Educational program on checks for an accountant: what checks can now be accepted for accounting, what is required in them, what is not

Almost every organization has accountable expenses. And they always come under the special attention of tax authorities. Do you know why? Because people outside the accounting department are somehow involved in them - your accountants, who do not have such a reverent attitude towards documents as you do. And your ability to influence them is limited. Well, the accountant brought documents with flaws, there is no way to replace or correct them. Won't you accept the costs? You will, of course. And it’s good if such expenses are few and insignificant. What if it's the other way around?

See what you need to warn employees about and what to pay attention to when accepting documents confirming expenses of accountable persons, so as not to have problems with accountable amounts now and in the future.

Important! From November 30, 2020, there are a number of significant changes in the processing of settlements with accountable persons. Read more about them here.

Advance report and general rules for its preparation

So, the organization issues money on account. To begin with, it should be said that the issuance rules have changed a lot recently. However, one thing remains unchanged - the mechanism for working with accountable amounts must be spelled out in the company’s internal documents.

In order for the employee to receive the required amount, the director issues an order . With this order, the accountable person goes to the accounting department and receives money. Currently, it is possible to receive another amount without reporting the previously received amount.

After the funds have been spent, the employee must provide an advance report on them no later than 3 days later, relative to the date established in the order. All supporting documents must be attached to the advance report. It should be remembered that since online cash registers are now widespread, the check can arrive electronically, but it must be printed and attached to the expense report. If the document is lost or not on hand, written explanations must be attached to the report. In this case, only the director (in accordance with the established internal procedure) decides whether to accept expenses without documents as part of the report or not.

If an employee often takes out funds on account and always has a certain amount left on hand, then the tax office may oblige such amounts to be equated to the employee’s income with all the ensuing consequences. In such cases, the courts make decisions in favor of the tax authorities.

What to pay attention to from July 1, 2021

The Law on Online Cash Registers has also made adjustments to the procedure for confirming the legality of using accountable funds. Here you need to pay attention to two main innovations that relate to the use of strict reporting forms and the content of cash receipts .

Do I need to run a cash receipt at the online checkout when making an advance payment (advance payment) for goods?

The transition to online cash registers in 2021 completely changes the cash receipt, supplementing it with a large number of details, which are listed in Article 4.7 of the new edition of Law No. 54-FZ. However, for the purposes of using cash register systems, in the event of receiving an advance payment (or advance payment) from a client, the seller faces the problem of what payment indicator should appear on the check?

However, the question arises: what to do with a cash receipt? After all, with the transition to online cash registers from 2021, the content of this document changes significantly. And among its new details there is a “Calculation Attribute” (clause 1 of Article 4.7 of the new edition of Law No. 54-FZ). This detail indicates the status of the operation for the calculation being performed:

If the employee does not provide a receipt

An employee usually does not provide a receipt in two cases: he lost it or the seller works without a cash register.

It happens that the accountable person simply inadvertently loses the check or the check is damaged. Usually in such cases, a memo is attached to the expense report, where the employee explains where, when and for what reason he lost a specific check. If the director considers it necessary to reimburse such expenses, then the employee will receive the money spent, but it is better not to include such an amount in expenses, especially when applying the simplified tax system. After all, all expenses must be documented.

In the event that the seller does not issue a check due to the absence of a new cash register, you need to request a letter from the seller confirming the legality of the absence of cash registers or a copy of a document confirming that you are in special mode.

It is possible to receive a sales receipt or receipt without a cash receipt.

Rules for issuing a cash receipt

Externally, this document is no different from an ordinary rectangular paper strip. This is why many buyers are skeptical about receipts and throw them in the trash soon after making a purchase.

• Name of the organization;
• cash register model, as well as its registration number and manufacturer number;
• Full name of the cashier who fills out the act;
• number of the erroneously punched check and its amount;
• the total amount of checks that will be returned.

Purchasing goods using imprest amounts

Probably the most common way to spend accountable funds is to purchase goods.

In most cases of purchase, a cash receipt is issued immediately at the checkout. This is an ideal option when a check is taken, an advance report is drawn up and transferred to the company’s accounting department for reporting.

With the commissioning of online cash registers, there is another opportunity to receive a check. The seller sends all information regarding the check via SMS or email link . It is printed and attached to the expense report.

It happens that the accountable person receives money in cash, and payment is made by card. In this case, you must provide a receipt for payment using the card. If payment is made from the card of another person, for example, a relative, then it is necessary to explain in writing why the goods were paid for by someone else, as well as a receipt that the money was transferred to the person who paid with the card.

A sales receipt without a cash receipt is valid in 2021

The sale of goods for cash is usually confirmed by issuing a cash receipt to the buyer. When using online cash registers, the required details of the cash register receipt contain all the necessary information about the seller and the goods sold (name, price, value). Therefore, drawing up a sales receipt at the same time as the cash register receipt is not required. What if the cash receipt is not issued or is lost? Is a sales receipt valid without a cash receipt?

Sellers (individual entrepreneurs, organizations) engaged in retail trade and using PSN or UTII had the right not to use cash register until July 1, 2021. Until 07/01/2021, organizations and individual entrepreneurs on PSN and UTII that provide certain services, as well as individual entrepreneurs on PSN and UTII operating in the field of retail trade or catering, may not apply CCT, if such entrepreneurs do not have employees (Part 7.1, Article 7 Federal Law dated July 3, 2021 No. 290-FZ). Instead of a sales receipt, they issue sales receipts to customers.

Confirmation of accountable amounts for travel expenses

When confirming business expenses, you must keep in mind the following nuances:

1. There may not be a receipt for accommodation, since hotels do not use cash registers until July 1 of the current year. In this case, only an invoice for payment can be provided
2. If the employee went on a business trip in his own car, then fuel receipts and a voucher for the trip route are attached to the report
3. If the employee traveled to the destination by train or plane, then it is necessary to provide not only a ticket, but also a document that will confirm that the trip actually took place. If you used an electronic ticket, you must provide a printout of it, as well as your boarding pass. If there is no coupon, then you can request from the carrier, for example, a certificate that will confirm that the employee was actually on the road. It is necessary to explain to employees that the boarding pass must be printed and this point must be fixed in the company’s internal documents that relate to travel expenses.
4. If an employee travels by taxi while on a business trip, then you need to have a receipt for such transportation and attach it to the advance report

Consequences of not issuing a check

The law provides for fines for unissued checks. It should be remembered that a payment document that was issued using a cash register that is unregistered or does not meet the requirements can also be equated to the status of a “blind check.”

A fine is also imposed in this case.

Depending on the situation, legal punishment in the form of a monetary payment for non-compliance with established rules may be replaced by a warning. Replacement with a warning takes place in cases where the entrepreneur was not brought to administrative responsibility at an earlier date, and also if no other type of violations were discovered during the inspection.

It is also worth noting that most often such checks take place when there are frequent cases of complaints from customers who have not received checks. Moreover, repeated cases of non-compliance with consumer rights laws entail possible on-site inspections. Even cases of machine breakdowns or running out of cash register tape are not considered exceptions.

The employee spent his own funds – is this accountable or not?

Sometimes this situation happens - an accountable person travels on work matters, and the organization urgently needs a particular product. Often in such cases, the employee spends his personal funds on the purchase, and does not specifically return to the office for money. He buys the necessary goods, takes a check or other document confirming the fact of the transaction, and then, together with the expense report, provides all the documents to the company’s accounting department.

If the director agrees with such expenses, then the employee is returned the purchase amount without any problems.

It must be borne in mind that in such a situation we are not talking about accountable funds, since the organization did not issue funds to the employee in advance for specific purposes. Accordingly, the rules that apply to imprest amounts do not apply here. Refunds are made at the request of the employee. It is also not necessary to prepare an advance report; you can simply provide supporting documents.

Responsibility for counterfeiting

Expert opinion

Musikhin Viktor Stanislavovich

Lawyer with 10 years of experience. Specialization: civil law. Member of the Bar Association.

A sales receipt issued after the sale and containing all the details and signatures is a document. From this we can conclude that its counterfeiting is punishable by law.

Using a counterfeit form anywhere can result in varying degrees of punishment, from a large fine to imprisonment for up to two years. It depends on whether the person knew that he was using a counterfeit check, whether he forged it himself, and much more.

A check is a rather important document, the presence of which is mandatory when resolving many issues. When making any purchase, even for yourself personally, it is always better to ask the sellers to issue it, since no one is immune from troubles.

And if the expenditure of funds is made on behalf of the company, even more so, the check issued by the seller will become the first confirming and irreplaceable report.

Watch also the video on how to correctly draw up a sales receipt:

A check is the primary accounting order that the seller generates when making a sale.

For the buyer, this is a document confirming the purchase, which can later be used to process a return or replacement of the purchased product.

For the seller, this is the primary payment report, which is used to declare the company’s income.

The cashier can issue two types of supporting documents: a cash receipt and a sales receipt; we will consider the difference between them below.

Issuing a report when the cash register limit is exceeded

Another reason why organizations like to issue money on account is if the limit at the cash register is exceeded. The excess amount is simply given to the responsible person, thereby regulating the balance. Such amounts are spent and confirmed in the general manner.

By the way, if necessary, the accountable person can return the funds back to the cash desk as excess accountable amounts.

The accountant is a financially responsible person. He receives funds from the accounting department's cash desk, or directly to the employee's bank card and spends them on the needs of the organization. For all amounts spent, you must provide an advance report, to which all supporting documents are attached. The Law on Online Cash Registers makes its own adjustments to this procedure. Now it is very carefully necessary to check whether all the necessary details are contained in the check and whether strict reporting forms are issued correctly.