Since 2015, the procedure for correcting errors in accounting from previous years has fundamentally changed. If previously such errors could be reflected in the income and expenses of the current period and affected the financial result of the current reporting period, then since 2015, the amounts of correction of errors of previous years related to income and (or) expenses are reflected using account 84 “Retained earnings ( uncovered loss). Fundamentally new is the requirement to make corrections to the financial statements. The author of the material explains how this should be done.

We hope that all accountants remember that from February 21, 2014, a new procedure for correcting errors in accounting and reporting has been in effect. From this date, the National Accounting and Reporting Standard “Accounting policies of the organization, changes in accounting estimates, errors”, approved by Resolution of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus dated December 10, 2013 No. 80 (hereinafter referred to as NAS), came into force.

Please remember that mistakes can be made:

• in the reporting year and identified before its end;
• in the reporting year and identified after its end, but before the date of approval of the financial statements for this year;
• in the year(s) preceding the reporting year.

The error correction in the first two cases has not changed and does not raise any special questions.

Using a specific situation, we will consider correcting an accounting error made in 2014, discovered in the current year 2015 after the approval and submission of the financial statements for 2014.

Situation. Correction of errors in 2015 for 2014 in accounting and tax accounting (with reflection in the annual financial statements)

The wholesale organization "Additives" - a resident of the Republic of Belarus, purchased the product "Product for Animal Feeding" in the amount of 3,000 pieces from the Russian organization "Animal Feed" on December 15, 2014. for a total amount of RUR 614,640. rub. for further implementation on the territory of the Republic of Belarus. Payment for the goods received to a resident of the Russian Federation was made on December 19, 2014 in the full amount - RUR 614,640. rub.

According to the accounting policy, the organization records goods at purchase prices, accepts goods for accounting on the date of their actual receipt, and assigns costs directly related to the purchase of goods to the increase in their value.

For reference: Russian ruble exchange rate established by the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus:

• as of 12/15/2014 - 191.5 BYN. rub.;
• as of 12/19/2014 - 184 bel. rub.;
• as of 12/31/2014 - 214.5 BYN. rub.

In table 1 shows how the organization reflected the transactions performed in its accounting.

Table 1

		Quantity (pcs.)/amount (Russian rub.)	The National Bank rate that the organization applied	Accounting records
				debit (amount, Belarusian rub.)	loan (amount, Belarusian rub.)
The goods arrived from the Russian Federation			286.5 bel. rub. for 1 ros. rub.	"Goods in warehouses"	"Settlements with suppliers and contractors" (Russian rub.)
				176,094,360 BYN rub. (RUB 614,640 × BYR 286.5)
Payment has been made for the item*		3,000 pcs. in the amount of RUR 614,640. rub.	184 bel. rub. for 1 ros. rub.			"Currency accounts"
				113 093 760 BYN rub. (RUB 614,640 × BYR 184)
*The organization erroneously made a payment in accounting to another counterparty - a resident of the Russian Federation
Revaluation of accounts payable reflected		RUR 614,640 rub.	214.5 bel. rub. for 1 ros. rub.	"Other expenses"
				44 254 080 BYN rub. (RUB 614,640 × (BYR 286.5 - BYR 214.5))

The errors discovered by the accountant in November 2015 for 2014 were as follows::

1. The rate of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus was incorrectly applied when goods were received into the warehouse.
2. Due to the fact that payment for the goods received was made by mistake to another counterparty, unrealistic accounts payable and receivable arose.
3. The revaluation of accounts payable was carried out incorrectly. Organizational error: there should be no revaluation of accounts payable for the Additives organization as of December 31, 2014, since payment to the supplier was made in full on December 19, 2014.
4. The cost of goods sold is incorrectly determined.

Let us list the consequences that the above errors will entail (see Table 1) in accounting and tax reporting:

1. Due to an incorrect reflection on December 15, 2014 of the cost of goods received at the warehouse (the Russian ruble exchange rate of 286.5 BYR was applied instead of the National Bank rate on this date of 191.5 BYR), the cost of goods sold was overstated by the amount 38,927,200 BYN rub. (117,396,240 BYN - 78,469,040 BYN). This means that the income tax base was underestimated by this amount, which resulted in an underpayment of income tax.

In the above calculation:

117 396 240 BYN rub. - cost of goods sold at purchase prices, calculated by the organization (614,640 Russian rubles / 3,000 units × 2,000 × 286.5 Belarusian rubles = 117,396,240 Belarusian rubles);

78 469 040 BYN rub. - the actual cost of goods sold at purchase prices (614,640 Russian rubles / 3,000 units × 2,000 × 191.5 Belarusian rubles = 78,469,040 Belarusian rubles).

1. The organization mistakenly made a payment to another counterparty, therefore, the financial statements for 2014 erroneously indicated unrealistic receivables and payables.
2. The revaluation of accounts payable for goods received by the organization should have been done as of December 19, 2014 - the date of payment to the supplier. The revaluation amount should have been 4,609,800 BYN. rub. (614,640 Russian rubles × 184 white rubles - 614,640 Russian rubles × 191.5 white rubles). If the foreign currency exchange rate fell, the revaluation should have been reflected by writing:

Kit 60 - Kit 91- 4,609,800 BYN rub.

Erroneous revaluation of accounts payable, reflected in the debit of account 91 in the amount of 44,254,080 BYN. rub., resulted in an overestimation of non-operating expenses by this amount and, accordingly, led to an understatement of the tax base for income tax and underpayment of income tax.

The procedure for correcting accounting errors made in the year preceding the reporting year

The accountant must document the correction of errors with an accounting statement containing information established by the legislation of the Republic of Belarus for primary accounting documents.

For reference: primary accounting documents must contain the following information (clause 2 of article 10 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus dated July 12, 2013 No. 57-Z “On Accounting and Reporting”):

• name of the document, date of its preparation;
• name of the organization, surname and initials of the individual entrepreneur who is a participant in the business transaction;
• the content and basis for a business transaction, its assessment in natural and value terms or in value terms;
• positions of persons responsible for carrying out a business transaction and (or) the correctness of its execution, their surnames, initials and signatures.

Primary accounting documents may contain other information that is not mandatory.

In the month the errors were discovered - November 2015 - it is necessary to draw up an accounting statement in the following form (approximate form):

LLC "Additives"

Accounting certificate-calculation No. 1-11-2015

1. When reflecting in accounting on December 15, 2014 the product “Product for animal feeding” received in the amount of 3,000 pcs. from Animal Feed LLC, a resident of the Russian Federation, to a wholesale warehouse, the Russian ruble exchange rate was incorrectly selected. So, the rate of 191.5 bel should have been applied. rub. for 1 ros. RUB, and the organization used 286.5 BYN. rub. for 1 ros. rub., which resulted in an overestimation of the cost of capitalized goods in the amount of 58,390,800 BYN. rub. (176 094 360 - 117 703 560).

This error is due to the accountant’s carelessness when entering exchange rates into the 1C:Enterprise accounting program. This error did not affect the financial result. You need to fix it with the following entry:

D-t 41 - K-t 60 - RUB 58,390,800 - using the “red reversal” method.

2. Sold in 2014, 2,000 units. of this product. The cost of goods sold was inflated at the purchase price. The accounting reflected:

Dt 90-4 “Cost of products sold, goods, works, services” - Kt 41-1 “Goods in warehouses”- in the amount of 117,396,240 BYN. rub. instead of 78,469,040 BYN. rub.

This error affected the financial result and led to underpayment of income tax.

This error is subject to correction in November 2015 (in the month of discovery). An entry was made in the accounting records for the amount of the inflated cost of goods sold:

Dt 84 “Retained earnings (uncovered loss)” - Kit 41- 38,927,200 BYN rub. - using the “red reversal” method.

3. When paying on 12/19/2014 to the counterparty LLC “Food for Animals” - a resident of the Russian Federation, the accountant mistakenly transferred the payment amount to another (new) counterparty, which led to the reflection in the reporting of unrealistic receivables and payables as of 12/31/2014.

This error is corrected in accounting by the following entries inside account 60:

D-t 60 (analytical account “LLC Animal Feed”) - K-t 60 (analytical account “New counterparty”)- 113,093,760 BYN rub. (RUB 614,640 × BYR 184).

4. Since the payment was made by Animal Feed LLC, a resident of the Russian Federation, on December 19, 2014, the revaluation of accounts payable should have been performed on December 19, 2014. This error affected the financial result of 2014 and led to underpayment of income tax.

We correct the error with the following entries:

Kit 60 - Kit 84- 4,609,800 BYN rub. (117,703,560 (614,640 Russian rubles × 191.5 Belarusian rubles) - 113,093,760 (614,640 Russian rubles × 184 Belarusian rubles)).

5. Due to the fact that there should have been no debt with Animal Feed LLC, a resident of the Russian Federation, as of December 31, 2014, there was a revaluation of accounts payable in the amount of BYR 44,254,080. rub., which was written off as non-operating expenses and resulted in a decrease in the tax base and underpayment of income tax, should be reflected in the entry:

Kit 60 - Kit 84- 44,254,080 BYN rub.

6. After correcting all the above errors in accounting, the underpayment of income tax amounted to 15,802,394 BYN. rub. ((38,927,200 (amount of overestimation of the cost of goods sold) + 4,609,800 (revaluation of accounts payable as of 12/19/2014) + 44,254,080 (amount of overestimation of expenses when revaluing accounts payable as of 12/31/2014)) × 18 / 100).

In accounting on November 30, 2015 (in the month the error was discovered), we make an additional entry:

Dt 84 - Kt 68-3 “Calculations for taxes and fees calculated from profit (income)”- 15,802,394 BYN rub.

7. The financial result for 2014 was underestimated by the amount of 71,988,686 BYN. rub. (38,927,200 + 4,609,800 + 44,254,080 - 15,802,394). An updated income tax return for 2014 was submitted to the tax authority in the form used in 2014.

Chief accountant V.A. Dubovik

Important! In accounting, an error made in previous periods and affecting the financial result, identified after the date of approval of the statements for these periods, is corrected by an additional or reversal entry:

D-t (K-t) 84, etc. - K-t (D-t) of the corresponding accounts.

At the same time, in the financial statements it is necessary to adjust the opening balance of each item of assets, liabilities, equity capital associated with such an error at the beginning of the earliest period presented in the financial statements, as well as other items of the financial statements related to this error for each period presented in the financial statements ( clause 12 of NAS).

The procedure for correcting errors in tax accounting made in the year preceding the reporting year

If an error in accounting led to errors in tax returns for previous years, then the organization submits updated tax returns in the prescribed manner (clause 8 of Article 63 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Belarus, subclauses 8.1, 8.3, 8.4 of the Instructions on the procedure for filling out tax returns). declarations (calculations) for taxes (duties), a purchase book approved by Resolution of the Ministry of Taxes and Taxes of the Republic of Belarus dated December 24, 2014 No. 42).

If the error made affected the amount of retained earnings (uncovered loss) of previous years (i.e., the balance of account 84 as of January 1 of the year in which the error of previous years was discovered), then corrective entries are made using account 84.

Procedure for correcting errors in reporting forms for 2015

When preparing annual reports for 2015, the organization must correct errors in the reporting forms for 2015 as follows (see Table 2):

table 2

				Amount, white rub.	Adjusting entries in accounting forms
					balance sheet	Profits and Losses Report	statement of changes in equity
	Is being adjusted "red reversal" method application of an incorrect exchange rate when posting goods				Gr. 3 pp. 214, 290, 630, 631, 690	Not reflected	Not reflected
	Reflects the inflated cost, which affected the financial result (profit increase), "red reversal" method				Gr. 3 pp. 460, 490, 214, 290	Gr. 4 pages 020, 060, 090, 150	Gr. 8 pp. 130, 140
	Reflected correction of payment between counterparties (inside account 60)				Not reflected in reporting
	The revaluation of accounts payable is reflected, which should have been performed on December 19, 2014					Gr. 4 pages 060, 090, 150	Gr. 8 pp. 130, 140
	The revaluation of accounts payable is being adjusted, which should not have been done on December 31, 2014				Gr. 3 pages 460, 490, 630, 631, 690	Gr. 4 pages 120, 121, 140, 150	Gr. 8 pp. 130, 140
	The additional accrued amount of income tax is reflected				Gr. 3 pages 460, 630, 633	Gr. 4 pages 160, 210	Gr. 8 pp. 130, 140

At the same time, in the financial statements, the opening balance of each item of assets, liabilities, equity capital associated with this error is adjusted at the beginning of the earliest period presented in the financial statements, as well as other accounting items related to this error for each period presented in the financial statements.

Reflection of information about errors in notes to financial statements

The notes to the financial statements disclose the amount of adjustment for each item in the 2015 financial statements related to this error.

Note. Clause 109 of the Instructions on the procedure for preparing financial statements, approved by Resolution of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus dated October 31, 2011 No. 111, contains a requirement to disclose in the notes to the financial statements the following information regarding errors committed in the previous year (previous years) and corrected in the reporting period :

• content and reasons for changes in accounting policies;
• the amount of adjustments to the opening balance of each item of assets, liabilities, equity capital associated with this change at the beginning of the earliest period presented in the financial statements;
• the amount of adjustments to other accounting items related to this change for each period presented in the financial statements.

5. An error in the reporting year identified before the end of that year is corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts in the month of the reporting year in which the error was identified.

6. An error in the reporting year identified after the end of this year, but before the date of signing the financial statements for this year, is corrected by entries in the corresponding accounting accounts for December of the reporting year (the year for which the annual financial statements are prepared).

7. A significant error of the previous reporting year, identified after the date of signing the financial statements for this year, but before the date of submission of such statements to shareholders of a joint-stock company, participants of a limited liability company, a state authority, local government or other body authorized to exercise the rights of the owner, etc., is corrected in the manner established by paragraph 6 of these Regulations. If the specified financial statements were presented to any other users, then they must be replaced with statements in which the identified significant error has been corrected (revised financial statements).

8. A significant error of the previous reporting year, identified after the presentation of the financial statements for this year to shareholders of a joint-stock company, participants of a limited liability company, a state authority, local government or other body authorized to exercise the rights of the owner, etc., but before date of approval of such reporting in the manner established by the legislation of the Russian Federation, is corrected in the manner established by paragraph 6 of these Regulations. At the same time, the revised financial statements disclose information that these financial statements replace the originally presented financial statements, as well as the basis for preparing the revised financial statements.

The revised financial statements are submitted to all addresses to which the original financial statements were submitted.

9. A significant error of the previous reporting year, identified after approval of the financial statements for this year, is corrected:

1) entries on the relevant accounting accounts in the current reporting period. In this case, the corresponding account in the records is the account for retained earnings (uncovered loss);

2) by recalculating the comparative indicators of the financial statements for the reporting periods reflected in the financial statements of the organization for the current reporting year, except in cases where it is impossible to establish the connection of this error with a specific period or it is impossible to determine the impact of this error on a cumulative basis in relation to all previous reporting periods.

Restatement of comparative financial statements is carried out by correcting the financial statements as if the error of the previous reporting period had never been made (retrospective restatement).

Retrospective restatement is carried out in relation to comparative indicators starting from the previous reporting period presented in the financial statements for the current reporting year in which the corresponding error was made.

Organizations that have the right to use simplified accounting methods, including simplified accounting (financial) statements, can correct a significant error in the previous reporting year, identified after the approval of the financial statements for this year, in the manner established by paragraph 14 of these Regulations, without retrospective recalculation.

(see text in the previous edition)

10. In the event of correction of a significant error of the previous reporting year, identified after the approval of the financial statements, the approved financial statements for the previous reporting periods are not subject to revision, replacement and re-presentation to users of the financial statements.

11. If a significant error was made before the beginning of the earliest previous reporting period presented in the financial statements for the current reporting year, the opening balances for the corresponding items of assets, liabilities and capital at the beginning of the earliest reporting period presented are subject to adjustment.

12. If it is not possible to determine the impact of a material error on one or more previous reporting periods presented in the financial statements, the organization must adjust the opening balance for the relevant items of assets, liabilities and equity at the beginning of the earliest period for which restatement is possible.

13. The impact of a material error on the previous reporting period cannot be determined if complex and (or) numerous calculations are required, during which it is impossible to identify information indicating the circumstances that existed at the date of the error, or it is necessary to use information received after the date of approval of the financial statements for such previous reporting period.

14. An error of the previous reporting year, which is not significant, discovered after the date of signing the financial statements for this year, is corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts in the month of the reporting year in which the error was identified. Profit or loss arising as a result of correcting this error is reflected as part of other income or expenses of the current reporting period.

Despite the accountant's efforts to do everything correctly, mistakes are inevitable one way or another, and often this does not depend on the accountants themselves. Starting from the annual reports for 2010, they need to be corrected according to new rules, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated June 28, 2010 N 63n, however, from the beginning of the year, accountants applied the procedure provided for by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 22, 2003 N 67n. In this article we will try to tell you how to correct the errors that have crept in.

Let us clarify that before proceeding, it is necessary to determine their materiality. So, the error is considered significant, if it, individually or in combination with other errors for the same reporting period, may affect the economic decisions of users made on the basis of the financial statements prepared for this reporting period. The organization determines the materiality of the error independently, based on both the magnitude and the nature of the corresponding article (articles) of the financial statements (clause 3 PBU 22/2010 Accounting Regulations “Correcting Errors in Accounting and Reporting”).

Note that the procedure for determining the materiality of errors could not be prescribed in the accounting policy for 2010, since PBU 22/2010 was not approved at its beginning, but at the same time, by the time preparation began for 2010, it was necessary to have an approved definition of material mistakes that could be used as a guide. In addition, the approved definition will be a criterion for determining the materiality of the error and will be spelled out in the accounting policy for 2011, which, on the basis of paragraphs 8 and 9 of PBU 1/2008 (Accounting Regulations "Accounting Policy of the Organization") must be approved before 01/01/2011. That is, in the accounting policy for 2011 it is necessary to state that this definition is applied from the annual reporting for 2010.

Criteria and causes of errors

The criteria for the materiality of errors can be divided into those that affect and, accordingly, those that do not affect the financial result.
The reasons for making mistakes include:
- incorrect application of accounting legislation;
- incorrect application of regulatory legal acts on accounting;
- incorrect application of the organization’s accounting policies;
- inaccuracies in calculations;
- incorrect classification or assessment of facts of economic activity;
- incorrect use of information relating to the date of signing the statements;
- unfair actions of officials of the organization.
Note that it is generally accepted materiality threshold 5%, that is, an amount that exceeds 5% of the total is considered significant. But let us remind you once again that the organization has the right to independently set the threshold of materiality, justifying it with reasonable economic reasons.
In addition, it should be remembered that the procedure for correcting errors depends not only on their significance, but also on detection period (before or after the reporting period).
So, we’ll tell you about the basic rules and the procedure for correcting errors in accordance with PBU 22/2010.

Minor errors

An insignificant error of the previous reporting year, identified after the date of signing the financial statements for this year, is corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts in the month of the reporting year in which the error was identified. Profit or loss arising as a result of correcting this error is reflected as part of other income or expenses of the current reporting period (clause 14 of PBU 22/2010). That is, the fact of identifying an insignificant error does not affect the amount of retained (distributed) profit of the reporting year; the results of its correction are reflected on the relevant sides of account 91 “Other income and expenses” and are taken into account as part of the retained earnings of the year following the reporting year (in which such an error was made) admitted).
Also, using account 91 in correspondence with the corresponding accounting accounts, an error identified after the date of signing the financial statements for this year is corrected, in the month of the reporting year in which the error was identified.
According to para. 2 p. 1 art. 54 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, if errors are discovered in the calculation of the tax base of the previous tax period, the tax base and tax amount are recalculated for the period in which the errors were made.
Accordingly, profit or loss arising as a result of correcting an insignificant error of the previous year may lead to the need to apply PBU 18/02 (Accounting Regulations “Accounting for corporate income tax calculations”). In this situation, if an insignificant error led to an increase in the accounting profit of the reporting period and the taxable base for the income tax of the previous period, it will be necessary to submit an updated income tax return for the previous period, and reflect a permanent tax asset in the accounting records (clause p. 4 - 7 PBU 18/02):
Debit 68, subaccount "Calculations for income tax", Credit 99, subaccount "PNA/PNO", - a permanent tax asset has been accrued.

Minor 2010 bug identified before the date of approval (signing) of the financial statements for this year, should be corrected with the corresponding entries in the accounting accounts for December of the reporting year.
If errors in both accounting and tax accounting are corrected in one period, then there is no need to refer to PBU 18/02. But if the taxpayer nevertheless decides to file an updated tax return for the previous period, then in this case he must accrue a permanent tax liability:
Debit 99, subaccount "PNA/PNO", Credit 68, subaccount "Calculations for income tax", - a permanent tax liability has been accrued.
It should be noted that when preparing a profit and loss statement, the amount of additional payment of income tax in connection with the discovery of errors in previous years, which does not affect the current income tax of the reporting period, should be reflected separately - on a separate line after the current income tax indicator ( clause 22 of PBU 18/02, Letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 08/23/2004 N 07-05-14/219, dated 12/10/2004 N 07-05-14/328). That is, in the line “Current income tax” of the profit and loss statement, the amount of income tax calculated in the declaration must be indicated.

Errors in the reporting year

Errors of the reporting year are by their nature insignificant, and options for correcting them depend on the period of discovery:
1) an error discovered before the end of the reporting year, is corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts in the month of the reporting year in which it was identified (clause 5 of PBU 22/2010). In this case, it does not matter whether the error is significant or not, since the incorrectly indicated amount is reversed from the relevant accounts and, therefore, the error in writing off the financial result is corrected;
2) error detected after the end of the reporting year, but before the date of signing (approval) of the financial statements for this year, is corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts for December of the reporting year (the year for which the annual financial statements are prepared). Note that such errors do not affect the reporting and are corrected in the same way as those identified before the end of the reporting year, with the difference that the corresponding entries are made on December 31.

Significant errors in previous reporting years

Reporting must objectively reflect the facts of economic activity and, accordingly, must not contain significant errors. If such errors are made, then, depending on the period of their discovery, they are corrected as follows:
1) a significant error identified after the date of signing the financial statements for this year, but before the date of submission of such statements to the shareholders of the JSC, members of the LLC, government body, local government body or other body authorized to exercise the rights of the owner, etc. (hereinafter referred to as users), is corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts for December of the reporting year (clause 7 of PBU 22/2010). In this case, if the financial statements were presented to users, they must be replaced with statements in which the identified significant error has been corrected;
2) a significant error identified after the presentation of financial statements for this year to users (after March 31), but before the date of approval of such statements in the manner established by the legislation of the Russian Federation (JSC - before June 30, LLC - before April 30), is corrected by entries in the relevant accounts accounting for December of the reporting year (clause 8 of PBU 22/2010). In this case, information must be disclosed that these financial statements replace the originally presented financial statements, as well as the basis for drawing up the revised financial statements;
3) a significant error of the previous reporting year, identified after the approval and signing of the financial statements for this year, is corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts in the current reporting period using corresponding account 84 “Retained earnings (uncovered loss)”;
4) a significant error made before the beginning of the earliest previous reporting period presented in the financial statements for the current reporting year (for example, in 2010 - before 2009), is corrected by entries in the relevant accounting accounts in the current reporting period using a corresponding account 84 "Retained earnings (uncovered loss)".
Note that the use of account 84 exempts the organization from applying PBU 18/02 due to the fact that such a correction does not affect the financial result of the previous year. Accordingly, the organization does not need to revise and resubmit its financial statements.

Note! Correction of significant errors of previous years through account 84 “Retained earnings (uncovered loss)” eliminates their impact on the net profit (loss) of the reporting period formed on account 99 “Profits and losses”.

We correct financial statements

In addition to making corrective entries, it is also necessary to recalculate the comparative indicators of the financial statements. In this case, the accountant is obliged to make corrections to those forms of financial statements that compare the current year's figures with the data of previous years. However, this rule does not apply if it is impossible to establish the connection of the error with a specific period or it is impossible to determine the impact of this error cumulatively in relation to all previous reporting periods.
Recalculation of comparative indicators of financial statements is carried out by correcting indicators of financial statements. Such a recalculation is called retrospective and is carried out in relation to comparative indicators starting from the previous reporting period presented in the financial statements for the current year in which the corresponding inaccuracy was made (clause 9 of PBU 22/2010). That is, the statements indicate the amounts as if the error of the previous reporting period had never been made.
If the identified error was made before the period presented in the reporting, then the opening balance is adjusted for the corresponding items of assets, liabilities and capital at the beginning of the earliest reporting period presented (clause 11 of PBU 22/2010).
A similar procedure is also applied if it is impossible to determine the impact of an error on the periods presented in the statements, only in this case it is necessary to adjust the opening balance for the relevant items at the beginning of the earliest period for which it is possible to recalculate (clause 12 of PBU 22/2010) .

Explanatory note

It should be remembered that when correcting significant errors, the accountant must indicate this in the explanatory note to the annual financial statements (clause 15 of PBU 22/2010), in which the organization is obliged to disclose the following information regarding significant errors of previous reporting periods corrected in reporting period (clause 16 of PBU 22/2010):
- nature of the error;
- the amount of adjustment for each item in the financial statements - for each previous reporting period to the extent practicable;
- the amount of adjustment based on data on basic diluted earnings (loss) per share (if the organization is required to disclose information on earnings per share);
- the amount of adjustment to the opening balance of the earliest reporting period presented.
If it is impossible to determine the impact of a material error on previous reporting periods, then the explanatory note discloses the reasons for this, and also provides a description of the method of reflecting the correction of the material error and indicates the period from which the corrections were made.

Correcting errors in declarations

Major and minor errors also affect already submitted declarations. It should be remembered that according to paragraph 1 of Art. 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the taxpayer is obliged to submit an updated tax return if identified errors lead to an understatement of the amount of tax payable. In this case, the corresponding amount of tax will have to be paid additionally, as well as penalties. If the errors did not lead to an understatement of the amount of tax payable, then the submission of an updated declaration is not necessary (paragraph 2, paragraph 1, article 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
It should be remembered that when recalculating the tax base and tax amount, the results of tax audits conducted by the tax authority for the tax period for which the recalculation is made are not taken into account (Letter of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow dated April 13, 2010 N 16-15/038583).

Note! Amendments and additions are made by submitting an updated tax return for the same tax period for which the main return was filed. The updated declaration should be submitted in the form that was in force in the period for which it is being submitted.

The updated tax return must indicate the correctly calculated tax amounts, taking into account additions and changes, and not the difference between the correctly calculated tax and the tax reflected in the previously submitted return.
To avoid tax liability for gross violation of the rules for accounting for income and expenses and taxable items, resulting in an understatement of the tax base, as well as for non-payment or incomplete payment of tax (fee), the following conditions must be observed.

Presentation moment updated declaration	Conditions for exemption from liability
Before the deadline filing the initial declarations	The declaration is considered submitted on the day of submission updated declaration (clause 2 of article 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), and the deadline tax payment has not yet arrived (Article 287 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)
After the deadline filing the initial declarations
1. Before the deadline paying tax	The updated declaration was submitted before the inspection by the tax authority or an on-site inspection is scheduled tax audit (clause 3 of article 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)
2. After expiration tax payment deadline	1. The updated declaration is submitted before an audit has been carried out by the tax authority or ordered on-site tax audit, and you have paid arrears and penalties until the submission of an updated declarations. 2. The updated declaration is submitted after conducting an on-site inspection, based on the results which no errors or misrepresentations have been detected (clause 4 of article 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)

Example . Temporary disability benefits accrued to an employee of the organization in the amount of 10,000 rubles. for five calendar days the full amount was erroneously attributed to the Social Insurance Fund.
1. An error was made by an accountant in May 2010 and discovered in October 2010 - it is not significant.
According to Part 1, 2 Art. 3 of Federal Law N 255-FZ (Federal Law of December 29, 2006 N 255-FZ “On compulsory social insurance in case of temporary disability and in connection with maternity”) (as amended in force in 2010) payment is made at the expense of the employer benefits for the first two days of incapacity, and the remaining amount is paid from the Social Insurance Fund.

That is, an allowance in the amount of 6,000 rubles must be paid from the Social Insurance Fund. (10,000 rubles / 5 days x 3 days), and at the expense of the employer - 4,000 rubles. (RUB 10,000 / 5 days x 2 days).
In this situation, in October 2010, the accountant made a reversal entry for the amount of benefits erroneously accrued from the Social Insurance Fund on the debit of account 69 “Calculations for social insurance and security” and the credit of account 70 “Settlements with personnel for wages”. At the same time, a posting is made for the same amount to the debit of account 20 (26, 44, etc.) and the credit of account 70.
In addition, it is necessary to reflect expenses (reduction in financial result):
Debit 90/2 Credit 44 - 4000 rub.
2. An error was made by an accountant in October 2010, discovered in January 2011 before the date of signing the statements - it is not significant.
The accountant corrected the error in the same way as in option 1, only he did it on December 31, 2010.
3. An error was made by an accountant in October 2010, discovered in March 2011 after the date of signing the statements - considered insignificant.
The accountant must make the following entry in the accounting records in March 2011:
Debit 91/2 Credit 44 - 4000 rub.
4. An error was made by the accountant in October 2010 and discovered in April 2011 after the date of signing and submission of the reports. Due to the fact that the organization determines the materiality of the error independently, for example, we recognize the mistake made as significant.
If the error had not been made, the following entries would have been made in the accounting records in October 2010:
- Debit 69 Credit 70 - 6000 rub.;
- Debit 44 Credit 70 - 4000 rub.;
- Debit 90/2 Credit 44 - 4000 rub.
When correcting an error, the accountant must reflect expenses (reduction in financial result). We believe that for this it is enough to write:
Debit 84 Credit 70 - a significant error from last year has been corrected (failure to reflect facts of economic activity).

Starting from the annual financial statements for 2010, the Accounting Regulation “Correcting Errors in Accounting and Reporting” (PBU 22/2010) comes into force, which was approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance dated June 28, 2010 No. 63n. PBU 22/2010 establishes the rules for correcting errors and the procedure for disclosing information about errors in accounting and reporting of organizations that are legal entities (with the exception of credit organizations and budgetary institutions).

General provisions

Error - this is an incorrect reflection (non-reflection) of the facts of economic activity in the accounting or financial statements of the organization (clause 2 of PBU 22/2010).

The error may be caused in particular by:

• incorrect application of legislation;
• incorrect application of the organization's accounting policies;
• inaccuracies in calculations;
• incorrect classification or assessment of facts of economic activity;
• incorrect use of information available at the date of signing the financial statements;
• unfair actions of officials of the organization.

All identified errors and their consequences are subject to mandatory correction (clause 4 of PBU 22/2010).

Errors can be significant or insignificant.

At the same time, inaccuracies or omissions in the reflection of facts of economic activity identified as a result of obtaining new information that was not available at the time of reflection (non-reflection) of such facts are not considered errors (clause 2 of PBU 22/2010).

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Corrections to cash and bank documents are not permitted. Corrections can be made to other primary accounting documents only by agreement with the participants in business transactions, which must be confirmed by the signatures of the same persons who signed the documents, indicating the date of the corrections (Clause 5, Article 9 of the Federal Law of November 21, 1996 No. 129-FZ “On Accounting”).

According to clauses 4.2 and 4.3 “Regulations on documents and document flow in accounting” (approved by the USSR Ministry of Finance on July 29, 1983 No. 105), errors in primary documents are corrected as follows: the incorrect text or amounts are crossed out and the corrected text or amounts are written above the crossed out . Crossing out is done with one line so that the correction can be read. Correction of an error in the source document must be indicated by the inscription “corrected”.

Rules for correcting minor errors

The order in which errors are corrected depends on when they were discovered (see Table 1).

Rules for correcting significant errors

General rules

The error is considered significant , if it, individually or in combination with other errors for the same reporting period, may affect the economic decisions of users made on the basis of the financial statements prepared for this reporting period (clause 3 of PBU 22/2010).

The organization determines the materiality of the error independently, based on both the size and nature of the relevant items in the financial statements (clause 3 of PBU 22/2010). Therefore, we advise you to write down the criteria of materiality in the accounting policies of the enterprise.

The order in which significant errors are corrected also depends on when they were discovered.

It is worth recalling here that organizations are required to submit financial statements to the tax authorities at their location (subclause 5, clause 1, article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). According to annual financial statements, this must be done within 90 days after the end of the year. In this case, the submitted annual financial statements must be approved in the manner established by the constituent documents of the organization (clause 2 of article 15 of the Federal Law of November 21, 1996 No. 129-FZ “On Accounting”). For example, the annual report of a joint stock company is subject to preliminary approval by the board of directors (supervisory board) of the company, and in its absence, by the person performing the functions of the sole executive body of the company. This must be done no later than 30 days before the date of the annual general meeting of shareholders (clause 4, article 88 of the Federal Law of December 26, 1995 No. 208-FZ “On Joint-Stock Companies”).

Errors identified before the approval of the annual financial statements

In Table 2 we have provided the Procedure for correcting significant errors identified before the approval of the annual financial statements.

As you can see, all errors of the previous reporting year, identified even before the approval of the annual financial statements, are corrected by entries for December of the reporting year.

Errors identified after approval of the annual financial statements

Errors of the previous reporting year, identified after the approval of the annual financial statements, are corrected as follows (clause 9 of PBU 22/2010):

1. entries in the relevant accounting accounts in the current reporting period. In this case, the corresponding account is account 84 “Retained earnings (uncovered loss)”;
2. by recalculating the comparative indicators of the financial statements for the reporting periods reflected in the statements for the current reporting year. The exception is cases when it is impossible to establish the connection of this error with a specific period or it is impossible to determine the impact of this error cumulatively in relation to all previous reporting periods.

In this case, the approved financial statements for previous reporting periods are not subject to revision, replacement and re-presentation to users of the statements (clause 10 of PBU 22/2010).

Recalculation of comparative financial statements is carried out by correcting the financial statements as if the error of the previous reporting period had never been made. We are talking here about the so-called retrospective recalculation. The specified recalculation is carried out in relation to comparative indicators, starting from the previous reporting period presented in the financial statements for the current reporting year in which the corresponding error was made.

Now let's see what to do if a significant error was made before the beginning of the earliest previous reporting period presented in the financial statements for the current reporting year. In this case, the opening balances for the corresponding items of assets, liabilities and capital at the beginning of the earliest reporting period presented are subject to adjustment (clause 11 of PBU 22/2010).

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Currently, organizations have the right to disclose in their financial statements for each numerical indicator data for more than two years (clause 10 of PBU 4/99, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance dated July 6, 1999 No. 43n). True, in general, companies in their reporting reflect information for only two years - the reporting year and the one preceding the reporting year.

Meanwhile, starting with the annual reporting for 2011, the balance sheet will have to indicate data not only for the reporting period and the previous year, but also for the year preceding the previous one (Order of the Ministry of Finance dated July 2, 2010 No. 66n “On the forms of financial statements of organizations ").

If it is impossible to determine the impact of a significant error on one or more previous reporting periods presented in the financial statements, then the opening balance for the relevant items of assets, liabilities and capital should be adjusted at the beginning of the earliest period for which recalculation is possible (clause 12 of the PBU 22/2010).

In some cases, it is not possible to determine the impact of a material error on a prior reporting period. We are talking about situations where complex or numerous calculations are required, in which it is not possible to isolate information indicating the circumstances that existed at the date of the error, or it is necessary to use information received after the date of approval of the financial statements for such a previous reporting period (p 13 PBU 22/2010).

Fill out the explanatory note

The explanatory note to the annual financial statements reflects the following information regarding significant errors of previous reporting periods corrected in the reporting period (clause 15 of PBU 22/2010):

• nature of the error;
• the amount of adjustment for each item in the financial statements - for each previous reporting period to the extent practicable;
• adjustments based on basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share (if the organization is required to disclose information on earnings per share);
• the amount of adjustment to the opening balance of the earliest reporting period presented.

If it is impossible to determine the impact of a material error on one or more previous reporting periods presented in the financial statements, then the reasons for this are disclosed in the explanatory note to the annual statements. In this case, you should provide a description of the method for reflecting the correction of a significant error in the financial statements and indicate the period from which the corrections were made (clause 16 of PBU 22/2010).

There is a very good saying: “He who does nothing makes no mistakes.” And an accountant performs a very large amount of work and often makes decisions in non-standard situations. Therefore, there may be errors in accounting. There is no need to be afraid of them, but you need to be able to correct them correctly. How to correct accounting errors will depend on the situation. Let's study!

The main regulatory act that defines and classifies errors, and also regulates the rules for correcting errors in accounting ─ PBU 22/2010 “Correcting errors in accounting and reporting.”

1. What are accounting errors

2. Significant and immaterial accounting error

3. Correction of errors in accounting documents

4. Ways to correct errors in accounting

5. Drawing up additional postings

6. Reversal entries

7. How to correct errors 1C: Accounting

8. Rulescorrection of errors in accounting

So, let's go in order.

1. What are accounting errors

An error is considered to be the incorrect reflection of business transactions in accounting and/or reporting as a result (clause 3 of PBU 22/2010):

• Incorrect application of legislation. This often happens in cases where laws or regulations are adopted, but it is not clear how to work according to them. After clarifications appear, many accountants have to make changes to accounting and reporting.
• Incorrect application of accounting policies. In order to avoid such errors, the accounting policy must be drawn up very carefully and everything that is written in it should not have double interpretation.
• Inaccuracies in calculations.
• Misclassification or assessing the facts of economic activity. For example, an organization purchased expensive technical equipment. If you look at the cost, then the equipment can be classified as a fixed asset, and if you look at the service life, then it can be classified as materials. The formation of cost and profit in the future depends on how the asset is capitalized. Therefore, it is important to correctly classify any, especially non-standard, business transactions.
• Misuse of information, which was on the date of signing the statements.
• Unfair actions officials.

An example for the last two points. The materials were brought to the organization at the end of December. But the documents remained with the responsible executor; he did not bring them to the accounting department. If there are no documents, then the materials were accepted for safekeeping and put on balance sheet. After the holidays, they forgot about the documents; the income was not reflected in the annual reports.

Even before signing the reports, they remembered the materials, found the documents, but decided not to make changes to the accounting and reporting. In fact, it turns out the following: the organization had documents and information, but they were not reflected in the accounting records. As a result: the balance sheet asset is missing the amount in the “Inventories” line, and the liability is missing in the “Accounts Payable” line. At the same time, the balance is overestimated.

Errors are not considered those cases when business transactions were not reflected in accounting due to the fact that the organization did not have information about them at the time of signing the reports.

2. Significant and immaterial accounting error

An accounting error is considered significant, if it affects the economic performance of the company. For example, misuse of prices in invoicing resulted in understated revenue. The error amounted to 100,000 rubles. For a small company, this amount can be 30% of the “revenue” indicator, and for an organization with huge turnover ─ 0.1%. Therefore, materiality is usually considered not in absolute, but in relative terms ─ shares or percentages.

Until 2010, the materiality of 5% was determined by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 22, 2003 No. 67n. This order was canceled in September 2010.

Since 2010, according to clause 3 of PBU 22/2010, determine the significance of the errors, the company must independently. The level of materiality may differ for different items. All this must be spelled out in the accounting policy.

3. Correction of errors in accounting documents

The Federal Law “On Accounting” dated December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ in paragraph 7 of Article 9 determines that the correction of the primary document is confirmed by the signatures of those persons who compiled this document, with a transcript and the date of correction.

In practice, it looks like this: the person responsible for correcting the document crosses out the incorrect information with a thin line. Then, next to it, with a blue or black pen, he writes the correct information, signs it, and puts the date. The number of participants who endorse the document correction depends on the situation.

Let's look at two cases of correcting errors in accounting documents using one example: a storekeeper releases office supplies from the warehouse upon request-invoice.

Option 1. The storekeeper counted out and gave 25 ballpoint pens to another worker. In the demand invoice, in column 8 “Dispensed”, I made an entry “25”. The one who received the pens counted them and it turned out that he was given not 25, but 23 pens. In this case, you need to cross out “25” and write “23”. Both the storekeeper and the employee who received the stationery sign. Be sure to put a date.

In this situation, there are two participants who must confirm the number in the document, therefore there must be two signatures.

Option 2. The storekeeper filled out column 9 “Price”, calculated the cost of the issued pens and made a mistake in the calculations. In this case, he can correct his mistake himself if he finds it. For certification, only the storekeeper's signature will be sufficient.

An accountant to whom the storekeeper brings the documents can also check the calculations and find an error in the invoice request. Then the accountant must make corrections and sign.

Changes cannot be made to cash and bank documents.

Corrections of errors in accounting documents that are transferred from one organization to another, for example, in a consignment note (TORG-12) or in a work completion certificate, are made signed by the responsible persons of both organizations.

After the primary documents for the sale of goods (works, services) have been corrected, you need to change the invoice. And here the general rules do not apply. You must be guided by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 26, 2011 No. 1137. This regulatory act provides two options for making changes: correction to the issued invoice or drawing up an adjustment document in the approved form.

4. Ways to correct errors in accounting

After changing documents, the amount by which you previously made an accounting entry may increase or decrease. Therefore, there are the following ways to correct accounting errors:

• additional wiring─ to increase the amount of an already reflected business transaction
• "red reversal"─ to reduce it. The name “Red Reversal” is due to the fact that in the days of paper order journals, the amount that needed to be reduced was written in red. This meant that when calculating, it had to be subtracted, not added.

For example Let's look at how to use both adjustment methods.

Company A in January 2018 checked 10 units of equipment from company B. The cost of the service for January was calculated based on the service price of 10,000 rubles per unit. Company A and company B signed a certificate of completion of work in the amount of 118,000 rubles, including VAT ─ 18,000 rubles. The cost of the service is 80,000 rubles.

The accountant of company A made accounting entries:

The accountant of company B reflected the purchase of the service:

In February 2018, it turned out that when calculating the cost of the service in January, the wrong price was used, it should be:

a) 12,000 rubles per unit (for example, for additional posting)

b) 9,000 rubles per unit (for example, for “red reversal”)

If the price is used incorrectly, the original report for January must be corrected. The incorrect price and cost are crossed out and the correct numbers are signed on top. After that, authorized persons of both companies sign and their signatures are certified with seals. Based on the report, the accountant of company A must issue an invoice with corrections.

5. Drawing up additional postings

Option with a price of 12,000 rubles. The cost of the service without VAT is 120,000 rubles, VAT ─ 21,600 rubles, a total of 141,600 rubles. The difference with the January documents was 23,600 rubles, of which VAT was 3,600 rubles.

Accounting for company A

Accounting for company B

6. Reversal entries

Option with a price of 9,000 rubles. The cost of the service without VAT is 90,000 rubles, VAT ─ 16,200 rubles, total ─ 106,200 rubles. The difference is 11,800 rubles, of which VAT is 1,800 rubles.

Accounting for company A

Accounting for company B

7. How to correct errors 1C: Accounting

As for working in a program, for example, 1C: Accounting, the methods for correcting errors in accounting will look a little different here than in theory.

The essence of the difference is that the postings for the transaction to which corrections need to be made are first completely reversed, after which a new document is posted for the full amount, and not just for the amount of corrections.

It looks like this (using the example of company A in February):

• option with increased cost

As a result, it turns out that the debt of company B increased by 23,600 rubles (141,600-118,000), the amount of accrued VAT increased by 3,600 rubles.

• cost-reducing option

As a result of the operations carried out, the debt of company B decreased by 11,800 rubles, and VAT payable by 1,800 rubles.

Correcting errors in accounting gives the same result, both in theory and in programs.

8. Rules for correcting errors in accounting

Any errors in accounting must be corrected. Essential without fail. What about the non-essentials? You need to be careful with them - they can, over time, in total, exceed the level of materiality and the reporting will become unreliable.

The period for correcting errors depends on when they were identified (clause 6-9 of PBU 22/2010):

• The easiest way to fix errors that you find is during the reporting year or before signing the reports leader. In the first case, the error must be corrected in the month in which it was identified, and in the second, in December of the reporting year.
• Correction in December must also be carried out when significant accounting errors were discovered after the statements were signed by the manager, but had not yet been submitted for approval to the shareholders or members of the LLC. Or has already been presented but not approved at the annual meeting.
• Errors that have become known after the statements are approved corrected in the year following the reporting year. For example, in August 2018, errors from 2017 were discovered. Adjustments must be made by August 2018. To correct significant errors of the previous year, you must comply with the rules established by clause 9 of PBU 22/2010.

Minor error in accounting, which is found after signing the statements, is corrected in the month of the current year in which it was discovered. For postings in this case, you need to use account 91 “Other income and expenses”. Usually this account has a sub-account, which is called ─ “Profit (loss) of previous years identified in the reporting year.”

What errors have you encountered in your work and what helps you find them? What level of materiality is established in your accounting policy? Have you ever had to “jump on the bandwagon” and correct reports before approval?

We are waiting for your comments. And, of course, ask questions.

We study ways to correct errors in accounting and documents