A new form of balance sheet: will it simplify the life of accountants?

The law states that with the advent of a new Federal Law "On Accounting" (No. 402-FZ of 06.12.2011), all enterprises, regardless of the tax regime, are required to submit financial statements. The new law brought many innovations regarding the forms of accounting.

Thus, organizations on the USN should also draw up and submit reports. But for such organizations there is a new form of the balance sheet, simplified. Many items of the balance of the ordinary form are combined into one. Thus, the Balance active consists of 5 articles, and the Passive of 6. You can compare the articles of the old and the new form for a very long time, but there are small details. If, suddenly, in an abridged form of the balance sheet, tax officials will have something that is not clear, they may demand disclosing the information of a balance sheet item. This can add work to the accounting department, as it will have to make additional clarifications.

Most organizations that need to balance are asked a few very important questions. One of them: "How to fill the balance sheet for past years, if there is no accurate data?" In this case, there are two options. Organizations can calculate data on documentation, but there is one nuance. The data may not be calculated correctly, which will lead to inaccuracies in the reporting, and it will be necessary to go through a lot of documents in order to calculate each indicator for the two preceding years. In the second variant, the Ministry of Finance allows not to fill in the data for past years. This corresponds to the legislation of the Russian Federation, since organizations can not fill in data that they did not previously.

Another question is asked about the application of the new form of the balance sheet: "By what form is it appropriate to pass the balance sheet?". The new form is intended exclusively for small businesses, as explained by the Ministry of Finance. But the old form of the balance sheet is also suitable for organizations on the USN, if they need to more detailed data for the owners.

The form of the balance sheet is one of the forms of accounting reporting that shows the state of the organization for 3 consecutive years, and is submitted to the IFNS at the end of the year. When adopting the new law "On Accounting" a variety of forms increased. But here's what else is a catch: in accounting software there is still only the old form, so many organizations will not switch to a new one. Moreover, regardless of the exemption from reporting, organizations on the USN in most all kept accounting. This is another plus in favor of the old form.

But for the newly created organizations, there is now a lightweight form of balance sheet that will allow you to combine some data, which will facilitate the work of the company's chief accountant. While it is impossible to judge this form, as it will be applied, starting with the reporting for 2013. As soon as the accounts are submitted, it will be possible to understand what form in the majority is accepted by small business entities.