PBU 4/99 "Accounting statements of the organization": composition, content, position and order

Enterprises in the status of a legal entity, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, are required to keep records. One of the main regulatory acts regulating this procedure is PBU 4/99. What are its highlights? What should be the structure of reporting documents in accordance with the norms that are fixed in this normative act?

What is the regulatory act of PBU 4/99?

The considered source of law was put into circulation by Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation No. 43n, which was published on July 6, 1999. This normative act is classified as Regulation. Its full name is the Regulation on Accounting “Accounting Statements of an Organization” (PBU 4/99).

Why do I need an appropriate source of law? This normative act defines the structure, as well as the methodological foundations of enterprises conducting financial statements.

The jurisdiction of the considered source of law extends to all legal entities, except banks, as well as state and municipal structures. Also, PBU 4/99 may not be applied if the financial statements are prepared by the enterprise for internal needs, in order to provide statistical reports and accounting documents by business entities to interested parties in a manner that is not directly regulated by Order of the Ministry of Finance No. 43n.

The document in question should not be used in the preparation of:

• reporting generated by an economic entity for internal purposes, as well as compiled for statistical institutions;
• information prepared by a banking organization in accordance with established requirements, unless otherwise provided by separate rules.

It can be noted that the corresponding source of norms can be used directly by the Ministry of Finance in order to:

• definition of standard reporting forms, as well as guidelines for them;
• special reporting procedures for small businesses and NPOs;
• establishing rules for creating consolidated reporting, as well as documentation when changing the status of an enterprise.

Thus, the norm under consideration is a universal source with a fairly wide jurisdiction.

The considered source of law establishes a number of definitions that it is advisable for enterprises to adhere to when reporting.

PBU 4/99 definitions

We are talking about definitions of terms such as:

• financial statements;
• reporting date, period;
• user.

Accounting statements, in accordance with the provisions of PBU 4/99, should be understood as a unified internal corporate knowledge system on the financial position of the company, as well as on the results of the firm's business activity, compiled on the basis of information that is reflected in accounting.

The reporting period in PBU 4/99 refers to the period within which the appropriate type of reporting should be formed in the organization. The reporting date is understood, in turn, as the date at which the business entity is required to submit reports.

Another term that is disclosed in the source of law in question is the user. By such is meant an individual or organization that is interested in obtaining information about an economic entity.

In PBU 4/99 “Accounting statements of the organization” determines the composition of the relevant documentation of the enterprise, as well as the requirements for it. Consider them.

Reporting Composition

In accordance with the provisions of PBU 4/99 "Accounting statements of the organization", the financial statements of the company include:

• balance;
• profit and loss statement;
• special annexes to the balance sheet and report;
• explanatory note;
• in cases provided for by law, an audit report.

In turn, the considered source of law establishes a wide range of requirements for the financial statements of the company. We will study them.

Document Requirements

In accordance with RAS 4/99, “Accounting statements of an organization,” the documents that are generated by the enterprise must reflect reliably and in the necessary completeness an idea of ​​the state of affairs in the business, the results of the firm's business activity, and trends that characterize the economic performance of the company.

The main criterion for the completeness and reliability of reporting is its compliance with the rules fixed by regulatory acts adopted by the competent authorities. If the formation of the relevant documents reveals the insufficiency of certain data, the company must make the necessary additional indicators and explanations.

In extreme cases, PBU 4/99 allows this scenario, the company may deviate from the established standards if it is not possible to obtain the necessary indicators for objective reasons.

Information that is collected in the course of work on reporting should be neutral. Its application should not affect decisions taken by competent persons in the course of evaluating financial results.

The most important requirement for the financial statements of a legal entity - it should include indicators reflecting the results of the economic activities of all its divisions, representative offices, as well as other structures, including those that have separate balance sheets.

The company needs to ensure the most important compliance with the Accounting Regulation “Organization's financial statements” (PBU 4/99), which consists in the sequential formation of documents, taking into account the continuity of the structure of the form in which indicators for different reporting periods are recorded. The forms of documents used as the basis for the preparation of the balance sheet, the report, fixing profits and losses, as well as the sources supplementing them, should, therefore, be constant. They are subject to change in exceptional cases. As an option - if the type of activity of the company is changing. In this case, the organization should be ready to justify the relevant changes through separate explanations to the balance sheet, as well as a report reflecting profits and losses.

The financial statements, its composition and content (Accounting Regulation PBU 4/99 contains relevant standards) should be formed taking into account the continuity of indicators for different reporting periods. In case of discrepancies between the relevant data, the accountant can make the necessary adjustment of certain indicators. Moreover, information about it must be reflected in the addenda to the balance sheet and the report, reflecting the profits and losses of the enterprise.

The reflection of economic indicators in reporting: nuances

There are a number of nuances that characterize the fixation of key indicators in the financial statements - they are also provided for in the document “Organization's financial statements” PBU 4/99. Briefly about them, the following can be noted. Indicators of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses of the company must be reflected separately if they are very important for a reliable assessment of the state of affairs in the company. In turn, these indicators can be reflected in additions to the balance sheet and the report if they do not have special significance for assessing the state of the business.

Reporting date and year

In accordance with the regulatory source under consideration, when preparing the accounting documentation, the enterprise should keep in mind that the reporting date should be considered the last calendar day of the corresponding period. The reporting year corresponds to the period from January 1 to December 31. The first reporting year for the new organization is the period from the date of registration of the company until December 31. If the company was created after October 1, then the first reporting year for it corresponds to the period from the date of registration with state authorities until December 31, thus, the next year.

Accounting: other requirements

Consider other significant requirements for the formation of financial statements according to RAS 4/99. So, it should be noted that each of its components - balance sheet, report, additions to them, audit report - should contain:

• name;
• the reporting date or period for which reporting is provided;
• name of the company providing the documents;
• information about the legal form of business;
• format for reporting indicators.

The Order on the Approval of the Accounting Regulation “Organization's Accounting Statements” PBU 4/99 requires accountants to draw up documentation:

• in Russian;
• Indicate indicators in rubles.

The relevant statements must be certified:

• the head of the company;
• chief accountant or other employee who exercises authority in accounting.

Balance sheet structure

It will be useful to study the structure of the two key accounting documents - the balance sheet, as well as the report, which reflects the profits and losses of the company. Let's start from the first source.

The balance sheet contains an asset and a liability. Corresponding indicators characterize the economic situation of the company at the reporting date. As for the assets and liabilities of the company, they should be classified into short-term and long-term. The first includes those whose duration does not exceed 12 months. To the second - on the contrary, those that can be repaid by the obligated party 12 months after the conclusion of the contract and later.

Report structure

The next most important document is the report, which reflects profit and loss indicators. Using this source, in particular, income classification can be carried out on the basis of RAS 4/99 “Organization's financial statements”. The document under consideration should reflect the results of the economic activity of the company for the reporting period. The main indicators in it are thus correlated with income and expenses, which are classified into ordinary and other.

Notes to balance sheet and report

Another major type of sources included in the financial statements of the company - explanations of the balance sheet and the report, reflecting the profits and losses of the company. The relevant additions are intended to disclose information that relates to the accounting policy of the company and is necessary for the interested parties to present a reliable assessment of the company's financial performance.

If in the explanations it is required to reflect deviations from the rules allowed by the competent specialist of the company when preparing the reports, the reason for the assumption of this deviation is recorded. In addition, the company needs to reflect the financial consequences of assuming non-compliance with the rules of law governing the preparation of financial statements in enterprises.

Additions to accounting reporting sources should reflect information that relates directly to the organization’s business activities and disclose them in the context of that information, which is confirmed by accounting data. Thus, a person interested in obtaining the sources in question relies, first of all, on increasing the reliability of information about the economic situation at the enterprise.

A mandatory criterion for the relevant additions to PBU 4/99 “Organization's financial statements” is their compliance with legal standards, as well as internal regulations, if required based on the management policy of the corporation. If financiers had to abandon any norms, this should be recorded in the amendments under consideration. Thus, the relevant documents are intended to be transparent to any interested parties.

It can be noted that the considered legal act may correspond with others that regulate accounting at the enterprise. In this case, the financier needs to have quick access to the relevant sources of norms in the latest version, as well as comments, clarifications and, if necessary, judicial practice on the use of the provisions of these sources of law.