Topics: Tasks and principles of the organization of financial accounting. Abstract of the tasks and principles of the organization of financial accounting Financial accounting and its principles
Principles financial accounting subdivided into principles-assumptions and principles-requirements... The main assumptions in the organization of financial accounting: the assumption of property isolation of the organization, the assumption of the continuity of the organization, the assumption of the sequence of application accounting policies, assumption of temporal certainty of facts economic activity(accrual basis). The main requirements when organizing financial accounting: completeness, timeliness, discretion, priority of content over form,
consistency, rationality.
The methodological principles of financial accounting for any company are based on the main international and Russian standards accounting, based on the specifics of financial and economic activities. Applying these principles makes it easier to understand the essence of financial accounting. When using specific methodological techniques of financial accounting and reporting of all levels CFO may choose to be guided by all or some of them.
1. The principle of the business unit, or the principle of accounting for the centers of profitability.
The success and survival of any company in a tough competitive environment requires a focus on two main goals: profitability and liquidity. Therefore, the question arises of identifying the centers of profitability within the framework of the company's activities. The activities of any company, even a small one, can be divided into directions, that is, determine the centers of profitability. In a trading company, these can be sales departments (wholesale or retail), products and services with different consumer properties, brands within a homogeneous assortment, retail sites or stores, customers of various categories, in production these are workshops, products with different consumer properties. Groups of companies, holdings and large companies also have centers of profitability. These are subsidiaries, branches, that is, some business units. Using the principle of a business unit (the principle of accounting by centers of profitability), each line of business or subsidiary should be considered as an economic business unit, separate from other business units, which will allow identifying the most profitable centers, as well as making more informed decisions within the framework of activities business units, and ultimately more successful in managing the company as a whole.
This principle is based on property isolation: a business unit conditionally or unconditionally owns some of its own funds, represented by property in cash or in kind.
In the course of economic activity, the volume of property in monetary terms changes due to a corresponding change in liabilities, or own funds business units.
2. The principle of going concern.
This principle is based on the assumption that each business unit is functioning normally and there is no intention to liquidate or significantly reduce its activities. That is, the enterprise, once it has arisen, will exist forever. This is a very peculiar principle, because it contradicts common sense: every person knows that he will die, especially any factory, store, salon, etc. cannot exist permanently. And nevertheless, this principle is put forward among the main ones. The accepted assumption, which is reminiscent of the first law of mechanics, makes it possible to calculate financial results very efficiently and to abandon senseless attempts to revalue the considered objects. Indeed, if an enterprise has existed forever, why revalue its assets? On the contrary, if an enterprise is liquidated, then its inheritance should be valued at the current market value, and not according to their historical assessment.
3. The principle of periodicity.
The principle of periodicity means that the main financial planned and actual indicators are calculated at strictly defined points in time, set equal to the calendar month, quarter, half year, year. In addition, this principle allows us to consider the reporting year only as related to the specifics of the business cycle and not tie it to the calendar year. Each branch of the national economy has its own cycle, and, therefore, the financial director of each enterprise has the right to choose the dates of the economic year for his company.
4. The principle of accrual.
The accrual principle is one of the basic principles and is implemented in the assumption of the temporal certainty of the facts of economic activity.
Temporal certainty is expressed by the following fundamental rules:
A. Compliance rate.
All costs are divided into 3 main groups:
Operating costs of core activities related to income generation;
Costs for capital investment, that is, the cost of the acquisition (in any form), as well as the reconstruction and renovation of fixed assets, directly or indirectly involved in the process of core activities;
Financial investments, which are expenses for the acquisition of financial assets (stocks, bonds, participation interests, promissory notes, etc.), including the provision of long-term loans committed for the purpose of generating income not related to the main activity or with another purpose determined by the company's management.
Current expenses are subdivided into:
direct, which can be attributed to a certain type of activity;
indirect, which arise from the maintenance of a business unit economic activity, but which cannot be unconditionally tied to its specific type.
Direct costs can be conditionally variable, the size of which depends on economic activity in a particular activity (according to a linear or other increasing function), and conditionally constant, which arise regardless of the level of economic activity in this activity.
Indirect costs, as a rule, are always conditionally constant.
For financial accounting purposes, the compliance rate is defined as the need to reflect the direct costs of generating income in the same period as the income for which they were generated. Accordingly, in a certain period, only those direct costs are reflected that led to the formation of the income received in this period. At the same time, it is assumed that indirect costs are to be attributed to a decrease in the financial result in that reporting period when there is confidence that they will be incurred, or depending on the chosen accounting policy, when they were actually paid (cash basis).
Capital and financial investments are not attributed to the reduction of the financial result of the reporting period when they were incurred, and carry their cost to current costs in accordance with the accounting policy.
B. Rate of accrual.
The accrual rate determines that expenses and income are recognized in the reporting period to which they relate. In this case, income and expenses are reflected in financial accounting only if there are primary documents that allow you to accurately determine their size.
B. Rate of registration of income.
This rule stipulates that for the recognition of proceeds from sales, the following are required:
transfer of ownership;
the ability to assess income with a significant degree of accuracy;
completeness of activities to receive proceeds;
confidence in the impossibility of canceling the transaction;
an increase due to the proceeds of assets or a decrease in liabilities.
5. The principle of monetary measure.
Financial accounting of assets, liabilities, income, expenses of the company and business units is carried out by means of their assessment in a single hard currency. Usually the US dollar is chosen. If the accounting is made on the basis of primary documents expressed in another currency, then the conversion into US dollars is made at the officially established or separately agreed exchange rate as of the date of the transaction. The application of the principle of monetary measure does not mean the rejection of the use of natural measures in accounting certain types assets. At the same time, the accounting of indicators in physical terms is carried out when reflecting business transactions with mandatory parallel taxation (multiplying the quantity by the price).
6. The principle of conservatism.
The application of this principle means that when it is possible to use two different methods of accounting for the same indicators, it is necessary to apply the method that presents the company's position in a less favorable light. Profit is reflected only after its actual receipt, and loss - if possible. Thus, the CFO is obliged to create provisions for any assets that appear to be more or less risky. At the same time, assets should be recorded at the lowest possible value, and liabilities at the highest.
7. The principle of completeness.
One of the main tasks of financial accounting is to obtain complete and reliable information about property status and the results of the economic activities of the company or business unit. The practical application of this principle is expressed in the mandatory inclusion in the financial statements of the necessary adjustments and explanations, if the standard forms financial statements do not give a complete picture of the company's activities.
8. The principle of materiality.
The principle of materiality determines that information obtained as a result of financial accounting should be meaningful to the user.
The principle of materiality is expressed in the degree of significance of changes in estimates, in the correction of errors in the reports of previous periods, or in different ways reflection of quantitative data. These changes and corrections are considered material if they are large enough or important enough to influence decisions taken on the basis of the financial statements. By general rule, any distortion of reporting data is considered insignificant if its relative value does not exceed 5% of the value of the corresponding indicator and 0.5% of the amount of assets.
9. The principle of rationality.
In accordance with the principle of rationality, the advantages and benefits derived from the information received must exceed the costs associated with obtaining it.
This principle complements the principle of materiality, in fact, establishing a second criterion, in accordance with which the assessment of the need to correct accounting data is made.
10. The principle of relevance (relevance).
Information is relevant if it can have a practical impact on the degree of decision-making. This means that the information should provide the ability to assess the company's performance and make its forecast. Accordingly, financial information must be submitted in a timely manner (strictly deadlines) and contain the required minimum of essential data for making a specific decision. One of the components of this principle is feedback, that is, the ability, as a result of the analysis of financial accounting data, to assess the previously made investment decision.
11. The principle of reliability (credibility).
The reliability of the information received is one of the goals of financial accounting.
Its achievement is carried out by means of a continuous, systematic accounting of business transactions, as well as an alternative verification of the data obtained.
The need for alternative verification means that any significant indicator of the financial statements must either be verified by reconciliation with other accounting data (in particular, accounting), or is determined independently of the main accounting system. One of the important requirements of the principle of reliability is the consistency of financial accounting, expressed in accordance with the data analytical accounting synthetic accounting and reporting data.
12. The principle of priority of content over form.
Business transactions in financial accounting should be accounted for solely on the basis of their economic content and business conditions, regardless of the specific legal form in which they are clothed. One of the expressions of this principle is the requirement of neutrality, that is, the release of financial data from any influence. When preparing financial statements, it is necessary to be guided only by economic laws, its distortion is not allowed in order to influence the adoption of a specific management decision.
13. The principle of constancy (consistency).
The principle of constancy assumes the constancy of the application of accounting procedures (methods) for a certain period of time. Any company is obliged to apply uniform accounting policies during the calendar year, to maintain a stable composition of reporting indicators. Changes in accounting methods and the composition of reporting indicators can be made from the beginning of the next calendar year. At the same time, it is important to comply with the requirement of comparability (comparability): the reporting data for the current period must be comparable with the data for the corresponding periods of the previous calendar years.
Differences and features of financial accounting
Classic definition financial accounting states: “financial accounting is a system that measures, processes and transfers financial and economic information about a certain economic entity ". This information enables users to "make informed decisions when choosing alternative options for using limited resources in managing the business of the firm." Usually speaking about financial accounting, users of information can imply financial or management or accounting. But there are differences between these accounting systems, although at present in Western practice there are no differences between accounting and financial accounting, and management accounting is interpreted by some financiers as a special case, an organic component of financial accounting, although no one rejects the postulate that management accounting performs functions other than financial accounting. Consider the differences between the above accounting systems from the point of view of the classical theory of finance, especially since for Russian practice In keeping records, these differences are fundamental. Defining the theoretical concept, we can say that financial and accounting is necessary to calculate the results of economic activities of a particular enterprise. The methods of this calculation can be different. Since most countries, including Russia, consider it necessary to tax profits, and for the purposes of the fiscal (tax services) the amount of profit received by the enterprise is fundamentally important, the state imposes certain restrictions on the choice in the accounting methodology of its calculation. We can say that accounting based on the system of registration of business transactions, storage of accounting documents, analysis, interpretation and use of information for fiscal purposes, which is strictly regulated by the state, is accounting. But the owners, the administration of any functioning enterprise, creditors, investors also evaluate the success of the company by the amount of profit received. However, the administration or the owners may have their own goals, and they do not always coincide with the goals of the tax authorities. Therefore, in order to calculate the economic result in this case, the administration can choose other methods (other methods of depreciation, peculiar methods of calculating finished products and services, etc.) and organize, in addition to accounting, its own financial accounting. Profit calculated according to financial accounting data does not coincide with its value shown in accounting. This is not data falsification, as our tax services, and a conscious open approach to achieving various goals - the calculation of taxable amounts and the administration's assessment of the results of its work. Financial accounting is not a surrogate substitute for accounting, although both accounting and financial accounting are based on the main international and Russian accounting standards. In addition to the main task of financial accounting, and this is obtaining and summarizing adequate economic information about the activities of a company, group of companies or holding structures, regardless of the type of activity, financial accounting is also interested in identifying trends based on the information it processes and the effect of various alternatives, which is not typical of accounting in principle.
Most businesses also use non-financial information. To meet a variety of information needs, management accounting is usually created. The management accounting system consists of interconnected subsystems that provide the information necessary to manage a firm or a group of companies, with the financial subsystem being the most important, since it plays a leading role in managing the flow of economic data and sending it to all divisions of the company. The purpose of management accounting is to provide information to managers responsible for achieving specific goals. Financial and accounting information created and prepared for use by management or external users is governed by different rules than information intended for internal users working directly in the firm and making decisions. Let's consider the differences between management, accounting and financial accounting. The comparison is mainly focused on: the main consumers of information, the types of accounting systems, freedom of choice (restrictions), the meters used, the main objects of analysis, the frequency of reporting, the degree of reliability of the information received. The comparison results are shown in Table 1.
Table 1
Comparison of financial, accounting and management accounting
Comparison areas |
Financial Accounting |
Accounting |
Management Accounting |
1. Main consumers of information |
Individuals and organizations both inside and outside the business unit with direct and indirect financial interests |
Individuals and organizations outside the business unit with direct and indirect financial interests |
Different levels of in-house management |
2. Types of accounting systems |
System double entry |
Dual recording system |
Not limited to double entry system; any system is used that gives a result |
3. Freedom of choice |
Mandatory adherence to generally accepted accounting principles, regulated within the company accounting policies |
Mandatory adherence to generally accepted accounting principles, regulated legislative acts |
There are no norms and restrictions; the only criterion is suitability |
4. Used meters |
Currency unit at the rate in effect at the time of the occurrence of the fact of economic life |
Any suitable monetary or natural unit of measurement: man-hour, machine-hour, etc. If valuated in dollars, the actual or future value of the dollar can be used. |
|
5. The main object of analysis |
Business unit as a whole and profit centers |
Business unit as a whole |
Various structural subdivisions of a business unit |
6. Frequency of reporting |
Periodically, on a regular basis |
When required; may not be compiled on a regular basis |
|
7. Degree of reliability |
Requires objectivity; historical by nature |
Depends heavily on planning goals; but when required, accurate data are used; futuristic in nature |
Main consumers of information
Users of financial information can be divided into approximately three groups:
1) those who run the enterprise, i.e. a group of people in a company that is fully responsible for managing the company's activities and achieving the goals of the company;
2) those who are outside the enterprise and have direct financial interests in it, i.e. a group of potential or existing creditors or investors;
3) those persons or agencies who show indirect financial interest to the enterprise (consultants, contractors, regulators, employees).
Consumers of traditional accounting reports are outside the firm that prepares the report and whose management is responsible for compiling it.
Internal analytical reports are used by the administrators of the firm itself. The content of these reports will vary depending on their intended purpose and the role of the administrator for whom they are intended. Examples of such reports are: status analysis warehouse balances; current operational sales reports, reports of the center of responsibility (work site) - to assess the result of work; reports on incurred costs - for making short-term decisions; analysis of the cost estimate - for the purposes of long-term planning, etc.
Types of accounting systems
Accounting reports prepared for an external source are compiled in a cost estimate and reflect the balances of all accounts included in the general ledger of the firm. Before entering data into the general ledger, it must be encoded into the form required for a double entry system.
The recording of financial information within the firm should be based on a double-entry system, or information may be collected by section or division of the firm.
Management accounting information can be reflected in various units of measurement, not just in valuation. It should not accumulate in the general ledger accounts. It is being prepared for the specific needs of administrators, and this is where its use ends. In this state of affairs, the information storage system and the search system must have more capacity than is required for financial accounting.
freedom of choice
Financial and accounting records are based on generally accepted accounting standards and principles that govern the recording, measurement and transmission of financial information. Generally accepted accounting principles, which are necessary primarily to protect the interests of the state and creditors, to ensure confidence in the information received, limit the choice of an accountant or financier to a finite number of accounting techniques and methods. Management accounting has limitations only in the applied techniques and methods, which should provide useful information. In each case, it is decided what information will be useful to the recipient, and then the necessary techniques and methods are selected. There are many approaches to solving the problem of the adequacy of information, and it is necessary to choose the method that should be the most accurate under the circumstances. Since the information is intended only for internal use, there is no need to adhere to any specific rules when recording the facts of economic life.
Meters used
Financial or accounting performs its functions by providing information about the business processes that have taken place. The information is measured in the accounting currency, more precisely, in the "historical" currency in which business transactions were carried out. At the same time, financiers are not limited to the use of "historical" currency and can use any other measure that is suitable in a given situation. Historical currency can be used for a short period of time to monitor cost levels and to analyze trends in ongoing planning tasks. However, most of the management's decisions are based on calculations using an assumed “future” currency. Basically, these decisions require predictive information and forward-looking estimates of current data and must rely on projected estimates of the future exchange rate. This is a feature of financial and management accounting. Management accounting also uses metrics such as man-hours, machine-hours, and production units or measure of work performed in its analysis. A common measure underlying all activities in meter selection, reporting and analysis in management accounting is the usefulness of the meter in a given situation.
Main object of analysis
Financial and accounting records summarize the transactions of the entire firm. Management accounting usually includes an analysis of the activities of various divisions (cost centers; structural divisions, the results of which are measured by the profit received, - profit centers; divisions or functional departments of the company) or any aspects of its activities. Reports can cover both the analysis of income and expenses of the entire department, and the accounting of funds used by a particular department.
Reporting frequency
Accounting reports prepared for external use are submitted regularly in accordance with the rules approved by law. Financial reports are also submitted regularly, but in accordance with the company's accounting policy: monthly, quarterly and / or annually. Periodic reporting, compiled at regular intervals, is the basic principle of financial and accounting. In management accounting, reports can also be prepared monthly, quarterly and / or annually on a regular basis or even daily, but this is not necessary, since the main thing is that each report is useful to its recipient and presented to him at the right time.
Reliability degree
Financial and accounting information included in financial reports, covers the actual data summarized for the consumer. This information reflects transactions that have already been completed and for this reason is objective and verifiable. Management accounting is primarily concerned with the control of internal operations. Adoption management decisions Is an activity that is more focused on the future. Historical transactions, while useful for identifying trends, are usually immaterial in planning and should be replaced by subjective estimates of future expected events.
Seven areas being compared should help move from accounting to finance and from financial to management. In many cases, financial and management accounting data are related to the profitability of the company and are intended only for management. Leaking such information can make the competition in the market unfair. Thus, if financial accounting focuses on complete and accurate explanation and disclosure of the results of the firm's operations, then management accounting seeks to help management achieve its goals.
Conceptual methodological norms and principles of financial accounting
The methodological principles of financial accounting for any company are based on the main international and Russian accounting standards, based on the specifics of financial and economic activities. Applying these principles makes it easier to understand the essence of financial accounting. When using specific methodological techniques of financial accounting and reporting of all levels, the CFO can, at his choice, be guided by all or some of them.
1. The principle of the business unit, or the principle of accounting for the centers of profitability.
The success and survival of any company in a tough competitive environment requires a focus on two main goals: profitability and liquidity. Therefore, the question arises of identifying the centers of profitability within the framework of the company's activities. The activities of any company, even a small one, can be divided into directions, that is, determine the centers of profitability. In a trading company, these can be sales departments (wholesale or retail), products and services with different consumer properties, brands within a homogeneous assortment, retail sites or stores, customers of various categories, in production these are workshops, products with different consumer properties. Groups of companies, holdings and large companies also have centers of profitability. These are subsidiaries, branches, that is, some business units. Using the principle of a business unit (the principle of accounting by centers of profitability), each line of business or subsidiary should be considered as an economic business unit, separate from other business units, which will allow identifying the most profitable centers, as well as making more informed decisions within the framework of activities business units, and ultimately more successful in managing the company as a whole.
This principle is based on property isolation: a business unit conditionally or unconditionally owns some of its own funds, represented by property in cash or in kind.
In the course of economic activity, the volume of property in monetary terms changes due to a corresponding change in the liabilities or own funds of the business unit.
2. The principle of going concern.
This principle is based on the assumption that each business unit is functioning normally and there is no intention to liquidate or significantly reduce its activities. That is, the enterprise, once it has arisen, will exist forever. This is a very peculiar principle, because it contradicts common sense: every person knows that he will die, especially any factory, store, salon, etc. cannot exist permanently. And nevertheless, this principle is put forward among the main ones. The accepted assumption, which is reminiscent of the first law of mechanics, makes it possible to calculate financial results very efficiently and to abandon senseless attempts to revalue the considered objects. Indeed, if an enterprise has existed forever, why revalue its assets? On the contrary, if an enterprise is liquidated, then its inheritance should be valued at the current market value, and not by their historical value.
3. The principle of periodicity.
The principle of periodicity means that the main financial planned and actual indicators are calculated at strictly defined points in time, set equal to the calendar month, quarter, half year, year. In addition, this principle allows us to consider the reporting year only as related to the specifics of the business cycle and not tie it to the calendar year. Each branch of the national economy has its own cycle, and, therefore, the financial director of each enterprise has the right to choose the dates of the economic year for his company.
4. The principle of accrual.
The accrual principle is one of the basic principles and is implemented in the assumption of the temporal certainty of the facts of economic activity.
Temporal certainty is expressed by the following fundamental rules:
A. Compliance rate.
All costs are divided into 3 main groups:
- current costs of core activities related to income generation;
- capital investment costs, that is, acquisition costs (in any form), as well as the reconstruction and renovation of fixed assets, directly or indirectly involved in the main activity;
- financial investments, which are expenses for the acquisition of financial assets (stocks, bonds, participation interests, promissory notes, etc.), including the provision of long-term loans, made for the purpose of generating income not related to the main activity or other, determined by the company's management, purpose.
Current costs are subdivided into:
- direct, which can be attributed to a certain type of activity;
- indirect, which arise when a business unit conducts economic activity, but which cannot be unconditionally tied to its specific type.
Direct costs can be conditionally variable, the size of which depends on economic activity in a particular activity (according to a linear or other increasing function), and conditionally constant, which arise regardless of the level of economic activity in this activity.
Indirect costs, as a rule, are always nominally fixed.
For financial accounting purposes, the compliance rate is defined as the need to reflect the direct costs of generating income in the same period as the income for which they were generated.
Accordingly, in a certain period, only those direct costs are reflected that led to the formation of the income received in this period.
At the same time, it is assumed that indirect costs are to be attributed to a decrease in the financial result in the reporting period when there is confidence that they will be incurred, or, depending on the chosen accounting policy, when they were actually paid (cash method).
Capital and financial investments are not attributed to the reduction of the financial result of the reporting period, when they were made, and are carried over to current costs in accordance with the accounting policy.
B. Rate of accrual.
The accrual rate determines that expenses and income are recognized in the reporting period to which they relate.
In this case, income and expenses are reflected in financial accounting only if there are primary documents that allow you to accurately determine their size.
B. rate of registration of income.
This rule stipulates that for the recognition of proceeds from sales, the following are required:
- transfer of ownership;
- the ability to assess income with a significant degree of accuracy;
- completeness of activities to receive proceeds;
- confidence in the impossibility of canceling the transaction;
- an increase due to the proceeds of assets or a decrease in liabilities.
5. The principle of monetary measure.
Financial accounting of assets, liabilities, income, expenses of the company and business units is carried out by means of their assessment in a single hard currency. Usually the US dollar is chosen.
If the accounting is made on the basis of primary documents expressed in another currency, then the conversion into US dollars is made at the officially established or separately agreed exchange rate as of the date of the transaction.
The application of the principle of monetary measure does not mean the refusal to use natural measures when accounting for certain types of assets.
At the same time, the accounting of indicators in physical terms is carried out when reflecting business transactions with mandatory parallel taxation (multiplying the quantity by the price).
6. The principle of conservatism.
The application of this principle means that when it is possible to use two different methods of accounting for the same indicators, it is necessary to apply the method that presents the company's position in a less favorable light.
Profit is reflected only after its actual receipt, and loss - if possible.
Thus, the CFO is obliged to create provisions for any assets that appear to be more or less risky.
At the same time, assets should be recorded at the lowest possible value, and liabilities at the highest.
7. The principle of completeness.
One of the main tasks of financial accounting is to obtain complete and reliable information about the property status and results of economic activity of a company or business unit.
The practical application of this principle is expressed in the mandatory inclusion in the financial statements of the necessary adjustments and explanations, if the standard forms of financial statements do not give a complete picture of the company's activities.
8. The principle of materiality.
The principle of materiality determines that information obtained as a result of financial accounting should be meaningful to the user.
The principle of materiality is expressed in the degree of significance of changes in estimates, in the correction of errors in the reports of previous periods, or in various ways of reflecting quantitative data.
These changes and corrections are considered material if they are large enough or important enough to influence decisions taken on the basis of the financial statements.
As a general rule, any distortion of accounting data is considered insignificant if its relative value does not exceed 5% of the value of the corresponding indicator and 0.5% of the amount of assets.
9. The principle of rationality.
In accordance with the principle of rationality, the advantages and benefits derived from the information received must exceed the costs associated with obtaining it.
This principle complements the principle of materiality, in fact, establishing a second criterion, in accordance with which the assessment of the need to correct accounting data is made.
10. The principle of relevance (relevance).
Information is relevant if it can have a practical impact on the degree of decision-making.
This means that the information should provide the ability to assess the company's performance and make its forecast.
Accordingly, financial information must be submitted in a timely manner (within a strictly specified time frame) and contain the required minimum of essential data for making a specific decision.
One of the components of this principle is feedback, that is, the ability, as a result of the analysis of financial accounting data, to assess the previously made investment decision.
11. The principle of reliability (credibility).
The reliability of the information received is one of the goals of financial accounting.
Its achievement is carried out by means of a continuous, systematic accounting of business transactions, as well as an alternative verification of the data obtained.
The need for an alternative verification means that any significant indicator of financial statements must either be verified by reconciliation with other accounting data (in particular, accounting), or determined independently of the main accounting system.
One of the important requirements of the principle of reliability is the consistency of financial accounting, expressed in accordance with the data of analytical accounting data of synthetic accounting and reporting.
12. The principle of priority of content over form.
Business transactions in financial accounting should be accounted for solely on the basis of their economic content and business conditions, regardless of the specific legal form in which they are clothed.
One of the expressions of this principle is the requirement of neutrality, that is, the release of financial data from any influence.
When preparing financial statements, it is necessary to be guided only by economic laws, its distortion is not allowed in order to influence the adoption of a specific management decision.
13. The principle of constancy (consistency).
The principle of constancy assumes the constancy of the application of accounting procedures (methods) for a certain period of time.
Any company is obliged to apply uniform accounting policies during the calendar year, to maintain a stable composition of reporting indicators.
Changes in accounting methods and the composition of reporting indicators can be made from the beginning of the next calendar year.
At the same time, it is important to comply with the requirement of comparability (comparability): the reporting data for the current period must be comparable with the data for the corresponding periods of the previous calendar years.
Accounting policy - features of the choice of key provisions
So, the CFO has decided on the principles of financial accounting. Next, the question arises about the accounting methods by which both the CFO and the entire company will be guided, that is, it comes on the accounting policy of the company. The accounting policy of the company is formed by the CFO.
For each business unit, the CFO must establish a system of indicators for analytical accounting, synthetic accounting and financial reporting, as well as standard forms of documents, on the basis of which entries are made in the financial accounting system.
The change methodological approaches in terms of the assessment of assets and liabilities established in the accounting policy, it is allowed only when the style of doing business changes. Based on the principle of constancy, the accounting policy is formed for a long-term period.
The system of actual indicators consists of:
- financial balances (Table 2);
- profit and loss statements (Table 3);
- traffic reports Money(replace this report with a report of actual budget indicators).
Since financial accounting is not regulated by legislative acts, there is no single chart of accounts. The financial director of the company himself forms the plan that he considers acceptable for himself and reflects it in the accounting policy.
Charts of accounts formed in enterprises reflect the influence of certain standards and financial principles, the essence of which in the article is formulated above.
Likewise, there are no uniform reporting forms in financial accounting that are mandatory for all companies. The balance sheet and the income statement are standardized by the CFO and reflected again in the accounting policy (approximate balance sheet and income statement - see Table 2.3). Financial statements may differ in greater compactness, aggregation of indicators in comparison with accounting reporting forms, and that is why they are distinguished by greater visibility and, perhaps, greater analyticity.
An essential feature of financial accounting is the preparation of consolidated statements. Consolidated reporting should not be confused, as is sometimes done, with summary reporting (mechanical aggregation of individual balances). The differences between them stem from the peculiarities of ownership of certain forms. Consolidation is due to the fact that very often speaking about business, we mean the activities of several law firms, that is, a group of companies linked by a single source of capital de facto and not always formalized de jure. Therefore, the CFO needs to formulate a consolidation procedure in the accounting policy and decide how transfer prices will be determined (the price at which legal entities within the same group of companies purchase from each other material values), how the funds controlled by the parent firm in the daughter society (there can be many such daughter and granddaughter societies) are reflected in the balance sheet, as well as determine the cost of production within the group of companies, and much more.
table 2
Approximate financial balance
Balance At the beginning of the period At the end of the period ASSETS
1. SHORT-TERM ASSETS 1.1. Cash Settlement accounts Funds in transit Funds in payments 1.2. Receivables Suppliers Buyers Accountable persons 1.3. Inventories of goods and materials Goods in stock Goods are shipping Raw materials and supplies Unfinished production 1.4. Fin. investments in third parties 2. LONG-TERM ASSETS 1.2.1 Fixed assets Real estate Equipment Construction in progress LIABILITIES
1. Accounts payable of counterparties Suppliers Buyers Accountable persons 2.Fin. liabilities to third parties Overdrafts 3. Capital and accumulated profit 4. Reserves 5. Unearned income
Note: Balance sheet account "Unearned income" is entered when choosing to recognize revenue from sales by payment.
Table 3
Sample profit and loss statement for a trade organization
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF PROFIT AND LOSSES TOTAL Profit Center 1 Profit Center 2 Profit Center 3 Revenues from sales Sales volume in contract prices Gross profit from sales Trade margin Delivery overhead Cost of goods sold Related costs of product promotion Hospitality expenses Payroll of sellers Commissions for banking service Financial commissions Business trip Rent of retail sites of warehouses Return on sales General and administrative expenses Automation costs Payroll of administrative staff Office space for rent Maintenance Profit before tax and payment of% on the loan % on loan Tax Profit from current activities Other profit (loss) From financial activities Non-operating profit (loss) Exchange differences NET PROFIT Use of net profit
Moving from the chart of accounts and financial reporting to accounting procedures, it should be noted that the choice of the form of accounting in the accounting policy is entirely within the competence of the CFO. The CFO can opt for GAAP-based accounting procedures, that is, he does not seek to ensure that the turnover of the accounts adequately reflects the real turnover in the legal and economic sense, because double entry, from the point of view of our Western colleagues, is only a technical device and nothing more. In this regard, the "red storno" method is not known abroad, which, with the help of reversal entries, makes it possible to reduce either erroneous or artificial turnovers. The features of the Western methodology in general include the widespread use of mixed transactions, when several accounts are debited and credited at the same time. This is also a very convenient solution, and the financial director can adopt these methods into service, although a Russian accountant cannot "compromise principles", because in this case, the correspondence between specific accounts is destroyed.
Another point that needs to be reflected in the accounting policy is the moment of recognition of sales proceeds. The moment of transfer of ownership of the considered object from the seller to the buyer is the main subject in the discussions of financiers. For some of our colleagues, the starting point is the concept of law, according to which implementation is the moment of transfer of ownership of a value. For others, the moment of sale is the moment of receipt of money from the buyer to the seller for the goods already shipped (provided service), and it does not coincide with the moment of transfer of ownership. For others, this is the moment the money is received from the buyer to the seller, regardless of whether the transfer of ownership has taken place or not. Thus, according to one concept, profit occurs at the time of shipment of goods, according to other views - at the time of receipt of money. In the first case, there is a profit, and the money is paid wages, extinguish accounts payable and there is no tax to pay. In any case, the decision of which accounting policy to choose (by shipment, by payment or by cash method) is made by the CFO independently. Any method has its pros and cons. So, when choosing a method for shipment, it is necessary to create and maintain reserves for doubtful debts (doubtful debts, based on the principle of conservatism, the CFO should recognize most of the accounts receivable buyers). Further, the circumstance - there is profit, but no money - forces the CFO to draw up a complex cash flow statement. When choosing the cash method, there is a risk that the advances received from buyers will be claimed back by them and the profit received will require adjustment. When choosing a payment method (the goods are shipped, the service is provided and the money is received in full), a system for comparing the shipped and paid goods is required if the shipment and payment do not coincide in the same reporting period. The problem of matching is solved by the presence in the balance of two accounts: "Goods shipped and unpaid", "Unearned income".
After choosing the moment of recognition of proceeds from the sale, the CFO must select and register in the accounting policy the moment of recognition of the company's expenses. Based on the accrual principle, the income of the reporting period should be correlated with the expenses due to which these incomes were received. This is the most difficult principle to apply in practice. It goes back to the significant interpretation of an asset given by E. Schmalenbach (1873-1955), who argued that an asset is a cost that should become income in the future. Hence, it becomes necessary to consider how the costs invested in assets are written off to the financial results of each reporting period. In connection with this expense, it is not the payment of money that can be recognized, but the emergence or exercise of rights to these payments (method of shipment). This method is labor intensive. Therefore, when recognizing expenses, the CFO can use the materiality principle and write off part of the expenses in the simplest way. cash method by setting, for example, a 5% barrier.
Accounting for inventory is also part of the accounting policy. This is understandable. Indeed, depending on the assessment of inventories, the cost of goods sold is measured, which corresponds to the proceeds from the sale. At the same time, in the repertoire of the financier there are at least four options for assessing inventories: individual accounting, assessment at average prices, assessment at the price of the last (LIFO) or first (FIFO) batch of receipt. Which option should you choose? It is necessary to understand that if the inflation rate is high, and the company uses the LIFO method, then the cost of inventories (balances) of inventories will be underestimated, and the cost of realized values will be overestimated, and, therefore, the amount of profit will be underestimated. (It is no coincidence that the LIFO method is prohibited in the UK.) If the FIFO method is used in similar conditions, then the cost of inventory (residuals) of inventories will be overestimated, and the cost of goods sold will be underestimated, and, thus, the amount of profit will be exaggerated. At least four important conclusions follow from this:
- there is no direct connection between movement in value and in kind, for example LIFO means a latent increase in the value of the mass of commodities, while it is possible to reduce this mass in its physical terms;
- the LIFO and FIFO methods represent two extreme limits between which the true cost value lies;
- the essence of the LIFO and FIFO methods is not in assessing stocks (this is a side effect), but in comparing the current costs of goods sold during the reporting period with the proceeds received;
- the choice of the accounting method predetermines the financial result of the company.
Further, when formulating accounting policies, the CFO needs to classify costs. The assignment of the value of an object to a particular category depends on the importance attached to it by the owner. This is a kind of "Doolittle effect", a scavenger who demanded from Professor Higgins money relatively equal to the income of a millionaire. So, in one enterprise, an object can be attributed to fixed assets, and in another - exactly the same object can be immediately written off to the costs of this reporting period. The main criterion is the cost of the object, depending on this, it can be attributed either to fixed assets, or to low-value and wearing out items (MBE), or directly written off to the costs of the enterprise. In the accounting of some countries, for example, the USA, the intermediate group - the IBE, as a rule, is absent altogether and, accordingly, there is no regulatory account “Depreciation of low-value and fast-wearing items”. That is, the CFO can follow the example of our Western colleagues and thereby facilitate the accounting of costs by introducing into the accounting policy the possibility of assigning certain objects either to fixed assets accounts or to cost accounts.
Since financial accounting consists of two interrelated parts: accounting for planned indicators and accounting for actual data in the accounting policy, the budgetary policy of the company is additionally prescribed. The main task of the Company's budgeting is to obtain and summarize economic information about the Company's activities for making management decisions for the long term.
Accounting for planned indicators is carried out in order to obtain and summarize economic information on the state and main characteristics of the Company's turnover, sources of its formation, as well as movement financial flows for the planned period.
Planned periods in budgetary policy can be set equal to one year or 6 months with a breakdown by month.
Actual data are taken into account to obtain information on the performance of planned indicators, analyze the causes of deviations that arise and adjust the planned indicators for subsequent periods.
Budget data can be used when analyzing the effectiveness of planned and implemented commercial transactions, drawing up investment plans Companies.
It is advisable to build a system of planned and actual indicators from:
- long-term financial plans (budgets) and reports on their implementation, which determine the directions of changes in the company's turnover and expenses (Table 5) during the planning period, namely the structure of turnover (Table 6), the structure of expenses for core activities (see Table 4 ), structure investment projects and financial investments.
Table 4
Budget structure of company expenses
Accounting is based on a number of principles.
Accounting principles are universal provisions that are applied to solve practical problems. They are general in nature and are the basis for building accounting concepts... At present, accounting principles generally accepted in world practice are used in domestic accounting.
The principles used in international accounting practice can be divided into two groups.
The first group - basic principles, presupposing certain conditions created by an economic entity when setting up accounting, which should not change. Such basic principles are usually called assumptions... Assumptions include:
property isolation of an economic entity(business unit principle). Each organization is considered in accounting as a separate business unit. The property and obligations of an economic entity exist separately from the property and obligations of its owners;
business continuity. This assumption is based on the fact that the economic entity will continue its activities in the foreseeable future. It is assumed that the organization has no intentions and no need to significantly reduce or liquidate its activities, change its nature. This assumption is important, on the one hand, for the choice of methods of property valuation, and on the other, for creditors. They can be sure that the obligations of the organization will be repaid in due course;
priority of content over form... This assumption is based on the fact that the facts of economic activity in accounting should be reflected not only from the legal form, but also from the economic content and conditions of management;
consistency... This assumption assumes the identity of the analytical accounting data with the turnover and balances on the synthetic accounts for the first day of the month, as well as the reporting indicators with the synthetic and analytical accounting data.
Second group of principles- this is basic principles meaning that the accepted rules organization and maintenance of accounting, they are usually called requirements... These include the requirements:
completeness... All business transactions should be reflected in accounting without any exception;
discretion... This principle means that in accounting should be more readily reflected expenses (losses) and liabilities than income and assets, the creation of hidden reserves is not allowed;
consistency in the application of accounting policies... This requirement means that the selected accounting policy should be applied in the accounting of an economic entity sequentially from one reporting period to another. This will allow you to get comparable reporting indicators;
temporary certainty of the facts of economic activity. This requirement assumes that the business transactions carried out should be attributed to the reporting period in which they were made, not linking them with the time of receipt or payment of funds for these transactions;
rationality... It consists in economical and efficient accounting, depending on the conditions of economic activity and the size of the organization.
The information generated in the accounting system of business entities must meet the requirements of all interested users. Depending on the interests of various groups of users of information in the accounting system, interrelated subsystems can be distinguished: financial accounting; Management Accounting; tax accounting. These types of accounting are based on one base of primary data - documents that formalize economic facts, but they represent different interpretations of them and give different summary information.
Financial accounting reflects the state of property, liabilities, capital and financial results of the organization in a single monetary expression in order to generate financial statements necessary for external and internal users.
Management accounting is a system of cost and income accounting, rationing, planning, control and analysis, which systematizes the information necessary for internal users to make operational and strategic management decisions for the future development of an organization.
Tax accounting generates information for calculation taxable base and the amount of taxes in accordance with the procedure provided for by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
All accounting subsystems are interconnected by the unity of the information base and the generality of accounting methods and techniques, but each of them has fundamental features that allow it to be isolated. Accounting principles are one such distinguishing feature.
For management accounting, there are no centrally regulatory regulations, its maintenance is not mandatory and is carried out by the decision of the owners and management in accordance with the order of the head and the accounting policy of the organization.
According to Tax Code Russian Federation system tax accounting organized by the taxpayer independently, based on the principle of consistency in the application of rules and regulations of tax accounting. The procedure for maintaining tax accounting is established by the organization in the accounting policy for tax purposes, approved by the order of the head. Thus, on legislative level it is obligatory to conduct it.
Financial accounting is mandatory, therefore the rules for its maintenance (laws, regulations, instructions) are regulated by the state and government. The purpose of financial accounting is to provide a wide range of interested users useful information O financial situation, financial results and changes in the financial position of the entity.
For this, financial accounting should be based on general principles and meet certain requirements for building the accounting process. The basic rules for its conduct are certain Federal law"On accounting" and the Regulation on accounting and accounting statements In Russian federation. These include the following:
1) the obligation to double-record business transactions on the accounts of the working chart of accounts, compiled on the basis of the Chart of Accounts approved by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation;
2) accounting of accounting objects in rubles and in Russian;
3) the implementation in accounting of the current costs of manufacturing products, performing work and providing services separately from the costs associated with capital and financial investments;
4) the obligation to document business transactions;
5) for the systematization and accumulation of information contained in accounting documents, the use of accounting registers, the forms of which are developed by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, bodies that have been granted the right to regulate accounting, federal authorities the executive branch or the organization itself, subject to their observance of the general methodological principles of accounting;
6) evaluation of accounting objects in monetary terms;
7) the obligation to carry out an inventory of property and liabilities;
8) the formation of accounting policies for accounting in the organization in accordance with the established assumptions and requirements.
The principles of financial accounting are universal provisions that are the basis for constructing the concept of financial accounting. Currently, domestic accounting is based on the principles of accounting generally accepted in world practice. They are divided into two groups:
Principles of Assumption;
Principles of the requirement.
Assumptions are basic principles that imply certain conditions created by the organization when setting up accounting that should not change.
In accordance with PBU 1/2008 "Accounting policy of the organization", business entities in the formation of accounting policies must comply with the following assumptions:
1) property isolation means that the property and obligations of the organization exist separately from the property and obligations of the owner and the property of others legal entities held by this organization;
2) the continuity of the organization means that it will continue its activities in the foreseeable future and it has no intention of liquidating or materially reducing its activities;
3) the sequence of applying the accounting policy means that the accounting policy chosen by the organization is applied consistently from one reporting year to another. A change in accounting policy is possible in the event of a change in the legislation of the Russian Federation or regulations on accounting, the development of new methods of accounting by the organization and a significant change in the conditions of activity;
4) the temporal certainty of the facts of economic activity means that they are reflected in the accounting and reporting of the period in which they occurred, regardless of the actual time of receipt or payment of funds associated with these facts.
Principles of the requirement - conditions that must be met in the development of accounting policies and organization of accounting. PBU 1/2008 "Accounting policy of the organization" establishes the following requirements:
1) completeness means the need to reflect in the accounting of all facts of economic activity;
2) timeliness implies the need for timely reflection in accounting and financial statements of the facts of economic activity;
3) prudence (caution, in Western practice - also conservatism) means a greater willingness to take into account losses (expenses) and liabilities than possible income and assets (avoiding hidden reserves);
4) the priority of the content over the form means that in accounting the facts of economic activity should be reflected not only from their legal form, but also from the economic content of the facts and conditions of management. For example, the very fact of issuing large sums of loans to managers of an organization is not illegal. However, if the issuance of these amounts is carried out during a period of unstable financial condition organizations, especially when the payment of accrued wages is delayed due to lack of funds, then this business transaction should be recognized as illegal;
5) consistency necessitates the identity of analytical accounting data with turnovers and balances on synthetic accounts on the 1st day of each month, accounting indicators with synthetic and analytical accounting data, as well as reporting indicators at the beginning and end of the period;
6) rationality means the need for rational and economical accounting based on the conditions of economic activity and the size of the organization.
The above interrelated principles, the significance of which is due to the theory, to a certain extent predetermine the solution of any problem of financial accounting, each of which is based on the facts of economic activity.
We bring to your attention the journals published by the "Academy of Natural Sciences"
Principles of organization of accounting (financial) accounting
The basic principles of maintaining and organizing financial accounting in organizations are established by the Regulations on the maintenance of accounting and financial reporting in the Russian Federation, the Regulations on accounting "Accounting policy", the Chart of accounts of accounting and some other regulatory documents.
In the Regulation on accounting and bookkeeping contains the following basic principles of the organization of accounting (financial) accounting.
The head of the organization is responsible for maintaining accounting records in the organization, compliance with the legislation when performing business operations.
Depending on the scope of work, the head of the organization can establish an accounting service as structural subdivision headed by the chief accountant; introduce the position of an accountant into the staff; transfer, on a contractual basis, accounting to a centralized accounting department, a specialized organization or a specialist accountant.
The basis for entry in the accounting registers is the primary accounting documents... All business transactions carried out by the organization must be formalized supporting documents containing the required details: name of the document (form), form code; date of compilation; name of company; the content of the business transaction; meters (in kind and in monetary terms); the name of the officials responsible for the performance of the business transaction and the correctness of its execution, personal signatures and their decryption. Primary accounting documents are accepted for accounting if they are left in the form contained in the albums of unified (standard) forms of primary accounting documentation.
As part of the forms primary accounting documents are allocated for the accounting of fixed assets, accounting for labor and its payment, for material accounting, accounting for cash and settlement operations. There are also various specialized forms of documents for reflecting the results of the inventory, registration of pensions, benefits, etc.
The presence of a single unified primary documentation in organizations it has an important stabilizing value, makes it possible to eliminate the discrepancy in the initial link of accounting, and also contributes to the introduction of computerization of accounting.
Thus, a system for documenting business transactions is important. part of organization of financial accounting.
The creation of primary accounting documents, the procedure and terms for their transfer for reflection in accounting are carried out in accordance with the approved in the organization workflow schedule.
For systematization and accumulation of information from primary documents, data are transferred to accounting registers. Register forms are developed by the RF Ministry of Finance. Business transactions in accounting registers should be reflected in chronological order and grouped according to the corresponding accounting accounts.
To ensure the reliability of accounting data and financial statements, organizations are required to take an inventory of property and liabilities. The order, timing of the inventory is determined by the head of the organization.
One of the principles of financial accounting is the distribution of responsibilities in accounting.
When assigning job duties, the most responsible and complex work is entrusted to qualified workers. The distribution of responsibilities is structured so as to ensure the interchangeability of workers.
The list of official duties is developed by the chief accountant and approved by the head of the organization.
The division of responsibilities depends on the organizational structure of the accounting process.
Organizational structure accounting process in organizations can be based on the principles of complete centralization, decentralization, partial decentralization.
Complete centralization of the accounting process means that the entire accounting process is concentrated in the central accounting department. In connection with the introduction of computerization of accounting, such an organization of the accounting process is becoming more and more widespread.
Decentralization of the accounting process consists in the fact that each division of the organization is full cycle accounting work from filling out primary documents to drawing up a balance sheet. In the central accounting department, consolidated accounting is carried out for the whole organization.
Partial decentralization is more common. In this case, the divisions are documenting business transactions, grouping and summary of documents before compiling production reports... The rational coordination of the accounting process in the central accounting department and in the divisions of the organization becomes important.
An essential element in the organization of accounting is the storage of accounting documents and accounting registers.
For the correct organization of storage of documents, a nomenclature of cases is drawn up, which indicates the name of the document, index, quantity and storage period.
All accounting documents and financial statements are kept for the time period established in accordance with the rules for organizing state archival affairs, but not less than five years.
The Accounting Regulations formulate an accounting policy that presupposes property isolation and continuity of the organization's activities. The accounting policy of the organization should meet the requirements of completeness, discretion, priority of content over form, consistency and rationality.
Assumption of property isolation means that the property and obligations of the organization exist separately from the property and obligations of the owner. During the formation market economy this assumption is important, since the property of many organizations is in the personal use of founders, members or employees.
Going concern assumption means that it will continue its activities in the future and it has no intention of liquidating or materially reducing its activities. If the organization has these intentions, it is obliged to declare this in the accounting policy and reflect it in explanatory note To annual report for the past financial year.
Assumption of Consistency in Applying Accounting Policies means that the accounting policy chosen by the organization is applied consistently from year to year.
Assumption of temporal certainty of the facts of economic activity means that they are reflected in the accounting and reporting of the period in which they were made, regardless of the actual time of receipt or payment of funds associated with these facts.
The accounting policy of the organization is formed by the chief accountant and approved by the head of the organization. At the same time, the following are approved:
- working chart of accounts of accounting;
- forms of primary accounting documents used to formalize the facts of economic activity;
- the procedure for taking an inventory of the assets and liabilities of the organization;
- methods of valuation of assets and liabilities;
- workflow rules and accounting information processing technologies;
- control procedure for business transactions... The organization's accounting policy should ensure:
- completeness of reflection in accounting of all factors of economic activity (completeness requirement);
- timely reflection of the factors of economic activity in accounting and financial statements (timeliness requirement);
- greater readiness to recognize expenses and liabilities in accounting than possible income and assets, avoiding the creation of hidden reserves (prudence requirement);
- reflection in the accounting of the factors of economic activity proceeding not so much from their legal form as from the economic content of the facts and conditions of management (the requirement of the priority of the content over the form);
- the identity of the analytical accounting data with the turnovers and balances of synthetic accounting accounts on the last calendar day of each month (consistency requirement);
- rational accounting based on the conditions of economic activity and the size of the organization (requirement of rationality).
Thus, when organizing financial accounting, the main principles (requirements) are: completeness, timeliness, discretion, priority of content over form, consistency and rationality.
In accordance with the international accounting standard, the fundamental financial accounting principles are: continuation of activities, continuity (constancy) of accounting policies (accumulation, growth), methods for assessing assets and liabilities, the principle of double entry of business transactions.
In accordance with the Chart of accounts of accounting, approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated October 31, 2000 No. 94n, assets owned by the organization are reflected in system accounting and in the balance sheet, property belonging to other enterprises is recorded on off-balance sheet accounts.