Through the act of reconciliation, partners note the status of mutual settlements on a specific date. To avoid misunderstandings and errors, a document should be drawn up taking into account certain nuances. What are the features of filling out the form of the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements?
General points
The act of reconciliation on mutual settlements displays the status of settlements between counterparties in a certain period. There is no statutory obligation to compile this document.
But in business practice, the act of reconciliation is an integral part of the cooperation of organizations. Timeliness of reconciliation can prevent many errors in accounting and tax accounting.
The peculiarity of the reconciliation act is also that it is signed by the chief accountant and the head. If the act is signed only by an accountant, then the document plays a purely technical role and has no legal significance.
What it is
An act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is a document that displays the settlements of two organizations in a certain period. In simpler terms, the act is a listing of all business operations between partners for a specified time, indicating the calculated data of each party.
The act summarizes the record of the presence or absence of discrepancies in the calculations. Ideally, the data of the two organizations should match. But if discrepancies are revealed, then the primary documentation is checked.
This is how unaccounted documents or technical errors are detected. How does an organization establish its debt in favor? Reconciliation act, what does the information displayed in it mean?
A reconciliation act is drawn up by any of the partner organizations that wishes to verify the accuracy of the calculations. In this case, the debt in favor of the supplier or buyer or the absence thereof is revealed.
The document is drawn up in any form in two copies. Further, both acts are sent to the counterparty. In one form, the partner organization specifies its accounting data.
Then the signatures and seal of the organization are put. In case of discrepancies, an error is indicated with reference to supporting documents. The completed act is transferred to the initiator of the reconciliation.
What is it for
The need to use the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements between partners is due, first of all, to the observance of the reliability of accounting in long-term cooperation.
Periodic reconciliation helps to detect even minor errors in time, which slowly, but still distort accounting. In addition, there are reasons besides a long partnership, for example:
- the possibility of obtaining a deferred payment in the future;
- a wide range of products;
- high cost of goods;
- conducting an annual inventory;
- verification of calculations to provide a report to higher management.
The organization also approves the frequency of reconciliation independently. The only condition is the inclusion in the act of all transactions carried out in the selected period.
Sometimes the reconciliation act is drawn up at the time of the annual, which saves time. But many companies prefer to draw up a reconciliation act monthly, because it is not known what will happen in a year.
It is not difficult to keep the reconciliation acts up to date. It is enough to start drawing up such acts from the very beginning of cooperation, and then draw it up for each period from the date of signing the last act.
The reconciliation act can be drawn up both under a separate agreement and for commercial transactions in a certain period. If several agreements are concluded between partners, it is possible to draw up a separate reconciliation act for each and even at different intervals.
Legal regulation
The mention of the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is present in.
In particular, it is said here that the form of the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements between economic entities is not provided for by law.
Organizations have the right to independently develop the form of the document and approve it in their own.
Some accountants consider the act of reconciliation to be a primary document. This is motivated by the fact that, as usual, the document contains mandatory details that are typical for primary documentation.
The list of those is contained in the Federal Law No. 402 (formerly). But, according to the Federal Tax Service, the reconciliation act is not a primary document, since it does not affect the financial condition of the partners, but only states the facts that have already been accomplished.
At the same time, in the case of claiming the debt of the counterparty through the court, the reconciliation report may be one of the main evidence. To do this, a legally significant document must be signed by the heads of organizations.
In the process of technical reconciliation, only accountants can sign the document. Only the head can act on behalf of the legal entity.
Carrying out reconciliation acts with suppliers and buyers
When reconciling settlements with suppliers and buyers, it is advisable to follow the Guidelines for the inventory of property and financial obligations. It provides for the features of the inventory, and in particular the verification of calculations.
When reconciling settlements with counterparties and buyers, it is necessary to check the validity of the amounts that are on the accounting accounts.
So the account "Settlements with suppliers and contractors" is subject to verification. Check it against the documents in accordance with the corresponding accounts.
That is, when reconciling calculations, you need to check:
Carry out reconciliation on the basis of contracts, and other primary documentation. The data of the documents are compared with the data reflected in the accounts.
If there are several counterparties, the reconciliation act is drawn up separately for each in two copies. The document contains the following information:
- reconciliation period;
- the names of the parties;
- contract details;
- persons responsible for signing;
- accounting data from each party - opening balance, debit and credit amounts with reference to documents, closing balance;
- the amount according to accounting data on the date of reconciliation;
- signatures of the parties.
The main part of the reconciliation act is a table that contains information about all business transactions between counterparties. As a rule, the left part of the table reflects the facts of managing the compiler.
In this case, four columns are provided - for the serial number of the record, a summary of the operation, the amount of debit and credit. The right part is filled in by the party receiving the act in the process of reconciliation.
Each of the organizations, after entering their own credentials, calculates the debit and credit turnover, determining the final balance on the reconciliation date.
If there are no discrepancies, the totals of the left and right parts of the table should be identical. If there are discrepancies, the counterparty fixes explanations in the same act. After that, the act is returned to the initiator of the reconciliation.
What is a closing balance
What is a balance? It is the difference between receipts and expenditures in a certain period of time. In accounting, the balance is the balance of the account, that is, the difference between the amount indicated on the debit and the amount displayed on the credit.
Differentiate between debit and credit balances. In this case, individual accounts can simultaneously have both of these types. But in practice, not all accounting is subjected to analysis, but only part of it, for a certain time period.
It uses indicators such as:
To determine the final balance when reconciling calculations, it is necessary to add to the initial balance of the turnover of one side of the account and subtract the result of the turnover of the opposite side from the total.
The universal formula for finding the closing balance looks like this:
If the opening balance is in the debit part of the account, then its sign is positive and negative when the indicator is in the credit part.
Debit and credit
What to display in the act of reconciliation for debit and credit? First of all, it is necessary to determine the accounts for which the facts of cooperation with the counterparty are displayed in the accounting.
When drawing up the act, the data of this account and the accounts corresponding to it are used. If the organization draws up an act of reconciliation with the buyer, then the document displays the movement on account 62, that is, the sale is Dt62 Kt90.
The loan reflects payment for goods sold - Dt50.51 Kt62. When a supplier organization has a debit balance, it means that more products have been delivered than paid for.
With a credit balance, the opposite is true - the buyer paid more than he received the product. In the case of a reconciliation with the supplier, the reconciliation act carries out movement on account 60. The payment for the goods is displayed on the debit, and its receipt on the credit is Dt41, 19 Kt60.
That is, for a simpler understanding, the essence boils down to the fact that the debit reflects the receipt of products, etc., and the credit shows the receipt of payment.
In case of detection of receivables, the organization sends the counterparty a reminder of payment indicating the amount of the debt, the procedure and the date of payment.
If the partner does not recognize his debt, you can file a lawsuit. Primary documents and accounting data become evidence.
In the case of write-off of receivables, they are included in the expenses of the company, taking into account the debit of off-balance account 007. The written-off amount is kept in accounting for five years in case it is repaid by the debtor.
Video: supplier reconciliation act
The identified accounts payable are accompanied by the introduction of corrections to the debit of the accounts. An expired creditor is included in other income of the organization.
cover letter sample
When sending the reconciliation act to the counterparty, a cover letter is attached to it.
It should include the following information:
- reconciliation period;
- term of signing the act;
- sending option;
- way to confirm disagreements.
A sample cover letter for a reconciliation report might look like this:
“Organization ___ sends you, organization ___, a reconciliation act on DD.MM.YYYY. We ask you to sign one copy of the act within ___ days and return it to us by mail (e-mail, courier, etc.). If there are disagreements, please attach supporting documents (waybills, invoices, acts, etc.). In case of non-receipt of the signed act within the indicated period or disagreements on it, we recognize the balance of settlements as confirmed "
But in any case, it must be borne in mind that the reconciliation act unsigned by the counterparty will not have any force in the event of litigation.
Drawing up a protocol of disagreements
If disagreements are identified in the process of reconciliation of settlements, they must be agreed with the counterparty. may be part of the act itself.
When filling out the act, the initiator of the reconciliation at the bottom of the act makes the entry “According to ___, the debt of ___ is ___ rubles per DD.MM.YYYY.”.
If the counterparty agrees, then he simply puts his signature. In case of discrepancies, the counterparty, after entering its accounting data, makes an entry according to the state of its total.
Another option is that the counterparty draws up its reconciliation act and attaches a cover letter to it indicating the discrepancies and attaching copies of the documents of the period being reconciled.
It also allows you to draw up a separate protocol of disagreements and send it to the partner organization. At the same time, a request for a new sample act is performed, taking into account the data provided.
Fill example
The protocol of disagreements on the act of reconciliation is drawn up in free form.
It contains the following data:
- reconciliation period;
- identified discrepancies;
- corrected data;
- links to supporting documents (copies attached);
- final accounting result.
It should be noted that the obligation to sign the reconciliation act by the counterparty is not legally fixed. The Partner may refuse to reconcile settlements.
Therefore, the fact of applying the reconciliation act in the process of cooperation should be discussed at the initial stage, fixing the condition in the contract.
You should also specify the terms of signing the act. In this case, the refusal and untimely signing of the act become a violation of the terms of the contract.
The act of reconciliation of mutual settlements between legal entities is a fairly common document. Perhaps not all accountants are aware of its importance, but in order to eliminate misunderstandings and unnecessary errors, it is necessary to periodically communicate with the accounting department of counterparties. By signing the act of reconciliation, the debtor recognizes his debt. The reconciliation act indicates the date of comparison of balances on accounting accounts, therefore, if an unscrupulous debtor refuses to pay you, in court you can present a reconciliation certificate certified by the seal and signature of an authorized representative of the counterparty and thereby show the presence of debt.
There are several situations in which there is a need for a reconciliation act. First - when granting a delay to the buyer. The delivery contract clearly stipulates the duration of the delay, and at the end of the delay - or even a few days before the expected date of payment - the supplier can delicately "remind" the client that the due date has come up. The reconciliation act is also necessary if the partners have been cooperating for a long time and transactions are made frequently, and the range of goods sold is quite wide. In this case, it is necessary to check periodically, if only because due to numerous shipments, frequent receipt of goods, multiple transfers of money, the accountant can simply get confused. And if you see that the amounts of balances in settlements with your organization at the counterparty are the same, you can be sure that you are doing everything right. Thirdly, the act of reconciliation should take place at high amounts of money turnover. In order not to damage the financial position of the company, you need to do everything to eliminate annoying mistakes and shortcomings.
The form of the reconciliation act is not fixed in the legislation. When compiling it, you need to make a selection of all business transactions performed between two legal entities (these are payments, the sale and purchase of goods, raw materials, materials, the provision of services - everything that is documented and signed by both parties). At the beginning of the register in the act of reconciliation indicate the balance at the beginning of the period for which the reconciliation is carried out, if any. Then they show all receipts in monetary terms and sum up - debt in favor of one of the organizations or zero balance - when all calculations are completed.
Mandatory requisites when drawing up a reconciliation act, in addition to printing, are the signatures of the heads of reconciling companies. Putting his resolution, the head of the company confirms the accuracy of the information specified in the act of reconciliation.
The reconciliation act is drawn up in two copies, both signed by the accountant responsible for the chief accountant (this may be the same person) and the head. Both copies are sent to the second party so that they confirm the truth of the information in the act and also sign and seal.
It is advisable to reconcile calculations at the end of the month, quarter, year, because when compiling various accounting reports, they must indicate the amount
Modern accounting programs allow you to quickly make a selection of all accounting accounts and draw up a reconciliation act, so you do not have to delve into the archive, looking for all invoices, invoices, payment orders.
Keep in mind that you cannot force the organization you are checking with to sign a reconciliation report, and if they do not want to acknowledge the debt to you, they may not return the report you submitted at all. Therefore, make sure that it is written in the reconciliation act that if the party that drew up and sent the reconciliation act to the other party does not receive its copy of the act after a certain period, then the balance (balance) will be considered confirmed.
The act of reconciliation of mutual settlements- one of the primary accounting documents.
The essence of such a document is to fix the state of mutual settlements between two counterparties for a certain moment.
Thus, a reconciliation act can be signed between the buyer and the supplier, the payer and the Pension Fund, between two enterprises of the same holding, and even between two structural divisions of the same enterprise.
The reasons for signing the act of reconciliation include the following:
- long-term cooperation between two partners;
- the possibility of deferred payment for the goods;
- when the enterprise works with a wide range of goods;
- when goods are of very high value;
- inventory of the state of mutual settlements with counterparties;
- the need to confirm receivables or payables to regulatory authorities or senior management, etc.
An act of reconciliation of mutual settlements can be drawn up for a month, quarter, year, or even for the entire period of work. There are no strict requirements, both for its design and frequency. The only thing that must be observed when compiling this document is the separation of data by contracts.
For example, the same organization acts as a buyer for you for some goods, and a supplier for other goods, then it is better to do two reconciliation acts, separately for accounts payable (and the corresponding supply agreement), and separately for receivables.
Registration of an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements
The legislation does not establish uniform rules for the preparation and execution of a reconciliation act, however, there are basic principles that simply must be observed. Like any primary document, the reconciliation act must contain the following mandatory details:
- the name of the document, as well as the date of its compilation;
- the name of the organization of the originator and the name of the counterparty with whom the act is signed;
- an indication of officials authorized to sign acts of reconciliation of their surnames and initials, as well as signatures.
The reconciliation act itself is usually drawn up in the form of a register of documents ordered by the date of their creation. Sometimes, instead of documents, they indicate the essence of the operation (sale, purchase, payment, etc.).
In order for the reconciliation act to be up-to-date, it is better to draw it up from the beginning of cooperation or from the moment the last reconciliation act is signed. In addition to the compiler, this document must be signed by the director of the enterprise.
The original reconciliation act, signed by the directors of the counterparty enterprises and certified by their wet seals, has legal force.
Signing the reconciliation act and its legal force
Remember that the counterparty (especially your debtor) may refuse to sign the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements, and you will not be able to legally influence his decision. Therefore, it is worth prescribing a mandatory reconciliation of mutual settlements and the periodic signing of the relevant acts in the contract, indicating the timing and procedure for such a reconciliation. It is also worth providing for liability for refusal or evasion of reconciliation.
When resolving disputes, judges have repeatedly expressed the opinion that the reconciliation act is not unambiguous evidence of an existing debt, but it can be a good reinforcement of the existing primary documents confirming its existence.
Also, the signed act of reconciliation allows you to "push back" the statute of limitations. The new limitation period is counted from the date of signing the act, regardless of the date of the most controversial operation.
The organization should ensure the completeness and reliability of the data reflected in its accounting records and financial statements. For these purposes, an inventory of settlements is also carried out. It is aimed at checking the validity of the amounts that are listed on the accounts of accounting. An inventory of settlements is made on the basis of reconciliation acts drawn up and agreed with counterparties. Recall that it is necessary to carry out an inventory of calculations, at least, before compiling annual financial statements (clause 27 of the Regulation, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of July 29, 1998 No. 34n). In other cases, counterparties determine the frequency of drawing up reconciliation acts on their own.
How to draw up an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements with counterparties, we will tell in our consultation.
How to make a reconciliation act?
There is no single, mandatory form of the reconciliation act (form). Therefore, the organization can develop such a form on its own.
In the context of accounting automation, the function of generating reconciliation acts is usually provided by the accounting program. You only need to select from the directory the counterparty for which you want to generate a reconciliation act, indicate the date on which the reconciliation act is drawn up, as well as the period for which settlements with the counterparty will be shown in the reconciliation act. It is also possible to have a different degree of detail of reconciliation acts: for the counterparty as a whole or, say, in the context of a specific contract.
Of course, the act of reconciliation can also be drawn up manually. But this process, of course, will be more laborious.
For a reconciliation act, a sample form is usually a table divided into 2 parts - to reflect data on transactions by each of the counterparties. It indicates the name of the operation, the supporting documents, the debit and credit amounts. And what is the opening balance in the act of reconciliation? At the beginning and end of the table in the reconciliation act, information is usually provided on the balance at the beginning and end of the reconciliation period, that is, on the balance of the debt. The debit balance in the section filled out according to the data of organization A shows how much organization B owes it, information about the operations of which is reflected in the opposite part of the table. Accordingly, for example, the closing credit balance means how much Entity A owes Entity B at the end of the reconciliation period. And what does the debt in favor in the act of reconciliation mean? It shows the amount and the counterparty, to which there is a debt at the end of the period reflected in the reconciliation act.
The organization that initiated the drawing up of the reconciliation report transfers it to its counterparty and offers to fill in the table with information on the status of settlements according to its data. Sometimes, when companies are sure that there will be no discrepancies, the reconciliation act is transmitted with both parts of the reconciliation table already filled out (that is, for both counterparties). The second party only needs to sign it. If discrepancies are identified, the counterparty will not sign such an act, but may transfer its copy of the reconciliation act or send a protocol of disagreements, which is also drawn up in any form.
When drawing up reconciliation acts, it is important to ensure that they are signed by authorized persons. This is the head of the organization or a person acting on behalf of the organization by proxy. Indeed, otherwise, it will be difficult to prove that the counterparty really recognized his debt on the basis of such a reconciliation act.
For the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements, a sample of filling out 2018 is given below.
For the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements, the form can be downloaded free of charge at the link below.
Act of reconciliation and limitation period
Recall that the signing by the parties of the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements interrupts the limitation period, which in the general case is 3 years. After all, drawing up an act with the debtor means that he recognized his debt (Article 203 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Consequently, the limitation period after the drawing up of the act of reconciliation begins to flow again. That is why, if the organization is sure that the debtor will not return the money, signing a reconciliation act with him will only delay the moment when the creditor can write off the debt at a loss and take it into account when taxing profits. We talked in more detail about writing off debts with an expired limitation period.
The act of reconciliation of business transactions and settlements is a document that takes into account commodity-money relations between 2 organizations that have been cooperating with each other for a long time. If one company regularly supplies products or performs the necessary work, and the second transfers money for these services, then sometimes debts are formed during this exchange, which can be detected and verified by drawing up a reconciliation report.
The state laws of our country do not oblige 2 organizations to draw up a document, but on their own initiative, entrepreneurs regularly check the data that falls under the register. The information received is formalized in the form of an act.
Benefits of reconciliation for business
When interacting with a counterparty, properly and timely executed paperwork helps prevent inaccuracies in business transactions. If both organizations calculated everything correctly, and then saw that the reconciliation report contains the same debt - both on the company's securities and in the data of your business partner, then this indicates that all business transactions were carried out correctly, without doubling the amount of payments or missed shipments of goods.
The act of reconciliation is useful not only for the regulation and verification of accounting and the accuracy of tax payments. Suddenly there was such a situation that a large wholesale buyer forgot or did not want to pay for the ordered goods. But before that, he signed an act that documents his debt. Then with this document you can safely go to court, where your case will be proven.
There is another useful function of the act of reconciliation. With its help, mutual settlements are arranged. Imagine that both companies have debts to each other.
In this case, it is easier not to transfer funds through bank accounts, but to make offsets.
The basis for this is the act of reconciliation, which shows the debts, while the smaller of the 2 amounts is selected for offset.
Reconciliation procedure
Usually, the calculation of debts or missed payments is carried out by the accountants of both companies. In reality, they are unlikely to find time to meet in person and together, at the same table, conduct an audit of business transactions. In normal practice, the accounting officer of the organization making the payments informs the other firm and starts the reconciliation. Then it prints the information on paper and sends it to the counterparty. If he agrees with the specified amount, then the responsible persons, including the accountant of another organization, put their signatures under the document, and the reconciliation can be considered completed.
If objections arise, the counterparty makes adjustments to the original calculation and, together with other accounting departments, identifies discrepancies. As a result, everyone is satisfied, and the corrected act is again sent for signature and seal to the directors of both organizations. There is no specific sample document for accounting for business transactions - each company develops its own version.
