No business can now be imagined without workflow. Accounting and financial accounting, as well as all reporting to the state, are provided in the form of financial documents. Therefore, it is very important to correctly and correctly fill out the entire list of financial documents.
Definition
Financial documents are all forms of reporting to users and the state, which are formed on the basis of all indicators of the enterprise, which have reliability, timeliness and openness. These documents allow you to determine the situation in the company and makes it possible to adjust the direction of affairs in the right direction. It is on the basis of these documents that the main decisions are made on the reorganization of production, the reduction of certain cost items and changes in planning for the next period. The financial lists of applicants allow public services to conduct inspections in a timely manner and in full, without spending a lot of time and additional finances.
Balance sheet
This is the main and most important financial document of the organization, which allows you to find out the financial situation at the enterprise for the reporting period. This report allows you to find out the profitability of the enterprise, its effectiveness, all items of expenses and income. It consists of:
- Assets. It takes into account resources in any form that are owned by the company. This includes funds that are in various accounts, property, part of production, etc.
- Liabilities. These are debt obligations of the company.
- Equity. This is the owners' capital, accumulated in the process of activity.
It is worth considering that in this document, an asset should always converge with the sum of liabilities and equity. The balance sheet is always done on a certain date and for a certain period. It is a very common practice when a balance sheet in a joint stock company is used to report to shareholders.
Profits and Losses Report
The second most important document is considered to be a financial activity document. It also shows the effectiveness of the enterprise and is also very important for owners and shareholders. This report allows you to determine the direction of the development trend of the enterprise, as well as indicators such as net profit, gross profit, third-party income and the income structure as a whole. The structure of the income statement is divided into 3 parts:
- Revenues. This article includes any kind of increase in company capital, with the exception of the investments of the owners.
- Costs. They include items that reduce the effectiveness of the company - various losses, as well as the natural costs of the company.
- Gross profit. This is an indicator that is calculated as the difference in revenue from the cost of production. After this calculation, cost indicators that are not included in the cost are also subtracted.
One can also single out a multi-stage report and a single-stage one. The first includes detailed data, even before the calculations. The second is the final data excluding calculations.
Cash flow statement
This report shows all the ways in which cash flows to the company and is spent. This is a financial document that allows you to adjust the activity plan of all participants in the enterprise. Typically, such a report consists of financial activities, operating and investing.
The calculation of this document is usually done by two methods:
- Direct calculation method. This method is also called the cash basis. It is based on direct calculations of net gross receipts and waste.
- Indirect calculation method. It is based on all transactions that are carried out in the specified period and, based on these transactions, a cash flow statement is collected.
Other reporting
- Invoice. This document is issued to the buyer by the seller in order to record the fact of the transaction, as well as to determine the VAT. You can distinguish between standard and advance. The peculiarity of a standard invoice is that it is sent either with the goods or already after shipment or the provision of services. Advance is sent with the first prepayment to account for future deliveries.
- Proforma Invoice. This is a financial document that is needed to determine the value of goods during transportation across the border. Among the features, one can single out the dispatch before the transaction is completed, as well as the possible difference in price, quantity and total cost in comparison with the invoice. It is not a basis for payment.
- Invoice This is a financial document that is most often used in international trade practice. This document is required in international trade. The invoice indicates the entire quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the goods, is transmitted simultaneously with the goods and the full final cost of the goods and the owner are indicated in it.
- Certificate of Origin. This document is a secure form that certifies the customs control of the Russian Federation or another country. This certificate is needed when importing or exporting goods, to determine the competitiveness of this product relative to domestic producers, as well as to provide possible benefits for import.
Signature of financial documents
All the documents listed above are not valid without the signature of the responsible person. In financial law, the concepts of “first signature right” and “second signature right” are commonly used. The first signature is usually held by the head of the enterprise, the second chief accountant of the firm or vice president, if such a position exists in the company. The right of the first signature cannot be transferred to the holder of the right of the second signature, one person cannot be the owner of the first and second signature at the same time. Also, a notarized power of attorney can be issued for the right to sign, but this is done extremely rarely.
Registration of a power of attorney for the right to sign
If an accountant or manager is absent, then in such cases the right to sign documents is transferred to other employees according to two documents:
- The order of the head. This is a necessary formality, if the head wants to leave a proxy in his place. Such an order usually indicates the first or second right of signature to be transferred to a given person, the surname, name, patronymic of the employee, as well as a list of documents that he can sign under this order. This order usually also contains a sample signature of the employee.
- Power of attorney. In some cases, during negotiations with partners or suppliers, the right to sign is transferred according to the power of attorney. The power of attorney also indicates which signature right is transferred to this employee and which contracts he can conclude on behalf of the company.
The transfer of rights may be temporary and permanent. Temporary transfer of the signature is carried out at the time of vacation, business trip or hospital responsible person. Permanent transfer is carried out with full transfer of authority to another person, for example, when introducing a new position.
Documentary Audit
Documentary audit is one of the most common form of control of documents in financial law. The main objective of the audit is to control the completeness of the implementation of the legislation of the Russian Federation in its financial, operational, investment and other activities. It is monitored in terms of availability, movement of all resources, including financial, material, human and scientific and technical. A documentary audit is carried out both by government bodies and by company management on an ongoing and mandatory basis. Main tasks:
- Compliance with discipline and the detection of violations in the preparation of all forms of financial documents.
- Conducting prevention in terms of violations of financial discipline.
- Checking the completeness of filling all financial lists that submitted documents.
- Verification of compliance with documents, internal regulations, as well as the financial laws of the country.
- Monitoring the conservation of company resources, as well as control over their consumption.
Conclusion
The question of the importance of financial documents is facing any enterprise, regardless of the size and direction of activity. If an entrepreneur wants his business to flourish and there are no problems with the law or suppliers, then you need to carefully consider the issue of your financial statements. Otherwise, the owner can not only not achieve certain goals in his business, but also lose his business.