Errors in accounting financial statements. Adjustment of Russian financial statements for financial analysis: an algorithm of actions. Balance line from which values are excluded
If, as a result of the non-application of regulatory legal acts on accounting, an organization misrepresented (non-reflection) the facts of economic life in accounting and financial statements, then this is an error that must be corrected in the manner established by the Regulations on Accounting ", approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated June 28 .10 g. N 63n (clauses 2, 4 PBU 22/2010).
Significance of error in accounting
An error is recognized as significant if, individually or in combination with other errors for the same reporting period, it can affect the economic decisions of users that they make on the basis of the financial statements compiled for this reporting period (clause 3 PBU 22/2010) .Reporting users are potential investors and counterparties (customers, lessors and creditors) who need to know:
whether to buy securities issued by the organization (whether it will be able to make a profit from which dividends will be distributed, whether it will pay off its bill); whether to entrust it with the execution of orders, whether to lease property, whether to provide loans (whether the organization will be able to fulfill its contractual obligations).
Thus, significant errors are significant distortions in reporting indicators, due to which the user may draw an incorrect conclusion about the organization's ability to make a profit and fulfill obligations in a timely manner.
Specific materiality criteria are not established in PBU 22/2010. Therefore, the organization determines the materiality of the error independently, based on both the size and nature of the relevant article (articles) of the financial statements (clause 3 PBU 22/2010). At the same time, it should be taken into account that an indicator can be considered significant if its non-disclosure affects the economic decisions of users made on the basis of financial statements.
Whether an indicator is significant depends on its assessment, nature, specific circumstances of occurrence.
Thus, in the formation of financial statements, the materiality of the indicator is determined by a combination of qualitative and quantitative factors.
The criterion for the materiality of the error, determined by the organization, must be reflected in the accounting policy for the purposes of accounting.
Materiality level as a percentage of the value of the reporting line
As a rule, the materiality level is set as a percentage of the value of the reporting line. For example, errors that distort the value of any reporting line by 5% or more can be recognized as material.Example 1The organization mistakenly wrote off the cost of unsold goods in the amount of 100 rubles. The same mistake was made in tax accounting. According to the accounting policy, errors that distort the value of any reporting line by 5% or more are considered significant. The corresponding calculation is presented in the table.
Determination of the materiality level of the error
Reporting line name
The value of the string before the error was detected, rub.
Line value after error correction, rub.
Distortion of the value of the reporting line in percent
1210 "Stocks" 0.2 (50,100 rubles - 50,000 rubles) / 50,100 rubles) x 100%) 2120 "Cost of sales" 0.5 (20,000 RUB - 19,900 RUB) / 19,900 RUB) x 100%) 2200 "Profit (loss) from sales" 1.96 (5,100 RUB - 5,000 RUB) / 5,100 RUB) x 100%) 2300 "Profit (loss) before tax" 9.09 (1,100 RUB - 1,000 RUB) / 1,100 RUB) x 100%) 2410 "Current income tax" 9.09 (220 RUB - 200 RUB) / 220 RUB) x 100%) 2400 "Net profit (loss)" 9.09 (880 RUB - 800 RUB) / 880 RUB) x 100%) The percentage of distortion of the value of lines 2300, 2410 and 2400 of the statement of financial results was 9.09%, i.e. more than 5%. The error is significant.
Materiality level based on the average value of reporting indicators
The materiality level can also be calculated in a fixed amount, for example, based on the average value of reporting indicators. In this case, the value of the materiality level is recalculated annually.Example 2In accordance with the accounting policy, the error materiality level is calculated as 5% of the average value of five reporting indicators for the reporting year in which the error was made. The values of these indicators for 2016 were:
1. Balance:
line 1150 "Fixed assets" - 5 million rubles; on line 1230 "Accounts receivable" - 3 million rubles; line 1370 "Retained earnings (uncovered loss)" - 2 million rubles;
2. Statement of financial results:
line 2110 "Revenue" - 24 million rubles; on line 2400 "Net profit (loss)" - 1 million rubles.
Total: 35 million rubles. (5 million rubles + 3 million rubles + 2 million rubles + 24 million rubles + 1 million rubles).
The materiality level for an error made in the reporting for 2015 is 350 thousand rubles. (35 million rubles / 5×5%).
Errors within 350 thousand rubles. are considered insignificant, and those exceeding 350 thousand rubles are considered significant.
Correction of significant errors
The procedure for correcting a material error depends on the period when it was identified - before the approval of the reporting by the participants of the organization or after (section II PBU 22/2010).Correction of an error is made out by an accounting statement, in which it is necessary to indicate:
when and what kind of mistake was made; which reporting lines were affected by the error, in what amount and why it was recognized as significant; when the error is discovered; what accounting records corrected the error; which reporting lines are adjusted, including retrospectively.
Errors made in the reporting year and identified before the signing of the reporting by the head of the organization
In accounting, any errors (both significant and insignificant) made in the reporting year and identified before the signing of the reporting by the head of the organization are corrected as follows:if an error was discovered before December 31 of the reporting year - by entries as of the date the error was discovered, i.e. in the month of the reporting year in which the error was detected (clause 5 PBU 22/2010); if it was detected on December 31 of the reporting year or later - by entries as of December 31 of the reporting year (clause 6 of PBU 22/2010).
Consequently, all errors of the current reporting period, identified before the date of signing by the head of the organization of the annual financial statements for this year, are taken into account when compiling the current reporting of this year.
There are several ways to correct accounting data.
Corrections can be made by write-back, redemption or by accruing any amounts that were not previously taken into account.
To fix the error, you should:
- draw up an accounting statement in which to indicate when and what mistake was made, when it was revealed, what entries were corrected;
- reverse incorrect entries;
- make correct entries.
Example 3In December 2016, the following significant error was identified: for the period from January to November 2016, depreciation in the amount of 100,000 rubles was not charged on the fixed asset.
In this case, in December 2016, the month the error was discovered, additional depreciation amounts are charged, which is reflected in the accounting entries on the credit of account 02 “Depreciation of fixed assets” in correspondence with the production cost accounts (clause 5 PBU 22/2010, Instructions for the use of the Chart of Accounts).
Example 4In March 2016, the organization accrued property tax for the first quarter of 2016 in the wrong amount - 60,000 rubles. instead of 40,000 rubles. This error was discovered in February 2017 before signing the financial statements for 2016.
To correct the error, the following entries were made on 12/31/16:
STORNO Debit 26 - Credit 68 - 60,000 rubles. - the entire amount of incorrectly assessed property tax for the 1st quarter of 2016 was reversed. Debit 26 - Credit 68 - 40,000 rubles. - property tax was assessed for the first quarter of 2016.
Errors identified at the end of the reporting year after signing the financial statements
If an error is detected after the signing of the reporting, then the procedure for correcting this error depends on the date of its detection.The error of the previous reporting year was detected after the date of signing the financial statements for this year, but before the date of submission of the statements to its users
According to paragraph 7 of PBU 22/2010, a significant error of the previous reporting year, identified after the date of signing the financial statements for this year, but before the date of submission of such statements to shareholders of a joint-stock company, participants in a limited liability company, a state authority, a local government body or other body authorized to exercise the rights of the owner, etc., is corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts for December of the reporting year (the year for which the annual financial statements are prepared).
If the specified financial statements were presented to any other users, then they must be replaced with statements in which the identified material error has been corrected (revised financial statements).
The fact that users are presented with a corrected copy can be reflected on the title page, for which the column "Correction number" is provided. For example, if the reporting is corrected for the first time, then “1” is indicated in this column.
Example 5The error of the previous reporting year was revealed after the reporting was submitted to its users, but before the date of its approval by the ownersWorkers' bonuses production shop in 2016 were accrued in the correct amount, but an incorrect entry was made - Debit 26 “General expenses”, Credit 70 “Settlements with personnel for wages”, although it should have been written: Debit 20 “Main production”, Credit 70. As a result, the amount of bonuses is incorrectly reflected in the statement of financial results for 2016 (instead of line 2120 "Cost of sales" is indicated in line 2220 "Administrative expenses").
The error was discovered in March 2017 after reporting was submitted to the organization's members for approval. To correct the error, the following entries were made on 12/31/16:
REVERSE Debit 26 - Credit 70 - an incorrect entry for the accrual of premiums was reversed; Debit 20 - Credit 70 - the correct entry was made for the accrual of premiums.
In the corrected version of the statement of financial results, signed by the head and submitted to the organization's participants, the amounts of bonuses are reflected in line 2120 "Cost of sales".
In accordance with paragraph 8 of PBU 22/2010, a significant error of the previous reporting year, revealed after the presentation of financial statements for this year to shareholders of a joint-stock company, participants in a limited liability company, a state authority, a local government body or another body authorized to exercise the rights of the owner, etc., but before the date of approval of such reporting in accordance with the legislation Russian Federation order (for example, at a general meeting of shareholders), is also corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts for December of the reporting year (the year for which the annual financial statements are prepared). At the same time, the revised financial statements disclose information that these financial statements replace the originally presented financial statements, as well as the grounds for compiling the revised financial statements.
The revised financial statements are sent to all addresses to which the original financial statements were submitted.
Error of the previous reporting year, revealed after the approval of the financial statements for this year
Based on paragraph 9 of PBU 22/2010, a significant error of the previous reporting year, identified after the approval of the financial statements for this year, is corrected:
1) entries on the relevant accounting accounts in the current reporting period, while the corresponding account in the entries is account 84 “Retained earnings (uncovered loss);
2) by recalculating the comparative indicators of the financial statements for the reporting periods reflected in the financial statements of the organization for the current reporting year, except when it is impossible to establish a connection between this error and a specific period or it is impossible to determine the impact of this error on a cumulative total in relation to all previous reporting periods.
The recalculation of the comparative indicators of the financial statements is carried out by correcting the indicators of the financial statements, as if the error of the previous reporting period had never been made (retrospective recalculation).
Retrospective recalculation is made in relation to comparative indicators starting from the previous reporting period presented in the financial statements for the current reporting year in which the corresponding error was made.
According to clause 10 of PBU 22/2010, in the event that a material error of the previous reporting year, identified after the approval of the financial statements, is corrected, the approved financial statements for previous reporting periods are not subject to revision, replacement and re-submission to users of the financial statements.
As established in paragraph 11 of PBU 22/2010, if a material error was made before the beginning of the earliest of the previous reporting periods presented in the financial statements for the current reporting year, the opening balances for the corresponding items of assets, liabilities and capital at the beginning of the earliest of reporting periods (usually three years).
If it is impossible to determine the impact of a material error on one or more previous reporting periods presented in the financial statements, the organization must adjust the opening balance for the relevant items of assets, liabilities and equity at the beginning of the earliest of the periods for which recalculation is possible (paragraph 12 of PBU 22 /2010).
It should be noted that it is impossible to determine the impact of a material error on the previous reporting period if complex and (or) numerous calculations are required, during which it is impossible to isolate information that indicates the circumstances that existed at the date of the error, or it is necessary to use information obtained after the date of approval of the accounting reporting for such a previous reporting period (clause 13 PBU 22/2010).
Simplified error correction procedure
Organizations that have the right to apply simplified accounting methods, including simplified accounting (financial) reporting (for example, small businesses), can correct a significant error of the previous reporting year, identified after the approval of the financial statements for this year, in the manner prescribed by clause 14 RAS 22/2010 for minor errors, without retrospective recalculation, namely, entries in the relevant accounting accounts in the month of the reporting year in which the error was detected. Profit or loss resulting from the correction of this error is reflected in other income or expenses of the current reporting period on account 91 “Other income and expenses”.Example 6In January 2017, after the reformation of the balance sheet, signing and submission of financial statements to users, an error was discovered that was made in September 2016. The financial statements have not yet been approved by the owners of the organization. As a result of the error, the amount of office rental expenses was underestimated. The price of an error is 500,000 rubles. In addition, VAT was not reflected on the rent in the amount of 90,000 rubles.
This error is considered significant.
Debit 26 "General expenses", Credit 60 "Settlements with suppliers and contractors" - 500,000 rubles. — the amount of rent for September 2016 was additionally accrued; Debit 19 "Value added tax on acquired values", Credit 60 - 90,000 rubles. — “input” VAT on rent for September 2016 is reflected; Debit 68 “Settlements with the budget for taxes and fees”, sub-account “Calculations for VAT”, Credit 19 - 90,000 rubles. — accepted for VAT deduction from the budget on rent for September 2016; Debit 90 "Sales", subaccount "Cost of sales", Credit 26 - 500,000 rubles. — the amount of previously unaccounted rent for September 2016 was written off; Debit 90, subaccount "Profit / loss on sales", Credit 90, subaccount "Cost of sales" - 500,000 rubles. - the subaccount "Cost of sales" of account 90 is closed; Debit 99 "Profit and Loss", Credit 90, sub-account "Profit / loss from sales" - 500,000 rubles. — the sub-account “Profit/loss from sales” was closed; Debit 84 "Retained earnings (uncovered loss)", Credit 99 - 500,000 rubles. - Adjusted the amount of net profit.
In the Statement of Financial Results for 2016, the value in line 2120 "Cost of sales" must be increased by 500,000 rubles. and change other indicators of this report, for example, in lines 2100 “Gross profit (loss)”, 2220 “Profit (loss) from sales”, etc.
Example 7Let's use the conditions of the previous example. At the same time, let's assume that the error was detected in June 2017 after the signing, submission and approval of the reporting.
In this case, in June 2017, the error will need to be corrected as follows:
Debit 84, Credit 60 - 500,000 rubles. — the amount of rent for September 2016 was additionally accrued; Debit 19, Credit 60 - 90,000 rubles. — “input” VAT on rent for September 2016 is reflected; Debit 68, subaccount "VAT settlements", Credit 19 - 90,000 rubles. — accepted for VAT deduction from the budget on rent for September 2016;
In this situation, the statements for 2016 are not adjusted.
The indicator of net profit for 2017 (retrospective recalculation) will be recalculated (changed) in line 1370 "Retained earnings (uncovered loss)" of the balance sheet for 2017 and in line 2400 "Net profit (loss)" of the Statement of financial results for 2017 G.
Information about significant errors
In the explanatory note to the annual financial statements, the organization is obliged to disclose the following information in relation to material errors of previous reporting periods corrected in the reporting period:- the nature of the error;
- the amount of the adjustment for each article of the financial statements - for each previous reporting period to the extent that this is practicable;
- the amount of the adjustment for basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share (if the entity is required to disclose earnings per share);
- the amount of adjustment of the opening balance of the earliest of the reported reporting periods (clause 15 of PBU 22/2010).
Often, when compiling a balance sheet, an accountant makes mistakes or inaccuracies. Is it necessary and is it possible to file an adjustment to the financial statements? How are changes made? What legislation regulates this issue? Let's figure out how the adjustment of financial statements after submission to the tax office is carried out.
In the course of their activities, all enterprises are required to submit accounting reports to the supervisory authorities. The data must be reliable, therefore, the procedure for compiling forms must be approached with the utmost responsibility. However, even experienced accountants are not 100% immune from errors or inaccuracies in financial statements.
This may be due, for example, to the untimely receipt of the primary. In this case, to normalize the financial statements, it is necessary to correct the data. In accordance with paragraph 4 of PBU 22/2010, the detected errors are subject to correction. But not all information needs to be specified. In particular, the adjustment of financial statements is not provided for by those data that are found according to information that is not available to the organization at the date such information is reflected (paragraph 3 of PBU).
Adjustment of financial statements for the previous period - the nuances of filling
When the financial statements are corrected, the adjustment after the reporting date is carried out by reflecting entries in the accounts. According to the rules of PBU, all inaccuracies are divided into significant and not. At the same time, such errors are recognized as significant, which distort the picture of the real state of affairs in the company. The enterprise has the right to determine the materiality criteria independently, taking into account the specifics of the business.
In order to accurately understand whether it is possible to submit an adjustment to the financial statements, it is necessary to understand the features of the presentation of corrections. The current algorithm of actions is described in sec. II PBU. The order differs depending on when exactly the errors are discovered; accounting is approved or not; whether the organization uses a simplified accounting methodology (accounting).
Rules for making adjustments to accounting according to PBU 22/2010:
- For errors in the reporting period detected before its completion, entries on accounts are made in the period (month) of error detection.
- For errors in the reporting period, discovered after its completion, but before the assurance of accounting, records are made in December.
- For errors (significant) of previous periods, discovered after the certification of accounting, but before the submission of documents to the founders/shareholders, the entries are made in December.
- According to errors (significant) of previous periods, discovered by me after the provision of accounting reports to the founders/shareholders, but before the official approval of documents, records are made in December with the submission of revised forms to interested parties, including government agencies.
- For errors (significant) of previous periods discovered after the approval of the accounting statements, the adjustment of the financial statements after approval is carried out in the current period, for example, for 2017 in 2018. Correspondence uses account. 84, at the same time a retrospective recalculation of the indicators is made, starting from the period before the error period.
Note! Simplified financial statements can be adjusted without the retrospective method (paragraph 9 of PBU).
How to submit an adjustment for accounting
Suppose the company made mistakes in the preparation of financial statements for 2018. At the same time, is the accounting statement for 2018 corrected? In accordance with paragraph 10 of the PBU, if clarifications were made according to already approved documents, re-submission of such forms to users is not required. Therefore, the revised documents need to be submitted to the tax authorities and statistics only if the reports have not yet been approved.
How to submit an adjustment for accounting reports? Documents can be drawn up on paper or electronically. What number of adjustments in the financial statements should be indicated? The paper document does not provide a field for reflecting data on clarifications. If you do not report through the TCS, it is recommended that you submit a cover letter with explanations along with the revised accounting.
If the data is generated electronically, information about the correction number can be entered on the title. Such a number is indicated as "0" when submitting the primary balance, corrective - "1". Similarly, the number of adjustments is affixed in the simplified accounting financial reporting- if clarifications are submitted for the first time, the number "1" is put, the second time - "2", etc.
Adjustment of the annual financial statements
Based on the foregoing, is it possible to file an adjustment to the annual financial statements? According to PBU 22/2010, it turns out that this is necessary only if the documents have not yet been approved. In the case when the accounting has already been approved, no revision of the data, as well as replacement, as well as delivery to interested users are not provided (clause 10).
If an accountant corrects errors (significant) of previous years in the reporting period, disclosure of data is required in accordance with the norms of Sec. III PBU. This is the provision of explanations in writing. Among the mandatory information, the nature of the detected errors is indicated; amount of adjustments (separately by items and broken down by periods); the opening balance adjustment value of the earliest period. And if the disclosure of data on profit per share is required, relevant information on profit (loss) per share is also submitted.
Conclusion - in this article we figured out how to submit an adjustment to financial statements. Separately, it is considered when the submission of updated data is not required and in what period are entries in the accounting records reflected in the accounts.
When preparing data for the annual report, employees of the accounting service quite often find errors in accounting. And this, for the most part, leads to their presence in the previously presented statements. At the same time, errors can relate to both interim periods of the reporting year and previous reporting ones.
According to clause 2 of the Accounting Regulations “Correction of errors in accounting and reporting” (PBU 22/2010) (approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated June 28, 2010 No. 63n), an error is recognized as an incorrect reflection (non-reflection) of the facts of economic activity in accounting and (or) financial statements.
For the purposes of accounting, however, a fact of economic life is a transaction, event, operation that has or is able to have an impact on the financial position of an economic entity, financial results its activities and (or) movement Money(Section 8, Article 3 federal law dated 06.12.11 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting”).
Errors in reflecting business transactions in accounting almost always entail incorrect calculation of taxes.
In accounting, all errors, depending on the nature of their occurrence and consequences, can be divided into three groups.
The first of these are technical errors. Such errors do not distort the economic essence of business transactions. These, in particular, include arithmetic errors, typos, omissions. Their presence usually leads to inequality of the final reporting indicators or the appearance of values that do not correspond to the realistically possible. Inaccuracies in the calculations are also mentioned in the list of errors that lead to incorrect reflection of the facts of economic activity in the accounting and (or) financial statements of the organization, which is given in paragraph 2 of PBU 22/2010.
The second group consists of content errors. They lead to incorrect reflection of economic information about the transactions performed. The occurrence of such errors may be due, in particular, to incorrect (clause 2 PBU 22/2010):
- application of the legislation of the Russian Federation on accounting and (or) regulatory legal acts on accounting;
- application of the accounting policy of the organization;
- classification or assessment of the facts of economic activity;
- using the information available as of the date of signing the financial statements, -
as well as dishonest actions of officials of the organization.
Content errors include:
- errors in documenting transactions - a reflection of the transaction in the absence of primary documents or, conversely, the presence of falsified documents for transactions that were not actually carried out;
- errors in the reflection period, when a business transaction carried out in one reporting period is reflected in accounting and reporting in the next period;
- errors in the correspondence of accounts, expressed in the preparation of incorrect entries that distort the economic essence of the operations performed;
- errors in valuation associated with violation of the established rules for determining the initial and actual cost of accounting objects, depreciation, the formation of reserves, etc.;
- errors in the presentation of information in the reporting, which lead to incorrect reflection of the information generated on the accounting accounts, according to the lines of the financial statements, for example, an unreasonable offset between the items of assets and liabilities on accounts 60, 62, 68, 69, 71, 76, etc.
Errors in documenting operations are associated with a violation of the rules for issuing primary accounting documents, as well as with a violation of the workflow schedule. Such errors often lead to errors in periodization, since it is not uncommon for documents to arrive at the organization some time after the actual transaction. At the same time, this period of time may be the boundary between two reporting periods. Thus, the business transaction will be reflected in the reporting of the next period. In addition, errors associated with documenting transactions can lead to a distortion in the assessment of accounting objects.
Accounting is carried out on the basis of primary documents, which serve as confirmation of the fact of a particular business transaction. Accordingly, in the absence of primary documents (even if the operation is actually carried out), no entries are made in the accounting. Moreover, the situation when a business transaction was performed, but the primary document was not drawn up either at the time of its completion or after its completion, is a direct violation of the accounting legislation by virtue of paragraph 3 of Article 9 of Law No. 402-FZ.
Meanwhile, untimely (with a delay in time) receipt by the organization of primary documents may be due to:
- as the sluggishness of the counterparties of the organization, providing, for example, various kinds of services (utilities or communication services) in the presentation of primary documents,
- and the actions of officials of the organization itself, responsible for compiling primary documentation.
In the case when a business transaction has been carried out, but there are no documents on it due to the fact that the employees of the organization did not draw them up in a timely manner, it is appropriate to talk about dishonest actions of the organization's officials. Indeed, such actions, as mentioned above, are named in paragraph 2 of PBU 22/2010 as the cause of the error. Therefore, the use of information reflected in such “late” documents should be regarded as an error (rather than obtaining new information that was previously inaccessible to the organization), which must be corrected according to the rules of PBU 22/2010.
The creation of primary accounting documents, the procedure and timing of their transfer for reflection in accounting in accordance with clause 15 of the Regulations on Accounting and Accounting in the Russian Federation (approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 29, 1998 No. 34n) are regulated by the workflow schedule included in the composition of the accounting policy of the organization for accounting purposes.
Therefore, with a proper organization of the workflow, the requirement for the timely execution of primary accounting documents must be met, especially since, by virtue of the mentioned paragraph 3 of Article 9 of Law No. 402-FZ and paragraph 15 of the provision on accounting and financial reporting, ensure timely and high-quality execution of primary documents , their transfer within the established time limits for reflection in accounting, as well as the reliability of the information reflected in them, must be carried out by persons with appropriate powers.
It is, in our opinion, incorrect to regard the information contained in documents received from counterparties untimely as an error in the sense of PBU 22/2010.
Unlawful recognition of certain types of costs as part of the expenses of the reporting period or, conversely, non-recognition of expenses in the reporting period to which they actually relate, in addition to violations of the workflow schedule, may also arise due to the incorrect use of certain concepts, in particular “deferred expenses”, "deferred income", etc.
There are frequent cases when the "linkage" of accounting and tax accounting is carried out according to the assessment methodology established for the purposes of taxation of profits, and that, in turn, does not comply with the requirements of regulatory accounting acts. An example is the use of tax rules in the formation of a reserve for doubtful debts in accounting.
Errors in the correspondence of accounts are most often associated with:
- with an incorrect interpretation of certain business transactions;
- non-application or incorrect application of the requirements of accounting regulations;
- the use of accounting accounts not provided for accounting for property and liabilities due to non-compliance with the recommendations of the Instructions for the Application of the Chart of Accounts for Accounting for the Financial and Economic Activities of an Organization (approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated October 31, 2000 No. 94n).
Errors in documentation, in our opinion, are the result of inattention of the accounting service. Errors in the correspondence of accounts, for the most part, testify to the lack of competence of this service.
Errors in the presentation of information in the reporting occur if the accounting records were made correctly and the balance of the accounts was calculated correctly, however, when compiling the reporting, an accidental error occurred in entering the data or one or another accounting object was incorrectly classified. For example, the balance of settlement accounts 60, 62, 76 is “rolled up” or the balance of account 58 is reflected as part of current assets, while the financial investments of the organization included not only short-term, but also long-term investments.
Errors in documentation are most easily identified by conducting an inventory of the organization's property or mutual reconciliation of debts with debtors and creditors.
Analytical procedures are used to detect errors in estimation or periodization. So, the dynamics of revenue and cost of sales (turnovers on sub-accounts 90-1 and 90-2) should be unidirectional. Therefore, if the turnover on subaccount 90-1 increased, and the turnover on subaccount 90-2 for the same month decreased, most likely, an error was made in the periodization of revenue recognition or write-off of shipped products (goods, works, services).
Change in the amount of accrued depreciation per month when using linear method its accrual can occur only if the fixed asset was commissioned or decommissioned in the previous month, or depreciation stopped for one of the objects.
Testing accounting records allows you to detect errors associated with incorrect correspondence of accounts. Significant assistance in this can be provided by the compilation of a chess turnover sheet. This statement allows you to trace all the transactions that affected the debit of this account with the credits of other accounts and vice versa. Therefore, on its basis, it will be possible to detect “non-standard” or generally invalid wiring, into which an error may creep in.
Arithmetic-logical control and checking the linkage of indicators make it possible to avoid errors in reporting. In reporting, there are certain "control points", the values of which in correctly compiled financial statements must match. Checking with them allows you to independently identify errors.
Ways to fix
In accounting, there are various technical approaches to correcting errors, depending on their type. The method of correcting erroneously made entries in primary documents, accounting registers depends on the moment of detection and the nature of the error.
By virtue of paragraph 7 of Article 9 of Law No. 402-FZ, corrections are allowed in the primary accounting document, unless otherwise established by federal laws or regulatory legal acts of the authorities state regulation accounting. Such a correction must contain the date of the correction, as well as the signatures of the persons who drew up the document in which the correction was made, indicating their surnames and initials or other details necessary to identify these persons.
Clause 8 of Article 10 of Law No. 402-FZ allows corrections to be made in the accounting register as well. It must contain the date of correction, as well as the signatures of the persons responsible for maintaining this register, indicating their surnames and initials or other details necessary to identify these persons. At the same time, corrections that are not authorized by the persons responsible for maintaining this register are not allowed. Such corrections are also made in the corrective way.
The same corrective method is used in cases where an accounting entry is made on the proper accounting accounts, but in the wrong amount: the erroneous entry is crossed out and the correct amount is inscribed, and, if necessary, the text. Correction of an error is confirmed by the signature of the person making the correction. This method is mainly used if the error is made in one register and is detected before the totals are calculated. For the most part, it is used when accounting is done manually, without the use of automation tools.
The method of additional recording is resorted to if the business transaction was not accounted for in a timely manner (as of the date it was made) or the transaction was accounted for in a smaller amount than it should be. In this case, an additional accounting entry is made for the entire amount of the transaction or for the difference between the correct and the amount of the transaction reflected in the register. At the same time, an accounting statement is drawn up, on the basis of which an error in the register (registers) is corrected. It is desirable to record the fact of incorrect reflection of business transactions in the accounting accounts and justify the need for corrective entries made in the accounting registers.
An accounting statement can be drawn up in any form, with any details that allow the accountant to quickly find out who, when and on what basis this corrective entry was made. If you attach to the certificate photocopies of the primary documents of the business transaction for which errors were made and the corresponding clarifying calculations, then this will allow you not to waste time later on confirming the validity of corrective entries. At the same time, it is desirable to include in it all the mandatory attributes of the primary accounting document given in paragraph 2 of Article 9 of Law No. 402-FZ.
The additional entry method is used when an error is detected after totals have been calculated in the ledger(s) or general ledger. It can be used to correct errors identified both in the current reporting period and in previous periods. This method is always applied when additional taxes are assessed.
The method of reversal accounting entry (“red reversal”) is used in case of incorrect correspondence of accounts and when recording a transaction in a larger amount than necessary. With this method, all erroneous posting is reversed, and then an entry is made with the correct correspondence of accounts and / or in the correct amount.
A second correction option is also possible: an entry is made for the same amount only with “reverse” correspondence of accounts, that is, the amount previously debited to the account is written to the credit of this account, and the amount attributed to the credit of another account is recorded to the debit of this account . As a result, the incorrect posting is "neutralized", the ending balances in these accounts will be correct. However, such a correction leads to doubling the amount in the turnover of the current reporting period.
To make a reversal entry, you also need to issue an accounting certificate.
Correction procedure
The procedure for correcting errors depends on whether such an error is significant or not. An error is recognized as significant if it, alone or in combination with other errors for the same reporting period, can affect the economic decisions of users (managers, founders, participants, investors, creditors, counterparties, etc.) made on the basis of financial statements, compiled for this reporting period. The organization determines the materiality of the error independently, based on both the size and the nature of the relevant article (articles) of the financial statements (clause 3 PBU 22/2010). If the error does not affect the economic decision of users of the financial statements, it would logically be immaterial.
As you can see, either the size or the nature of the relevant item in the financial statements, or a combination of both, can be the decisive factor in materiality.
The organization, having assessed the level of materiality, based on its own judgments about what economic decisions different users of financial statements can make on the basis of the information presented, must determine for itself what errors will be significant for users. Therefore, it is necessary to bring in the accounting policy of the organization the criterion for determining the materiality of the error (clause 4 of the Accounting Regulations “Accounting Policy of the Organization” (PBU 1/2008), approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 06.10.08 No. 106n).
It is possible to determine the degree of materiality of the error based on the ratio of the amount of adjustment of the indicator of financial statements and the value of this indicator. You can also focus on another criterion, for example, on the ratio of the error and the aggregated indicator presented in the reporting.
So, when correcting an error that affects the indicators of balance sheet items, it is possible to link to the balance sheet currency (total total). If the error affects the income statement or applications, then you can focus on the totals.
With regard to the misrepresentation of various items of financial statements, it is quite appropriate to establish different levels of materiality. Indeed, in some cases, when making a decision by users of financial statements, a deviation of 1.5% may turn out to be significant, and in some cases, a deviation in larger size(for example, 5-7%) will remain almost unnoticed for them.
The method of correction will depend not only on the nature of the errors (major or minor), but also on when they are discovered - before or after the end of the reporting period. If a significant error is found in the second case, PBU 22/2010, two dates are distinguished that significantly affect the procedure for correcting errors in accounting and reporting: the date of signing and the date of approval of the reporting. Between these dates, reporting to founders, authorities and other users may occur. And this date introduces variation in the order of correcting errors. In this regard, the time period after the beginning of the new year can be divided into four periods:
- after the end of the reporting year until the date of signing the financial statements for that year;
- after the date of signing, but before the date of submission of reports to the shareholders of JSC, LLC participants, authorities;
- after the reporting is submitted to the above persons, but before the date of its approval in the manner prescribed by law;
- after the approval of the report
minor errors
Example 1
In February 2013, the organization was not included in the costs of ordinary species activities costs under the lease of premises. These services were of a production nature. For them, 16,048 rubles were transferred in advance, including VAT of 2,448 rubles. We discovered a mistake in November when preparing for the annual report.
Since the bug was discovered in November, the bug should be fixed this month. Therefore, on November 28, the following entries are made in accounting:
Debit 20 Credit 60
13 600 rub. (16 048 - 2448) - included in the expenses for ordinary activities are the costs of renting the production premises;
Debit 19 Credit 60
2448 rub. - allocated the amount of VAT from the rent;
Debit 60 subaccount "Advances issued" Credit 68 subaccount "VAT settlements"
2448 rub. - the amount of VAT previously accepted for deduction from the transferred advance was restored;
Debit 60 Credit 60 sub-account "Advances issued"
RUB 16,048 - the debt to the lessor is repaid at the expense of the previously transferred advance payment;
Debit 68 subaccount "Calculations for VAT" Credit 19
2448 rub. - the amount of VAT on rent is accepted for deduction.
An insignificant error of 2013 can be detected in the first time period. If such an error is detected at the end of the reporting year, but before the date of signing the financial statements for this year, then it should be corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts for December of the reporting year (the year for which the annual financial statements are prepared) (clause 6 PBU 22 / 2010).
Example 2
In January 2014, an error was discovered in the calculation of depreciation of fixed assets: for the object accepted for accounting on February 1, 2013, depreciation was accrued for 11 months of this year. The amount of monthly depreciation - 6080 rubles.
The accrual of depreciation charges for an item of fixed assets begins on the first day of the month following the month when this item was accepted for accounting (clause 21 of the Accounting Regulation “Accounting for fixed assets” (PBU 6/01), approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 30.03. 01 No. 26n). Therefore, in February, the organization unlawfully included 6,080 rubles in expenses for ordinary activities. in the form of accrued depreciation.
An error in recording the operation carried out in 2013 was discovered in the next reporting year before the approval of the annual financial statements. Therefore, at the time of determining the error, an accounting statement is drawn up to reduce the amount of accrued depreciation. Based on it, a reversal entry is made dated December 31, 2013:
Debit 20 Credit 02
6080 rub. - the amount of overcharged depreciation has been reversed.
Errors found in two more time intervals are corrected identically: in the second and third.
An error of the previous reporting year, which is not significant, detected after the date of signing the financial statements for this year, is corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts in the month of the reporting year in which it was discovered. Profit or loss resulting from the correction of this error is reflected in other income or expenses of the current reporting period (clause 14 of PBU 22/2010).
Example 3
In December 2012, the organization received a batch of components in the amount of 400 pieces, the actual unit cost is 3265 rubles. They were purchased under an agency agreement, for which 63,720 rubles were transferred to the agent, including VAT of 9,720 rubles. These expenses were taken into account in the same year as expenses for ordinary activities. In the products sold in the IV quarter of 2012, 20 pieces were used. components from the mentioned batch, the remaining components were included in the products manufactured in 2013. In November of this year, the accounting department discovered the incorrectness of the reflection of the operation for accounting for intermediary services. At this point, products were sold, which included 360 copies of components.
The agent’s remuneration associated with the purchase of inventories, by virtue of paragraph 6 of the Accounting Regulations “Accounting for inventories” (PBU 5/01) (approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 09.06.01 No. 44n) are included in their actual cost. Proceeding from this, the cost of a unit of components during their posting should be increased by 135 rubles. ((63,720 rubles - 9,720 rubles) / 400 pieces × 1 piece), thereby increasing the actual cost to 3,400 rubles. (3265 + 135).
Inclusion in 2012 in expenses for ordinary activities of the entire amount of payment for the agent's services - 54,000 rubles. (63 720 - 9720) - implemented incorrectly. The organization had the right to take into account only a part of it - 2700 rubles. (135 rubles / piece × 20 pieces), which accounts for 20 pieces. components included in the products sold in the fourth quarter of 2012. According to the accounting statement prepared in November to correct the incorrect reflection of the operation in 2012, the following entries are made:
Debit 10 Credit 91-1
54 000 rub. - the remuneration to the agent is reflected;
Debit 91-2 Credit 10
2700 rub. - part of the agent's remuneration was taken into account, attributable to 20 components included in the products sold in the 4th quarter of 2012.
The given accounting option is more detailed and clear, but it leads to an overestimation of the turnover on account 91 by 2700 rubles. This can be bypassed if you use one wiring:
Debit 10 Credit 91-1
RUB 51,300 (135 rubles / piece × (400 pieces - 20 pieces)) - reflects the part of the agent's remuneration related to 380 copies of components registered as of January 1, 2013.
Since at the time the error was discovered, 360 pieces were used in the products sold. (380 - 20) components, then the part of the remuneration attributable to them, 48,600 rubles. (135 rubles / piece × 360 pieces), is taken into account in the costs of ordinary activities:
Debit 20 Credit 10
48 600 rub. - part of the remuneration to the agent is taken into account, attributable to 360 components included in the products sold in 2013.
As of December 1, 20 copies of components worth 3,400 rubles continue to be in accounting.
According to clause 4 of PBU 22/2010, not only identified errors, but also their consequences, are subject to mandatory correction. Therefore, if, as a result of correcting an error, the expenses accepted for accounting lead to recalculations for income tax, then the amount of tax liabilities is also subject to correction.
Profit or loss resulting from the correction of an insignificant error of the previous year, as mentioned above, is accounted for on account 91. Such an error correction rule may lead to the need to apply the Accounting Regulation “Accounting for corporate income tax calculations” (PBU 18/02 ) (approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated November 19, 2002 No. 114n). This will be required in a situation where an insignificant error is discovered, the correction of which will increase the accounting profit of the reporting period, and the taxable income tax base of the previous period. Then it will be necessary to submit an updated income tax return for the previous period, and reflect a permanent tax asset in the accounting records (clauses 4–7 of PBU 18/02):
Debit 68 subaccount "Calculations on income tax" Credit 99 subaccount "PNA / PNO"
A permanent tax asset has been accrued.
The Federal Tax Service of Russia believes that even after the entry into force of the second sentence of paragraph 3 of paragraph 1 of Article 54 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the tax base and the amount of tax in the period of detection of an error (distortion) can be recalculated only if it is impossible to determine the period of the error (distortion) in calculating the tax bases. In all other cases, the taxpayer must submit updated tax calculations for the period in which the error was made (letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated August 17, 2011 No. AS-4-3 / 13421). Following such urgent recommendations of fiscals leads to the need to accrue a permanent tax liability:
Debit 99 subaccount "PNA / PNO" Credit 68 subaccount "Calculations for income tax"
A permanent tax liability has been accrued.
In this case, the taxpayer in the financial statements will need to reflect the amount of income tax that he must pay according to the revised declaration. Moreover, in the income statement, the amount of income tax surcharge due to the discovery of errors in previous years, which does not affect the current income tax of the reporting period, should be reflected separately - in a separate line after the current income tax indicator (paragraph 22 of PBU 18/02, letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 10.12.04 No. 07-05-14/328, dated 08.23.04 No. 07-05-14/219). Thus, in the line "Current income tax" of the income statement, the same amount of income tax must be indicated as in the declaration for this tax.
Significant Errors
As is known, according to general rule an economic entity obliged to prepare accounting (financial) statements must submit one mandatory copy of the annual accounting (financial) statements to the state statistics body at the place of state registration. A mandatory copy of the prepared annual accounting (financial) statements shall be submitted no later than three months after the end of the reporting period (clauses 1, 2, article 18 of Law No. 402-FZ), that is, no later than March 31.
Within the same time frame, the annual accounting (financial) statements must be submitted to the tax authority at the location of the organization (subclause 5, clause 1, article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
This reporting must be approved by the owners in the manner prescribed in the constituent documents. But the constituent documents of both limited liability companies and joint-stock companies may provide for longer periods for holding an annual meeting at which the financial statements are approved. So, the next general meeting:
- in an LLC must be carried out no later than 4 months after the end of the reporting year (until April 30 inclusive) (Article 34 of the Federal Law of February 8, 1998 No. 14-FZ “On Limited Liability Companies”);
- JSC - no later than 6 months after the end of the financial year (until June 30) (clause 1, article 47, subparagraph 11, clause 1, article 48 of the Federal Law of December 26, 1995 No. 208-FZ "On Joint Stock Companies") .
The annual report of these companies is subject to prior approval by the person exercising the functions of the sole executive body of the company (for joint-stock companies - in the absence of a board of directors (supervisory board) in the company), no later than 30 days before the date of the annual general meeting of shareholders (clause 4 of article 88 of Law No. 208-FZ, paragraph 3 of Article 37 of Law No. 14-FZ). Therefore, the date of signing of the annual report (the date indicated on the report sent to users) may be earlier than the date of its approval.
Significant error of the previous reporting year, revealed after the date of signing the financial statements for this year, but before the date of submission of such statements to shareholders of a joint-stock company, participants in a limited liability company, a state authority, a local government body or other body authorized to exercise the rights of the owner, etc. p., corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts for December of the reporting year. If the specified financial statements were submitted to any other users, then they must be replaced with statements in which the identified material error has been corrected (hereinafter referred to as the revised financial statements) (clause 7 PBU 22/2010).
Example 4
When compiling reports for 2013, a significant error was revealed: the cost of materials in the amount of 940,000 rubles was taken into account twice in the cost of repairing the production facility. The bug was discovered in March 2014. The annual report for 2013 has already been signed, but has not yet been submitted to the company's members. However, reporting with a material error had already been transferred to the counterparty by that time in order to consider the issue of the possibility of concluding a contract.
In this case, in the accounting of the organization in March 2014, it is necessary to make a corrective entry (reversal), dated December 31, 2013:
Debit 20 Credit 10
RUB 940,000 - the amount of materials erroneously accounted for in 2013 in the material costs for the repair of a production facility was reversed.
This entry entails a revision of the indicators of reporting forms and a re-submission of the corrected statements to the counterparty.
A significant error of the previous reporting year, revealed after the presentation of the financial statements for this year to the above persons, but before the date of approval of such statements in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of the Russian Federation, is also corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts for December of the reporting year. At the same time, revised financial statements are submitted to all addresses to which the initial financial statements were submitted. The revised financial statements disclose information that these financial statements replace the originally presented financial statements, as well as the grounds for their preparation (clause 8 PBU 22/2010).
Example 5
Let's slightly change the condition of example 4: before finding a significant error, the financial statements were submitted to the tax office.
The revised financial statements, which take into account the correction of a significant error in double-counting materials in the costs of repairing a production facility, must be submitted to the inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service of Russia. By submitting it, the taxpayer indicates that it replaces the originally submitted financial statements.
Correction of a significant error of the previous reporting year, identified after the approval of the financial statements for this year, is carried out as follows.
The error is corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts in the current reporting period. In this case, the corresponding account in the records is account 84 “Retained earnings (uncovered loss)”.
In addition, the comparative indicators of the financial statements for the reporting periods reflected in the financial statements of the organization for the current reporting year are recalculated. Recalculation of comparative indicators of financial statements is carried out by correcting the indicators of financial statements, as if the error of the previous reporting period had never been made (retrospective recalculation).
The specified recalculation of comparative reporting indicators can be omitted if it is impossible:
- to establish the connection of this error with a specific period;
- determine the impact of the error on a cumulative total for all previous reporting periods.
If a significant error was made before the beginning of the earliest of the previous reporting periods presented in the financial statements for the current reporting year, then the opening balances for the relevant items of assets, liabilities and equity at the beginning of the earliest of the reporting periods presented are subject to adjustment.
Example 6
At the end of 2013, the accounting department discovered an error in the formation of the initial cost of the production building, which was put into operation in 2003. As a result, the amount of monthly depreciation was underestimated, but at the same time the amount of expenses for ordinary activities was overestimated.
This mistake affected a number of indicators in subsequent years:
- firstly, on the amount of production costs;
- secondly, on the cost of output;
- thirdly, on the cost of sales and, in the end, on the financial result.
The accounting department of the organization considered that it was too difficult to recalculate all the indicators for more than ten years. In reality, only the data for 2011–2013 can be recalculated.
Based on this, it is necessary to calculate the total amount of depreciation undercharged for 2003–2010. After that, it is necessary to adjust in the reporting as of January 1, 2011, at least the indicators of the residual value of fixed assets and the amount of retained earnings (loss).
In the profit and loss statement in the column “for 2012”, the indicator entered in line 2110 “Cost of sales” increases by the additional accrued depreciation amount for the year, and the indicated values in line 2100 “Gross profit (loss)”, 2200 “Profit (loss) ) from sales”, 2300 “Profit (loss) before taxation” are reduced by this amount.
The indicators entered in lines 2410 "Current income tax" and "Net profit (loss)" are also reduced.
In addition to the annual forms of the balance sheet and income statement, the annual form of the statement of changes in equity is subject to adjustment. In particular, in section 2 “Adjustment due to a change in accounting policy and the correction of errors” of the named form in the column “Change in capital due to net profit (loss)” in lines 3421 “Adjustment due to the correction of errors” and 3501 “Retained earnings ( loss) after adjustments” indicators will change.
If it is impossible to determine the impact of a material error on one previous reporting period presented in the financial statements or more, then the organization should adjust the opening balance for the relevant items of assets, liabilities and equity at the beginning of the earliest of the periods for which restatement is possible.
The impact of a material error on the previous reporting period cannot be determined if (clause 13 PBU 22/2010):
- complex and (or) numerous calculations are required, during which it is impossible to isolate information that indicates circumstances that existed at the date of the error, or
- it is necessary to use information received after the date of approval of the financial statements for such a previous reporting period.
In case of correction of a significant error of the previous reporting year, identified after the approval of the financial statements, the approved financial statements for previous reporting periods are not subject to revision, replacement and re-submission to users of financial statements (clause 10 PBU 22/2010).
If it is impossible to determine the impact of a material error on one or more previous reporting periods presented in the financial statements, then in the explanatory notes to the annual financial statements, by virtue of paragraph 16 of PBU 22/2010, it is necessary to disclose the reasons for this, and also provide a description of the method for reflecting the correction of a material error in financial statements of the organization and indicate the period from which the corrections were made.
Small businesses have the right to correct a significant error of the previous reporting year, identified after the approval of the financial statements for this year, in the manner prescribed for correcting errors of the previous reporting year that are not material, identified after the date of signing the financial statements for this year, without a retrospective recalculation (paragraph 6 p. 9 PBU 22/2010). Consequently, these economic entities correct the indicated error by making entries in the relevant accounting accounts in the month of the reporting year in which it was discovered. Profit or loss resulting from the correction of such an error is recognized as part of other income or expenses of the current reporting period.
Errors made in accounting distort the real financial condition of the organization. And this, in turn, can mislead interested users of such information. Therefore, it is desirable for an economic entity not only to detect such errors in a timely manner, but also to classify them correctly in order to properly reflect changes in accounting and reporting.
Not in all cases, incorrect reflection (non-reflection) of the facts of economic activity should be considered an error for the purposes of PBU 22/2010. According to paragraph 8 of clause 2 of PBU 22/2010, inaccuracies or omissions in the reflection of the facts of economic activity in the accounting and (or) financial statements of the organization, identified as a result of obtaining new information that was not available to the organization at the time of reflection (non-reflection) of such business facts. Therefore, error detection in the future has nothing to do with obtaining new information.
Valuation errors are associated with incorrect determination of the initial or actual value of assets, depreciation, calculation of the cost of inventories when they are written off, etc. Most often they arise as a result of incomplete or incorrect application of the requirements of the relevant RAS and other regulatory accounting acts.
Specific errors constitute the third group of errors. They usually occur when using incorrectly configured accounting computer programs(no changes in accounting regulations or accounting policy provisions were tracked), as well as due to computer failures. For example, some of the data entered into a computer may be lost due to computer viruses, a sudden power outage, or a computer breakdown.
Errors in primary documents created manually are corrected in a proofreading way: the wrong text or amount is crossed out and the corrected text or amount is inscribed above the crossed out text. Strikethrough is done with one line so that you can read the corrected one. In this case, the correction of the error must be accompanied by the inscription “corrected”, confirmed by the signature of the persons who signed the document, and the date of correction must also be indicated (section 4 of the Regulation on documents and workflow in accounting, approved by the USSR Ministry of Finance on July 29, 1983 No. 105, letter from the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 31.03.09 No. 03-07-14/38).
With the “generalization” method, a generalized posting is made, bringing the entries in the accounting accounts in the reporting period to the state that it would be in the case of an initially correct reflection of the operation. This method allows you not to distort the indicators (cost, revenue, etc.) of the current reporting period. This method is used for errors of past periods.
The rules for correcting significant errors to be found in each of these periods are different. And the later an error is discovered, the more difficult the procedure for correcting it. But before we consider them, let's turn to the provision for correcting minor errors.
If, during the preparation of the annual report in any month of the fourth quarter, an insignificant error related to 2013 is found, then it should be corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts in the month of the reporting year in which it was detected (clause 5 PBU 22/2010 ).
When correcting an error in both accounting and tax accounting in the same period, there is no need to refer to PBU 18/02. For example, if an error led to the excessive payment of income tax for the previous year, then the taxpayer, by virtue of paragraph 3 of clause 1 of Article 54 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, has the right to correct it in the current tax period. Consequently, there is no difference in the amounts of expenses taken into account in accounting and tax accounting in the period of detection of an error.
The procedure for correcting material errors identified before the end of the reporting year or after the end of this year, but before the date of signing the financial statements for this year, is the same as when correcting identical minor errors. They are corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts (clauses 5 and 6 of PBU 22/2010):
- in the first case - in the month of the reporting year in which the error was detected;
- in the second - for December of the reporting year.
Retrospective recalculation is made in relation to comparative indicators starting from the previous reporting period presented in the financial statements for the current reporting year in which the corresponding error was made.
Vladimir MALYSHKO, PBU expert
It always seems that the last months before the new year remain the calmest for every accountant, because one report has already been submitted, and the second has not yet begun. But in reality, everything is different, at the end of the year, all accountants prepare for the final closing of the year, look for errors in the documentation and submit updated reports and declarations. With the latter, problems and misunderstandings most often arise.
How can I submit a balance sheet for 2018 so as not to break the law: news
There are quite a few reasons why an accountant may have to make an adjusted balance sheet. Specialists working with accounting programs say that chief accountants very often ask to put a ban on adjusting the database by company employees. So, the situation: an ordinary accountant working in an organization receives documents in November that date back, for example, to the 1st quarter of the current year. They should be entered during the closed period. After that, the balance begins to change, and the chief accountant cannot control the figures for which reporting was made both for the 1st quarter of the year and for the remaining nine months. Another reason for the inconsistency of data in accounting is the inventory and its results.
When all reporting was done manually, the regulatory documents clearly indicated how to make adjustments correctly. Today step-by-step instruction provided only for credit and budget organizations. In commercial offices, accountants make an updated balance sheet without any criteria. For example, most chief accountants of Russia make adjustments in a very original way: they submit an updated balance sheet (namely, accounting, not tax). In fact, it is forbidden to change financial statements after they have been approved, but few people think about it.
In the professional environment, there is such an expression as "replaced balance". After verification, the client is advised to replace the incorrect balance in the tax reporting with the correct one. All this is happening, despite the fact that from the order of the Ministry of Finance on July 29, 1998, in paragraph 34, this is prohibited. It can be concluded that most accountants simply forget about the existence of such a norm and do as their soul tells them. Therefore, it is not surprising that the majority of inspections today refuse to accept the adjusted balance sheet.
If your documentation is still accepted by your inspection, then it’s too early to start rejoicing at this, this does not mean at all that there are no errors in your revised accounting reports. In such situations, you should wait a bit. If you did not say in your cover letter that the revised balance sheet is being handed over due to a technical error when entering information into the form, then there is a possibility of receiving an administrative fine for such a violation of accounting rules.
The whole problem is that in the Code of Administrative Offenses, in Article 15.11, it is considered an inadmissible violation to fill in one line with a distortion of numbers by more than ten percent. As we have already learned, it is forbidden to correct the balance, therefore such clarifications will be calculated as carelessness and an accountant's mistake.
How can you solve the situation in 2018
Fans of refined balances not only make mistakes themselves, but also provoke the mistakes of others. All the forums that are at least somehow related to accounting give a lot of wrong advice. When a forum user starts complaining that the tax inspectorate refuses to accept the corrected balance for past periods, other users immediately begin to resent the incompetence and tyranny of the tax authorities and demand to go to the head of the inspectorate or demand a document confirming the refusal to accept the balance sheet. Other users will laugh no less, they declare that in the Tax Code of our country the obligation to submit updated accounting is not spelled out at all, and it is only about declarations.
Only a few understanding accountants state that all corrections will be made in the current period and be marked as for the selected period. Of course, you should issue an accounting certificate, which describes all the transactions, and also indicates that all operations were carried out in accordance with the audit report and such and such adjustments were made. After checking, it is necessary to present only this certificate to the tax office, and in the event that the tax authorities begin to be interested in the discrepancy between the numbers in the accounting registers and the primary.
correct and helpful tips very often for some reason they are ignored and criticized by other users. The fact is that, of course, it is much easier to immediately make adjustments to the database and redo the balance sheet than to fill out a certificate and display all accounting registers on paper. Modern supporters of accounting with their views do not understand that a violation in the maintenance of accounting documents can be punished by law and an administrative fine is issued for this.
Rules of conduct with the tax authorities
For 9 months, accountants submit the same reporting form as for six months. Some accountants in offices prefer to send all documents by mail, so they still receive “refunds” for the 1st quarter of this year on declarations that were filled out incorrectly or last year's forms were used.
Today, not every tax office decides to report an error to accountants, but still continues to wait for changes. Some immediately notify that the reporting has not been submitted. In this case, there is every likelihood of receiving an administrative fine, as well as being liable under Articles 119 and 126 of the Tax Code of Russia. Another "surprise" that you may encounter if you submit papers incorrectly is the freezing of bank accounts. Therefore, Russian “one-day” firms prefer to submit declarations on forms that correspond to the established model.
It was interesting to find out what answers tax inspectors give to questions about outdated declarations, what is their fate (we are talking about those documents that were sent in a postal envelope). They say that the "undelivered" declaration is ubiquitous today. There are piles of such documents in the offices of the tax authorities, so if some other declaration is among them, this will not change things.
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If your tax office is unfriendly and has already written you a round sum as a fine, then you can try to go to court. If you sent the declaration in a timely manner, but it is placed on the old form, then this will be a circumstance that will mitigate your responsibility before the law. Moscow judges argue that the outdated form of the declaration does not become an obstacle even at the time of tax reimbursement from the budget.
