Scientific work on management accounting. Management Accounting

A little history...

If we talk about the historical aspect of management accounting, it appeared at the dawn of civilization. Indeed, our distant ancestor already thought about such a question, for example: “How many sheep can he exchange for the number of stone arrowheads he made?” And the specific notches on mammoth tusks, which are stored in local history and archaeological museums and whose age reaches 12,000 years, are nothing more than the first “management reporting” of humanity.

The history of financial accounting and reporting for external users is no less interesting. In particular, one of the most significant monuments to the art of accounting is the Athenian Parthenon (440–430 BC). The ruins of this temple have preserved for us the information that 469 talents of silver were spent on its construction (about $2,000,000 in today's prices). This is one of the first examples of financial reporting that was provided to external users of such reporting - the citizens of ancient Athens, interested in ensuring that policy money was not wasted.

Regulation also has an ancient history. For example, in the famous Code of King Hammurabi (1792–1750 BC), paragraphs 89–126 were devoted to trade and commercial transactions. Paragraphs 215–282 – transactions with movable property, including the rental of property and personal hiring (these two types of legal relations, which we call leasing and rental, rental and hiring, were considered by Babylonian jurists as one).

What is management accounting and how does it differ from financial accounting? What are the principles of management accounting? What are the features of various methods of organizing management accounting in an enterprise?

Hello, regular readers of the HeatherBober business magazine and everyone who visited our resource for the first time! We have an expert with you - Anna Medvedeva.

Everything related to finance and reporting is always difficult and responsible. Today we will deal with the topic management accounting, and also see how it fundamentally differs from financial accounting.

At the end of the article, I have prepared for you an overview of companies that will help you establish management accounting at a professional level.

1. What is management accounting

The primary task of management accounting- outline this for management a real picture of the state of the enterprise, help distribute reserves and improve efficiency.

Purpose of management accounting- provide the company management and department specialists with planned indicators, actual figures and forecast information regarding the activities of the enterprise.

The extent to which this data is correct, the more effective and justified it will become. management decisions.

Let's define the concept.

This is a technique for preparing and assessing information about the work of an organization. It shows the results of the economic activity of the enterprise and is used for management purposes.

What principles is management accounting based on:

• isolation- both the enterprise as a whole and its departments are considered independently of others;
• continuity- accounting information should be received regularly and not randomly;
• completeness- information should be as complete as possible;
• timeliness- data must be provided at the time of need;
• comparability- identical parameters for different time periods should be formed according to the same principles;
• clarity- data must be presented in a form understandable to the addressee;
• periodicity- external and internal reporting must be prepared within the prescribed time frame;
• efficiency- the costs of operating the accounting system must be compensated by the benefits from its use.

For implemented management accounting to justify itself, three conditions are necessary: ​​good specialists, active participation of management and the allocation of special resources.

What does it look like? In small companies, management accounting is set of spreadsheets . For large amounts of information, it is advisable to choose special software product.

Closely related to management accounting budget of income and expenses And cash flow budget ().

2. What methods of management accounting exist - 7 main methods

Because by law there are no clear requirements to maintaining management accounting, it is allowed to vary and select methods and methods that are convenient for a particular institution.

Management Accounting Problem- This is cost estimation and cost control. We have identified the most common approaches to organizing this process.

Method 1. Determining the break-even point

This term, also called critical point, indicates the volume of products produced and their sales at which the organization begins to make a profit from the sale of its goods. That is, income begins to cover expenses.

The break-even point is indicated in units of production or in financial terms.

Method 2. Budgeting

The definition speaks for itself. This method of management accounting helps to allocate enterprise resources as efficiently as possible through careful planning and subsequent monitoring and analysis of deviations from the plan.

Budgeting helps you save and collaborate smoothly

It is based on the use of data on the economics of the enterprise. Therefore, the most important function of a budget management program is to facilitate objective analysis and decision making.

Method 3. Process costing

So-called process method relevant for serial production of similar products or when the production process cannot be interrupted for economic or safety reasons.

In the process calculation, the ratio of costs to products produced for a specific period is compiled.

Method 4. Project cost calculation

Used in cases where a product is manufactured to special order.

For each project or batch of manufactured products, costs are calculated:

• for materials;
• payment to employees;
• other expenses.

This method is also called custom-made.

Method 5. Transfer cost calculation

Transverse method needed in mass production. Here the defining process is sequential transition of raw materials into the final product.

Groups of production processes form redistributions. Each such processing stage either produces an intermediate product ( semifinished), or completes the entire process and produces the final product.

Method 6. Standard cost calculation

This method takes into account deviations of actual costs from planned ones. Calculation of standard cost is carried out for each type of product.

At the end of the period, deviations are recorded:

• negative - excessive consumption of raw materials;
• positive - rational consumption of materials.

A separate point is the consideration of conditional deviations. They appear due to discrepancies in the preparation of calculations, therefore they can be both negative and positive.

Method 7. Direct costing

In fact, this is cost control. primary goal direct costing- divide them into constants and variables.

To make it easier to distinguish the essence of these concepts, let's make a table.

Fixed and variable costs:

The most significant feature of direct costing is ability to see relationships between production volumes, costs and profits.

3. How management accounting is established - 5 main stages

Now let's write it down in detail, how to organize management accounting.

For clarity, I have compiled a step-by-step algorithm of actions.

Stage 1. Determination of the main consumers of management accounting data

The main customers and recipients of management accounting information are: company executives And members of the board of directors, managers at different levels, as they make major business decisions.

If you need to convey to decision makers the essence of a problem or a plan of action, then the best way is prepare a presentation to present information clearly and in a structured manner.

Stage 2. Formation of a list of required reporting

Next, it is necessary to create and agree with all interested parties a list of documents - that is, reports directly that are to be drawn up. For each report, it is determined when and with what frequency it will be submitted - a clear and detailed description is made.

Stage 3. Preparing a sketch of the methodology

The preparation of a management accounting system is carried out by specialists, delving into all the details company activities. Otherwise, there is a risk that the management reporting system will not meet its implementation goals and will not bring the desired results.

What needs to be done at this stage:

• identify reporting blocks and accounting areas;
• develop interim reporting documents and calculation methods;
• determine methods for entering and processing information into the system;
• ensure effective data control;
• distribute responsibilities among specialists who perform data preparation;
• prepare a test version of the methodology and make trial calculations;
• evaluate the feasibility of the developed draft methodology.

Then the prepared model is approved by the company management.

Stage 4. Introduction of management accounting methodology

If all previous activities have been successful, the management accounting system is put into operation.

The implementation of a management accounting project will reveal shortcomings made in the preparation of the methodology. Perhaps this will be a heterogeneous approach of different departments to data processing, or inconsistency of information intersecting in different reports, or imperfect software etc.

There may also be other overlaps in the interaction between departments.

Example

At the enterprise "ChelyabinskStroyMotazh" There were problems with the reliability of information about the sale of goods.

During the inspection it turned out that accounting department did not timely enter information into the database about the funds received. Because of this, the closure of the institution’s balance sheet was delayed.

Stage 5. Organization of control over the implementation of the management accounting system

A fundamental part of control is to assess how cost effective selected management accounting system. But first you need to make sure that all performers are trained, the goals are clear, and there are no errors in the methodology.

Continuing the topic, we offer some practical advice from an expert.

4. Professional assistance in setting up management accounting - review of the TOP 3 service companies

Below I present a list of companies that professionally organize management accounting in different organizations.

It is worth turning to them for help if you understand the need to take the enterprise management process to a fundamentally new level.

Financial management service offers financial and management accounting for small business. Full automation of the functions of accounting for income and expenses, financial planning and control of all money will help you take your business to a new level of development.

There is no need to install the program; you can work with the service immediately by going to the main page. The site is designed for maximum convenience - by entering data into the system, you will clearly see results and plans and have full control over your business.

Working with the service will significantly save money that you previously spent on correcting deficiencies in the financial service.

2) GBCS

This consulting company has developed a unique management accounting business model for various institutions. Thanks to it, you will maximize the productivity of management decisions in your company.

The management accounting system, created by highly qualified GBCS specialists, will give you the opportunity to have a real understanding of assets and collect information regarding the financial situation of the enterprise.

In addition to the management accounting project, you will additionally be provided with other services: preparation of profit and loss statements, cash flow statements and management balance sheet. The relevance of the solutions offered by GBCS is an undoubted advantage of this consulting company.

The company has the largest regional network- 49 cities of Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, UAE and Canada. They offer modern accounting and management programs and create opportunities for successful business development of any industry and size.

"BitFinance" will help you with treasury and contract management, preparation of financial reports and IFRS reporting.

18 years of experience and professional assistance in achieving results are the greatest strengths of the BitFinance company, which have allowed it to complete more than 2,500 successful projects.

5. What is the difference between management accounting and financial accounting - 5 main differences

In this section I will talk about the differences between management and financial types of accounting.

Difference 1. Management accounting is not required for an enterprise

Financial statements limited by clear legal requirements. It is drawn up and submitted to the appropriate authorities, regardless of whether the management of the enterprise considers it appropriate.

Compiled at the discretion of the company administration. This is usually done when the benefits of the data available in the report justify the costs of their preparation, processing and execution of the report itself.

Difference 2. Degree of openness of information

Financial statements represent more open information for a number of companies. For example, federal law requires accounting information for public companies to be published so that all interested parties can review it.

Management accounting information, on the contrary, completely closed and for third-party authorities, and even within the company, not everyone has access to it.

Difference 3: Financial accounting should be as accurate as possible.

Financial reporting is serious business. The well-being of the entire company depends on the information contained in financial reports. Therefore, for financial accounting specificity and accuracy are required and vagueness is unacceptable.

Sometimes, in order to quickly make management decisions (if the situation requires it), it is necessary that data be provided quickly, but there is no time for their complete collection, detailing and reconciliation. Therefore, in management accounting Errors are allowed in numbers.

When it comes to speed of decision making, even approximate data is quite enough, since minor deviations still do not change the decision itself.

Difference 4. Frequency and timing of reporting

For change financial reports there are mandatory deadlines. Usually this monthly, quarterly or annual reporting periods. Deviation from deadlines may result in penalties.

When is it time to say “it’s time”

There is an opinion that management accounting is an extremely complex thing and therefore accessible and necessary only to large companies. Indeed, no more than 10% of enterprises “truly” implement such systems. But even the owner of a small chain of stalls may at some point discover that recording sales data in a notebook is no longer enough. Moscow entrepreneur Dmitry Novgorodtsev, who sells perfumes and cosmetics, encountered this problem firsthand.

– In each of our stalls there are more than a thousand names of perfumes, lipsticks, creams and other small things. In total, the company’s “portfolio” contains about 10 thousand positions. While we only had one or two points, the work was built on trust: the seller wrote down the name of the product sold in a notebook, and then from time to time reported on sales. But when the business began to grow, we began to take inventory of the stalls every two weeks to analyze the progress of trade. And it turned out that it was almost impossible to obtain reliable data,” Dmitry Novgorodtsev told about his difficulties in the December issue of SB.

This situation is typical for any type of business. Homemade accounting and financial technology hinders the development of any enterprise. After all, if there are a lot of goods or retail outlets, you have to spend a lot of time on inventory. In addition, with such a system it is impossible to quickly analyze how demand for individual goods changes. And this ultimately affects profits.

There is only one way out - to establish management accounting according to all the rules.

Three pillars of effective accounting

Dmitry Novgorodtsev, sensing the need for change, decided to install computers in the stalls to scan the barcode on the packaging of goods and thus automate control over sales progress. But is this alone enough to consider the implementation of management accounting complete? No. To truly effectively manage an enterprise, it is necessary to quickly obtain information on three positions, namely: the cost of goods, the range of goods and cash flow.

These three sections of management accounting are closely related to each other, and information exchange constantly occurs between them. If you keep records in only one of the areas, then you will never see an objective and, most importantly, holistic picture. Say, what good is it if you only prepare a financial report on sales? Looking at it, you still won’t see how the demand for specific goods changed and how many of them were sold.

The basis of management accounting is structured information collected and analyzed in a monitoring mode. It is well known that searching and analyzing data is one of the direct responsibilities of the marketing service. But very often marketers limit themselves to collecting only external information - about the competitive environment, prices on the industry market, etc. The purpose of management accounting is the so-called internal marketing, which implies painstaking work to study the enterprise itself. With its help, you can create a complete picture of the financial and economic state of the company at any time, find out its margin of safety, and determine its potential and development prospects.

Management accounting is being introduced precisely to improve the efficiency of enterprise management, and not for reporting to regulatory authorities, such as the tax inspectorate. This is a fundamental difference (see table). Therefore, it is impossible to entrust management accounting to the accounting department. This work should be led by the company's planning and economic department or financial director.

Assortment management

The market or processes within an enterprise are constantly in motion. Demand for products, production rates, cost levels, and equipment productivity change. And each of these situations requires its own set of solutions.

Under the influence of these changes, the company may face an overstocking of raw materials and goods.

For example, there may not be enough finished products in the warehouse for everyone who wants to buy them. And then customers will go to your competitors. And if supply interruptions in your company are repeated regularly, then many of them will say goodbye to you forever.

The other extreme is overstocking of raw materials or products. Funds “frozen” in this way do not participate in circulation and do not generate income.

• How much and when to purchase and produce?
• In conditions of constant shortage of funds, what is the best way to distribute them?

The implementation of an assortment accounting system allows you to answer these questions and prevent distortions.

Assortment management involves solving two problems.

Firstly, this is strategic planning. After all, for any company it is important to effectively distribute funds taking into account changes and market opportunities and the capabilities of the enterprise.

Secondly, this is ongoing management. During ongoing management, it is necessary to constantly monitor the assortment. And, if necessary, adjust your plans, taking into account the current situation and how it may change in the near future.

To manage the assortment, you need to develop your own product classifier. This is especially important for enterprises whose product range includes hundreds and thousands of items. During the classification process, goods can be divided into fungible and non-fungible.

Each section of the classifier should not have too many positions, say more than ten. Otherwise it will be very difficult to analyze the information. In addition, it must be taken into account that sales volumes for the positions of each section of the classifier must be comparable. For example, when comparing a turnover of 4,000 rubles with a turnover of 7 million rubles, preference will most likely be given to the production or sale of the second product. This may lead to the exclusion of the first product from the assortment, which turns out to be a strategic mistake. Since it may be needed by regular customers, whom the company values ​​very much.

Based on the collected and analyzed information, you can draw up sales plans and necessary purchases for any period of time.

Cost and cost management

The owner of any company strives for the greatest profit. One way to achieve this goal is to continually identify and reduce costs. However, it is almost impossible to work on reducing costs on the basis of accounting information. After all, accounting records all expenses incurred in fact.

For example, products are stored in a company's warehouse. In accounting terms, after a product has been produced, its cost remains unchanged. The fact that you have to pay for the warehouse where it is stored is not taken into account. The salary received by storekeepers and sales department employees who sell this product is not taken into account. And finally, if the raw materials for the production of a product were purchased on credit, then until it is sold and settlement with the creditor is made, interest accrues on the credit transaction.

All these additional expenses are not taken into account in accounting documents. They are shown only by management accounting. After all, he determines the cost of each product not for tax purposes, but so that managers have complete information about costs and can manage them.

To effectively manage costs, it is necessary to develop a logical cost calculation scheme that takes into account all the details. Then you need to create a cost “tree” (at different enterprises, depending on the specifics of the industry and product, it will have a different “crown”). In this case, costs must be classified so that they can be conveniently compared with each other. After all, if at one level of such a “tree” there are too many types of costs and they differ from each other tens of times in absolute values, then accounting will be ineffective.

The basis of the dynamic method for calculating cost, that is, its changes over time, is the classification of the process into stages: supply, production and sales of products. The basic cost of goods includes the cost of raw materials, semi-finished products, possible excise duties and customs taxes on raw materials and some other expenses. As production progresses, production costs are added. Then the cost increases as the product is sold. And after the sale, additional costs appear - for example, taxes.

If you think about the costing process this way, it becomes possible to take action to reduce costs at each stage of the cycle. A well-functioning management accounting system allows the manager to know at any time how the cost is changing for any product item, for a group of product names or for all products.

By analyzing what costs make up the cost of a product at each level, you can determine how much overhead costs are reduced and how the difference between them and the marginal profit changes. Contribution margin is the difference between selling price and variable costs. As a result, with the help of management accounting, it is possible to draw a conclusion about the efficiency of production in general and in its individual areas.

Financial structure of the company

When introducing management accounting, it is important to distribute all funds between the structural divisions that will be responsible for their movement. These units are called financial responsibility centers (FRC). Each center (see diagram) has its own budget, and its managers have the opportunity to independently make decisions within the budget. This decentralization of financial management increases the efficiency of individual departments and the company as a whole. And in addition, this helps to achieve business “transparency”: it becomes easier for enterprise managers to control its individual areas and see all sources of income and expenses.

For each central federal district, its own planned budget of income and expenses is determined. And then the effectiveness of their work is assessed by comparing planned and actual indicators.

Why does dividing a company into central federal districts work well in practice? Firstly, line managers have more information about the state of affairs in their department and are therefore able to make more adequate “short-term” decisions than the head of the company. Secondly, employees become more interested in the results of their work and become more proactive. But the most important thing is that top management is freed from the need to resolve minor issues on a daily basis and can focus on strategic tasks.

However, decentralization of management also has disadvantages. For example, the head of a department may make a decision that corresponds to the goals of his central financial district, but does not take into account the goals of the entire enterprise. In addition, line managers may be inattentive to the activities of other departments and even slow down their work.

How to eliminate these shortcomings? To do this, the company must create a balanced scorecard. It is necessary to describe in numbers the general strategic goals that it faces (for example, to double sales in a year) and draw up an action plan to achieve the given targets, which will guide all divisions.

It is impossible to run a business blindly. It is important to know which products sell best, how much their production costs, and how much income their sales bring. This information is recorded by all companies without exception. Some are in regular school notebooks, others are in tables based on a computer program like Excel. Still others go further and implement management accounting systems that make it possible to automate data collection and at any time obtain a holistic picture of the enterprise’s activities in numbers. What should accounting be like “according to all the rules” and where to start building it?

Implementation stages

When starting to implement management accounting, the first step is to determine who will lead this work. It is most advisable to entrust it to the company’s financial director. He will have to perform three tasks:

• Develop a dynamic cost calculation method and subsequently apply it in practice.
• Develop a system for classifying the assortment and calculating costs. This task will require an inspection of all production divisions of the enterprise in order to study the mechanisms of cost formation at each site, assess their feasibility and validity.
• Create a computer system for recording and analyzing data on the activities of an enterprise (software and a working model of accounting forms in Excel).

However, it will be quite difficult for a business owner or top manager, immersed in the daily affairs of the enterprise and entangled in complex threads of interpersonal connections, to objectively assess the situation. A qualified outside perspective is very important. And not every company has specialists who can perform the entire complex range of work associated with setting up management accounting. Therefore, if your company intends to solve this problem really effectively, you should not reinvent the wheel. It is best to invite professional consultants. Fortunately, in large cities there are now many consulting companies that offer their services.

How much will their help cost? It all depends on the scale of the business and the complexity of the task. The turnkey implementation of a complex ERP system at a large industrial enterprise can cost up to $1 million. Setting up management accounting in a trading and manufacturing company that makes 2000-3000 accounting entries per month, in Moscow, even “through an acquaintance” will cost at least $7 -12 thousand, and usually even more expensive. But, firstly, to complete such an order you will need at least two people - a financier and a programmer. Secondly, for six months they will come to your company as if it were their own place of work.

The cheapest option is to ask a consultant for $2-3 thousand to train your financial director in the principles of management accounting and develop accounting forms in Excel for the needs of your company. But then the financial director will have to do all the rest of the work himself. And for this he must at least be a good programmer.

In any case, when deciding to invite consultants, you should use common sense. If, after spending $15 thousand, you ensured the financial transparency of your business and attracted a foreign investor who invested $4 million in it, then such a deal can be called super successful.

Studying the activities of departments that accompany the implementation of management accounting usually brings many discoveries. It turns out that some departments duplicate others, and other important areas of work are hanging in the air. Therefore, you need to be prepared for the fact that you will have to change the organizational structure of the company. It must become more rational and economical. Perhaps new divisions will appear, for example a marketing department. And it will be decided to merge some departments.

After carrying out the initial diagnostics and analyzing the situation at the enterprise, a mechanism for collecting information is developed and training is carried out for employees keeping records. economic activity. And thus a database is created that allows calculations to be made regularly.

Figures showing the state of affairs in the company can be calculated monthly at first. But ideally, the head of an enterprise should see the current state of his entire economy at any moment. Therefore, in the future, we should strive to ensure that the information is updated weekly. It doesn't matter what it looks like. Each company decides this for itself in accordance with internal company standards. The main thing is that the data obtained is convenient to use for making management decisions.

HOW MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING DIFFERS FROM ACCOUNTING

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO MANAGE YOUR ASSORTMENT

• Product price dynamics.
• Product sales dynamics.
• Dynamics of warehouse stocks.
• Dynamics of the weighted average purchase price of raw materials.
• Dynamics of cost.
• Dynamics of profit (both accounting and economic).
• Weighted average product turnover period.
• Dynamics of the share of a given product in the turnover of a group of products.

ERRORS WHEN IMPLEMENTING MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING

• Lack of clear strategic goals.
• Incorrect definition of tasks.
• Lack of a unified regulatory framework and common terminology in the company.
• Incorrect distribution of roles between employees responsible for the implementation of management accounting.
• Lack of a clear mechanism for interaction between financial responsibility centers.
• Unrealistic goals and deadlines.
• Lack of control mechanisms.
• Lack of a mechanism for obtaining accurate and timely information.
• Data falsification.

TYPES OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CENTERS

Profit Center

Profit earning department. Its manager is responsible for both expenses and income, and all these transactions are reflected in management accounting. Such a unit can be any production structure or trading structure operating on the principle of self-sufficiency.

Center for Innovation and Investment

A division that develops new business areas or implements innovative projects. Usually it is not self-sustaining; the company finances it from the general budget.

Cost Center

A division serving other central federal districts. Funded by profit centers. Centers for standard costs (for example, production shops) and management costs (for example, accounting, administrative department, security service) are often distinguished.

Revenue Center

A division whose head is responsible only for generating income for the enterprise. That is, it has the ability to control prices and sales volumes. For example, the sales department.

ACCOUNTING WORK IS ON THE SHOULDS OF COMPUTERS

A very small company can even collect and process information manually. But this activity is labor-intensive and ineffective. The modern information business industry offers a wide selection of special programs that allow you to quickly enter data on the movement of goods and funds into the PC memory

The most famous computer system used for management accounting by large companies around the world is ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). But the average total cost of ERP (which includes computer hardware, software, professional installation consultants, and training costs) is $15 million. For this reason, ERP is not available to small and medium-sized companies.

However, there are also cheaper solutions. The ideas of ERP systems are used by the Russian program Treelogy. Its local version costs from $200, and one client seat of the network version costs from $950.

A standard system from the St. Petersburg manufacturer “Business-Pro” for three workplaces, allowing for operational accounting, will cost $960 per workplace, and a system for financial accounting – $320.

The complex automation system “Irbis (Ideal Solution for Business + Information Systems) Enterprise”, developed by the Ukrainian company SoftIrbus Company, is well suited for operational and management accounting in small and medium-sized businesses. The simplest configuration program costs from $300. “Irbis Enterprise” is a solution that automates the accounting of goods, services and finances. At the same time, it allows for a fairly in-depth analysis of the financial condition of the enterprise. Another interesting product from this manufacturer is “SIRED” (SoftIrbis Real Decision).

In any case, you need to choose a management accounting automation system depending on the scale of the business, the type and specifics of the enterprise’s activities. The cost of obtaining information should not exceed the effect of its use. Therefore, when choosing software products to automate accounting in an organization, you should definitely consult with specialists.

Svetlana Patekha

Directories are the most important part of any company's accounting system (this can be Excel, 1C, or any other program). It is very important to properly structure and organize your reference books, because... this will be the basis for the generation of management reporting, and will also contribute to the control and most efficient use of warehouse stocks, optimization of the procurement system, accounting and control of inventories throughout the supply chain, etc.

According to statistics, for small and medium-sized businesses the most significant directories contain hundreds and thousands of positions each; for large companies in the oil and gas sector, the size of material directories ranges from 100 to 250 thousand positions, and for counterparties - from 3 to 12 thousand entries.

The significance of this topic can be illustrated by the following historical example:

At the end of the Second World War, US President Roosevelt set the task of understanding the causes of problems with the supply of spare parts to the front. After conducting the necessary research, the Americans came to the conclusion that spare parts were sent to the troops in quantities several times greater than the need for them. At the same time, there was still a shortage of spare parts due to the fact that the same products accumulated in warehouses, but labeled differently and bearing different names. As a result, the president issued a directive to create a unified federal system for cataloging supplies for government needs, and primarily for defense and security needs.

The most important reference books of the accounting system:

Organizations are legal entities that are part of an enterprise, for which general accounting and reporting is maintained;

Divisions - departments and departments that make up the organizational structure;

Warehouses are places where inventory is stored;

Expenditures;

Cash flow items;

Nomenclature - inventory items and services used in the activities of the enterprise;

Counterparties are a set of legal entities and individuals with whom the enterprise interacts.

Directories of organizations, divisions, warehouses, cost items and cash flow items for most enterprises are relatively small and do not require frequent editing. Directories of items and contractors, on the contrary, are constantly updated as new suppliers and buyers, materials, etc. appear.

Let's take a closer look at what you need to pay attention to when creating various directories.

When constructing a hierarchical structure of a directory of divisions, it is best to make the top level the so-called territorial or geographic business segments, which, we recall, are understood as organizationally distinct (separate) parts of an enterprise or group of companies that carry out their operations in individual countries or groups of countries, within certain geographic regions, allocated depending on the specifics of the activity of a given enterprise. They will be the basis for constructing management reports by geographic segments. At a lower level there will be smaller units - workshops, departments, etc.

The directory of cost items is constructed in such a way as to subsequently form the basis of the profit and loss statement (or income statement). financial results), i.e. it must contain those items that will be disclosed in this report as part of the cost of products sold, goods, services, commercial and administrative expenses. Cost items are grouped by economic content; in aggregate form these are material costs, labor costs, social contributions, depreciation of fixed assets, and other costs. But companies want to see their cost structure in more detail. For example, for a trading company, the following items may be included in commercial expenses:

• Transport costs for delivery to the buyer;
• Costs associated with sales in networks:

Listing;

Retro bonus;

Payment to merchandisers;

Payment to sales representatives;

Payment for displays;

Other "entry tickets";

• Marketing expenses:

Stock;

• Commercial service salary;
• Social insurance contributions;
• fuel and lubricants commercial services;
• Commercial communications services;
• Travel expenses for commercial services.

The directory of cash flow items is constructed in such a way as to subsequently form the basis of the cash flow statement, i.e. it must contain those items that will be disclosed in this report. For example, for a trading company, the structure of the directory of cash flow items may be as follows:

Income from operating activities:

• proceeds from the sale of goods
• receipts from the provision of services;
• other income from operating activities.

Disposals from operating activities:

• to suppliers (contractors) for goods, materials, work, services;
• for remuneration of employees;
• interest on loans and borrowings (Note 1);
• income tax;
• other payments;

Income from investment activities:

• from the sale of non-current assets;
• from the sale of shares (participatory interests) in other organizations;
• from repayment of loans provided;
• dividends, interest on debt financial investments and similar income from equity participation in other organizations;
• other supply;

Disposals from investing activities:

• in connection with the acquisition, creation, modernization, reconstruction of non-current assets;
• in connection with the acquisition of shares (participatory interests) in other organizations;
• in connection with the provision of loans to other persons;
• other payments;

Income from financial activities:

• obtaining credits and loans;
• from issuing shares, increasing participation shares;
• other supply;

Disposals from financing activities:

• owners (participants) in connection with the repurchase of shares (participatory interests) of the organization from them or their withdrawal from the membership;
• for the payment of dividends in favor of owners (participants);
• repayment of loans and borrowings;
• other payments.

Note 1 – interest payments on loans and borrowings can be included in both operating and financial activities, depending on the desire of the company. This is also allowed by IFRS (IAS 7 Cash Flow Statement).

Product directories can be divided into a directory of products, a directory of services provided, a directory of raw materials, a directory of purchased services, a directory of goods, etc. When structuring a directory of products, goods, and services sold, one should take into account the so-called product segmentation of a business, which, we recall, means a separate product (service) or a group of related products (services) intended for sale. If you plan in the future to build management reports by segments for a group of products, goods or services, these groups should be at the top of the hierarchical structure.

And finally, a directory of contractors. For many companies it is the most numerous. In this directory, counterparties are usually grouped into buyers, suppliers, government bodies(tax authorities, social insurance funds, etc.), individuals, banks.

Within the directories of buyers and suppliers, it is most convenient to group counterparties according to the same criteria by which you want to group them in management reports. For example, you have a network of regional representatives involved in the sale of your goods and you want to have information about the level of receivables from customers of each regional representative. In this case, in the Buyers directory, you create groups with the name of the region, and then write down specific buyers in them.

Having developed the principles for creating directories, you should determine the person responsible for each directory. Only this responsible employee should enter information into the directory or change it, thereby eliminating duplication of information. For example, it is very common that the same customer can be listed in the directory two or more times, especially if it has a complex name. As a result, the directory will contain NPO Progress LLC, NPO Progress LLC, Progress NPO, etc. For all these counterparties, turnover, mutual settlement balances, etc. can be reflected, which complicates the analysis of settlements with the counterparty and leads to various errors in reporting. Similar errors may be contained in other directories. I recommend using an INN as a unique identifier of a legal or physical entity of a counterparty.

Users of the accounting system need to be taught to use the recommended search tools for directory items and access responsible person, only if you are sure that the required position is not in the directory. The need for a new directory element is reflected in the request to the person in charge and describes all the required parameters.

The responsible employee checks whether the required position is missing in the directory, including under a different name, and new elements (positions) of the directory are added.