From July 1, employers are required to apply professional standards in terms of those requirements for the qualifications of employees that are established in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and other regulatory legal acts.

Many people are concerned about the question: do all accountants from July 1, 2016 really have to meet the requirements? We hasten to reassure employees and employers.

The first do not need to apply to certification centers in order to urgently improve their skills and receive a certificate. The second should not rush to train employees in accordance with the requirements of the professional standard or look for a replacement for them.

The changes do not apply to all accountants.

Are professional standards required for all accountants?

Occupational standards are mandatory for application in terms of those requirements for the qualifications of employees that are established in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, other federal laws, other regulatory legal acts (part 1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Requirements for accountants of most LLCs and non-public joint-stock companies are not established. So, the professional standard can not be applied to them.

The Accounting Law provides for requirements exclusively for chief accountants and persons entrusted with accounting in certain economic entities. These include OJSC (except credit institutions), insurance companies, non-state pension funds, joint-stock investment funds, management companies of mutual investment funds, other economic entities, securities which are admitted to circulation at organized auctions (with the exception of credit institutions), management bodies of state extra-budgetary funds, state territorial extra-budgetary funds.

For such accountants, the professional standard is mandatory in terms of the requirements listed in other special federal laws (for example, in the Federal Law of February 7, 2011 N 7-FZ "On Clearing, Clearing Activities and the Central Counterparty").

If the employer does not apply the mandatory professional standards, he faces a fine of 30 thousand to 50 thousand rubles. ()

Are qualification requirements changing?

Although the professional standard becomes mandatory from July 1, 2016, the qualification requirements for the length of service and education of the chief accountant and other person who is entrusted with accounting are already applied.

These requirements are expressed as follows: the employee must have a higher education and work experience related to accounting, preparation of accounting (financial) statements or audit activities for at least three years out of the last five calendar years. If there is no higher education in the field of accounting and auditing, such experience must be at least five years out of the last seven calendar years.

In many ways, the provisions of the professional standard and the Law on Accounting duplicate each other, in particular, the requirements for work experience coincide.

Will I have to undergo training in connection with the introduction of a professional standard?

For chief accountants, the professional standard provides for a requirement to undergo a program of advanced training and professional retraining. However, it can be omitted, since it is not established by the Accounting Law. Other accountants do not need additional training either.

Do I need to prepare for a GIT check after the introduction of a professional standard?

The entry into force of the professional standard is not a basis for verification. The requirements for unscheduled and scheduled inspections of the organization remained the same.

Will the introduction of the professional standard lead to layoffs?

An employee who does not meet the requirements of the document cannot be fired, since there is no special rule in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The Ministry of Labor takes a similar position.

How to apply the professional standard on a voluntary basis?

The employer has the right, taking into account the norms of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, to use the professional standard on a voluntary basis in order to establish requirements for the qualifications of employees.

The Ministry of Labor explained: an employer can apply a professional standard to determine the names of positions (professions, specialties), labor functions of employees, requirements for their education and work experience.

A professional standard can be useful not only when compiling, for example, a job description. The employer has the right to approve this document as mandatory in the organization.

Professional standards are increasingly used in the field of labor relations. Increasing the efficiency of the accounting department is largely possible due to new approaches to the issue of job responsibilities and qualifications.

Accountant- is always one of the key positions in any organization, so the professional standard for this specialty was one of the first approved and is in great demand today.

Who has to comply accounting standard, what requirements are described in it, how they are applied in practice, whether a discrepancy can be dangerous, it will be interesting to find out for current and future accountants, as well as their employers.

Professional standard of an accountant

professional standard for the field of activity "Accountant", after approval by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, was approved by the Ministry of Labor and Social Development (order No. 1061n of December 22, 2014). Having registered with the Ministry of Justice of Russia (01.23.2015, No. 35697), on February 7, 2015, it gained legal force.

The developer of this professional standard is the IPB RF. As a result of the analysis of his practical application the developer made additional clarifications of some not entirely clear points, and changes were made to certain paragraphs (sections 3.1 and 3.2). Today, this professional standard is already in effect in an updated version.

Like other standards, it describes the complex requirements for the qualifications of an employee holding a particular position, in this case, an accountant.

Just an accountant and chief accountant

In the text of the professional standard, record keeping specialists are divided into 2 categories:

• the position of an accountant;
• position of chief accountant.

For each of these positions, a generalized work function is formulated, painted for specific job responsibilities. The professional standard necessarily indicates what level of classification according to the generally accepted 9-point scale is required from an employee performing certain tasks, as well as the requirements for education and experience; the features of admission to work in individual economic entities are highlighted.

An ordinary accountant is a professional

The professional standard for the specialty "accountant" assumes that the employee meets a number of special requirements.

1. Profile education. To join the ranks of clerks, you need to get a college or technical school diploma, becoming a specialist in the Economics and Management profile. Certificates of specialized accounting courses are also quite quoted.
2. Preliminary experience. According to the explanatory letter of the Ministry of Labor No. 14-3 / V-3, professional requirements for an accountant provide for at least three years of work in a similar but less responsible specialty, for example, an assistant accountant, cashier, controller, timekeeper. IN new edition of this paragraph (version dated 04/22/2016), the requirement for mandatory preliminary experience has been removed.
3. professional knowledge. The accountant, in addition to accounting itself, must have an idea of:
   • legislative foundations of civil, labor, tax codes, knowledge of customs, social bases will not be superfluous;
   • the principles on which production is organized in a particular company and management is carried out;
   • industry instructions (based on the letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated April 29, 2002 No. 16-00-13/03).

   NOTE! As you can see, the professional standard sets very high standards for accountants. No "favors" for small business employees or enterprises working on preferential tax regimes, is not provided in the professional standard. On the other hand, the maximum requirements open up the prospect for further advanced training.

   ATTENTION! The professional standard of an accountant has nothing against combining all three categories within the framework of one position: if only this was reflected in the job description.

Chief accountant according to the standard

Requests to the key figure of any company - the chief accountant - in the professional standard are even more stringent. Compare them with the corresponding positions of an ordinary accountant.

1. Training Requirements. Only a specialist with a higher education can become a chief accountant; secondary special education is allowed with additional qualification courses. Additional training programs are welcome.
2. Required practical experience. Of the last 7 years of work, 5 should be devoted to work related to accounting or auditing (with specialized higher education - 3 years out of the last 5).
3. What do you need to know? In addition to those necessary for an ordinary accountant, the chief will need the following knowledge:
   • team management methodology;
   • practical precedents litigation on accounting issues;
   • arbitration in disputes with tax authorities;
   • specialized computer programs;
   • fundamentals of mathematical analysis;
   • financial planning, etc.
4. Main functions chief accountant are as follows:
   • everything that concerns financial statements and office work;
   • tax document flow;
   • internal control over financial documents;
   • consolidating financial statements under IFRS;
   • management of financial flows.

   IMPORTANT INFORMATION! The chief accountant can combine all these functions or share them with the financial director or his deputy. If the organization is small, and there is only one accountant in it, he, of course, will perform all these functions, possibly adding personnel accounting to them. The only accountant in the organization automatically receives the “title” of the chief - that is how it should be called in the staffing table, according to the professional standard.

5. Special conditions. In some organizations, it is allowed to introduce additional expectations from the chief accountant, for example, the absence of a criminal record for an economic crime.

Is the professional standard "Accountant" required?

In order to assess the mandatory application of professional standards, proclaimed from July 1, 2016, it is necessary to establish whether the laws have requirements for a certain qualification of a specialist, grounds for benefits or restrictions.

A number of laws establish a reputational requirement for the absence of an outstanding criminal record for chief accountants, as well as qualification restrictions (the law “On Accounting”, “On banking" and etc.).

It follows that this professional standard is mandatory: positions must be named strictly according to the recommendations of the standard, and qualification requirements must not be violated.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION! If your accountant is “non-standard”, you cannot fire him just for this (the length of service and education prescribed as qualification requirements are not grounds for dismissal, unlike a failed certification). But when hiring a new chief accountant, the employer must be careful: non-compliance with the mandatory standard can lead to serious fines.

Our organization is a Public Joint Stock Company, should we apply the Professional Standard "Accountant" for accountants of the organization and the professional standard for the Chief Accountant?

Since July 1, 2016, professional standards have become mandatory for all employers (Article 195.3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). The form of ownership and the status of the employer do not matter.

Both chief accountants and accountants have a professional standard (order of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated December 22, 2014 No. 1061n).

Employers are required to apply professional standards in terms of educational, knowledge and skill requirements. That is, if the qualification requirements that an employee needs to perform his job function are established by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, federal laws or other regulatory legal acts (Law of May 2, 2015 No. 122-FZ).

As, for example, to the chief accountants of public joint-stock companies, insurance companies and banks (Article 144 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and Part 4 of Article 7 federal law dated 06.12.11 No. 402-FZ).

There are no requirements for an ordinary accountant in the laws, which means that their professional standard is only a recommendation.

Rationale
(Colour highlights information that will help you make the right decision)

Instructions: how to apply the professional standard "Accountant"

Since July 1, 2016, the professional standard "Accountant" has been in force. It was approved by order of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated December 22, 2014 No. 1061n. The standard spells out what requirements an accounting employee must meet - education, work experience, official duties. From the recommendation, you will learn: is it necessary to implement a professional standard in your organization, which of the accounting employees must comply with it, and what will happen if you do not implement a professional standard.

When professional standard is mandatory

It is mandatory to apply professional standards if qualification requirements are established by law. Among accounting staff, mandatory requirements are only for chief accountants. But not all organizations, but only:

PJSC (except for credit organizations),

· insurance companies,

non-state pension funds,

equity investment funds,

management companies of mutual investment funds,

Departments of state off-budget funds.

The same requirements apply to officials who keep accounting records. For example, if in PJSC the head and Chief Accountant one man.

There are no legal requirements for an ordinary accountant. For them, the professional standard is recommendatory.

This is indicated in part 4 of article 7 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ, in article 195.3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and paragraph 6 of the letter of the Ministry of Labor of Russia of April 4, 2016 No. 14-0 / 10 / 13-2253.

When a professional standard for an organization is not required by law, management has the right to implement it voluntarily. That is, you can set the requirements for the knowledge and skills of an accountant. Professional standard will help:

Formation of personnel policy, personnel management;

see which of the employees to send for training;

Develop job descriptions

Establish a fair wage system and calculate bonuses.

What will happen if you do not apply the professional standard

If the professional standard is not applied, when it is required by law, not only the organization, but also the head will be fined.

The fine for the organization is from 30,000 to 50,000 rubles. And for the head - from 1000 to 5000 rubles. If the professional standard is not applied after the fine, the sanctions are stricter:

· from 50,000 to 70,000 rubles. - for the organization

· from 10,000 to 20,000 rubles. - for the manager.

This is indicated in parts 1 and 4 of Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses.

How to implement a professional standard

How to implement the professional standard "Accountant", the organization chooses independently (Article 8 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). You can entrust the development of the stages of implementation of the professional standard to the working group. To do this, create a working group and reflect this in the order of the head. Include representatives of key departments in the group. For example, representatives of the personnel service, legal department, accounting department. To implement a professional standard, use a step-by-step algorithm.

Step 1: Compare the requirements of the professional standard with the job description of an accountant

Professional standard "Accountant" divides employees into accountants and chief accountants. The accountant is required to keep accounting, including:

· draw up and accept primary documents,

keep registers,

group and generalize economic facts.

The chief accountant is obliged:

prepare and submit financial statements;

· control accounting in the organization;

Maintain tax records, prepare reports and tax planning;

Conduct financial analysis and budgeting;

· manage cash flows.

If in job descriptions if they don't, please add them. Please note that the professional standard has established minimum responsibilities. They can be supplemented. For example, in small organizations, an accountant also maintains personnel records.

Step 2: Check if the education and work experience of employees meets the professional standard

Check the education and work experience of the accounting staff in the table below. Those who do not meet the requirements, send to training in the first place.

Requirements	For an accountant	For the chief accountant
Education	Secondary vocational education. Additional education for special programs	Secondary vocational education, and in some organizations higher. Additional advanced training and professional retraining programs for the Higher School of Chief Accountant official website of the Council for Professional Qualifications of the Financial Market. It is impossible to dismiss an employee if he does not meet the professional standard. The employer can fire him if the employee does not correspond to his position. But in order to determine this, conduct an attestation. See How to file a dismissal due to inappropriate position. Download forms

National Technological University (NTU) invites everyone to take professional accounting training No. 309, approved by order of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation No. 1061n dated December 22, 2014. Additional vocational education is acquired on the basis of secondary vocational or higher education, with the guaranteed issuance of a certificate and diploma of the established form.

Professional accounting training

Professional standard "Accountant" acts as a characteristic of the qualification necessary for a specialist to form documented systematized information about objects accounting in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. By applying professional standards at enterprises, management significantly reduces the cost of further training of its employees and structures their activities as a whole.

Professional retraining program "Accountant" suitable for people working in various industries National economy in the areas of finance and economics. The fact that a specialist has a diploma of vocational retraining indicates high level his professionalism and competence.

Professional accounting training designed for leaders financial services, accountants, finance and credit specialists, as well as other employees involved in conducting accounting operations and their consideration. During the training process, we are guaranteed to train your staff:

bookkeeping;

drafting and presenting financial reporting economic entities;

final generalization of the facts of economic life;

holding financial analysis, budgeting, cash flow management and much more.

Advanced training for accountants at the National Technological University is aimed at updating and improving the theoretical and practical skills and abilities of employees in order to meet the requirements of the professional standard corresponding to the activity.

Ignoring by companies the requirements of the professional standard of an accountant leads to administrative liability (see Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses “Violation of labor laws”) in the form of fines of up to 50,000 rubles. We remind you that from July 01, 2016, employers are required to apply professional standards in their work.

How to get to courses at NTU and why you should choose us

We invite everyone to visit the National Technological University and see for yourself the high quality of the education provided. Contact us by phone or via the feedback form and get answers to all your questions for free. Advanced training and professional retraining of accountants is provided in full-time, part-time and distance learning modes.

Why you should choose our University:

classes are conducted by highly qualified teachers;

there are no general education subjects in the programs;

we are an accredited organization that has an educational license from the Mosobrnadzor;

you have the opportunity to independently distribute the training schedule for your staff;

we provide you with a personal manager and guarantee an impeccable quality of service.

Professional standard of the chief accountant. Statistics say that today about 5 million accountants work in the Russian Federation, and more than a million of them are in the position of chief accountant. And it is not at all surprising that the first professional standard approved by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation was, of course, the professional standard of the chief accountant. The professional standard of the chief accountant was approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation of December 22, 2014, No. 1061n and registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on January 23, 2015, No. 35697.

The main purpose of the activity of the chief accountant is the formation of documented information on accounting objects, which is compiled on the basis of primary accounting information, which reflects financial position a certain economic entity on a specific date, financial results its activities, movement in reporting period his Money. All this information is necessary for the formation of accounting and tax reporting, as well as for the manager to make objective decisions.

How to get trained

To sign documents

Based on the application, we will prepare a contract

Pay bill

After signing the contract, we will issue an invoice for payment

Get trained

Complete training, Obtain a certificate of the established form.

The professional standard of the chief accountant identifies the following categories of employees involved in this activity:

• these are specialists responsible for the activities of the administrative and financial and economic services of the enterprise;
• these are specialists involved in finance and lending;
• these are specialists whose activities are related to the maintenance of the accounting department itself;
• These are specialists engaged in the accounting and processing of accounting transactions.

But, despite the above categories of employees, the professional standard of the chief accountant provides for the presence of only two groups of labor duties - this is group A, which involves the maintenance of primary accounting, which belongs to the 5th qualification level, and group B, which involves the formation and presentation of consolidated financial statements for economic entity, which belongs to the 6th qualification level. In more detail, this material is set out in the order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated April 12, 2013 No. for No. 148n.

To summarize the above, the first group refers to ordinary accountants, and the second group refers to chief accountants. But this in no way indicates that the spectrum of the profession of an accountant and financier will be minimized. The title of the position in the staff list may remain unchanged. Those. employees performing the functions of an accountant for maintaining both accounting and consolidated reporting will now be assigned to the so-called group A, regardless of their position, and employees whose responsibilities will include the formation of the final data of the enterprise's activities will automatically be assigned to the so-called group B. Therefore, the requirements for these employees, even if they have the same job title, will accordingly be completely different, this is the main difference between the PS and the qualification directory of a manager, specialist and other employee.