The document reconciliation act formalizes the procedure for comparing mutual settlements between two business partners. The article describes how to correctly draw up and execute a document reconciliation report.

From the article you will learn:

Legally, the reconciliation act (hereinafter referred to as AC) does not belong to the category primary documentation. It is used as additional evidence if it is necessary to prove the fact of debt of one of the business partners. Another purpose of the AC is to extend the statute of limitations. This is due to the fact that the day of signing the AC is the starting point of this period.

It is obvious that the apparent non-binding nature and low legal status of this document are caused by a misunderstanding of its capabilities as a legal tool for influencing an unscrupulous business partner. However, in order for the speaker to truly become such an instrument, special attention must be paid to its proper compilation and design. This will be discussed below.

Reconciliation report: legal status

At any stage of a business relationship, it may be necessary to carry out mutual settlement procedures.

Mutual settlements are carried out when one of the partners pays for services, work or goods supplied by another participant in a business transaction.

Invoices, checks and other documents that are classified as primary documents confirm the fact of a business transaction. These papers serve as the basis for maintaining accounting. Even a minor error in calculations can significantly affect the correctness of the entire accounting.

Over time, discrepancies and inconsistencies in the accounting documents of business partners lead to unaccounted payments and the formation of debts.

Identification of incorrect entries and possible discrepancies at the early stages is the main task and function of the reconciliation report. In practice, the procedure itself does not cause difficulties. Reconciliation technology in general boils down to the fact that accounting carried out by one party is compared with accounting carried out by the other party. If discrepancies or incorrect records are detected, a report is drawn up, and all primary documents of the parties are subject to additional analysis.

What is a reconciliation act

An act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is a document representing financial transactions of two partner organizations completed in a specific period of time. Ideally, all data collected in one party's financial statements should be fully correlated with data collected by the other party. If the slightest discrepancies are identified, a reconciliation report is drawn up.

The unified form of this act is not regulated by current legislative standards. Enterprises independently develop the form of this business paper and approve it with local regulatory documentation.

The AC is signed by both parties if they confirm their agreement with the discovered debt. We have already said above that the statute of limitations is determined using the date of signature of the reconciliation act. Next we will look at this issue in more detail.

In general, when carrying out any business transaction, a document belonging to the primary category is drawn up. From this moment the statute of limitations is calculated. However, there is also a special case, which includes the case of drawing up a reconciliation report. This document interrupts the statute of limitations and begins a new countdown of this period - from the moment of signing the AC.

The presence of mandatory elements of the AS - details of partners, date and period of reconciliation, list of transactions and settlements - ensures the legal force of this paper.

As a tool for resolving disputes, a reconciliation act can be successfully used only if it contains all the necessary details (this will not cancel the provisions that the form of the act itself remains free).

These mandatory details include:

1. name of business paper;
2. name of the party (legal name of the company and its details);
3. reference to the primary documentation, which is the source for calculations and confirms the fact of carrying out business actions;
4. settlement amounts;
5. balance-total;
6. Date of preparation;
7. signatures of persons responsible for carrying out settlements on each side;
8. seal impressions of each partner company.

The partners themselves also set the scale of reconciliation. It can be carried out on the scale of one product, on the scale of one delivery or one contract. As part of the annual inventory, as a rule, a reconciliation procedure is also carried out. The reason for issuing an AC is any discrepancy between the entries in the accounting documents of the parties. This is to avoid the discovery of debt or deficiency after the liquidation or bankruptcy of one of the parties.

Useful article:How to correctly fill out a reconciliation report, a sample filling in the office work can be found .

Filling out the document reconciliation report

The form and procedure for drawing up the AS are free for each enterprise. The initiator of the audit instructs the accounting department to draw up Act. Next, the document must be filled out, and two copies of it must be sent to the opponent.

In turn, the opponent checks his data with the figures provided by the partner. If discrepancies do occur, and the opponent acknowledges this fact, then both copies of the document are signed by him and sealed with the company’s seal. The company initiating the dispute receives signed and certified copies back.

Invoices are the source to which all data from the AS must correspond. The coincidence of all mutual settlement data is mandatory. Otherwise, discrepancies must be recorded in the final part of the AS.

If we are talking about the internal document flow of partner organizations, then the signature of the chief accountants of both parties is sufficient. In the event of litigation and litigation, such a signature will not be enough, and it must be confirmed by the drink of the head of the company.

A sample document reconciliation report is presented below:

How to check the reconciliation report

If you want to check the correctness of the AC, we recommend that you pay attention to a number of elements, the presence of which is mandatory:

1. Title;
2. Compilation dates;
3. Full name of the companies participating in the dispute;
4. Information about officials;
5. Information about the employees responsible for drawing up and certifying the paper;
6. Data of the main part of the AS distributed under contracts.

Templates of primary documentation should be taken as a model when drawing up an act. This is especially true for the rules for registering details.

Each company can develop its own form of act, but many years of experience of different companies have confirmed the effectiveness and advantage of the following composition of material:

1. The introductory part (preamble) contains mandatory details;
2. The main part contains data for the selected reconciliation period (for example, a chronological list of reconciled documents). In some cases, it is necessary to indicate the name of the transaction performed - delivery or purchase of goods, transfer of funds, sale or write-off of valuables, etc.

Cover letter for the reconciliation report

As a rule, a covering letter is attached to the reconciliation report. It most often contains a list of applications.

The text of the letter usually consists of two parts:

1. Statement of the fact of transfer (sending) of the act:
   We will send you..., We will send you.., I will pass it on to you...etc.
2. Purpose of the letter:
   For information; For approval; For signature; Request for a timely response to the report.

   This may be confirmation of familiarization, approval and return of a signed copy of the act. The following words and expressions would be appropriate here:

   “Please sign, seal and send to us one copy of the reconciliation act...” “Please send to our address one copy of the duly executed reconciliation act...”

At the end there is a list of documents attached to the letter: reconciliation report, primary documentation, orders, instructions, etc.

“Trust, but verify” is a key principle when dealing with debtors and creditors. The reliability of accounting is achieved through periodic clarification of accounting records.

The most common method for this in domestic accounting practice remains the exchange of reconciliation acts for mutual settlements.

What is it for?

The act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is an accounting document that reflects:

• movement of products (works, services) and funds between two counterparties for a certain period;
• the presence or absence of debt of one party to the other on a certain date.

Act - this is not a primary document, because it does not confirm the fact of payment of funds to another person, and its use does not in any way change the financial situation of the parties. Essentially, this is a technical document, the use of which in most cases is a voluntary initiative of the accountant.

• long-term cooperation with regular supplies of goods or services;
• concluding several contracts with one partner or drawing up additional agreements to existing contracts;
• provision by the supplier of deferred payment;
• transfer by the buyer of a large amount of prepayment (advance payment) in conditions of regular deliveries;
• very high cost of goods;
• The subject of the contract is a wide range of products.

It is also compiled during the annual or situational inventory of calculations. In this situation, it is important to understand that debts to debtors and creditors are reflected in the accounting in the amount that is recognized by the enterprise itself as correct on the basis of contracts, orders of managers and primary documents confirming the movement of goods and money.

There is no need to send reconciliation statements to all your debtors and creditors to ensure that the amounts match. Moreover, on their basis it will not be possible to make any accounting entries, including adjusting the amount of debt.

An exception is made only for settlements with the budget and banks, which need to be confirmed (clause 74 of the Accounting Regulations).

If for management purposes it is extremely important to oblige your partner to exchange such acts, this procedure, its frequency and penalties for non-compliance must be spelled out in the contract.

The role of the document in the legal process

It is important to remember that in the event of litigation regarding the fulfillment of contract terms or debt collection, a reconciliation report can be beneficial. But domestic judicial practice contains different attitudes towards its presence among the injured party:

• The signed act only reports the status of settlements, but does not confirm the fact that one of the participants in the process recognizes the debt. Also, it is not a basis for interrupting the limitation period (Resolution in case No. A65-7955/2009 of the FAS Volga District dated December 25, 2009 and Resolution in case No. A29-2498/2012 of the FAS Volga-Vyatka District dated December 14, 2012).
• It can serve as indirect evidence that one party acknowledges the debt to the other (signed act) or evidence of refusal to acknowledge the debt (unsigned act) (Resolution on case No. A57-1313/2013 FAS Volga District dated 12/02/2013).

As you can see, each economic dispute will always have its own individual solution. Still, it’s better to try to sign a reconciliation report with your partner in case your business relationship with him suddenly goes south. And it never hurts to remind the debtor of his debt.

The procedure for drawing up the document, who signs it

Act of reconciliation drawn up in two copies by any party to the agreement. The document must be signed by an authorized person, who can be:

• individual entrepreneur;
• a manager (company president, general manager or director) acting on the basis of the Charter;
• another employee acting on the basis of a power of attorney.

Most often, the signature of the chief accountant is also required, since he is vested with the right of second signature on financial documents.

The signature of only the chief accountant is acceptable for internal control of the completeness of calculations, but in the event of controversial situations, such a document will not have legal force.

The signatures of authorized persons must be sealed with the seal of the enterprise.

The document reflects the actual state of settlements, based on accounting data, and displays the amount of debt as of the end date of the specified period. After this, both copies are sent by mail or accompanied by an authorized representative to the counterparty.

The other party must verify the information provided with its accounting data. If the calculations are recognized as correct, the second copy with the signature of the manager, chief accountant and seal is returned to the person who drew up the act.

If, as a result of the reconciliation, discrepancies are discovered, they are indicated in the same document or in a separate register of settlements, which is attached to the act. Refusal to sign a document is a partner’s legal right (if this is not a mandatory condition of the contract). But sometimes this may mean that the debtor refuses to acknowledge his debt.

Optimal timing of reconciliation

The period for clarifying mutual settlements is determined by the need for accounting or management. Although the statement is drawn up for a certain period, the debt in favor of one of the parties is indicated on a certain date (often the first and last day of the reconciliation period).

The easiest way to perform reconciliation is:

• for the reporting year (from 01.01 to 31.12);
• for a certain calendar period, at the end of which the accountant reports to the owners of the enterprise (usually a quarter);
• during the period of validity of a specific contract.

You can watch the video to generate a document in the 1C:Enterprise program:

Filling process

The legislation of the Russian Federation does not provide for a single mandatory (unified) form of the act. Therefore, an enterprise can draw up this document in any form (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated February 18, 2005 No. 07-05-04/2).

Traditionally, the following details are filled in:

• Title of the document;
• full names of the parties;
• date of drawing up and signing of the act;
• calendar period for updating calculations;
• details of the agreement under which the reconciliation is carried out;
• dates and numbers of primary documents that confirm calculations;
• amounts of business transactions;
• the amount of total turnover for the period;
• the final amount of debt in favor of one of the parties;
• signatures and information about representatives of counterparties (position, full name);
• seal impressions.

According to the Regulations on accounting and financial reporting in the Russian Federation, the preparation of annual accounting (financial) statements in the Russian Federation must necessarily be preceded by an inventory of all assets and liabilities.

Note that accounts receivable refer to the organization’s property, and accounts payable refer to financial liabilities.

Inventory of settlements with suppliers, buyers, various debtors and creditors consists of checking the validity of the amounts of receivables and payables listed on the balance sheet.

At the same time, reconciliation of settlements between counterparties makes it possible to reliably assess the correctness of the reflection of debt amounts.

Why do you need an act of reconciliation of settlements with counterparties?

A timely and correctly executed act of reconciliation of settlements with counterparties allows you to eliminate errors in accounting and tax accounting.

If the debt reflected in the reconciliation report matches the organization’s data and the counterparty’s data, this means that all business transactions with the specified counterparty are reflected in the accounting records correctly and in a timely manner, including operations for the shipment of goods, provision of services, performance of work, receipt and transfer of funds. funds are not missed or doubled.

Thus, the reconciliation act allows not only to identify errors in accounting, but also to avoid disagreements with counterparties.

In addition, if a debtor of an organization signs a document, then he agrees with the state of settlements and expresses his readiness to repay his debt.

The act of reconciling settlements with counterparties also serves as the basis for writing off bad debts after the expiration of their statute of limitations.

The act of reconciliation of settlements with counterparties can be used when going to court in order to collect debt from the counterparty for goods supplied or services rendered.

For what period is it necessary to reconcile settlements with counterparties?

Before reconciliation, you should establish a period for which data should be included in the document being compiled.

When taking inventory of settlements with buyers and customers, with suppliers and contractors, as well as with other debtors and creditors, the organization should reconcile mutual settlements with its counterparties as of December 31 of the reporting year, which are documented in acts of reconciliation of mutual settlements.

The procedure for reconciling settlements with counterparties

The act of reconciliation of settlements between counterparties is drawn up on the basis of data from the two parties who take part in the reconciliation.

The organization that initiates the reconciliation informs the other company about the need to conduct a reconciliation and draw up a report.

After this, the first organization identifies the amount of debt from its data and informs the second organization about it.

If the second organization agrees with the amount of the debt, then the first organization draws up an act, prints it out in two copies, signs it with its manager and submits it to the second company for signature.

If the second organization has objections regarding the amount of debt, then it is necessary to proceed as follows:

1. The accountant of the first organization fills out only his part of the act and sends the document by e-mail or fax to the accountant of the second organization.
2. The accountant of the second company enters his data, and thus discrepancies are identified.
3. The party that has erroneous accounting data is identified makes the necessary changes in accounting.
4. After this, the first organization generates a new, already adjusted, statement of reconciliation of calculations, including data from both parties to the agreement. The act is drawn up in two copies and no longer contains any discrepancies.
5. The reconciliation report is signed by the heads of both organizations and stamped.

Form of reconciliation report

The reconciliation report reflects business transactions carried out between two counterparties for a certain period and displays the amount of debt.

The legislation does not provide for a unified form of this document.

Therefore, the organization develops the form of the mutual settlements reconciliation act independently.

In this case, the form should be approved as an annex to the accounting policy.

Note that the reconciliation act is not the primary accounting document confirming the completion of a business transaction, since it does not affect the financial condition of the parties.

Therefore, reflect in the act all the details established for primary documents in paragraph 2 of Art. 9 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 N 402-FZ “On Accounting”, optional.

• name of the document - act of reconciliation of calculations (indicating the names of organizations);
• details of the agreement concluded between the parties;
• date and place of document preparation;
• Document Number;
• the period for which the reconciliation was carried out;
• the amount of debt of one of the counterparties (indicate which one) at the beginning of the period for which the reconciliation is being carried out;
• the amount of business transactions carried out between counterparties (each party enters its data);
• dates of business transactions between counterparties (each party enters its accounting data);
• details of documents confirming the completion of business transactions between counterparties (each party enters its own credentials) Such documents are invoices, acts of acceptance and transfer of results of work performed/services rendered, payment orders, cash orders, etc.;
• the amount of debt of one of the counterparties (indicate which one) at the end of the period under review;
• there are discrepancies in the parties’ credentials;
• signatures and seals of the parties.

The main part of the reconciliation report, which contains information about business transactions carried out by counterparties, is best presented in the form of a table, which consists of two parts.

The left side of the table, as a rule, reflects the facts of the economic activities of the organization that compiled the document.

It includes four columns.

The first column indicates the serial number of the entry, the second column - a summary of the business transaction, the third and fourth columns - its monetary value by debit or credit.

The right side of the table remains blank; The data is recorded there by the counterparty when he performs reconciliation.

Thus, records are entered into the act in chronological order about all operations carried out by the organization with the participation of a specific counterparty for a certain period.

After that, debit and credit turnovers are calculated and the total amount of debt (closing balance) as of a certain date is determined.

If there are no problems or errors, then the amounts received after filling out the first and second tabs will look mirrored in the table.

For the reconciliation act to become legal, it must be signed by authorized persons on both sides.

The reconciliation report can be signed by authorized persons, the sole executive body of the organization (for example, the general director, financial director, etc.) or a representative acting on the basis of a power of attorney issued by such a body.

To reconcile mutual settlements, legal entities and individual entrepreneurs often draw up a corresponding act. The legislation does not provide for a single template and obligation to use this particular document, so each company can develop its own form. A ready-made example and instructions for filling out are presented in the article.

Recording of expenditure transactions of each company is mandatory. For this purpose, payment documents, receipts, invoices, orders and other papers are drawn up. However, in practice there is a need to compare mutual settlements between two or more counterparties, for which a reconciliation report is drawn up.

As a rule, it is signed by legal entities, as well as individual entrepreneurs. The names of the parties are similar to those indicated in the relevant agreements:

• "Customer";
• "Executor".

The document reflects all types of transactions between companies (or individual settlements, selectively) for a specific period - month, quarter, year (the reporting period is determined by agreement). Accounting staff are responsible for registration. They produce:

• drawing up an act;
• reconciliation with the data that came from the counterparty.

The document can be drawn up as an annex to the contract or as a separate document. And in this regard, we can conditionally distinguish 2 varieties:

1. Appendix to the main agreement - for example, to a supply contract. In this case, the document is an integral part of this agreement and has no legal force on its own, in the absence of a basic agreement. As a rule, such records record information about all operations that took place within the framework of a given agreement.
2. An independent document that is used independently of a specific agreement. It combines mutual financial settlements for a specific period of time (or for individual groups of goods and services).

The supply agreement should additionally specify the terms of reconciliation of mutual settlements, the timing and procedure for signing the act. Otherwise, an unscrupulous counterparty may evade signing the paper.

Form and sample document

As a rule, it is a summary table with a description of each type of operation (service, work) and its amount. The document must reflect the details and names of both parties and record the presence/absence of the customer’s debt to the contractor on a specific date.

The form and sample of the mutual settlements reconciliation act are presented below.

The number of copies is determined by the number of parties, so the minimum is 2 original documents that have equal legal force.

Instructions for compilation

First, you need to pay attention to a few recommendations:

1. The document must indicate the reporting period for which the reconciliation is made.
2. You should always indicate the date it was compiled. It does not have to be related to the reporting period. For example, the act was drawn up on January 29, 2018, while the reporting period is from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
3. The parties indicate not only the types of transactions (services), but also the documents on the basis of which they were recorded (for example, invoices).
4. As a rule, they indicate not only the total amount, but also the opening balance (balance).
5. At the end of the page, representatives of the parties put their signatures. As a rule, the chief accountant has the right to sign. It can also be signed by managers - this is especially important in cases where there are disagreements between partners regarding settlement transactions.

NOTE. In some cases, the company does not use the usual blue print. Then the representative just needs to put his own signature, decipher it (last name, initials) and indicate his position.

Thus, drawing up an act allows you to simplify the procedure for reconciling mutual settlements and confirm the fact that there are no claims between the customer and the contractor. The document is usually drawn up in printed form; erasures and corrections are not allowed.

When business entities work with each other, fulfilling their duties in accordance with concluded partnership contracts, they exchange material and monetary values ​​with each other. These can be one-time or long-term operations. In order to settle mutual settlements and check whether enterprises have debts, it is recommended to draw up a reconciliation report for mutual settlements.

Reconciliation of mutual settlements with counterparties is carried out to clarify the presence of mutual requirements expressed in cost indicators.

According to the current contract, one company supplies another with material assets, provides a service, or performs a certain list of works.

On the other hand, her partner must pay for the goods, work or service received either in cash or in any way established by a signed contract.

For each such action, primary documents are drawn up, on the basis of which all parties to the agreement record the transactions in their records.

Often the considered facts of economic activity are not all produced on the same day. Either shipment occurs in batches, or payment is made in installments.

Since these transactions are reflected by different people over a certain period of time, some of the partners may miss some facts.

Since all organizations must prepare financial statements, reconciliation of mutual settlements must be carried out on reporting dates, which are the beginning of the year, quarter, month, depending on the period for which the report is compiled.

Reconciliation of settlements must be carried out when closing contracts upon their completion, or upon early termination.

Attention! Also, a reconciliation act is necessary when considering disputes in arbitration courts. If the company’s debt is confirmed by this document, which contains the signatures of the debtor, then the judge’s decision will be in favor of the plaintiff.

If bankruptcy is filed and a queue of creditors is drawn up, then the signed reconciliation act with the debtor will be of significant importance.

Rules for drawing up the Act

The initiator of drawing up an act of mutual settlements can be any of the parties to the contractual relationship. In addition, if third parties also participate in them (for example, one company makes payments for another), then the initiative to conduct reconciliation of mutual settlements may come from it.