"Glavbukh", 2006, N 21
A LAWYER HELPES DEAL WITH AN ACCOUNTANT’S PROBLEMS
Of course, every accountant wants to protect himself from participation in the company’s tax fraud. But often the director does not consult with the chief accountant, but drags him into dubious schemes. This material contains three real stories in which an accountant faces criminal liability. At the request of the Glavbukh magazine, practicing lawyer Alexey Alexandrovich Doronin, tax consultant at the Nikolaev and Partners Bar Association, gives advice on how to act in each case.
The director, against whom a criminal case was opened, escaped
“My work book is at my main place of work. But I worked as a chief accountant in another organization - without an employment contract.
Every Saturday I picked up the “primary”, processed it at home, then handed it over to the director without inventories or receipts. Based on the order journals, I generated accounting and tax reporting. In addition, I prepared cash reports daily (attaching Z-reports and expense vouchers). I did not have the right to sign on documents.
At the beginning of August, at the request of the director, I prepared documents for obtaining a loan from the bank. The director received a loan, cashed out the money and... fled, destroying the entire archive of documents for previous years and part of the documents for the first quarter of this year. A criminal case has been opened against him. I still had unsigned cash documents for 9 months, which I provided to the investigation. For now I am being summoned for questioning as a witness, but I am afraid that I will be accused of being an accomplice..."
In this case, you need to start from the fact that there is no formalized employment relationship between you and the organization. After all, no employment contract was concluded with you, no entries were made in the work book. And since there is no labor relationship, then you cannot bear responsibility as a chief accountant.
Even if there are witnesses who claim that it was you who held the position of chief accountant, it will be almost impossible to prove this in court. If the judges decide that it is necessary to identify the handwriting, then you have nothing to worry about here either. After all, for the investigation, the only thing you did was submit Z-reports, which were printed by the cash register, and fill out expense orders by hand. But not only the chief accountant can do this. The law does not prohibit entering data to another person. In addition, you did not have the right to sign and, therefore, did not sign anywhere.
During interrogations, of course, deny that you performed the duties of the chief accountant. Regarding cash documents, we can say that you simply filled out papers at the request of the general director.
True, there is a possibility that employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will find documents on your home computer indicating that you kept accounts and helped the director. I hasten to reassure you - this probability is extremely low. A search of an informal accountant is extremely rare. Basically, this only happens if the CEO himself testifies against you.
However, investigators have the opportunity to search the apartment after a criminal case has been opened and the general director has been charged. This is an investigative measure that can be applied to all persons who are directly or indirectly related to the accused. Naturally, investigators must have permission to search.
During the search, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs can seize the system unit and check the files contained on the computer. Specialists will be able to recover even deleted files. If during the audit any documents are found that confirm that you kept the books and assisted the director, then you may also be held accountable.
I repeat, the likelihood of such a development is low. But if you are worried about this, and there are some incriminating documents left on your personal computer, then it is better to destroy the hard drive. Experts will not be able to recover data from a mechanically damaged hard drive.
I would like to advise those accountants who work unofficially not to sign any documents under any circumstances! In such a situation, this will allow you to avoid any claims. I also recommend storing the accounting program on a flash drive or other removable media. If a search is carried out, you will be able to hide it and thereby avoid claims.
The director shifts all responsibility to the accountant
“I work as a chief accountant. Not long ago, the general and executive director (relatives) began to sort things out and divide the business. The clarifications dragged on for four months. All this time I was not paid my salary. I decided to quit, but my resignation letter was not accepted. The general director, who, in fact, only signed the documents and did not participate in the activities of the enterprise himself, thought that I wanted to leave because I was hiding something and because he thought that I, together with the executive director, were carrying out some kind of fraud. , began to threaten me with the police.
I decided to stay on the sidelines and didn’t say anything. The CEO initiated an audit, which revealed major tax violations. Then the director turned to law enforcement agencies, and a criminal case was opened against the executive director under Art. 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - for tax evasion.
Now I don’t know what to do: they won’t accept my application, they won’t give me my salary for the last four months, and they won’t return my work book. In addition, I am constantly called in for questioning at the Department of Economic Crimes..."
In my opinion, there are several problematic issues in this story.
Let's start with the resignation letter. If you understand that the secretariat may accept your application, but then send it to the trash, then demand that the personnel officer sign the document about its acceptance and enter it into the journal of incoming documents. If the personnel employee refuses to make a note, then it is better to send the resignation letter by registered mail with notification.
To avoid any trouble, you'd better go to work as usual within 20 days from the date of application. Fourteen days - in accordance with Art. 80 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and five more are given to the post office for delivery of your application. If after 20 days you have not been fired, then contact the court or the city labor inspectorate.
I note that the rules of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation also apply if a criminal case has been initiated against the executive director. That is, the accountant has every right to resign.
And even if the chief accountant were accused, he still has the right to resign of his own free will. The company is obliged to accept his application, calculate and issue a work book. Indeed, in the event of a criminal violation, the accountant is responsible to the state. The general director has no right to keep you at your place of work while the investigation is ongoing.
As for the work book, the employer is obliged to hand it over to you personally. True, he can also use the mail, but only if he sent you notification three times, but you never showed up to pick it up. But this, apparently, is not your case. If they still don’t give you your work and don’t pay you, then again contact the labor inspectorate or the court. No one else can help you.
Now the most unpleasant thing is the interrogations at the Department of Economic Crimes. Now you are involved in a case in which the executive director is accused, as a witness. You need to answer the investigator's questions as carefully as possible. Under no circumstances admit that you somehow participated in the director’s machinations or conducted double accounting! If you don’t know how to answer correctly, it’s better to remain silent.
After all, now you are being questioned as a witness, but then the situation may change, and your testimony will be used when they begin to accuse you. As soon as you agree with the investigator that you participated in the machinations of the executive director, you will immediately become accused. In addition, you can still be made an accomplice in this case, for example, if they prove that you knew that violations were being committed, but did not report this to the tax office.
I also advise you to come to interrogations with a lawyer and answer all questions from law enforcement officers only in his presence. The lawyer will tell you which questions it is better to remain silent about and which ones to answer. You can hire a lawyer yourself, but if not, then the inquiry authorities themselves should appoint one for you.
The police accuse both the director and the accountant
“A tax audit came to our organization, we provided all the requested documents. During the audit, inspectors discovered a violation in our organization, which led to an underpayment of tax in the amount of 600,000 rubles. We do not agree with the violation. The tax authorities handed over the report based on the results of the inspection to the internal affairs authorities Now the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are carrying out operational investigative measures and want to open a criminal case against us and the head under Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. What should we do, because we ourselves believe that the mistake found by the tax authorities is unlawful..."
Note. When conducting a joint audit, tax authorities and police officers are guided by the joint Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and the Ministry of Taxes of Russia of January 22, 2004 No. 76, No. AS-3-06/37.
To convict you, investigators need to prove that you committed the violation intentionally. It will be difficult for them to do this, since initially your organization did not evade paying taxes. After all, you did not hide the documentation, but, on the contrary, presented all the necessary papers during the inspection.
I advise you to take a more cautious position. It would be better to say that the company did not pay the tax because you interpreted the legislation this way. But you could be wrong... You need to show your willingness to pay the arrears, fines and penalties if the arbitration court recognizes that the company actually committed an offense. If you behave this way, then most likely it will not come to the point of initiating a criminal case.
Also, there will be no criminal liability if the accountant admits that he actually made a mistake, for example, out of ignorance.
I would especially like to stop if a criminal case is opened against officials. Then salvation is an arbitration court. After a joint audit, tax officials and operatives go their separate ways. Arbitration and criminal processes do not concern each other; they proceed in parallel. And you need to do your best to win the arbitration. After all, if the arbitration proceedings end in your favor before the court makes a decision in the criminal case, then this will be a decisive argument in order to drop the charges against you.
Let me warn you that there are cases when the arbitration court suspends the case, since all the original documents of the organization are in criminal proceedings. Thus, arbitrators wait for the verdict of the defendant in a criminal case and only then take up the consideration of a tax dispute. But if in this case the court finds the defendant guilty and convicts him, and the arbitration proves the correctness of the organization’s actions, then you need to take the decision of the arbitration court and appeal the court decision. The criminal charges will be dropped.
A.A.Doronin
Tax consultant
Bar Association "Nikolaev and Partners"
Signed for seal
25.10.2006
The manager can grant the right to sign documents to any employee by his order.
However, in the situation specified in the question, everything depends on the job descriptions of the chief accountant (GB) and the material desk accountant (BMS).
In particular, if the BMS is engaged in inventorying property, processing settlements with accountable persons, etc., then it would be most correct to transfer the right of signature on these documents to the BMS.
If the chief accountant is involved in the preparation of accounting and tax reporting, then he should be given the right to sign primary documents, invoices, accounting and tax reporting.
Thus, by order of the manager, the right to sign primary documents (acts, invoices, cash documents, etc.) and invoices can be assigned to the GB. A power of attorney is not required to sign them.
To sign accounting and tax reporting (in addition to the order appointing the GB responsible for signing the reporting), a power of attorney is required.
The rationale for this position is given below in the materials of the Glavbukh System.
Primary documents
Each fact of economic life must be confirmed by a primary document (Part 1 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ). The forms of primary documents are approved by the head of the organization upon the recommendation of the person entrusted with accounting (Part 4 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ).
The primary document must contain the following mandatory details:
Name of the document;
date of document preparation;
name of the economic entity (organization) that compiled the document;
content of the fact of economic life;
the value of the natural and (or) monetary measurement of a fact of economic life, indicating the units of measurement;
the names of the positions of the persons who completed the transaction, operation, and those responsible for the correctness of its execution, or the names of the positions of the persons responsible for the accuracy of the execution of the accomplished event;
signatures of these persons with a transcript and other information necessary to identify these persons *Such a list is established by Part 2 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ.
The primary document must be drawn up when the fact of economic life is completed, and if this is not possible, immediately after its completion (Part 3 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ).
Primary documents are drawn up on paper and (or) in the form of an electronic document signed with an electronic signature (Part 5 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ).
Signatures in documents
All primary documents must be drawn up when a fact of economic life is completed, and if this is not possible, immediately after its completion. Responsibility for the correct execution of a transaction, operation, or accomplished event lies with the persons who signed the corresponding primary document.
The list of employees who have the right to sign primary documents can be approved by the head of the organization by his order.*
At the same time, the procedure for signing documents used to formalize transactions with funds is regulated, in particular, by Bank of Russia Regulation No. 373-P dated October 12, 2011 and Bank of Russia Regulation No. 383-P dated June 19, 2012. This was stated in the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 4, 2012 No. PZ-10/2012.
Sergey Razgulin, Deputy Director of the Department of Tax and Customs Tariff Policy of the Russian Ministry of Finance
2. Article: Answers that will help you adapt your primary account to the 2013 rules without unnecessary hassle
The main thing is to make sure that the old primary record contains all the required details, which are now prescribed in paragraph 2 of Article 9 of the Accounting Law. You will find their complete list below. True, we have already done this task for you. Fortunately, all unified forms have the required data. And by the way, the new set of details is not much different from the old set of details. Of the new ones, only full name was added. those employees who sign the document.*
These details must be included in the 2013 primary data*
1. Name and date of preparation of the document.
2. Your company name. Full or abbreviated – it doesn’t matter.
4. Natural or monetary measurement (rubles, pieces, packages, etc.).
5. Positions of the employees who performed and were responsible for the operation (responsible for registering the event), their signatures and full names. (other data allowing employees to be identified).*
3. Situation: What documents when opening a current account in Russia confirm the right of the first and second signature of bank settlement documents
The answer to this question depends on who signs the bank documents.
In order to conclude a bank account agreement and open a current account, an organization needs to submit, among other things, documents that confirm the authority of persons vested with the right of first and second signature (subparagraph “d”, paragraph 4.1 of the Bank of Russia Instruction dated September 14, 2006 No. 28-I ).
The right of first signature belongs to the head of the organization. In this case, a document confirming this right may be an employment order.
The manager may grant the right of first signature to other employees of the organization (with the exception of persons vested with the right of second signature). In addition, the right of first signature may be transferred to the manager or management organization performing the functions of the sole executive body of the organization. In the latter case, the management organization has the right to grant the right of first signature to:
Your employees;
employees of the client organization.
In both cases, one of the following documents will confirm the right of first signature:*
Order on granting the right to first sign bank documents;
power of attorney for the right to first sign bank documents.
Such rules are contained in paragraph 7.5 of Bank of Russia Instruction No. 28-I dated September 14, 2006.
The right of the second signature belongs to the chief accountant or employees vested with the right of the second signature on the basis of an order from the head of the organization. If accounting is carried out by a third-party organization, the right of second signature may be granted to its employees. Documents confirming the authority of the person authorized to sign the second signature may be:*
Order for hiring a chief accountant;
an order granting the right to a second signature of bank documents (if the second signature does not belong to the chief accountant);
an agreement for the provision of accounting services and a power of attorney for the right of a second signature to an employee of the organization that conducts accounting.
There is no unified form for the order granting the right to sign, so it can be drawn up in any form. The power of attorney can also be issued in any form. However, such a document must contain a number of mandatory details: date of registration, signature of the head and seal of the organization (clause 5 of Article 185, paragraph 2 of clause 1 of Article 186 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
In addition, in support of authority, you can submit other documents indicating that a particular person has the right to sign. For example:
Job description;
power of attorney for the right to dispose of funds with an indication of granting the right to sign (first or second).
In addition, a person who applies to a bank to open a current account for an organization must present a passport (other identification document) (clause 1.7 of Bank of Russia Instruction No. 28-I dated September 14, 2006).
Oleg Khoroshy, State Advisor to the Tax Service of the Russian Federation, III rank
Signatures of responsible persons
The invoice on paper must be signed by the manager and chief accountant of the selling organization (performer). The invoice can also be signed by other persons authorized to do so by order of the manager or by power of attorney on behalf of the organization.* If the supplier (performer) is an entrepreneur, he must personally sign the invoice and indicate in it the details of his registration certificate.
An invoice drawn up in electronic form must be certified by an enhanced qualified electronic signature of the head of the organization or another person authorized to do so by order of the head or power of attorney of the organization. If the supplier (executor) is an entrepreneur, he must certify the electronic invoice with his enhanced qualified electronic signature. When an organization prepares an invoice in electronic form, the indicator “Chief Accountant (signature) (full name)” is not generated.
This procedure follows from the provisions of paragraph 6 of Article 169 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, paragraph 8 of Appendix 1 to Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 26, 2011 No. 1137, paragraph 1.5 of the Procedure approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia of April 25, 2011 No. 50n.
Transfer of signature rights
Situation: how to correctly transfer the right to sign invoices from the manager and chief accountant to other employees of the organization*
Confirm the transfer of the right to sign invoices with a power of attorney or order (instruction)
The transfer of the right to sign invoices can be formalized by a power of attorney from the organization or by order (instruction) of the manager* (Clause 6 of Article 169 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). There are no standard samples for orders (instructions), so these documents can be drawn up in any form. The main thing is that they contain information about to whom the right to sign is transferred, and samples of signatures of these employees. In addition, the order (instruction) can set a period during which an authorized employee has the right to sign invoices. You can also provide for who is given the right to sign instead of an authorized employee during the period of his illness or absence for other reasons.
Situation: is it necessary to indicate in the invoice the position of the employee authorized to sign this document instead of the manager (chief accountant)*
No, it's not necessary.
The composition of the mandatory invoice details is established by Article 169 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, therefore changing them is unacceptable. This also applies to such invoice details as “Head of the organization or other authorized person” and “Chief accountant or other authorized person.” Thus, if the invoice is signed by an authorized employee, then his position should not be indicated in this document. But to identify the person who actually signed the invoice, after the signature it is necessary to indicate his surname and initials.* This procedure for issuing an invoice signed by an employee authorized to do so by order (instruction) of the manager or power of attorney on behalf of the organization is recommended by the Ministry of Finance of Russia in a letter April 23, 2012 No. 03-07-09/39, dated February 6, 2009 No. 03-07-09/04, Federal Tax Service of Russia in letter dated June 18, 2009 No. 3-1-11/425.
At the same time, if the employee authorized to sign invoices indicated his position in it, such a document is not drawn up in violation of the established procedure. Neither the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, nor the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 26, 2011 No. 1137 prohibits indicating additional details (information) in invoices, including the names of positions of persons authorized to sign these documents. Similar clarifications are contained in letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated April 23, 2012 No. 03-07-09/39 and dated February 6, 2009 No. 03-07-09/04.
Olga Tsibizova, head of the indirect taxes department of the department of tax and customs tariff policy of the Ministry of Finance of Russia
What documents should the chief accountant not sign - it is dangerous for the company and for himself 1 Old primary document Why a new signature on old documents will not help the company 2 Documents for the days when the chief accountant was on vacation or on sick leave You can sign - such documents are valid. But other dangers arise 3 Papers for which other accountants are responsible The signature of the chief accountant will not replace the visa of a subordinate. Five documents that solve this problem Old primary account The current chief accountant does not have the right to sign for his predecessor It is useless to sign on documents that your predecessor forgot to sign. If the signature of the chief accountant is a mandatory requisite of the document, then without it it will be invalid. And whether you sign for it or not, nothing will change. On the day when the document was drawn up, you were not the chief accountant of the company. This means they had no right to sign it. Primary documents that are signed by an unauthorized person cannot be accepted for accounting (Article 9 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ). The consequences of such a violation depend on the document. For example, if you yourself sign a sick leave certificate for your predecessor, the FSS may refuse compensation (clause 66 of the order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia dated June 29, 2011 No. 624n, clause 18 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated February 12, 1994 No. 101). Of course, for this, the fund’s specialists must note that at that time there was a different chief accountant. Because of your signature on the old primary document, problems are possible not only for the company, but also for counterparties. It happens that tax officers at the counter ask for issued invoices, but the previous chief accountant did not print out second copies. Or the buyer has not received the documents and asks to transfer them. In such cases, you should not sign for the previous accountant. Otherwise, the tax authorities will have grounds to refuse the buyer a VAT deduction. He will have to defend his rights in court (resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Ural District dated July 9, 2007 No. F09-5205/07-S2). But you cannot transfer documents without a signature either. Solution. Here are three options for signing the old primary document: 1) invite the former chief accountant, have him sign all the documents on which he forgot to put a visa; 2) draw up a duplicate of the document: put your signature on it, and write “Duplicate” on top; 3) contact the employee who at that time had a power of attorney to certify the documents you need. Ask him to sign. This option is also suitable for sick leave. The FSS allows you to sign certificates of incapacity for work by proxy (clause 12 letter of the FSS of the Russian Federation dated October 28, 2011 No. 14-03-18/15-12956). Important figures: 50,000 rubles - such a fine can be imposed on a company by the labor inspectorate if it discovers that the chief accountant signed documents during non-working hours. Documents for the days when the chief accountant was on vacation or on sick leave. Important detail The right to sign invoices on behalf of the manager and the chief accountant can be transferred both by order and by power of attorney (clause 6 of Article 169 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Documents that an accountant signs while on vacation or sick leave can be accepted for accounting and tax purposes. The chief accountant is not required to work during rest or illness. But no one suspended him from work. Therefore, the powers of the chief accountant will remain, even if the responsibilities are transferred to another employee. This means that the documents signed by the chief accountant will be legal (appeal ruling of the judicial panel for civil cases of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) dated January 14, 2015 in case No. 33-4778/2014). But other dangers arise for the company. Labor legislation prohibits involving an employee at work during illness or vacation. Violations may result in a fine of up to RUB 50,000. (Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation). And in the case of sick leave, they will also reduce the chief accountant’s disability benefits. The doctor may find out that the patient was working and will make a note on the hospital note about the violation of the regime. In a special line he will put the date and code 25 - “Return to work without an extract.” And the employer is obliged, starting from the specified date, to calculate benefits based on the minimum wage (Article 8 of the Federal Law of December 29, 2006 No. 255-FZ). Even if the doctor does not notice a violation of the regime, the benefit may reduce the fund. During the inspection, officials from the FSS will see the signed documents and understand that the chief accountant worked during his illness, which means he violated the regime. Therefore, part of the benefit will be withdrawn, contributions, fines and penalties will be assessed (resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Ural District dated April 20, 2011 No. F09-1302/11-S2). Solution. There are two ways to sign documents when the chief accountant is on vacation or on sick leave: 1) issue a recall of the chief accountant from vacation; 2) ask another employee with a power of attorney or an employee who, by order, performs the duties of the chief accountant, to sign. Note: For which documents will not only the company, but also the chief accountant be punished personally? 1. Primary statement for contracts with one-day contracts. Do not sign such a primary statement on behalf of the company. Documents are drawn up to reduce income tax and offset VAT. Tax evasion is a crime for which a criminal case can be opened against the chief accountant. Investigators will have to prove that he participated in the scheme and received personal benefit. It will be difficult to do this if the accountant did not sign the contract and the initial document. This means that he might not have known that the deal was fictitious. He entered all the information into the tax reporting based on primary documents, the reliability of which he had no doubt.2. Documents for receiving material assets. Even if you have a power of attorney to sign such documents, do not rush to sign them. First, make sure that all the valuables listed on the invoice are in stock. Check to see if any of them are defective. And only after that sign the documents. Otherwise, you risk: the shortage on this invoice will be blamed on you. After all, you are responsible for the property from the moment you sign the invoice until you transfer it to other responsible persons or to production. Papers for which other accountants are responsible Caution In order for the chief accountant to receive material assets from the supplier and sign the invoice, a power of attorney from the company is needed. The chief accountant has no right to sign documents for his subordinates. The initial document is visaed by the employees who completed the transaction or operation, and those who are responsible for its execution (Article 9 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ). The law does not establish specific positions of employees and a list of documents. Each company has its own list. Five documents that give your company’s accountants the right to sign the primary report are in the table. For example, one of the accounting employees keeps personnel records and calculates salaries. These responsibilities are listed in his job description. Without an order from the manager, the chief accountant does not have the right to sign personnel and other documents related to payroll calculations, such as time sheets and pay slips, for a subordinate. The situation is similar with the cashier’s signature. Although the chief accountant signs cash orders, he does not have the right to sign for the cashier a second time. And documents signed by an unauthorized person do not confirm the calculations (ruling of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated August 3, 2015 No. 306-KG15-8420 in case No. A65-2680/2014). In some companies, chief accountants from time to time accept various material assets and work. For example, office supplies, minor office repairs, or software update services. Typically, such functions are not the responsibility of an accountant. Therefore, without a power of attorney, his signature on the primary document will be illegitimate. It turns out that the business transaction was formalized with a primary document signed by an unauthorized person. This means that such documents are prohibited from being taken into account. Tax officials will consider that the company has grossly violated the rules for accounting for income and expenses, and will fine it 10,000 rubles. And if the accountant recognizes such expenses in tax accounting, then the fine will be even higher - 20 percent of the amount of unpaid tax, but not less than 40,000 rubles. (Article 120 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Solution. The chief accountant has the right to sign documents for subordinates or other employees if: 1) he has received a power of attorney from the company for the right to sign; 2) is mentioned in the manager’s order as an employee who is authorized to visa the primary employee.
Contrary to prevailing opinion and practice, the chief accountant does not have to sign almost every document related to the accounting and finance of the enterprise. Let's figure out when it is necessary to sign your autograph, and when you can do without it.
Signature on reports
Before we talk about rights, let's remember about responsibilities. Cases when an accountant's signature is required are strictly stipulated by regulations. Firstly, according to the Law “On Accounting” (No. 129-FZ dated November 21, 1996), without the signature of an accountant or a person authorized by him, monetary settlement documents, financial and credit obligations are considered invalid (Article 7). In this case, financial and credit documents are considered to be documents that formalize the organization’s financial investments, loan or credit agreements. In other words, the bank will not accept a check or payment order or issue a loan if the documents do not have the signature of the chief accountant.
In addition, the accountant’s signature is required on the organization’s financial statements. By the way, according to PBU 4/99, such reporting includes only the balance sheet, profit and loss statement, appendices and explanatory notes to the balance sheet and report. In cases where the activities of an organization are subject to mandatory audit (for example, joint-stock companies), the financial statements also include the auditors' conclusions. And this is where the mandatory autographs end! All other reports and declarations are tax reports, not accounting reports, and the accountant’s signature on them is, in principle, optional.
Albina Semenova, chief accountant of a wholesale food supply company, Novosibirsk:
Getting my signature on an official document is not easy! You see, I have 16 years of accounting experience, so I know my rights very well and understand: by not signing this or that document, an accountant can protect himself. Only in the first months of my career, due to inexperience, I signed almost every piece of paper that the general director slipped me. And now - pipes! But, of course, I endorse the financial statements and those documents that are specified in the accounting law.
However, let's return to tax reporting. This is where the paradoxes begin. All instructions of the Ministry of Taxes and Taxes of Russia establish that each declaration must be certified by the signature of the head and chief accountant. But the fact is that the instructions of the main tax department are mandatory only for tax authorities, and for taxpayers they are only advisory in nature. And therefore the chief accountant is not required to sign tax returns. But in this case, disagreements may arise with tax officials. After all, for tax authorities, the rules established by the instructions are mandatory, and they will consider the absence of an accountant’s signature a violation. Therefore, many accountants, in order not to give rise to a conflict with the inspector, put their signature on absolutely all forms submitted to the tax authorities. But the Tax Code of the Russian Federation clearly establishes that the declaration must be certified by the taxpayer, and the representative of the taxpayer is the head of the organization (director). Therefore, the accountant is not required to sign his autograph on the declarations. Unfortunately, it is impossible to give general advice on whether to sign the declaration or not. In each specific case, only the accountant himself can determine the price of the issue and decide what is more profitable for him: to argue with the tax inspector or to strengthen “peace and friendship” with the tax authorities. However, it must be taken into account that for the chief accountant, the signature on the declaration does not entail any legal consequences.
Victoria Onishchenko, chief accountant of a construction company, Tomsk:
In my work I adhere to the principle “a bad peace is better than a good quarrel.” So once again I won’t put myself in a position and start conflicts with the tax authorities. Well, you need to put a squiggle on the declaration - that’s what you’ll get.
Signature on the "primary"
In such a sensitive matter as signing autographs, an accountant has to be a skilled diplomat not only in relations with tax authorities. Problems are often thrown at an accountant... by the head of his own organization. Often the manager’s requirement is at odds with the chief accountant’s desire to sign a particular document. This usually happens if the boss pushes the accountant to commit an obvious or not so obvious violation of the law. And as you know, an accountant is a forced person - if he enters into an obvious conflict with management, he risks being fired. What to do in such a situation?
Option one: agree with the director and certify the “disputed” document.
Elena Krivtsova, chief accountant of a beauty salon, Krasnoyarsk:
You see, the head of our salon is my closest friend. We founded the company together, and immediately decided for ourselves that we would share all the troubles and joys of this project honestly - equally. That’s why I always sign documents from my CEO. Of course, we try to check everything several times beforehand.
In this case, by signing, the accountant assumes exactly half of the responsibility that may follow the discovery of violations. After all, according to the law, the manager and the accountant are jointly and severally liable for violation of tax and accounting laws. Moreover, the liability can even be criminal. And as established judicial practice shows, the burden of responsibility falls in equal proportions on the accountant and the manager.
Option two: do not sign the document at all, since the manager has the right to issue an order, on the basis of which he certifies the “disputed” document only with his signature and the seal of the organization. But in this case, we can expect that the director will not hesitate to issue another order - the dismissal of the chief accountant.
Sergey Smirnov, chief accountant of a furniture store, Omsk:
I experienced the problem of signing or not signing dubious documents from the general director. I had the following situation... As a result, I did not endorse the document because I considered it a provocation. And although it did not come to dismissal, the relationship with the general deteriorated for a long time.
Option three. In our opinion, the most advantageous of the three. The fact is that the manager can issue an order specifically for the chief accountant to oblige him to endorse a particular document. It is in the interests of the chief accountant to even remind the manager about this if he suddenly forgets. What's good about this order, you ask? But here's what: when the accountant has a written order from the head of the organization in his hands, he can safely sign a dubious document. And if a situation arises in which those responsible for the violation are identified, the accountant will present the manager’s order. And thereby avoid possible punishment. The order can be accepted by the court as evidence of the absence of guilt of the chief accountant who acted under duress from higher authorities (subclause 2, clause 1, article 112 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). And the insidious boss in this case will bear full responsibility for the consequences of unfair transactions (Article 7 of the Law “On Accounting”).
