizations to sign the reconciliation act, then they must have powers of attorney with them.
Only chief accountants of companies can sign an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements, but this is only possible if no discrepancies are found in the act and the organizations do not have disagreements. It should be understood that in the event of disagreement, an act submitted to the court without the signature of the director will not be valid.
When drawing up acts of reconciliation of mutual settlements, it is necessary to check several accounts:
- income calculations
- settlements on issued advances
- shortfall calculations
- settlements on assumed obligations
The act of reconciliation between organizations that do not have property disputes is an exclusively technical detail. Reconciliation can be carried out both under a specific contract, and in the totality of commercial relations with a counterparty organization for a certain period.
The form of the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements can be downloaded from this link: Form of the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements (*.xls, 28Kb).
An example of a correctly completed act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is shown in the picture below (clickable):
"Payment (000506 dated 09/25/2013)" - receipt / debiting of funds from the account
"Sale (19 dated 10/31/2013)" - confirmation of the fact of the provision of services (certificate of the provision of services), the transfer of goods (invoice)
You can download an example of a correctly completed act of reconciliation of mutual settlements at this link:
Whatever the relationship of trust between counterparties (individuals, legal entities and individual entrepreneurs), it is necessary to carry out mutual settlements from time to time. The execution of the act of reconciliation of settlements does not indicate that one party has suspicions about the reliability of the other; it is as everyday a procedure as filling out forms. Of course, you should not abuse it, otherwise all interaction between business partners will be reduced to the continuous processing of already completed transactions, but it would be slightly irresponsible to neglect the opportunity to sum up annual or quarterly results and make sure that there are no debts.
Below we will tell you how to properly draw up an act of reconciliation of calculations, as well as where you can download an electronic Excel form and a sample of a completed document for free.
What is an act of reconciliation of settlements and how to draw it up?
The act of mutual settlements is an accounting document that belongs to the category of optional for registration. In it, as the name implies, both parties to the transaction (for example, the supply of goods or the sale of other assets) provide their data on the total cost of the transaction. If the values for each item (usually in a debit-credit pair) match, no further clarification is required; otherwise, any of the counterparties or both at the same time can initiate the initiation of large-scale proceedings, up to the filing of a statement of claim in court.
Important: there is no single form of the act of reconciliation of settlements; unlike documents that are more significant from a legal point of view, for example, paper can be drawn up completely arbitrarily. The act can be filled out on a computer and printed out on a printer (you can download the form and the finished sample from the links below) or written by hand; the main requirement is the readability of the document and the correspondence of the data entered into it to the real state of affairs.
Currently, organizations and private entrepreneurs have the right not to certify their accounting documents with seals and stamps: the signatures of responsible persons (chief accountant, head of department, director of the enterprise, and so on) are sufficient.
Usually, an act of reconciliation of settlements is drawn up by a specialist in the accounting department; if this is not provided for in the structure (this is especially true for individual entrepreneurs), any authorized employee, including from the list above, can fill out and certify the form.
Important: there is no law, decree or regulation requiring the "symmetrical" signatories of the document. Therefore, on the one hand, it can be the chief accountant, and on the other, the managing director; subject to the authenticity of their signatures, the document will have legal force.
The latter, however, may be called into question in the course of litigation, if both or one of the counterparties nevertheless decided not to affix seals or stamps on the document. There is no established judicial practice on this issue: it may well happen that the parties to the dispute, already forced to waste time trying to prove their case, will additionally have to challenge the court's decision regarding the legal force of the presented act of mutual settlements. No need to spare efforts: a timely impression will help speed up the process in the future.
There are no requirements for the format of the sheet on which the act will be drawn up. It is most rational to use the standard, A4: in this case, all the headings of the form (you can download it from the link below) and the entered data will be clearly visible; in addition, the standard format gives the parties the opportunity to put a full, well-read signature.
Features of the design and use of the document:
- The act of mutual settlements is drawn up in two copies - one for each party. As you might guess, upon completion of the reconciliation, each party has its own copy with the signature of the counterparty.
- Upon drawing up, the act is printed out, signed by an authorized person and sent to the second party of the contact. She, in turn, makes calculations based on the data she has and, if the results match, signs both copies, after which she returns one to the compiling organization.
- In order to expedite the process, the legal entity that is the author of the document may indicate in the cover letter the deadlines by which it must be returned.
- Properly executed and signed by representatives of both parties (even better - certified by seals), the act of reconciliation of calculations can serve as the basis for interrupting the limitation period of three years. If during this time one of the counterparties sent the specified document to the other, and he signed it, the limitation period begins to count again.
The procedure for filling out the act of mutual settlements:
- The title must include:
- the name of the document (“Act of reconciliation”, “Act of mutual settlements” and so on);
- reporting period (week, month, year, and so on; for example, "October 30, 2017 - November 30, 2018");
- full names of counterparties (if necessary, official abbreviated names can be used), usually in the sequence of service provider - consumer;
- number and date of conclusion of the contract that became the basis for drawing up the act.
- In the columns of the table, divided into two identical parts for each side, enter the following data:
- date of the income-expenditure transaction (not reconciliation);
- debit and credit (naturally, counterparties have them in opposite cells);
- total turnover for the specified period (one number);
- balance.
Important: all the specified data must match exactly; otherwise, the counterparty who received less money may insist on an additional check or immediately apply to the court.
- Under the table, you need to indicate the current debt according to the results of each party - of course, these values \u200b\u200bmust also be identical. If there is no debt, an appropriate entry must be made.
- The final section is the signatures of responsible persons and, if possible, seals or stamps of counterparty organizations.
Advice: in order to give the document greater legal force from the point of view of domestic legal proceedings, it must be signed by the heads of the companies (directors, managers, and so on). This condition is not mandatory, but can simplify further proceedings between the parties.
Account reconciliation act - form (free download)
You can download the form of the act of mutual settlements for free from the link above. The document is completely ready for filling; it can be opened and edited using any spreadsheet program such as MS Excel.
Sample act of reconciliation of mutual settlements - free download
You can get acquainted with the sample of filling out the act of reconciliation of calculations by downloading the finished document from the link above. The electronic form is fully editable.
Summing up
The act of mutual settlements is an optional document drawn up at the request of one of the parties to the transaction. It can be drawn up both on a computer by downloading a ready-made form and familiarizing yourself with the sample, or by hand on an A4 sheet. The document should be well readable, certified by the signatures of responsible persons and seals or stamps of counterparties (ideally).
The data of the parties in both parts of the table of the act must match; otherwise, the injured party must demand a recheck or apply for debt collection to the court, attaching the specified document as evidence.
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