1. Each fact of economic life is subject to registration with a primary accounting document. It is not allowed to accept for accounting documents documents that document facts of economic life that have not taken place, including those underlying imaginary and sham transactions.

2. Mandatory details of the primary accounting document are:

1) name of the document;

2) date of preparation of the document;

3) the name of the economic entity that compiled the document;

5) the value of the natural and (or) monetary measurement of a fact of economic life, indicating the units of measurement;

6) the name of the position of the person (persons) who completed the transaction, operation and the person(s) responsible for its execution, or the name of the position of the person(s) responsible for the execution of the accomplished event;

(see text in the previous edition)

7) signatures of the persons provided for in paragraph 6 of this part, indicating their surnames and initials or other details necessary to identify these persons.

3. The primary accounting document must be drawn up when a fact of economic life is committed, and if this is not possible, immediately after its completion. The person responsible for registration of the fact of economic life ensures the timely transfer of primary accounting documents for registration of the data contained in them in registers accounting, as well as the reliability of this data. The person entrusted with maintaining accounting records and the person with whom an agreement has been concluded for the provision of accounting services are not responsible for the compliance of primary accounting documents compiled by other persons with accomplished facts of economic life.

(see text in the previous edition)

4. The forms of primary accounting documents are determined by the head of the economic entity on the recommendation of the official responsible for maintaining accounting records. Forms of primary accounting documents for public sector organizations are established in accordance with budget legislation Russian Federation.

(see text in the previous edition)

5. The primary accounting document is drawn up on paper and (or) in the form of an electronic document signed with an electronic signature.

6. If the legislation of the Russian Federation or an agreement provides for the submission of a primary accounting document to another person or to a government body on paper, the economic entity is obliged, at the request of another person or government agency at your own expense, make hard copies of the primary accounting document compiled in the form of an electronic document.

7. Corrections are allowed in the primary accounting document, unless otherwise established by federal laws or regulatory legal acts of state accounting regulatory bodies. The correction in the primary accounting document must contain the date of the correction, as well as the signatures of the persons who compiled the document in which the correction was made, indicating their surnames and initials or other details necessary to identify these persons.

8. If, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, primary accounting documents, including in the form of an electronic document, are seized, copies of the seized documents, made in the manner established by the legislation of the Russian Federation, are included in the accounting documents.

Federal Law 402-FZ “On Accounting” describes all accounting and primary documents. They are needed mainly for tax purposes - as documents that confirm the expenses you have incurred and the correctness of determining the tax base.

Primary documents must be stored for 4 years. During this time, the tax office may request them at any time to check you or your counterparties. “Primary” is also used in litigation in disputes with counterparties.

Primary accounting documents are drawn up at the time of implementation business transactions and testify to their completion. The list of documents accompanying a particular transaction may vary depending on the type of transaction. The preparation of all necessary primary documents is usually carried out by the supplier. Special attention You need to pay attention to those documents that arise during transactions where you are the buyer, because these are your expenses, and therefore you are more interested in complying with the letter of the law than your supplier.

Separation of primary documents by business stages

All transactions can be divided into 3 stages:

Stage 1. You agree on the terms of the deal

The result will be:

  • contract;
  • an invoice for payment.

Stage 2. Payment for the transaction occurs

Confirm payment:

    an extract from the current account, if the payment was made by bank transfer, or by acquiring, or through payment systems where money is transferred from your current account;

  • cash receipts, receipts for cash receipt orders, strict reporting forms - if payment was made in cash. In most cases, this payment method is used by your employees when they take money on account. Settlements between organizations are rarely in the form of cash.

Stage 3. Receipt of goods or services

It is imperative to confirm that the goods have actually been received and the service has been provided. Without this, the tax office will not allow you to reduce the tax on money spent. Confirm receipt:

  • waybill - for goods;
  • sales receipt - usually issued in conjunction with a cash receipt, or if the product is sold by an individual entrepreneur;
  • certificate of work performed/services rendered.

Mandatory primary documents

Despite the variability of transactions, there is a list of mandatory documents that are drawn up for any type of transaction:

  • contract;
  • check;
  • strict reporting forms, cash register, sales receipt;
  • invoice;
  • certificate of work performed (services rendered).

Agreement

When carrying out a transaction, an agreement is concluded with the client, which specifies all the details of the upcoming business transactions: payment procedures, shipment of goods, deadlines for completing work or conditions for the provision of services.

The contract regulates the rights and obligations of the parties. Ideally, each transaction should be accompanied by a separate agreement for the supply of goods or services. However, with long-term cooperation and the implementation of similar operations, one can conclude one general agreement. The agreement is drawn up in two copies with stamps and signatures of each party.

Some transactions do not require a written contract. For example, a sales contract is concluded from the moment the buyer receives a cash or sales receipt.

An invoice for payment

An invoice is an agreement under which a supplier fixes the price of its goods or services.

The buyer accepts the terms of the agreement by making the appropriate payment. The form of the invoice for payment is not strictly regulated, so each company has the right to develop its own form of this document. In the invoice, you can specify the terms of the transaction: terms, notification of advance payment, payment and delivery procedures, etc.

In accordance with Article 9-FZ “On Accounting”, the signature of the director or chief accountant and seal are not required for this document. But they should not be neglected in order to avoid questions from counterparties and the state. The invoice does not allow you to make demands on the supplier - it only fixes the price of the product or service. At the same time, the buyer retains the right to demand a refund in the event of unjust enrichment of the supplier.

Payment documents: cash receipts, strict reporting forms (SSR)

This group of primary documents allows you to confirm the fact of payment for the purchased goods or services.

Payment documents include sales and cash receipts, financial statements, payment requests and orders. The buyer can receive the order from the bank by paying by bank transfer. The buyer receives a cash or goods receipt from the supplier when paying in cash.

Bill of lading or sales receipt

Sales receipts, as we said above, are issued when selling goods to individuals or by the individuals themselves.

Invoices are used primarily by legal entities to register the release/sale of goods or inventory items and their further receipt by the client.

The invoice must be prepared in two copies. The first remains with the supplier as a document confirming the fact of transfer of goods, and the second copy is transferred to the buyer.

The data on the invoice must match the numbers on the invoice.

The authorized person responsible for the release of goods must put his signature and the organization’s seal on the invoice. The party receiving the goods is also obliged to sign and certify it with a seal on the delivery note. The use of a facsimile signature is permitted, but this must be recorded in the contract.

Certificate of services rendered (work performed)

is a two-sided primary document that confirms the fact of a transaction, the cost and timing of services or work.

The act is issued by the contractor to his client based on the results of the provision of services or work performed. This primary document confirms the compliance of the services provided (work performed) with the terms of the concluded contract.

Invoice

An invoice is a document that is needed solely to control the movement of VAT. Invoices are usually issued in conjunction with delivery notes or acts. There are invoices for advance payments.

This primary document is strictly regulated. He contains:

  • information about amounts of funds;
  • texture part.

An invoice is the basis for accepting the presented VAT amounts for deduction. All enterprises paying VAT are required to write it out.

IN Lately UPD is a popular universal transfer document. This document replaces the pair invoice + invoice or act + invoice.

Conduct business in a convenient online service for calculating salaries and sending reports to the Federal Tax Service, Pension Fund and Social Insurance Fund. The service automatically generates primary documents and UPD.

Primary accounting documents are used in every enterprise. They are all important in their own way and should be mandatory taken into account in the work. They are drawn up in accordance with the forms of primary accounting documents of accounting registers. Their full list and design rules are presented in this article.

Design features

Speaking about primary documents, we mean those papers that are responsible for each of the economic events that occurred at the enterprise. When preparing this type of documentation, every accountant must remember that there are no specific and clearly recorded forms of primary documents and accounting registers. The choice rests with the enterprise. It is it that decides which of the possible forms is convenient for it to use in its activities. It is also important when preparing the form of primary accounting documents to indicate all details. They just have a mandatory list, from which nothing can be excluded. It is worth noting that information about what form of primary accounting documents the company uses must be specified in the company’s accounting policy. This is very important point.

List of primary accounting documents

The primary list includes nine important papers:

  1. Packing list.
  2. Calculation forms.
  3. Record of acceptance.
  4. Documents on the movement of fixed assets.
  5. Money orders.
  6. Papers for cash transactions.
  7. Advance report.
  8. Accounting information.
  9. An act prescribing offset.

This list of primary accounting documents is generally accepted and used in all enterprises.

Packing list

This primary accounting document is intended to reflect all movements of inventory items. The invoice must contain the data also specified in the invoice. It is worth noting that this paper must be prepared in two copies. The signature of the head and the seal of the organization are used to certify this document. As for the form for issuing an invoice, enterprises usually use TORG-12. It is usually used by wholesale companies. The form must contain the details of both the agreement on the basis of which the transaction is carried out and the details of the delivery note. It also includes information about the participants in the transaction and the goods being transferred. The delivery note must contain information about the attached papers. As for signatures, both parties put them. It is important to know that those organizations whose work does not involve the use of a seal have the right not to certify this type of document with it.

Payment forms

The payroll statement is drawn up according to form T-49. The form of this primary accounting document is numbered 0301009. Its use is limited only to enterprises conducting budgetary or government activities. According to this document, a full account and further accrual are made wages employees. The main data of this type of form are the timesheet, tariff rate, amount of deductions and offsets. Other organizations, as well as individual entrepreneurs issue salaries to their staff in the form 0504401. The basis for calculations here is also the time sheet. The need for this documentation is determined by the need to reduce document flow in the organization. This primary accounting document is compiled by accounting department employees, who, after preparing the papers, transfer them to the cash desk. After all the funds specified in the document have been issued to the personnel, it should be returned to the accounting department. The form handed over to the cashiers must be signed by the head of the enterprise.

Record of acceptance

The reason for drawing up this primary accounting document is the transfer to the customer of work or services performed by the enterprise. He confirms that all agreements have been complied with and the customer is satisfied with the results obtained. The form of the act does not have a mandatory established format. But there is a list of data that it must contain. It includes such marks as the name of the company, the date the document was generated, a reflection of the person who compiled the document, the format of the work, positions and signatures of the responsible persons. There is also a unified form KS-2. It does not apply to all types of work or services. it can only be used if the contractor is engaged in capital construction. If this form is finalized, it can be used during construction and installation work at civil or residential facilities.

Documents on the movement of fixed assets

In this case, enterprise employees use the following types of primary documentation:

  • Form OS-1 - an act describing the fact of acceptance or transfer of fixed assets. This form of primary accounting documents is used in the case of transfer of objects. It is worth noting that buildings or structures are not included in this category.
  • OS-1a - this form applies to buildings or structures.
  • OS-4 - is issued in case of write-off of fixed assets of the enterprise.
  • INV-1 is an inventory list. Suitable for recording the fact of inventory.
  • INV-1a - suitable for inventory of intangible assets.

Each of these forms has a unified form. Its use is mandatory when preparing primary accounting documentation.

Money orders

This paper is drawn up in accordance with the OKUD form 0401060. When creating the form, several stages of filling out should be followed:

  1. Entering the number and date of payment.
  2. Indicate the type of payment in a special column. In this case, you can use a mark such as “Urgent” or “Mail”.
  3. Register the payer status. There are 28 codes from 01 to 28. These can be taxpayers, banks, credit organizations and others.
  4. Entering the payment amount. It must be written down in words and numbers.
  5. The sender's details should include TIN, KPP, name, and bank details.
  6. You should also enter similar details of the recipient.
  7. This stage involves specifying additional codes and ciphers - type, order and code.
  8. Entering information about subsequent payment.
  9. Signing of the PP.

Depending on the type of payment, this form must be filled out in full or in part.

Papers for cash transactions

In this case, it is possible to issue two basic forms. The first is an incoming cash order, the second is an outgoing order. Thus, PKO is issued in cases when new funds arrive at the cash desk. The format of this primary accounting document is regulated by the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation. Fill it out on paper using form KO-1 or in in electronic format. The document is signed by the chief accountant and remains for storage in the accounting department. As for the expense cash order, the features of its design are similar. The only difference is the goal. It is filled out in cases of cash issuance. Another feature of it is the wide range of filling options - it can be Word and Excel. Primary accounting documentation of this type is drawn up in the KO-2 form.

Advance report

Like all primary documents and accounting registers, this form is a report on the activities of the enterprise. In fact, an advance report is drawn up in cases where an employee needs to account for the funds he received from the cash register and spent on the needs of the company. The main information included in this form is:

  • The amount of funds received by an employee of the enterprise.
  • The purpose for which the funds were spent.
  • Actual expenses.
  • Remains or surpluses that the employee had to pay from his budget.

These positions are certainly very important, but they are considered invalid if supporting documents are not attached to the advance report form. As for the preparation of this type of primary documentation, it is simplified due to the presence of a unified form. It is called AO-1. If a company wishes to develop its own form, this is also permitted. The most important thing is to include all the necessary details in the document. Most often, enterprises use a unified form. The form is issued in a single copy within three days from the day the money is issued. The document must be approved by the supervisor of the employee who submitted the report. You can submit an advance report either in paper or electronic form.

Accounting information

This type of primary documentation is prepared under three conditions:

  1. If there is a need to correct an error made during the formation of standard accounting transactions.
  2. To carry out an operation that requires manual spread of accruals.
  3. When registering transactions that involve non-standard accounting documents.

Most often, accounting statements are still used to indicate errors. This document can be called universal, since it is suitable both for the current period and for any others. The advantage of this form for the current period is the ability to maintain correct amounts for turnover. This is implemented by introducing a reversal or additional posting of amounts. A clearly established form of accounting certificate applies only to government agencies. Other taxpayers have the right to use their own form. It is only important that it includes the following information:

  1. Name of company.
  2. The title of the document and the date it was created.
  3. The essence of the operation.
  4. Required amounts and quantities.
  5. Signatures of all persons responsible.

It is worth noting that if an enterprise plans to use its own form, then it must indicate this fact in its accounting policy.

An act prescribing offset

The essence of this form is to reflect the repayment of mutual debts between the enterprise and the employee. In order to carry out an offset, it is necessary to fill out a deed and an agreement for the conduct of this operation. The act is drawn up at the stage when the company presents counter-debt to its employee and it is convenient for the parties to offset it against the debt. If such conditions are convenient for both participants, then a special agreement is drawn up confirming the parties’ desire to set off.

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Primary documents of the accounting report are the most important link in the document flow of any company. Without them, it will not be possible not only to correctly calculate all income, expenses and receipts, but also to correctly calculate (and even more so, confirm with the tax authorities) deductions to tax office. What is a “primary” and what are the requirements for it? Let's figure it out.

It is necessary to understand what is generally meant by this definition. So, primary accounting documents are confirmation of business transactions carried out at the enterprise that brought some economic effect. This is a supporting document - for example, some kind of invoice.

These documents are important not only for accounting purposes. They are necessary to comply tax legislation and confirmation of all ongoing operations. Using primary documents, you can determine the scope of the company's obligations to the state. The tax office will require these certificates to verify the accuracy of the calculations.

Primary documents must be drawn up immediately at the time of the operation, or immediately after its completion. But the latter is only possible if it is not possible to deal with paperwork during the process.

And it is worth remembering that such delays are highly discouraged and are allowed only in exceptional situations.

What is "primary"

This type of document is the one that confirms already completed business actions. For example, buying a new lathe. Without primary documentation capable of confirming this or that action, it is impossible to enter expenses/income or the receipt of anything in the accounting book.

Primary documents can be either electronic or paper - there is no difference. The only feature of such electronic document management: confirmation requires electronic signature. However, some businesses may limit their use of digital capabilities. According to the terms of the contract or in some cases regulated by law, it is possible to require the provision of only a paper “primary” document.

The primary accounting document must contain all the necessary information for accounting economic activity. Otherwise, tax problems may arise. If you cannot confirm any expense or income, the amount of deductions may increase.

Such a document is proof of the fact that some action was taken in the organization’s economy that affected the economic situation.

List of accounting documents

Interestingly, the law does not regulate specific documents, so you can choose from many acceptable options. This will allow you to adjust the convenience of reporting. But what kind of “primary” is there anyway?

  1. Agreement. Contains specific terms of a business transaction. It lists all the financial nuances and the responsibility of all parties involved for implementation.
  2. Packing list. Listing of all services provided or goods transferred. It is kept by each participant in the transaction - you will need to make copies.
  3. Transfer and Acceptance Certificate. Confirms that the service was performed in full and its quality satisfies the agreed upon. This act confirms the acceptance of the work performed and, accordingly, the full approval of the customer.
  4. Transfer and acceptance certificate No. OS-1. Unlike the previous document, it is used in recording activities with the input and output of fixed assets.
  5. Check. Confirmation of willingness to pay for a product or service. The invoice may list additional conditions and prices for the services provided. This document also allows you to return money.
  6. Payslip. Used to solve business problems related to personnel. That is, these statements take into account all salary situations. It is necessary to include not only the salary itself in the payslip. But also all bonuses, overtime, incentives and other cash “infusions” into the employee.
  7. Cash documents. Necessary for accounting for financial transactions for the sale of goods or services. This category includes not only cash book, but also receipt and expense orders.

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Naturally, all these documents are drawn up differently depending on established rules and orders. The basic rules are defined and must be followed when creating a primary.

Classification of primary documents

There are several ways to categorize accounting records. This significantly simplifies the definition and document flow itself. Grouping occurs according to certain principles and features.

So, the primary documents are divided:

  1. By purpose. There are administrative ones - powers of attorney and payment orders; executive/exculpatory – pay slips and certificates of work performed; accounting documents – statements, calculations and certificates; combined – cash orders, advance reports and claims; and strict reporting forms - subscriptions, receipt books, and so on.
  2. By volume of data content. The actual primary documents are included - cash orders and checks; and consolidated primary documents - cash reports for a certain period and statements.
  3. According to the method of reflecting business transactions. There are one-time reports - cash reports; and accumulative statements and limit cards.
  4. By place of compilation. Divided into internal (everything formalized by the organization) and external (received from suppliers, outsourcers, and so on).

This comprehensive classification reflects almost all primary documents that accounting may encounter when preparing reports.

Accounting registers for primary

Each primary document received by the accounting department must be registered. Therefore, there are special accounting registers. These are special counting tables made in a specific form. They are necessary to collect information about business transactions on accounts and not get confused in a bunch of certificates, invoices, and so on.

Accounting registers are different. As a rule, they are divided into the following categories:

  1. By appointment. This includes chronological (documents are recorded as they appear), systematic (the primary document is recorded taking into account its grouping characteristics). The combination of these two types is called synchronistic registers - ideally this is what accounting should do.
  2. By summarizing the data. Integrated (from particular to general) and differentiated (from general to particular) registers fall into this category.
  3. By appearance. Everything is very simple - divided by physical fitness register. It can be in the form of a card, book, electronic media, and so on.

Proper maintenance of accounting registers will significantly simplify the task and protect against many problems.

Requirements for primary documentation

Since the primary document is an important part of the accounting document flow, it is necessary to be very careful in maintaining and filling it out. There are certain requirements, norms and standards that will have to be adhered to.

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What should be in the primary

Primary accounting documents must be created according to certain standards so that the tax authorities can accept them without problems, and no one will have problems in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to indicate the following information in the primary document:

  1. The name of a specific document.
  2. Date of preparation.
  3. The name of the subject who (or on whose behalf) this or that action is carried out.
  4. What is the essence of a business transaction?
  5. Business transaction meters. There are cash or in kind. If natural, you must indicate what is being measured.
  6. Persons responsible for the correct conduct of the operation and the preparation of documents for it. Be sure to indicate positions.
  7. Signatures of the persons involved, their full names and other information that will help identify them.

The presence of all this data is necessary not only to confirm that the operation was actually carried out. The information specified in the document will allow, if necessary, to verify all indicators, contact the actors and clarify some points.

Rules for preparing primary documentation

It is important to remember that when creating such documents, it is not enough to simply take into account the data that it should carry. The standards are established certain rules maintaining and creating such papers. If they are violated, or tax inspectors have doubts, you will not only have to redo the document, but also pay a large fine. Especially if the violation is not the first.

  1. Write strictly without errors (including punctuation) and blots. Avoid typos in electronic documents.
  2. You can use any pens. But it is advisable to choose ones that will not smear when writing - this will spread dirt on the paper, which is unacceptable.
  3. It is necessary to draw up documents in case of assumptions that some kind of business transaction will be carried out. As a last resort (which is not recommended at all), you can draw up and submit a primary report immediately after the operation.
  4. Absolutely all calculated data presented in digital form must be duplicated in words.
  5. If there is no data to fill out the details in the initial form, you need to put a dash there. Leaving empty lines is strictly prohibited.

It is important to remember that the more responsible the accountant is in filling out primary documents, the fewer problems the organization will have in the future.

What to do if a mistake has already been made?

In a situation where it is necessary to correct one or another primary document, you need to know what can and cannot be done. So, when correcting errors you can:

  1. Cross out the incorrect information and indicate the correct information next to it. It is necessary to put the signature of the person who corrected the information, as well as the instruction “Believe the corrected” and the specific date when the correction was made.
  2. Make additional notes. It is used if the total values ​​of transactions were executed, but as a result they turned out to be slightly higher. In this case, it is necessary to record the balances in a new document and take them into account in the current or next reporting period.
  3. Perform reversal. That is, correct the entry using negative values: write down the incorrect data in red paste, and then indicate the correct data next to it.

Documents are the starting point of accounting.

Accounting documentation is part of the organization’s management documentation system in accordance with the All-Russian Classification of Management Documentation (OKUD), approved by Decree of the State Standard of Russia of December 30, 1993 No. 299.

Accounting documents can be divided into three levels: primary accounting documentation, accounting registers and reporting accounting documentation.

Let's focus on the primary accounting documentation. These are documents that record the facts of a business transaction. The primary accounting document must be drawn up at the time of the transaction, and if this is not possible, immediately after its completion.

Sample document forms are approved by government agencies. Such forms of documents are called standard or unified.

Accounting documents are classified according to several criteria:

    By purpose:

    Administrative. For example: Orders on accounting policies, on granting leave, on taking inventory, etc.

    Exculpatory (executive). For example: receipts and expenses cash orders, goods and transport, invoices, invoices, acts, delivery notes, etc. An invoice is an appendix to a bill of lading. Compiled in the interests of the tax office

    Accounting documents. For example: payslips, calculation of vacation pay, calculation of temporary disability benefits, calculation of depreciation and others.

    Combined documents – contain both elements. For example, cash receipts.

    By place of compilation:

    internal. For example: invoice for internal movement, PKO, RKO, acts.

    external. For example: TTN, invoice

    According to the degree of generalization of business transactions;

    primary. For example: PKO, RKO, TTN, acts, invoices.

    summary. For example: Cash report, commodity report, advance report, material report.

    By order of use;

    one-time For example: PKO, RKO, acts.

    cumulative. For example: daily pick-up sheet, limit pick-up card.

2.2. Details of accounting documents

Documents consist of individual indicators, which are called details (from the Latin word “required, necessary”).

The set of details of a document determines its form.

In order for a document to serve its purpose, it must be drawn up in accordance with the form accepted for this category of documents.

But in any case, the document must contain the following mandatory details:

    Name of the document (form)

    Form code

    Date of preparation

    Name of the organization that compiled the document

    Business transaction meters

    Last names and positions of responsible persons, their personal signatures.

If the document is an external document, then in addition to personal signatures, the organization's round seal must be affixed to the document.

An electronic document contains the same information as a paper document. The content of an electronic document can be viewed on a computer screen. An electronic document can be printed in paper form. An electronic document can be reproduced in a huge number of completely identical copies, and can be instantly sent to another computer anywhere in the world using email.

But an electronic document is easier to forge than a paper one, unless, of course, special security measures are taken.

Problems of protection against forgery of electronic documents can be solved. In Russia, as in many other countries of the world, the Law on Electronic Signatures has been adopted, aimed at solving this problem.

Electronic documents are already widely used in the communication of enterprises with banks and tax authorities.

All documents in the accounting department are carefully checked from three sides: legal, from the point of view of registration, and arithmetic.

Verified documents are recorded in the document registration log.

Corrections to cash and bank documents are not permitted. Corrections can be made to other primary accounting documents only with the agreement of the participants in business transactions, which must be confirmed by the signatures of the same persons who signed the documents, indicating the date of the corrections.

Currently, special attention is paid to the unification and standardization of documents. Unification of documents is the development of a unified form of Russian documents for registration of homogeneous business transactions in various organizations. In Russia, the forms of cash documents, bank documents, etc. have been unified.

They are mandatory for all areas of activity. Along with the unification important has standardization of documents. Standardization is the establishment of identical standard sizes of standard document forms. When maintaining accounting records, it is important to establish a rational document flow, i.e. an optimal system for generating accounting documents, accepting them for accounting, moving them around the enterprise, their current storage and transfer to the archive. This ensures a high degree of accounting reliability with minimal investment of time and money.