Is it possible to adjust the balance? Adjusted financial statements Are corrective financial statements submitted?

The organization is a small business and applies a general chart of accounts. Accounting statements are prepared in a simplified form. The organization does not use retrospective recalculation.
Currently, a counting error has been discovered in the reporting for 2013 and 2014 (the error was discovered after the reporting for these years was approved). The data on the accounts receivable and payable lines does not coincide with the data in the accounting registers for the periods 2013 and 2014. Accordingly, the balance sheet currency is distorted (accounting records reflect the correct data, it is the reporting that is distorted). The amount error is significant. Since the organization is a small business and uses simplified accounting methods, according to the organization’s accounting policy, significant errors are corrected without retrospective recalculation.
Options for making corrections to reporting:
- option 1: make adjustments for previous periods (that is, prepare adjusting statements for 2013 and 2014);
- option 2: make changes to the reporting for 2015 (columns for 2013, 2014). Which of these options is correct?

On this issue we take the following position:
The organization is not required to prepare adjusting statements for 2013-2014 and is not required to recalculate the comparative indicators of the financial statements for 2013-2014 reflected in the statements for 2015.
If information about the errors made (the nature of the errors and the amount of distortion of receivables and payables in the statements for 2013-2014) is the most important information, without knowledge of which it is impossible to assess the financial position of the organization or the financial results of its activities, then the corresponding information can be reflected in the explanations to the accounting (financial) statements for 2015 (without retrospective recalculation). Otherwise, information about errors committed is not reflected in the notes to the accounting (financial) statements. At the same time, when preparing reports for 2015, the indicators for 2015 must correspond to the accounting data.

Justification for the position:
In accordance with the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 N 402-FZ "On Accounting" (hereinafter referred to as Law N 402-FZ), accounting is the formation of documented, systematized information about the objects provided for by N 402-FZ, in accordance with the requirements established by N 402-FZ, and preparation of accounting (financial) statements based on it.
According to Law N 402-FZ, an economic entity is obliged to keep accounting records in accordance with N 402-FZ, unless otherwise established by Law N 402-FZ.
In accordance with Law N 402-FZ, annual accounting (financial) statements, with the exception of cases established by N 402-FZ, consist of a balance sheet, a statement of financial results and appendices thereto.
On the basis of Law N 402-FZ, small businesses have the right to use simplified methods of accounting, including simplified accounting (financial) reporting, unless otherwise provided by Art. 6 of Law No. 402-FZ.
The composition and content of simplified financial statements are determined by the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 07/02/2010 N 66n “On the forms of financial statements of organizations” (hereinafter referred to as Order N 66n) (Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 02/27/2015 N 03-11-06/2/10013, dated 23.01. 2015 N, dated 03/19/2014 N, dated 02/26/2014 N).
Thus, Order No. 66n establishes that organizations that have the right to use simplified methods of accounting, including simplified accounting (financial) statements, prepare financial statements according to the following simplified system:
a) the balance sheet, financial performance report, and report on the intended use of funds include indicators only for groups of items (without detailing the indicators for items);
b) in the appendices to the balance sheet, financial results report, report on the intended use of funds, only the most important information is provided, without knowledge of which it is impossible to assess the financial position of the organization or the financial results of its activities (see also the information of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated April 25, 2013 "Accounting statements small businesses").
The procedure for correcting errors in accounting and reporting is regulated by the rules “Correcting Errors in Accounting and Reporting” (hereinafter -).
According to PBU 22/2010, incorrect reflection (non-reflection) of facts of economic activity in the accounting and (or) financial statements of an organization is considered an error.
The standards distinguish between significant and non-significant errors.
In accordance with PBU 22/2010, an error is considered significant if it, individually or in combination with other errors for the same reporting period, can affect the economic decisions of users made on the basis of the financial statements prepared for this reporting period. The organization determines the materiality of the error independently based on both the size and the nature of the relevant item(s) of the financial statements.
Based on PBU 22/2010, identified errors and their consequences are subject to mandatory correction.
It is necessary to take into account that clause 39 of the Regulations on accounting and financial reporting in the Russian Federation, approved by the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 29, 1998 N 34n, establishes that changes in financial statements relating to both the reporting year and previous periods (after its approval) are made in the reports prepared for the reporting period in which distortions of its data were discovered.
In general, based on PBU 22/2010, a significant error in the previous reporting year, identified after approval of the financial statements for that year, is corrected:
1) entries on the relevant accounting accounts in the current reporting period. In this case, the corresponding account in the records is the account for 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 in cases where it is impossible to establish the connection of this error with a specific period or it is impossible to determine the impact of this error on a cumulative basis in relation to all previous reporting periods.
Restatement of comparative financial statements is carried out by correcting the financial statements as if the error of the previous reporting period had never been made (retrospective restatement).
Retrospective restatement is carried out 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.
At the same time, PBU 22/2010 determines that in the event of correction of a significant error of the previous reporting year, identified after the approval of the financial statements, the approved financial statements for the previous reporting periods are not subject to revision, replacement and re-presentation to users of the financial statements.
The courts also indicate that if the financial statements are approved and submitted, then corrections are not made to them, since the preparation of updated statements is not provided for by law in this case, and all changes to the financial statements are reflected in the statements of the period when the error was discovered (Tenth Arbitration Court of Appeal dated April 28 .2015 N 10AP-16999/14, dated 04/21/2015 N ).
From the general rule for correcting significant errors of the previous reporting year, identified after the approval of the financial statements for this year, PBU 22/2010 establishes an exception, according to which organizations that have the right to use simplified methods of accounting, including simplified accounting (financial) statements, can correct a significant error in the previous reporting year, identified after the approval of the financial statements for this year, in the manner established by PBU 22/2010, without retrospective recalculation.
Thus, according to PBU 22/2010, an error of the previous reporting year, which is not significant, discovered after the date of signing the financial statements for this year, is corrected by entries in the corresponding accounting accounts in the month of the reporting year in which the error was identified. Profit or loss arising as a result of correcting this error is reflected as part of other income or expenses of the current reporting period.
Thus, organizations that have the right to apply simplified methods of accounting have the right to correct both significant and non-material errors of the previous reporting period, identified after the date of signing the financial statements for this year by entries in the corresponding accounting accounts in the month of the reporting year in which An error was identified without recalculating the comparative indicators of the financial statements for the reporting periods reflected in the organization’s financial statements for the current reporting year (that is, without retrospective recalculation).
Since in the situation under consideration, errors were made only in the preparation of reporting, no entries are made in the accounting accounts. At the same time, the established procedure for correcting errors does not oblige the organization to recalculate comparative indicators of the financial statements for the reporting periods reflected in the financial statements of the organization for the current reporting year.
Thus, the organization is not obliged to prepare adjusting statements for 2013-2014 and is not obliged to recalculate the comparative indicators of the financial statements for 2013-2014 reflected in the statements for 2015.
Despite the fact that in this case, corrections are not made to the accounting records, in order to record the period of identification of the errors made and their nature, in our opinion, an accounting certificate containing the mandatory details provided for in Part 2 of Art. 9 of Law No. 402-FZ.
In accordance with PBU 22/2010, in the explanatory note to the annual financial statements, the organization is required to disclose the following information regarding significant errors of previous reporting periods corrected in the reporting period:
1) the nature of the error;
2) the amount of adjustment for each item in the financial statements - for each previous reporting period to the extent practicable;
3) the amount of adjustment based on data on basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share (if the organization is required to disclose information on earnings per share);
4) the amount of adjustment to the opening balance of the earliest reporting period presented.
Along with this, it should be taken into account that currently the explanatory note is not part of the accounting (financial) statements. At the same time, explanations that are other appendices to the balance sheet and the financial results statement (Order No. 66n) are included in the accounting (financial) statements (see, for example, the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 23, 2013 N 03-02-07/2/18285 ).
In this regard, if information about the errors committed (the nature of the errors and the amount of distortion of receivables and payables in the reporting for 2013-2014) is the most important information, without knowledge of which it is impossible to assess the financial position of the organization or the financial results of its activities, then the relevant information in our opinion, can be reflected in the notes to the accounting (financial) statements for 2015 (without retrospective recalculation). Otherwise, information about errors committed is not reflected in the notes to the accounting (financial) statements for 2015. At the same time, when preparing reports for 2015, the indicators for 2015 must correspond to the accounting data.

Prepared answer:
Expert of the Legal Consulting Service GARANT
Arykov Stepan

Response quality control:
Reviewer of the Legal Consulting Service GARANT
Queen Helena

The material was prepared on the basis of individual written consultation provided as part of the service

When preparing data for the annual report, accounting employees quite often find accounting errors. And this, for the most part, leads to their presence in the previously presented reports. In this case, errors may relate to both interim periods of the reporting year and previous reporting periods.

According to paragraph 2 of the Accounting Regulations “Correcting 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 the incorrect reflection (non-reflection) of the facts of economic activity in accounting and ( or) financial statements.

For accounting purposes, a fact of economic life is a transaction, event, operation that has or is capable of influencing the financial position of an economic entity, the financial result of its activities and (or) cash flow (Clause 8 of Article 3 of the Federal Law of 06.12. 11 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting”).

Errors in recording business transactions in accounting almost always lead to 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 is technical errors. Such errors do not distort the economic essence of business transactions. These include, in particular, arithmetic errors, typos, and omissions. Their presence usually leads to inequality in the final reporting indicators or the appearance of values ​​that do not correspond to what is actually possible. Inaccuracies in calculations are also mentioned in the list of errors leading 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 transactions performed. The occurrence of such errors may be due, in particular, to incorrect ones (clause 2 of PBU 22/2010):

• application of the legislation of the Russian Federation on accounting and (or) regulatory legal acts on accounting;
• application of the organization's accounting policies;
• classification or assessment of facts of economic activity;
• using information available on the date of signing the financial statements -

as well as dishonest actions of officials of the organization.

Content errors include:

• errors in documenting operations - reflection of an operation in the absence of primary documents or, conversely, the presence of falsified documents for operations 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 transactions performed;
• errors in valuation associated with violation of established rules for determining the initial and actual cost of accounting objects, calculating depreciation, forming reserves, etc.;
• errors in the presentation of information in the reporting, which lead to incorrect reflection of the information generated on the accounting accounts along the lines of the financial statements, for example, an unreasonable offset between items of assets and liabilities in accounts 60, 62, 68, 69, 71, 76, etc.

Errors in documenting transactions are associated with violation of the rules for drawing up primary accounting documents, as well as with violation of the document flow schedule. Such errors often lead to errors in periodization, since there are often cases when documents arrive at the organization some time after the actual operation. In this case, this period of time may fall between two reporting periods. Thus, the business transaction will be reflected in the financial statements of the next period. In addition, errors associated with documenting operations 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 was actually carried out), no accounting entries are made. Moreover, the situation when a business transaction was carried out, 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 time delay) receipt by an organization of primary documents may be due to:

• as the slowness of the organization’s counterparties, who provide, for example, various types of services (utilities or communication services) in submitting primary documents,
• and by the actions of officials of the organization itself, responsible for the preparation of 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 organization’s employees did not draw them up in a timely manner, it is appropriate to talk about dishonest actions of the organization’s officials. After all, such actions, as mentioned above, are named in paragraph 2 of PBU 22/2010 as the cause of the error. Consequently, the use of information reflected in such “late” documents should be regarded as an error (and not the receipt of new information that was previously unavailable to the organization), which should 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 paragraph 15 of the Regulations on accounting and financial reporting in the Russian Federation (approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 29, 1998 No. 34n) are regulated by the document flow schedule included in composition of the organization’s accounting policies for accounting purposes.

Therefore, with proper organization of document flow, the requirement for timely execution of primary accounting documents must be met, especially since, by virtue of the aforementioned paragraph 3 of Article 9 of Law No. 402-FZ and paragraph 15 of the regulations on accounting and financial reporting, ensure timely and high-quality execution of primary documents , their transfer in a timely manner for reflection in accounting, as well as the reliability of the information reflected in them, must be carried out by persons with appropriate authority.

To regard the information contained in documents received late from counterparties as an error in the sense of PBU 22/2010, in our opinion, is, to put it mildly, incorrect.

Unlawful recognition of certain types of expenses 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 violation of the document flow schedule, can also arise due to the incorrect use of certain concepts, in particular “deferred expenses”, “deferred income”, etc.

There are often cases when the “linking” of accounting and tax accounting is carried out according to the assessment methodology established for profit tax purposes, and this, in turn, does not comply with the requirements of accounting regulations. An example is the use of tax rules when creating a reserve for doubtful debts in accounting.

Errors in invoice correspondence are most often associated with:

• with incorrect interpretation of certain business transactions;
• non-application or incorrect application of the requirements of accounting regulations;
• the use of accounting accounts not intended 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 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 a consequence of the inattention of the accounting service. Errors in the correspondence of accounts for the most part indicate a lack of competence of this service.

Errors in the presentation of information in the reporting occur if the accounting entries were made correctly and the account balances were calculated correctly, but during the preparation of the reporting there was an accidental error in entering data or one or another accounting object was incorrectly classified. For example, the balance of settlement accounts 60, 62, 76 was “collapsed” or the balance of account 58 was reflected as part of current assets, while the organization’s financial investments 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. Thus, the dynamics of revenue and cost of sales (turnover in subaccounts 90-1 and 90-2) should be unidirectional. Therefore, if the turnover in subaccount 90-1 increased, and the turnover in 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).

A change in the amount of accrued depreciation for a month when using the linear method of its calculation can occur only if in the previous month a fixed asset was introduced or written off, or if depreciation for any of the objects stopped accruing.

Testing of accounting records allows you to detect errors associated with incorrect correspondence of accounts. Drawing up a chess turnover sheet can provide significant assistance in this regard. This statement allows you to track all transactions that affected the debit of this account with the credits of other accounts and vice versa. Therefore, based on it, it will be possible to detect “non-standard” or generally unacceptable postings, into which an error may creep in.

Arithmetic-logical control and checking the linking of indicators allow you to avoid errors in reporting. There are certain “control points” in reporting, the values ​​of which must coincide in properly compiled financial statements. Checking them allows you to independently identify errors.

Fixes

In accounting, there are various technical approaches to correcting errors, depending on their type. The method for correcting erroneously made entries in primary documents and 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 regulations of state accounting regulatory bodies. Such a correction 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 last names and initials or other details necessary to identify these persons.

Clause 8 of Article 10 of Law No. 402-FZ allows for corrections in the accounting register. 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 not authorized by the persons responsible for maintaining this register are not allowed. Such corrections are also made by proofreading.

The same corrective method is used in cases where an accounting entry was made on the proper accounting accounts, but in the wrong amount: the erroneous entry is crossed out and the correct amount is written, 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 an error is made in one register and is discovered before the totals are calculated. For the most part, it is used when accounting is done manually, without the use of automation tools.

The additional entry method is used if a business transaction was not recorded in a timely manner (as of the date it was completed) or the transaction was recorded in an amount that was less than it should be. In this case, an additional accounting entry is made for the entire transaction amount or for the difference between the correct transaction amount and the transaction amount reflected in the register. In this case, an accounting certificate is drawn up, on the basis of which the error in the register(s) is corrected. It is desirable to record the fact of incorrect reflection of business transactions in accounting accounts and justify the need for corrective entries made in accounting registers.

An accounting statement can be drawn up in any form, with any details that allow the accountant to quickly find out by whom, when and on what basis this corrective entry was made. If you attach photocopies of the primary documents of the business transaction in which errors were made and the corresponding clarifying calculations to the certificate, this will allow you not to waste time in the future confirming the validity of corrective entries. At the same time, it is advisable to provide 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 calculating the totals in the register (registers) or the general ledger. It can be used to correct errors identified both in the current reporting period and in previous periods. This method is always used when calculating additional taxes.

The reversal accounting entry method (“red reversal”) is used when the correspondence of accounts is incorrect and when recording a transaction in a larger amount than necessary. This method reverses all erroneous entries and then records them with the correct account balances 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 credited to the debit of the account is written to the credit of this account, and the amount credited to another account is recorded to the debit of this account . As a result, the incorrect posting is “neutralized” and 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 must also issue an accounting certificate.

Correction procedure

The order in which errors are corrected depends on whether the error is material or not. An error is considered significant if it, individually 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 by them 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 corresponding article (articles) of the financial statements (clause 3 of PBU 22/2010). If the error does not affect the economic decision taken by users of financial statements, it, logically, will be insignificant.

As we see, the decisive factor of materiality may be either the size or the nature of the relevant item in the financial statements, or a combination of both.

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 itself determine what errors will be significant for users. Therefore, it begs the question of introducing in the accounting policy of the organization a criterion for determining the materiality of an 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 October 6, 2008 No. 106n).

The degree of materiality of an error can be determined based on the ratio of the amount of adjustment to the financial reporting indicator and the value of this indicator. You can also focus on another criterion, for example, the ratio of the error and the aggregated indicator presented in the reporting.

Thus, 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 indicators of the profit and loss report or applications, then you can focus on the final indicators.

In relation to misstatements of different items in the financial statements, it is quite appropriate to establish different levels of materiality. Indeed, in some cases, when making decisions by users of financial statements, a deviation of 1.5% may be significant, and in some cases, a deviation of a larger size (for example, 5–7%) will remain practically unnoticed by them.

The method of correction will depend not only on the nature of the errors (significant or insignificant), but also on when they were discovered - before or after the end of the reporting period. If a significant error is detected in the second case of PBU 22/2010, two dates are identified that significantly affect the procedure for correcting errors in accounting and reporting: the date of signing and the date of approval of the reporting. The interval between these dates may include the submission of reports to founders, authorities and other users. And this date introduces variability in the order of error correction. 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 this year;
• after the date of signing, but before the date of submission of reports to the shareholders of the JSC, participants of the LLC, and government authorities;
• after the reporting is submitted to the persons indicated above, but before the date of its approval in the manner prescribed by law;
• after approval of the reports

Minor errors

Example 1

In February 2013, the organization did not include expenses under the premises rental agreement in expenses for ordinary activities. These services were of a production nature. For them, 16,048 rubles were paid in advance, including VAT of 2,448 rubles. We discovered an error in November while preparing for the annual report.

Since the error was discovered in November, the error should be corrected 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 expenses for ordinary activities are the costs of renting production premises;

Debit 19 Credit 60

2448 rub. - the amount of VAT on rent has been allocated;

Debit 60 subaccount “Advances issued” Credit 68 subaccount “VAT calculations”

2448 rub. - the amount of VAT previously accepted for deduction from the transferred advance was restored;

Debit 60 Credit 60 subaccount “Advances issued”

RUB 16,048 - the debt to the lessor has been repaid using the previously transferred advance payment;

Debit 68 subaccount “VAT calculations” Credit 19

2448 rub. - the amount of VAT on rent is accepted for deduction.

An insignificant error from 2013 can be identified in the first time period. If such an error is identified 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 of PBU 22/ 2010).

Example 2

In January 2014, an error was discovered in calculating depreciation of fixed assets: for an object accepted for accounting on February 1, 2013, depreciation was accrued for 11 months of this year. The amount of monthly depreciation is 6080 rubles.

The accrual of depreciation charges for an object of fixed assets begins on the first day of the month following the month in which this object was accepted for accounting (clause 21 of the Accounting Regulations “Accounting for Fixed Assets” (PBU 6/01), approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated March 30. 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 a transaction carried out in 2013 was discovered in the next reporting year before the annual financial statements were approved. Consequently, at the time the error is determined, an accounting certificate 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 excessively accrued depreciation was reversed.

Errors found in two more time periods are corrected identically: in the second and third.

An error of the previous reporting year, which is not significant, discovered 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 identified. Profit or loss arising as a result of correcting this error is reflected as part of 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 cost per unit was 3,265 rubles. They were purchased under an agency agreement, for which the agent was transferred 63,720 rubles, 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 fourth 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 an incorrect reflection of the transaction for accounting for intermediary services. At this time, products were sold, which included 360 copies of components.

Remunerations to the agent associated with the acquisition of inventories by virtue of clause 6 of the Accounting Regulations “Accounting for Inventories” (PBU 5/01) (approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 06/09/01 No. 44n) are included in their actual cost. Based on this, the cost per unit of components when they were capitalized should have been increased by 135 rubles. ((63,720 rub. – 9,720 rub.) / 400 pcs. × 1 pc.), thereby the actual cost increased to 3,400 rubles. (3265 + 135).

Inclusion in 2012 in expenses for ordinary activities of the entire amount of payment for agent services - 54,000 rubles. (63 720 – 9720) - carried out incorrectly. The organization had the right to take into account only part of it in expenses - 2,700 rubles. (135 rubles/piece × 20 pieces), which accounts for 20 pieces. components included in products sold in the fourth quarter of 2012. According to the accounting certificate compiled in November to correct the incorrect reflection of the transaction in 2012, the following entries are made:

Debit 10 Credit 91-1

54,000 rub. - the agent’s remuneration is reflected;

Debit 91-2 Credit 10

2700 rub. - the part of the agent’s remuneration attributable to 20 components included in the products sold in the fourth quarter of 2012 was taken into account.

The above accounting option is more detailed and clear, but it leads to an overestimation of the turnover on account 91 by 2,700 rubles. This can be circumvented by using 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 pcs were used in the sold products. (380 – 20) components, then the part of the remuneration attributable to them is 48,600 rubles. (135 rubles/piece × 360 pieces), taken into account in expenses for ordinary activities:

Debit 20 Credit 10

RUB 48,600 - part of the agent’s remuneration attributable to 360 components included in products sold in 2013 was taken into account.

As of December 1, 20 copies of components worth 3,400 rubles continue to be in the accounting records.

According to paragraph 4 of PBU 22/2010, not only identified errors are subject to mandatory correction, but also their consequences. Consequently, if, as a result of correcting an error, expenses accepted for accounting lead to recalculations for income tax, then the amount of tax liabilities is also subject to correction.

Profit or loss arising as a result of correcting an insignificant error of the previous year, as mentioned above, is taken into account in account 91. Such a rule for correcting errors may lead to the need to apply the Accounting Regulations “Accounting for calculations of corporate income tax” (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 base for income tax - of the previous period. Then it will be necessary to submit an updated income tax return for the previous period, and reflect the permanent tax asset in the accounting records (clauses 4–7 of PBU 18/02):

Debit 68 subaccount “Calculations for 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, recalculation of the tax base and tax amount in the period when an error (distortion) was identified can be carried out only if it is impossible to determine the period of the error (distortion) in tax calculations 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 the fiscal authorities 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 will need to reflect in the financial statements the amount of income tax that he must pay under the updated declaration. Moreover, in the profit and loss statement, the amount of additional payment of income tax in connection with the discovery of errors in previous years, which does not affect the current income tax of the reporting period, must be reflected separately - on a separate line after the current income tax indicator (clause 22 of PBU 18/02, letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 10, 2004 No. 07-05-14/328, dated August 23, 2004 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, as a 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 is submitted no later than three months after the end of the reporting period (clauses 1, 2 of Article 18 of Law No. 402-FZ), that is, no later than March 31.

Within the same time frame, 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 established 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 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 02/08/98 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, subclause 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 preliminary approval by the person performing 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 Art. 88 of Law No. 208-FZ, paragraph 3 of Article 37 of Law No. 14-FZ). Consequently, the date of signing of the annual reports (the date indicated on the reports sent to users) may be earlier than the date of its approval.

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 of a limited liability company, a state authority, local government or other body authorized to exercise the rights of the owner, etc. etc., is corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts for December of the reporting year. If the specified financial statements were presented to any other users, then they must be replaced with statements in which the identified significant error has been corrected (hereinafter referred to as the revised financial statements) (clause 7 of PBU 22/2010).

Example 4

When preparing the reports for 2013, a significant error was identified: in the costs of repairing the production facility, the cost of materials in the amount of 940,000 rubles was taken into account twice. The error was discovered in March 2014. The annual report for 2013 has already been signed, but has not yet been presented to the company's participants. However, by this time the reporting with a significant error had already been transferred to the counterparty in order to consider the possibility of concluding an agreement.

In this case, in the accounting records of the organization in March 2014, a corrective entry (reversal) must be made, dated December 31, 2013:

Debit 20 Credit 10

940,000 rub. - the amount of materials incorrectly taken into account in 2013 in the material costs of repairing a production facility was reversed.

This entry entails a revision of the indicators of the reporting forms and re-submission of the corrected statements to the counterparty.

A significant error of the previous reporting year, identified after the presentation of the financial statements for this year to the persons indicated above, but before the date of approval of such statements in the manner prescribed by the legislation of the Russian Federation, is also corrected by entries in the corresponding accounting accounts for December of the reporting year. At the same time, revised financial statements are submitted to all addresses at which the original 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 of PBU 22/2010).

Example 5

Let us slightly change the condition of example 4: before a significant error was found, 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 of 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 may not be carried out if it is impossible:

• establish a connection between this error and a specific period;
• determine the impact of the error cumulatively in relation to all previous reporting periods.

If a significant error was made before the beginning of the earliest previous reporting period presented in the financial statements for the current reporting year, then the opening balances for the corresponding items of assets, liabilities and capital at the beginning of the earliest reporting period 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 industrial building, which was put into operation in 2003. Because of this, the amount of monthly depreciation was underestimated, but the amount of expenses for ordinary activities was overestimated.

This error affected a number of indicators in subsequent years:

• firstly, the amount of production costs;
• secondly, the cost of manufactured products;
• thirdly, on the cost of sales and, ultimately, on the financial result.

The organization’s accounting department found it too difficult to recalculate all the indicators for more than ten years. In reality, it is only possible to recalculate data for 2011–2013.

Based on this, it is necessary to calculate the total amount of depreciation underaccrued for 2003–2010. After which it is necessary to adjust in the reporting as of January 1, 2011 at least the indicators on the residual value of fixed assets and the amount of retained earnings (loss).

In the profit and loss report in the column “for 2012”, the indicator entered on line 2110 “Cost of sales” is increased by the additional accrued amount of depreciation for the year, and the values ​​indicated on lines 2100 “Gross profit (loss)”, 2200 “Profit (loss) ) from sales", 2300 "Profit (loss) before tax" are reduced by this amount.

Indicators entered on lines 2410 “Current income tax” and “Net profit (loss)” are also reduced.

In addition to the annual forms of the balance sheet and profit and loss statement, the annual form of the report on changes in capital is subject to adjustment. In particular, in section 2 “Adjustment due to changes in accounting policies and correction of errors” of the said form in the column “Change in capital due to net profit (loss)” on lines 3421 “Adjustment due to correction of errors” and 3501 “Retained earnings ( loss) after adjustments” the indicators will change.

If it is not possible to determine the impact of a material error on one prior reporting period presented in the financial statements or more, the organization must adjust the opening balance for the relevant items of assets, liabilities and equity at the beginning of the earliest period for which restatement is possible.

The impact of a significant error on the previous reporting period cannot be determined if (clause 13 of PBU 22/2010):

• complex and (or) numerous calculations are required, during which it is impossible to identify information indicating the 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 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 the previous reporting periods are not subject to revision, replacement and re-presentation to users of the financial statements (clause 10 of PBU 22/2010).

If it is impossible to determine the impact of a significant error on one or more previous reporting periods presented in the financial statements, then in the explanations to the annual financial statements, by virtue of paragraph 16 of PBU 22/2010, the reasons for this must be disclosed, as well as a description of the method for reflecting the correction of the significant error in financial statements of the organization and indicate the period from which 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 significant, identified after the date of signing the financial statements for this year, without retrospective recalculation (para. 6 clause 9 PBU 22/2010). Consequently, these economic entities correct this error by making entries in the relevant accounting accounts in the month of the reporting year in which it was detected. Profit or loss arising as a result of correcting such an error is reflected 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, may mislead interested users of such information. Therefore, it is advisable for an economic entity not only to promptly identify such errors, but also to correctly classify them in order to properly reflect changes in accounting and reporting.

Not in all cases, incorrect reflection (non-reflection) of facts of economic activity should be considered an error for the purposes of PBU 22/2010. According to paragraph 8 of paragraph 2 of PBU 22/2010, inaccuracies or omissions in the reflection of 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, are not considered errors. facts of economic activity. Therefore, discovering errors in the future is in no way related to obtaining new information.

Errors in valuation are associated with incorrect determination of the original or actual value of assets, depreciation, calculation of the value of inventories when they are written off, etc. Most often they arise due to incomplete or incorrect application of the requirements of the relevant PBUs and other accounting regulations.

Specific errors constitute the third group of errors. They usually arise when using incorrectly configured accounting computer programs (changes in accounting regulations or accounting policies are not 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 by proofreading: the incorrect text or amount is crossed out and the corrected text or amount is written above the crossed out. Crossing out is done with one line so that the correction can be read. Correction of an 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 Regulations on Documents and Document Flow in Accounting, approved by the USSR Ministry of Finance on July 29, 1983 No. 105, letter from the Russian Ministry of Finance dated 31.03.09 No. 03-07-14/38).

With the “generalization” method, a generalized entry is made, bringing the entries in the accounting accounts in the reporting period to the state that it would have been if the transaction had been initially correctly reflected. This method allows you not to distort the indicators (cost, revenue, etc.) of the current reporting period. This method is used based on errors from past periods.

The rules for correcting significant errors that will be found in each of these periods are different. And the later the error is discovered, the more difficult the procedure for correcting it. But before we consider them, let us turn to the provisions for correcting minor errors.

If, during the preparation of the annual report, an insignificant error relating to 2013 is found in any month of the fourth quarter, then it should be corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts in the month of the reporting year in which it was identified (clause 5 of PBU 22/2010 ).

When correcting an error in both accounting and tax accounting in one period, there is no need to refer to PBU 18/02. For example, if an error led to an excessive payment of income tax last year, then the taxpayer, by virtue of paragraph 3 of paragraph 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 during the period when the error was discovered.

The procedure for correcting significant 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 for correcting identical immaterial errors. They are corrected by entries in the corresponding 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 carried out 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

Debit 20 Credit 68 subaccount “Calculations for corporate property tax”
– 30,000 rub. – additional assessment of corporate property tax for the first quarter is reflected.

How to correct significant errors from previous periods in accounting

Significant errors of the previous year discovered before the approval of the annual reports for that period, using appropriate cost, income, settlement accounts, etc.

If significant errors from previous years are identified, the reporting for which has been signed and approved, using account 84 “Retained earnings (uncovered loss)” (subclause 1, clause 9 of PBU 22/2010).

There are two options.

Option 1. When, as a result of an error, the accountant did not reflect any income or overstated an expense, make the following entry:

Debit 62 (76, 02...) Credit 84

– erroneously not reflected income (excessively reflected expenses) of the previous year was identified.

Option 2. If, as a result of an error, the accountant did not reflect any expense or overstated income, make the following entry:

Debit 84 Credit 60 (76, 02...)

– an erroneously unrecorded expense (overly reflected income) from the previous year was identified.

What to do when errors were made not only in accounting, but also in tax accounting?

Then in you will have to make the necessary additional charges. Here, for example, is what entry needs to be made for income tax if the tax base was underestimated:

– additional income tax was accrued for the previous year according to the updated declaration.

In when taxes were overpaid as a result of an error, make entries based on those corrections that you will do in tax accounting. Three situations can arise here.

1. If you are filing an amended tax return for the year in which an error was made, then make an entry:

Debit 68 subaccount “Income Tax” Credit 84

– the income tax of the previous year was reduced according to the updated declaration.

2. When correcting errors in tax accounting for the current period, make the following entry in the accounting book:

Debit 68 subaccount “Income Tax” Credit 99

– a permanent tax asset is reflected due to the fact that in the tax accounting of the current period expenses (reduced income) relating to the previous year are recognized.

3. When a decision was made not to correct an error in tax accounting, then there is no need to make additional entries. Since in accounting, the correction of significant errors does not affect the accounts of financial results of the current period.

How to correct minor errors from previous periods in accounting

Correct minor errors in accounting. Profit or loss that arises as a result of adjustments should be reflected in account 91 “Other income and expenses”. It does not matter whether the reporting was approved at the time the error was discovered or not. This conclusion follows from paragraph 14 of PBU 22/2010.

If, as a result of a minor error, the accountant did not reflect any income or overestimated expenses, make the following entry:

Debit 60 (62, 76, 02...) Credit 91-1

– erroneously not reflected income (excessively reflected expense) was identified.

When, as a result of a minor error, the accountant did not reflect an expense or overstated income, make an entry:

Debit 91-2 Credit 02 (10, 41, 60, 62, 76...)

– an erroneously unrecorded expense (overrecorded income) was identified.

Correcting minor errors in accounting affects the accounts of the financial results of the current year, but this does not always happen in the tax office. This means there will be permanent differences , which must be reflected in accounting according to the rules of PBU 18/02.

There are two options. When income tax was underestimated or overestimated due to minor errors.

Option 1 – income tax is underestimated. In this case, corrections are made in tax accounting and an updated tax return is submitted for the period in which the error was made. At the same time, additional income tax is charged. However, in accounting they do this . In this case, it is necessary to reflect in accounting permanent tax asset :

Debit 68 subaccount “Calculations for income tax” Credit 99 subaccount “Permanent tax assets”

– a permanent tax asset is reflected.

An example of correcting a minor error (unreported income) in accounting and tax accounting. A mistake was made last year, the reporting for which was signed and approved

In March 2016, the accountant of Alpha LLC discovered an error when calculating income tax for 2015 - revenue from the sale of goods in the amount of 250,000 rubles was not taken into account. Income at Alfa is recognized equally in both tax and accounting. As a result, the organization underpaid the tax, the amount of which amounted to 50,000 rubles. (RUB 250,000 × 20%).

The accountant filed an updated income tax return for 2015 and made the following entries:

Debit 62 Credit 91 subaccount “Other income”
– 250,000 rub. – income (revenue from sales) of the previous tax period identified in the reporting year is reflected;

Debit 99 subaccount “Additional payment of income tax due to detection of errors”

– 50,000 rub. – additional income tax was accrued for the previous year according to the updated declaration;

Debit 68 subaccount “Calculations for income tax”
Credit 99 subaccount “Permanent tax asset”
– 50,000 rub. – a permanent tax asset is reflected in the amount of revenue from sales in 2015, which is shown in accounting in 2016 income, and in tax accounting - in 2015 income.

For the first quarter of 2016, the amount of tax payable is 170,000 rubles. Thus, the total income tax debt to the budget amounted to 220,000 rubles. (RUB 170,000 + RUB 50,000), including RUB 170,000. – current income tax and 50,000 rubles. – additional payment due to an error in the previous period. Alpha's accountant makes the following entries:

Debit 99 subaccount “Conditional income tax expense”
Credit 68 subaccount “Calculations for income tax”
– 220,000 rub. – reflects the conditional income tax expense.

Option 2 – income tax is too high. In this case, the accountant makes the decision himself , at what period to make changes or even not to make them at all.

If he corrects the error by recalculating the tax of the current period, then he will make changes in both accounting and tax accounting at the same time. There will be no difference. They will arise only if the accountant decides to submit an updated declaration for the past period or not to make any changes at all. Then the tax profit of the current period will be greater than what will be obtained in accounting. This means there will be permanent tax liability . Reflect it in accounting as follows:

– a permanent tax liability is reflected.

This follows from paragraphs 4, 7 of PBU 18/02.

An example of correcting a minor error (not reflected expense) in accounting and tax accounting. A mistake was made last year, the reporting for which was signed and approved. In tax accounting, an error is corrected in the period in which it was made.

In March 2016, the accountant of Alpha LLC discovered an error when calculating income tax for 2015 - expenses (cost of goods sold) in the amount of 150,000 rubles were not taken into account. Expenses are recognized equally in tax and accounting. As a result, the organization overpaid the tax; the amount of the overpayment amounted to 30,000 rubles. (RUB 150,000 × 20%).

Alpha's accountant filed an updated income tax return for 2015 and made the following entries:

Debit 91 subaccount “Other expenses” Credit 41
– 150,000 rub. – expenses (cost of goods sold) of the previous tax period identified in the reporting year are reflected;

Debit 68 subaccount “Calculations for income tax” Credit 99 subaccount “Overpayment of income tax according to an updated declaration”
– 30,000 rub. – the income tax of the previous year was reduced according to the updated declaration;

Debit 99 subaccount “Fixed tax liabilities” Credit 68 subaccount “Calculations for income tax”
– 30,000 rub. – a permanent tax liability is reflected for the amount of expenses of 2015, which is shown in accounting in expenses of 2016, and in tax accounting - in expenses of 2015.

For the first quarter of 2016, the amount of tax payable to the budget is 110,000 rubles. The balance sheet profit is less than the tax profit due to expenses taken into account for taxation in the updated declaration of the previous year. The tax calculated on balance sheet profit is RUB 80,000. (RUB 110,000 – RUB 30,000). The accountant makes the following entry:

Debit 99 subaccount “Conditional income tax expense” Credit 68 subaccount “Calculations for income tax”
– 80,000 rub. – reflects the conditional income tax expense.

Taking into account the overpayment of tax for 2015, 80,000 rubles must be transferred to the budget. (RUB 110,000 – RUB 30,000).

Attention: There is an opinion that all expenses that are not taken into account when calculating taxes on profits should be reflected in accounting as part of others. This is not true. For a mistake officials will be fined . If, in the end, taxes are also underestimated, then the organization itself will be punished, and fines will increase . But there is a way out.

If, during an audit, a similar error from previous years is discovered, due to which reporting and taxes are distorted, then it will not be possible to avoid liability. You will mitigate the consequences if you recalculate taxes and submit correct information , pay a penalty.

As for the mistakes of this year, everything can be corrected. If you qualify expenses correctly, you will successfully generate reports and calculate taxes. Erroneous entries .

Remember, expenses are taken into account depending on their purpose and the conditions under which they are incurred. So, for example, in accounting, costs are classified not only as other, but also as expenses for ordinary activities (clause 4 of PBU 10/99).

The Alpha organization pays compensation to an employee when his car is used for business purposes. Compensation is 5000 rubles. per month. But when calculating income tax, only 1,200 rubles are taken into account. (Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of February 8, 2002 No. 92).

Error!

Debit 20 Credit 73
– 1200 rub. – compensation was accrued to the employee for a personal car within the norms;

Debit 91-2 Credit 73
– 3800 rub. – compensation was accrued to an employee for a personal car in excess of the norm.

Correctly like this:

Debit 20 (26, 44…) Credit 73
– 5000 rub. – compensation was accrued to the employee for a personal car.

Here's how to fix the error:

Debit 91-2 Credit 73
– 3800 rub. – compensation to an employee for a personal car in excess of the norm was reversed;

Debit 20 Credit 73
– 3800 rub. – additional compensation was accrued to the employee for a personal car.

An error was made in the accounting of a small enterprise

Significant accounting errors of previous years small businesses , can be corrected in the same order as . That is, without retrospective recalculation of financial reporting indicators (clause 9 of PBU 22/2010, part 4 of article 6 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ).

An example of correcting a significant error in accounting and reporting (excessively reflected expenses) by a small enterprise. A mistake was made last year, the reporting for which was signed and approved

Alpha LLC is a small enterprise. In March 2016, after approving the financial statements for 2015, Alpha’s accountant identified an error made in the first quarter of 2015.

The accounting reflected the cost of work performed by the contractor in March 2015 - 50,000 rubles. (without VAT). The act indicates the amount of 40,000 rubles. (without VAT). The work performed was paid to the contractor in full (RUB 40,000) in March 2015. Thus, as of December 31, 2015, Alpha had accumulated accounts payable in the amount of excess written off expenses - 10,000 rubles.

Alpha's accounting policy states that significant errors from previous years identified after the approval of the financial statements are corrected without retrospective recalculation.

March 2016:

Debit 60 Credit 91-1
– 10,000 rub. – reflects the cost of the contractor’s work, erroneously attributed to expenses in the first quarter of 2015.

Since the reporting for 2015 has already been approved, no corrections are made to it.

Corrections are made in the 2016 accounting. In tax accounting, corrections are made during the period when an error is made. In this regard, Alpha’s accountant filed an updated income tax return for 2015.

"Alpha" is a small enterprise, therefore PBU 18/02 does not apply. This means that the accountant will not have to reflect discrepancies between accounting and tax accounting data.

The impact of past errors on current reporting

Correction of significant errors from last year, identified after approval of the accounting reports, also affects the balance sheet and other forms of the current year. Only when it is impossible to establish a connection between an error and a specific period, as well as to determine its impact on all previous periods, corrections will not have to be made.

Thus, in current reporting it is necessary to recalculate comparable indicators of previous periods. Do it as if the mistake had never been made. This is called a retrospective restatement. This follows from subparagraph 2 of paragraph 9 of PBU 22/2010.

An example of correcting a significant error in accounting and reporting (excessively reflected expense) by an enterprise that is not a small one. A mistake was made last year, the reporting for which was signed and approved

In March 2016, after the statements for 2015 were approved, the accountant of Alpha LLC identified an error made in the first quarter of 2015.

The accounting reflected the cost of work performed according to the act received from the contractor in March 2015, in the amount of 50,000 rubles. (without VAT). In fact, the act indicates the amount of 40,000 rubles. (without VAT). The work performed was paid to the contractor in full (RUB 40,000) in March 2015. Thus, as of December 31, 2015, Alpha had accumulated accounts payable in the amount of excess written off expenses - 10,000 rubles.

The accountant recorded excessively written off expenses in the following way.

March 2016:

Debit 60 Credit 84
– 10,000 rub. – reflects the cost of the contractor’s work, erroneously attributed to expenses in the first quarter of 2015;

Debit 84 Credit 68 subaccount “Income Tax”
– 2000 rub. (RUB 10,000 × 20%) – additional income tax is charged.

Since the reporting for 2015 has already been approved, no corrections are made to it.

Therefore, the Alpha accountant reflected the result of the corrections in the reporting for 2016 in the sections where the indicators for 2015 are recorded. At the same time, he corrected the data as if the error had never occurred (if expenses in the amount of 40,000 rubles had initially been reflected). In the column for comparative indicators for 2015 along the lines of cost and profit (Report on financial results, approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 2, 2010 No. 66n), the accountant reflected the amount of 10,000 rubles. different from what appears on the same lines in the 2015 reporting for the corresponding period. In the balance sheet for 2016, the accountant recalculated the opening balances as of January 1, 2016 based on the cost of work performed specified in the act, equal to 40,000 rubles, and not 50,000 rubles. Income tax increased by 2,000 rubles.

In addition, Alpha's accountant filed an updated declaration for income tax for 2015.

A significant mistake may have been made more than two years ago. In this case, you need to adjust the opening balances for the relevant reporting items at the beginning of the earliest year presented. This is stated in paragraph 11 of PBU 22/2010.

If it is not possible to determine the effect of a material error on one (or more) of the preceding reporting periods presented in the financial statements, the opening balance is adjusted to the beginning of the earliest period for which restatement is possible. This situation may arise if, to determine the impact of the error on the previous reporting period:

• complex and (or) numerous calculations are required, during which it is impossible to identify information about the circumstances that existed at the date of the error;

• it is necessary to use information received after the date of approval of the financial statements for the previous reporting period.

This procedure is prescribed in paragraphs 12, 13 of PBU 22/2010.

The procedure for making corrections to the accounting records will depend on the significance of the error made, as well as on the period of its discovery.

Errors in accounting discovered after the reporting deadline can become a real headache even for a very experienced accountant, since they involve additional labor and time costs for the recalculation of accounting reporting items. Let's consider the question of what errors significantly affect accounting and how to correct them?

Essential or insignificant?

PBU 22/2010 divides accounting errors into significant and insignificant. By material we mean an error that (individually or together with others) affects economic decisions made on the basis of financial statements in a given period.

There is no specific threshold in accounting regulations after which the concept of a significant error can be assigned. Identifying errors is an independent process for any taxpayer, and the expression of errors can be determined both in absolute numbers and in percentage terms. In any case, the level after which the error becomes significant should be specified in the company's accounting policies.

Whenever and how you identify errors in accounting, the Bukhsoft online system for electronic accounting reporting will allow you to quickly resolve the issue and transfer the necessary information to the supervisory authorities.

Ways to correct significant errors

For significant errors in accounting 2017, there are a number of requirements for correction. Let's first look at the methods of correction; they depend on in which documents the error was made - directly in the reporting or in the primary documentation, on the timing of detection and on the above-mentioned materiality of the error.

There are the following methods of corrections in the primary and registers:

• The proofreading method is only valid for paper media. Incorrect data is simply crossed out, while the primary information should be visible under the strikethrough. The correct entry is made nearby. The correction is certified by a responsible person, for example, the chief accountant, and is dated and stamped by the company, if available (Clause 7, Article 9 of Federal Law No. 402-FZ of December 6, 2011).

An important point is that in a number of documents this method of correction is unacceptable - these are bank and cash documentation.

• The red reversal method is used to correct account entries. If the entry was handwritten on paper, then the erroneous entry is repeated with red paste. The amounts highlighted in red in the transaction are subtracted when calculating the totals. The incorrect entry should be canceled and the posting repeated with the correct data. If you use software to enter information, as a rule, it is enough to make the same entry, but indicate the amount in it with a minus sign. Then make the correct entry. Incorrect posting will be automatically deducted by the program.
• Additional posting - this method of correcting errors is used if the initial correspondence of accounts is correct, but they contain incorrect amounts or if the transaction was recorded late. If the amount in the initial posting is insufficient, an additional posting is made with the remainder of the amount; if, on the contrary, the amount was overestimated, then an additional posting is made with the difference in the excess and is carried out using the red reversal method. In addition, with this method of correction, an explanatory certificate is needed, which indicates the reason for the adjustments.

The procedure for correcting errors in accounting reports for 2016

The procedure for making corrections will again depend on the significance of the error made, as well as on the period of its discovery. Namely:

• If an error was identified in the accounting records for 2016 in the same year 2016, corrections can be made in the month in which the inaccuracy was discovered. If the next calendar year has already arrived, but the reporting has not yet been signed and submitted to the regulatory authority, you can make amending entries in December 2016.
• If an error in the accounting records of 2016 has the status of a significant one, and the statements have already been signed but not yet approved, corrections are also made in December 2016. The new reporting submitted should state that it replaces the previously submitted one and indicate the reason for the replacement.

An important point: new reporting with correction of the error is submitted to all authorities where the previous information was previously sent.

Of course, in the middle of the year there is no need to talk about this method of correcting errors, but this option will also be valid for accounting reports for 2017.

• If the error is insignificant and was made in 2016, but the accountant discovered it only in 2017, when the financial statements for last year had already been approved and submitted, corrections are made to the entries in the accounting accounts in the month the error was discovered in 2017. Losses incurred or, on the contrary, profits received that arose in connection with this error should be transferred to account 91.
• If a significant error in the accounting records for 2016 was identified after the information was approved and submitted to the supervisory authorities in 2017, then corrections should be made to the accounting accounts already in 2017. In postings, account 84 is used.

Significant errors from previous reporting periods, corrected in the current period, must be indicated in the explanatory note to the annual financial statements for 2017.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Finance, in its letter dated January 22, 2016 No. 07-01-09/2235, indicated that companies can themselves develop an algorithm for correcting errors in accounting, guided by the provisions of the current Russian legislation. Any chosen procedure must be secured by provisions in the organization’s accounting policies.

By March 31 of the year following the reporting year, all legal entities without exception are required to submit a set of financial statements to the Federal Tax Service, as well as to Rosstat. It is assumed that at the time of filing, the reporting has been prepared in accordance with all the rules of current legislation; in other words, it is reliable. However, sometimes errors still occur in such documents, and then a completely reasonable question arises: is it possible to submit an updated balance sheet and adjustments to the financial statements in all other forms?

Dates of signing and approval of financial statements

Maintaining accounting records is the responsibility of every legal entity. At the end of the calendar year, the totality of the company’s performance indicators during a given reporting period is drawn up in the form of a set of financial statements, which are submitted to the regulatory authorities. In general, the balance sheet and other forms as part of such reporting are a reflection of the company’s activities, which take into account absolutely all the company’s business transactions, including those that are not important for the calculation of various taxes, depending on the taxation system used by the company.

The chief accountant of the company is responsible for the preparation of financial statements and is signed by the general director. In addition, the annual financial statements, as follows from the provisions of paragraph 9 of Article 13 of Federal Law No. 402-FZ, must be approved by the owners of the company. In accordance with Article 33 of the Federal Law “On Limited Liability Companies”, approval of the balance sheet, profit and loss statement and other forms as part of the LLC’s reporting is within the competence of the general meeting of the company’s participants. JSCs approve their annual reports at the general meeting of shareholders in accordance with the provisions of Article 48 of the Federal Law “On Joint Stock Companies”.

Interestingly, the deadline for submitting financial statements to the Federal Tax Service is March 31 of the year following the reporting year. At the same time, separate deadlines have been established for the approval of statements by the company's owners. Thus, the founders of an LLC must approve the annual reporting strictly in March-April, the shareholders of a JSC can do this from March to June inclusive. We are talking, of course, about periods after the end of the reporting year. Thus, although it is assumed that already approved financial statements are submitted to the Federal Tax Service, in fact their approval by the owners may take place somewhat later. At the same time, the annual meeting of founders or shareholders that was not held at the time of submitting reports to the Federal Tax Service does not relieve the company from the need to fulfill its reporting obligation to the Federal Tax Service within the specified period.

Updated financial statements

But let’s return to the question of whether it is possible to submit an adjusting balance sheet if in the past reporting period some errors were identified that affected the data presented in the report.

Based on the postulates of PBU 22/2010 “Correcting errors in accounting and reporting,” approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance dated June 28, 2010 No. 63n, the possibility of adjusting financial statements depends on the moment at which the error was identified. Depending on this, all possible situations of detecting errors in accounting that lead to distortion of financial reporting data for the year can be divided into several options. In some of them you can submit a balance adjustment, in others this is not required.

The simplest situation is if accounting errors were identified before the end of the calendar year. Detected data distortion is corrected by the corresponding posting to the accounts of the accounting department in the month of the reporting year in which it was detected. In such a case, there will be no need to adjust the balance sheet for 2016, because the annual report will initially be correct, since it is compiled as of December 31, that is, it will already contain the necessary corrections.

A similar situation occurs if an inaccuracy is discovered during the preparation of annual reports before they are reviewed by the company’s owners and submitted to the Federal Tax Service, that is, strictly in January-February. In this case, paragraph 6 of PBU 22/2010 requires corrections to be made in the accounting registers in December of the year for which the report is being prepared. In this case, the annual financial statements will also be drawn up correctly from the beginning, and there will be no need to submit an updated balance sheet.

It is worse if unaccounted for or distorted data was discovered after the financial statements were signed by the manager and transferred to the Federal Tax Service. If this happened before the documents were approved by the meeting of shareholders or founders (for example, in April), then the company is obliged to make appropriate accounting corrections in December of the reporting period and replace the financial statements already submitted to the regulatory authorities (clause 7 of PBU 22/2010). Thus, in this case, you will have to prepare and file an adjusting balance and other forms. It is this set of statements that will be reviewed and approved by the company's owners at the annual meeting.

If an error is identified during the meeting, but before the approval of the annual reports, then it will have to be revised (clause 8 of PBU 22/2010). Simply put, errors in accounting are also corrected in December, the previously prepared set is replaced with a corrected one, and corrective accounting statements are submitted to the Federal Tax Service. At the same time, the revised set must disclose information that this version of the statements replaces the originally presented one, as well as the reasons why this happened.

In a situation where errors in the accounting of the past year were discovered after the reports were submitted to the Federal Tax Service, as well as after their approval at the annual meeting of owners, the financial statements for the past year are not subject to revision (clause 10 of PBU 22/2010). So the answer to the question of whether it is necessary to submit updated financial statements in such a case will be negative. A distortion of accounting information that was discovered, say, in July, needs to be corrected in the current period of its discovery. Thus, the accountant will have to adjust the data generated at the beginning of the year for account 84 “Retained earnings (uncovered loss)” in correspondence with the account for which the inaccuracy of the previous year was identified.

The concept of materiality of an accounting error

All of the situations described above, in which an accountant has to face the problem of how to submit an updated balance sheet, assume that the errors that led to the distortion of data are significant. The concept of materiality is defined in paragraph 3 of PBU 22/2010.

Thus, an error is considered significant if it, individually or in combination with other errors for the same reporting year, can affect decisions made on the basis of these financial statements. A clear example of such a situation is the issue of paying dividends to founders or shareholders depending on annual profit indicators, the size of which may be distorted due to such an error. However, it is interesting that the company has the right to determine the degree of significance of the error itself, based on the value of indicators of certain accounting items. In this case, the materiality criteria must be enshrined in the accounting policies of the organization.

If the identified error is not significant, then, regardless of when it was made, the organization has the right to make corrections in the month it was discovered. This means that in such a situation, the company does not have to submit an updated balance sheet, regardless of whether the annual reporting was or was not approved by the founders or shareholders of the company. For example, if we are talking about an insignificant error made in the accounting of 2016, then even if it is identified in April 2017, a balance sheet adjustment for 2016 will not have to be submitted. Incorrect data will also need to be corrected in April. In this case, the profit or loss that could arise as a result of correcting such an insignificant error should be reflected as part of other income or expenses of the current period.