Chief Accountant. Director, accountant and contract in the plural Accounting or bookkeeping as correct

The state of linguistic culture in modern Russia leaves much to be desired. And the reason for this is not an orientation towards Western culture or a lack of desire for reading, as the media lament.

A wide range of dictionaries in which you can find different spellings of the same word, heated debates among linguists over the spelling of individual words, a huge flow of literature that has not been reviewed by a competent proofreader, the clogging of speech with inappropriate slang words - this is the true reason for the flourishing of illiteracy. Linguistic norms exist not for their own sake, but, first of all, so that people understand each other, avoid ambiguity and, finally, preserve the national linguistic wealth.

How often in offices can you hear ringing instead of ringing, catalog instead of catalogue, etc. Moreover, more and more often interlocutors are beginning to think about the pronunciation of words in the plural: director or directors, accountant or accountants, agreements or agreements? All this is slowly but surely shaking the traditional literary norms of the Russian language and leading to a general decline in culture.

In modern Russian there are approximately 300 words in which the nominative plural is “fluctuating”, with variations. Moreover, the norm of stress in some words has changed over time, reflecting the development of the system of declensions of Russian nouns. So, for example, at the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century, directors were called directors, and professors were called professors. Over the past century, irreversible changes have occurred. Endings with -а (-я) began to reign in common speech and “professional” jargon, and forms with -ы (-и) turned out to be more neutral, more traditional for the literary language (editors, instructors, proofreaders). But do not forget that there are exceptions to all rules.

Directors, contracts, accountants - these are the norms that have become the ONLY POSSIBLE ones!

• The directors of large factories arrived, the directors gathered, we wrote a letter to the directors.
• Our company has concluded agreements.
• The accountants calculated the estimate, etc.

The spelling (ending and stress) of the words director, accountant, contract, etc. is subject to the rule “Endings of the nominative plural of masculine nouns -ы(-и) – -а(-я)”. This rule is quite complicated. If the ending -or/-er/-er is stressed, then it is often preserved in the plural form, i.e. gives -ers, -ors: contracts, drivers, gliders, engines, fences, engineers, gentlemen. In other cases, nouns, especially animate ones, with -or/-er in the plural have a strong tendency to shift the emphasis to the ending: doctor, cadet, boat, etc. But there are also a lot of opposite examples, in particular, accountants, coaches, etc. In addition, there are a number of factors that directly influence the spelling of one or another ending in a word. All this is described in detail (with numerous examples) in spelling reference books.

However, it will be difficult for an ordinary person (not a philologist) to form the plural form of the nominative case, guided by the points of the rules. Therefore, take my word for it - it’s better to just remember some words. Otherwise, you can easily “confuse” the desired rule. Better yet, at least occasionally, look into the dictionary.

A little humor

When memorizing, you can be guided by association rhymes:

• directorA – masterA
• contracts are thieves
• accountants - planners

The financial director and chief accountant are employees of the same field, drawing information from the same resource, but responsible for different sections. Basically, a financier acquires a lot of information from an accountant. For this reason, the work of two specialists at once is of great importance to the company’s management.

In many companies, in order to save money, they combine the positions of accountant and financier. However, these are two completely different professions, the combination of which is acceptable, but undesirable. The chief accountant is a specialist who monitors the accuracy of data and checks that everything is recorded correctly and included in the documentation. In modern business, an accountant is more concerned with legal information than economic information. He must be aware of the laws of accounting and the company itself. The accountant must quickly answer all the questions posed, for example: how best to conduct a transaction, how to improve the work of the company, so that the state authorities do not have any complaints about the work.

The professionalism of the financial director is not related to legal activity and, unlike an accountant, his signature has no significance in contracts. Then why is a financier considered more important than an accountant? The answer is actually simple, the task of the CFO is to continuously increase the organization's profits and revenues. To do this, the financier needs to manage several operations at once.

Who is a CFO?

The financial director is an employee of the company who is responsible for the financial position of the organization and draws up a cash management plan. The most important things depend on the financial director, since the financier enters into contracts that will be the most beneficial and profitable for the company. The main task of a financier is to control cash flow and prevent the company from going bankrupt.

Who is a chief accountant?

The chief accountant is a specialist responsible for the financial support of the organization. Provides reports to management and, if necessary, the state administration on all cash flows, how much was received into the account and how much was spent. The chief accountant must monitor and record all transactions performed. The main task of an accountant is to carefully compile reporting documents so that government services do not have doubts about their correctness, this will help avoid unnecessary fines and taxes. All operations must be done on time and without delay.

Responsibilities of the Financial Director

1. Analyze the work of the organization. In order to properly manage financial issues, a financier needs to know about all periods of work, past and present. To do this, analysis is regularly carried out, after which conclusions are drawn: at what speed is the company developing, what is an obstacle to development, etc.

2. Control cash flows. That is, distribute funds correctly.

3. Assess all possible risks for the company. This is necessary in order to avoid and prevent unnecessary cash costs that are unprofitable for the company.

4. Develop a strategy. Carry out planning and forecasting of all transactions.

5. Treasury function. Execution of all payments and increasing the company's cash budget.

Responsibilities of the chief accountant

1. Preparation of documents on all financial receipts to the company and maintaining reports on operations that are associated with costs or budget replenishments.

2. Control of internal payments, products sold and services provided.

3. Ensuring that the organization's work is counted correctly, taking into account the rules.

4. Maintaining accuracy in payment systems, transfers and timely payment to government agencies.

5. Management of accounting reports.

6. Monitoring the execution of documents in accordance with all conditions of the law.

7. Issuance of advances and salaries to all employees of the company.

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The staffing table of the vast majority of enterprises includes the position of chief accountant. He is a specialist responsible for the financial component of the company’s activities, and his high competence is the key to the successful operation of the enterprise. Mistakes by the chief accountant can lead to serious complications not only in the financial sector, but in related areas of labor and civil law. The chief accountant is responsible both for the state of accounting at the enterprise and for submitting reports to the tax authorities.

Organization of accounting at the enterprise

Many are convinced that the chief accountant bears the main responsibility for organizing and maintaining accounting records. This is a misconception. According to clause 6 of Order No. 34n of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated July 29, 1998, the head of an economic entity is responsible for organizing accounting.

At the same time, the content of the concept of “accounting organization” distinguishes legal and technical aspects.

The legal aspect refers to the legal side of the accounting organization. It includes:

• approval of the accounting regulations;
• drawing up staffing schedules;
• selection of personnel for accounting activities;
• issuing employment orders.

The technical side of accounting organization means:

• purchase and maintenance of computer and other office equipment;
• purchasing software and updating it;
• provision of premises, work places, office supplies and other necessary materials.

It is the head of the enterprise who is responsible for maintaining accounting records (No. 402-FZ, Article 7, Clause 1).

The head of the company carries out accounting by transferring its management to other persons and organizations or independently.

Who can be hired to keep records?

The specialists whom the manager entrusts with accounting are the chief accountant or another competent employee of the company. The director may enter into an agreement for accounting with an organization or individual specializing in this matter.

The manager has the right to independently conduct accounting in two cases:

• the enterprise legally operates according to a simplified accounting scheme;
• the company is considered a small or medium-sized business.

Responsibility for organizing accounting can be assigned to both the head of the company and an employee specially invited for these purposes.

What responsibilities are assigned to the chief accountant?

Starting from 2017, in accordance with Article 7 of Law 402-FZ “On Accounting”, some changes have been made to the responsibilities of the chief accountant.

• Before the amendments, the responsibilities of the chief accountant were as follows:
• registration of the company's accounting policies;
• accounting;
• submitting a report to special supervisory authorities;

control over the movement of products and all other business operations.

Now the Law stipulates only the preparation of financial statements by the chief accountant. And he is also legally required to control the maintenance of financial records. Routine preparation of accounting documents may be carried out by other financial staff.

Performing duties for maintaining accounting and tax records

• At the request of management, a financial employee can be hired to handle accounting. According to the employment contract, he must:
• draw up and maintain accounting records for the company, using the correct samples of primary documents;
• organize an inventory of assets and liabilities and monitor its implementation;
• submit the prepared package of documentation to the control authority at a strictly defined time, which is established by the legislation of the country;
• timely accrual of tax payments, including advance payments, to a government agency.
• calculate both mandatory and advance contributions within the specified time frame;

The chief accountant of a company hiring a financial employee is obliged to monitor compliance with the provisions of the employment contract between him and the company's management. If the relevant clauses are not included in the contract, then the financial worker has every right to simply not want to fulfill them. Then all responsibility for mistakes made (including criminal ones) will be placed on the shoulders of the chief accountant.

The chief accountant always has a lot of work to do, sometimes it makes sense to hire a smart assistant and supervise his work

Rights and powers of the chief accountant

The chief accountant has the following powers:

• highlight the scope of responsibilities of accounting employees and other employees subordinate to him and demand the fulfillment of these responsibilities;
• demand the immediate provision of necessary information and working documents;
• petition management for deprivation of bonuses for failure to comply with its requirements and instructions;
• hold persons accountable for untimely or poor-quality execution of documents;
• draw up a staffing table for company employees responsible for drawing up primary documents with the right to sign;
• coordinate the hiring of accountants, warehouse workers, cashiers and other financially responsible employees;
• coordinate contracts with other organizations for the movement of inventory items;
• participate in drawing up orders on the amount of official salaries, the amount of allowances and bonuses;
• fine accounting workers for incorrect registration of accounting transactions;
• endorse administrative documents establishing the amounts of salaries, allowances and bonuses;
• demand ensuring the efficient use of fixed assets and other material resources, as well as updating the standards of material costs and labor costs;
• demand optimization of the organization of warehouse operations, reception of property, justification for the release of raw materials.

What responsibility does the chief accountant have in 2017?

The chief accountant can be held accountable both by the management of the company and by government agencies.

Punishment by the head of an economic entity

The employing company has the right to apply disciplinary or material sanctions. Disciplinary punishments are imposed in the form of a reprimand, an oral or written reprimand, or dismissal.

Disciplinary sanctions against the chief accountant by the company's management can take different forms: from verbal reprimand to dismissal

If material damage occurs, the responsible specialist may be required to compensate for losses.

Administrative measures for improper performance of duties

Prosecution at the enterprise level most often occurs within the framework of the Labor Code under three articles:

• Art. 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (punishments - reprimand, reprimand, dismissal);
• clause 9 art. 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (possible sanction - dismissal);
• Art. 243 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (enforcement measures - collection of compensation by the company for material damage).

Article 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation is used when the chief accountant is charged with direct failure to fulfill his duties written in his employment contract.

Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation is applied in the event of material losses being caused to the company and when the company’s property was used for other purposes.

Article 243, like Article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, is applied for violations that led the company to material losses. But here we are talking about a larger scale of damage or the malicious nature of the violation, when the damage was caused intentionally or under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

According to Art. 243 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the chief accountant is charged with disclosing a commercial secret. And finally, this article applies when damages are caused during non-working hours.

Bringing to responsibility by state bodies of the Russian Federation

Prosecution by government agencies occurs both in the form of administrative penalties under the Code of Administrative Offenses, and in the form of charges of criminal offenses in accordance with the relevant articles of the Russian Criminal Code.

Holding the chief accountant accountable for offenses may be in the form of administrative or criminal punishment

Fines and penalties

Administrative liability arises due to gross violations in the implementation of accounting. For such violations, Article 15.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation provides for payment of a fine in the amount of 5 to 10 thousand rubles or disqualification for a period of 12 months to 2 years if the same offense is repeated.

Punishment for criminal offenses

Charges of criminal violations may be brought if, as a result of the actions of the chief accountant, the company is suspected of seeking to avoid paying taxes. Then Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is applied, providing for fines, arrest or imprisonment. Responsibility under this criminal article occurs in the case of financial manipulation on a large scale by agreement with management (paragraphs 7 and 8 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation No. 64 of December 28, 2006).

Can a new chief accountant be fined after the old one is fired?

The newly appointed chief accountant is not responsible for violations that occurred while the previous chief accountant was in office.

Criminal liability is charged exclusively to persons who themselves have committed offenses. It is personal. No one should be punished for wrongdoings committed by another person.

This provision on personal responsibility equally applies to administrative offenses (Article 2.4, paragraph 1 of Article 2.1, paragraph 1 of Article 1.5, Article 2.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

After being released from office, the chief accountant continues to be responsible for the actions that he performed during his work. It does not matter that on the date of discovery of an offense or opening of a criminal case, the chief accountant is no longer working.

The period during which they are held accountable under the law

In 2006, the Supreme Court specifically considered the issue of the degree of liability of a director of a company after he left his leadership position. According to the court decision, regardless of the end of his leadership activities, the director continues to be responsible for crimes committed during his work.

The same provisions are transferred entirely to the chief accountant. However, for committed offenses, a statute of limitations is determined, after which the person is released from punishment.

Thus, the statute of limitations for an administrative offense should not exceed two months from the date of its commission.

Exceptions are violations in the field of currency circulation, the statute of limitations for which is calculated at one year (Clause 1, Article 4.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

When determining the beginning of the limitation period for an offense punishable administratively, the case of refusal to conduct a criminal case is especially taken into account. If an offense that was previously dealt with as criminal is reclassified as administrative, then the statute of limitations begins from the day the court made a decision to terminate the criminal case (Clause 4 of Article 4.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

For example, presenting with the intention of avoiding paying taxes in the form of failure to submit a tax return or entering into it deliberately false data on a large scale is equated to crimes of medium gravity. The possibility of receiving punishment for such a crime expires two years from the date of presentation of the charge.

But a similar offense, committed by agreement with management, and even on a particularly large scale, has a statute of limitations of ten years.

For some violations, the chief accountant may not only be fined, but also be prosecuted.

Actions to reduce the risk of liability

The profession of a chief accountant is fraught with dangers of receiving charges that entail administrative and criminal liability. Taking certain preventive steps will eliminate or reduce this liability.

How to avoid sanctions for imaginary transactions and tax evasion

The reason for unintentional violations leading to unwanted sanctions is often the desire for tax optimization. Such tax reduction is the primary task facing a commercial organization. However, its solution requires a thorough analysis of activity options, for example, the optimal method of writing off and accounting for material and technical assets. The rather loosely defined line between the desire to reduce taxes and tax evasion cannot be crossed.

In any case, you should not blindly implement tax optimization solutions proposed by the company’s management. One way to reduce the risk of being found guilty is to relieve yourself of responsibility for fulfilling orders of the head. For this purpose, it is desirable that all orders of this nature be given only in writing. This also applies to memos and other documents signed by the manager. Stamps with an inscription like “for execution” without a signature are not suitable as a supporting document.

How to register your disagreement with the director’s decision

When there are no written orders from management, and it is difficult to insist on their execution, the chief accountant has the opportunity to protect himself by drawing up a memo to the manager. It states:

• the reason for writing the note;
• problems that may arise;
• your negative attitude towards solving the problem in the proposed version;
• your option (if any).

In order for such a note to have any legal force, it must be officially handed over to the secretary with the incoming number recorded. Subsequently, a correctly drafted note, if not completely freeing you from liability, will certainly serve as a mitigating circumstance.

If the chief accountant does not agree with the manager’s decision, his position should be recorded in writing

Cases from judicial practice

To understand how liability arises and how to avoid it, it will be useful to examine some typical cases from judicial practice.

Responsibility for payment under an unreliable contract

An unjustified decision that leads to financial losses may become a reason for dismissal under Article 81, paragraph 9, part 1 of the Russian Labor Code, but this does not always happen.

LLC "M" issued an invoice to the municipal enterprise to pay for the equipment. According to the director's resolution, the chief accountant transferred the amount specified in the document. Neither he nor the head of the enterprise saw or requested the purchase and sale agreement, nor did they check information about the existence of LLC M. After payment, the equipment did not arrive at the enterprise. The damage from the sham transaction amounted to 300 thousand rubles.

The employer considered the actions of the chief accountant to fall under clause 9 of Part 1 of Art. 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, since in accordance with the legislation on accounting and his job description, he is obliged to check all documents related to the transaction and request them, if necessary, from the counterparty. The chief accountant did not do this, nor did he take advantage of the opportunity not to carry out the risky order of the manager.

But the court declared the dismissal illegal: the unfounded decision, which caused damage to the enterprise, was made directly by the director, and not the chief accountant. The employee only followed the instructions of his manager, as evidenced by the resolutions on the invoice.

The chief accountant's decision was found to be unfounded, but he was later acquitted. Based on judicial practice, judicial authorities are recommended, when deciding on the validity of the chief accountant’s decision, to refer to the principles of conscientious performance of his job duties.

Unreasonable payment of wages

The case discussed below also falls under Article 81 of the Labor Code (clause 1, part 1). The basis for the application of this article is to establish the fact of material damage incurred precisely as a result of erroneous actions of the chief accountant (Article 238 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Chief accountant N. recalculated M.’s salary, as she considered that the company had a debt to this employee. The court recognized the dismissal under clause 9, part 1 of Art. 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation is justified.

According to the charter of the enterprise, the management of its current activities is carried out by the general director. The job description of the chief accountant establishes that in the event of disagreements between him and the head of the organization on issues of business operations, documents on them are accepted for execution only with the written order of the latter.

The general director's order indicating the payment of M's salary was not provided at the trial. Thus, the chief accountant, without the prior permission of the responsible person, made a payment, the need for which is not documented.

The chief accountant's decision led to financial damage for the company, and the court considered the dismissal to be justified.

Signature is the basis for bringing to liability for financial fraud

According to Article 232 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, an employee who causes damage to the employer is obliged to fully compensate for it. And this employee does not necessarily have to have the status of a financially responsible person. So, from Art. 243 of the Labor Code (clause 3, part 1) it follows that in the event of intentional damage, it is compensated even to employees with whom the company did not formalize financial liability.

The Moscow City Court, in its Ruling dated March 26, 2012 in case No. 33–6435, found the chief accountant guilty of violating the procedure for conducting cash transactions and recovered from him the full amount of material damage caused. The chief accountant received funds from cash receipts to transfer them to the bank for crediting to the organization's account. However, he did not hand over the funds to the bank or only partially handed over them. As a result of these actions, the chief accountant deliberately withheld funds belonging to the organization, resulting in damage.

The chief accountant did not dispute the authenticity of his signatures on cash receipts and confirmed the receipt of cash from the cash register. The funds were then handed over to the CEO, he said.

The court came to the conclusion that the chief accountant, understanding the significance of his actions, partially transferred the funds received at the plaintiff’s cash desk for transfer to the bank to the credit institution, leaving some of them at his disposal. This confirms the intentional nature of the actions. At the same time, the court indicated that the purposes of withholding funds have no legal significance.

The chief accountant deliberately caused material losses to the company and was forced to fully compensate for them.

The chief accountant is responsible for monitoring the maintenance of accounting and tax records. He must not only keep records in accordance with the requirements of regulatory documents, but also in every possible way prevent attempts to violate the law. Inaction in this case is equivalent to complicity. The chief accountant is responsible for his work in disciplinary, administrative and criminal proceedings.

What responsibilities does the chief accountant have?

The chief accountant is a person with increased responsibility. This is the second most important position in the company (after the manager). The chief accountant is responsible for the legality of all operations performed. A specialist can be held accountable for committing illegal actions.

The legislative framework

Let's consider the legislative documents that regulate various forms of responsibility of the chief accountant:

• Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
• Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (in particular, Article 15.11.).
• Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
• Federal Law No. 129 of November 21, 1996.

Let's consider the regulatory grounds for criminal prosecution of the chief accountant:

Depending on the severity of the offense, the chief accountant can be brought to disciplinary, material, administrative, or criminal liability. Disciplinary action applies to all employees. They are not specific to chief accountants.

Material liability

The financial responsibility of the chief accountant can be of two forms:

• On a universal basis. Assumes MO on a general basis. If the chief accountant causes any damage to the organization, compensation equal to his average salary is recovered from him. For example, the damage to the company amounted to 100,000 rubles. The chief accountant's salary is 20,000 rubles. It will not be possible to collect more than 20 thousand from an employee.
• Full financial responsibility. Provides full compensation for damages. Let's consider a similar example: an organization suffered damage in the amount of 100,000 rubles. The chief accountant, if his guilt is proven, will have to pay compensation in the amount of 100,000 rubles, regardless of the size of his salary. The provision for full financial responsibility must be specified in the employment contract. It can only be delivered to employees with key positions (chief accountant, manager).

IMPORTANT! If the employment contract does not contain a clause on full MO, the chief accountant will bear financial responsibility on a general basis.

You can oblige the chief accountant to pay compensation in the following cases:

• Lack of money or property.
• Damage to property (equipment, raw materials).
• Downtime due to the employee's fault.
• Fines assessed due to the fault of the chief accountant.

This is real damage. Compensation cannot be recovered for indirect damage (for example, lost company profits).

IMPORTANT! After discovering an offense, the manager must convene a special commission to identify the culprit. Only if the commission reveals that it is the chief accountant who is to blame can compensation be recovered from him. You also need to get an explanatory note from the employee.

Administrative responsibility

The chief accountant will bear administrative responsibility for the following violations of the law:

• Accounting rules are not followed.
• The employee does not submit documents required for tax control within the established time limits.
• Registration deadlines are not met.
• The rules for carrying out operations with cash registers are ignored.
• The chief accountant violated the laws of the Russian Federation concerning the financial industry.

In 2016, amendments to Articles 15.11 and 4.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation came into force, concerning the procedure for bringing to justice. In particular, the following changes have been made:

• The amount of the fine has increased. Now it ranges from 5,000 to 10,000 rubles. The exact amount of penalties is determined by the court depending on the circumstances of the case.
• Responsibility for repeated violation of the law has been introduced. It will be valid if a new offense occurred during the previous administrative punishment. The fine in this case will range from 10 to 20 thousand rubles. An alternative option is disqualification of a specialist for up to 2 years.
• The statute of limitations for pending cases has been increased. Previously it was 3 months. That is, if the accountant’s offense was discovered after this time, it was impossible to hold the employee accountable. Now the period has been increased to 2 years.
• When establishing the guilt of the chief accountant, evidence of the misconduct must be presented. Since 2016, they can also be used as photo and video materials.

The illegal actions for which administrative liability is introduced were also specified:

• Registration of imaginary accounting items in registers.
• Introduction of accounts outside accounting registers.
• The reporting data does not correspond with the accounting registers.

All of these are quite serious violations.

Criminal liability

The chief accountant bears criminal liability for offenses on the basis of Article 199.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the first part of this article, an official will be brought to the MA if the following factors are simultaneously present:

• The organization does not pay taxes in large quantities.
• The chief accountant commits illegal actions consciously.
• The violation of the law occurs for at least 3 years.
• The chief accountant, when committing illegal actions, is guided by his personal interests.

The second part of Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is also of interest. It talks about exemption from the UO in the following circumstances:

• The offense was completely for the first time.
• The company has made all required payments to the country's budget.

The rules under consideration are relevant not only for chief accountants, but also for other officials who are responsible for paying taxes.

Is it possible to hold the chief accountant accountable after his dismissal?

If wrongdoing is discovered after an employee has been fired, they can still be held accountable. To do this you will need to go to court. The statement of claim must be filed within 12 months from the date of discovery of the offense. The task of the manager in court is to collect evidence that the chief accountant caused real damage to the organization. Lost profits do not fall into the category of real damage.

IMPORTANT! 12 months must be counted from the date the offense was discovered, and not from the date it was committed. It is advisable to take care of evidence that a violation of the law was detected on a certain day.

Responsibility of the chief accountant for non-payment of salaries to employees

Non-payment of wages is a serious offense for which not only the manager, but also the chief accountant is responsible. An employee who has not received the required funds has grounds to contact the Labor Inspectorate. After this request, checks are initiated in the organization. If violations are identified during the inspection, fines are issued. A specific person, including the chief accountant, can be required to pay a fine. Let's look at who exactly will be responsible:

• If the salary was not paid due to the fact that there are no funds in the organization’s account, responsibility rests with the head of the enterprise.
• If there are funds in the account, this is considered evidence of delay of money due to the fault of the chief accountant. Accordingly, he will bear responsibility.

In this case, administrative liability is usually imposed in the form of a fine.

Responsibility for non-payment of taxes

For non-payment of taxes, the chief accountant will face criminal or administrative punishment. Penalties are imposed for late submission of tax returns. If the declaration contains false information, the chief accountant will face criminal liability.

Criminal liability of the chief accountant

Criminal liability of the chief accountant since 2016 has become tougher. Now an employee of an enterprise is also responsible for several articles of legislation.

This suggests that he should properly fulfill his own responsibilities related to the timely submission of documents to the tax office and the correct preparation of all necessary documentation.

Changes in criminal liability since 2016-2017

For a long time, hiring an accountant remained impossible. The maximum he had to deal with was a fine of 3 thousand rubles due to late filing of a tax return.

Even though managers often tried to prove the guilt of their employees, no one allowed responsibility to be transferred to them.

Since 2016, changes have come into force, where the director, along with the accountant, bears full responsibility for his own organization.

As a result, both have to appear in the dock to justify themselves, refuting certain statements.

Moreover, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation the punishment is harsh, which may affect some people.

Criminal liability of an accountant is associated with various reasons.

Criminal liability of an accountant is no joke. Now, under certain conditions, it is not possible to get away with a small administrative fine.

The employee's responsibilities include handling all financial transactions, conducting the necessary audits and detailed accounting.

Respectively, transmission of correct data is mandatory, if this does not happen, serious punishments are coming.

Moreover, they can be divided by type of taxation:

1. Simplified taxation system.
2. Taxation on the income of an organization.

Both cases are considered in articles of legislation, so you don’t have to be surprised by the exact instructions. The judges only follow them, having previously assessed the current situation.

Simplified taxation system

The simplified taxation system provides for equal regular payments from the organization. For this reason, violations are usually associated solely with failure to comply with the filing deadlines.

Only managers forget that even in this case, the controlling body must receive accurate data on the company’s profits.

If the information was mistakenly or intentionally changed, criminal liability will follow. This is evidenced by Article 199, which specifies the penalties that both the manager and the accountant will have to face.

1. Administrative fine from 100 to 300 thousand rubles.
2. Payments in the amount of wages with recalculation for a period of 1 to 2 years.
3. Forced labor for 2 years.
4. Imprisonment for 2 years.
5. Arrest for six months.

When submitting documents You must strictly adhere to deadlines and avoid making mistakes.. An oversight can be interpreted as an intentional act, which will immediately be revealed during the trial.

I wonder what in such situations, only managers benefit, which often specifically force employees to violate the law.

Taxation on an organization's income

Will the chief accountant face criminal liability in complex tax calculations? Yes, and recent changes in legislation make his work dangerous.

What penalties are indicated in the article?:

1. Fine up to 500 thousand rubles.
2. Imprisonment for up to 6 years.

The only salvation is mandatory proof of absence of malicious intent. Otherwise, the accountant, along with the director, will have to appear in court.

There are already many examples confirming this fact, which show the real picture of responsibility.

Criminal liability of directors and accountants in 2017

Responsibility for violations of tax legislation, when you have to answer with your own money, is listed in Section VI of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. However, this is not all. It's unlikely to get away with fines. For tax evasion, the management of the organization can be held accountable under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

In the first half of 2015, the number of criminal cases on economic charges increased by 22% (according to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the judicial department of the Supreme Court). And in January 2016, the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, said that the number of criminal cases initiated for tax evasion increased in 2015 by 68%. In 2015, more than 4.5 thousand criminal cases were initiated. Despite the fact that Putin V. in his message in December 2015 drew attention to the increasing “nightmare” for business, in the coming years one cannot expect loyalty from law enforcement agencies towards entrepreneurs.

What does Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation say about non-payment of taxes?

For non-payment of taxes, an organization is charged under Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Criminal liability arises if the head of the company committed actions aimed at evading taxes and fees on a large scale.

Large size is determined by two criteria. Firstly, this is the amount of taxes and fees exceeding 5 million rubles, provided that the share of unpaid taxes and fees exceeds 25 percent of the total amount of taxes and fees payable for 3 (three) consecutive financial years. Or is it an amount exceeding 15 million rubles.

Responsibility will arise if large-scale tax evasion occurs.

5,000,000 rubles

15,000,000 rubles

When calculating the amount of evasion of taxes and fees, all arrears are summed up for the given period. But at the same time, only the amounts of those taxes and fees are taken into account, the payment deadlines for which have expired.

If tax evasion amounts to more than 15,000,0000 rubles, the director and accountant faces liability for tax evasion on a particularly large scale.

15,000,000 rubles

45,000,000 rubles

The same responsibility applies if the investigator classifies the actions as committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy. For example, director, chief accountant and founder (participant) of the company. In most cases, this is exactly what the investigator will do. A preliminary conspiracy presupposes that several persons have agreed in advance to jointly commit a crime. At the same time, in the opinion of the investigator, even an order to hire an employee (for example, a chief accountant), in the opinion of the investigator, is a conspiracy. You can be charged with a crime committed by a group of people, even if you simply worked as an employee and had no non-work contact with each other at all.

The punishment for such an act is much more serious. By avoiding charges of conspiracy, each individual's liability for the crime will be reduced. And the differentiation of crimes by the amount of unpaid taxes and fees may help avoid charges of evasion of taxes and fees on a particularly large scale and will further help avoid joint and several liability in a civil suit.

Who is charged under Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation?

There is an opinion that only the manager and chief accountant of the organization face criminal prosecution. This is wrong. Any employee of an organization can be held criminally liable on the basis of Article 33 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - the organizer, instigator and accomplice are recognized as accomplices in the crime along with the perpetrator. Most often, in addition to managers and chief accountants, those accused include business owners, LLC participants, financial directors, heads of departments (departments) and other persons who participate in making decisions related to payment for certain works (services) included in expenses or decisions related to the amount of taxes paid.

Acts under Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

For evasion of taxes and (or) fees from an organization, a case can be opened against the director and chief accountant if tax returns or other documents that must be submitted to the tax office according to the legislation of the Russian Federation have not been submitted.

But most often in cases involving 199 there are tax returns, so investigators present deliberately false information included in the tax return. It would seem that investigators must prove that incorrect data was deliberately included in the declarations. That is, both the director and the chief accountant knew that these data were false. That the partner is not reliable and so on.

In practice, no one actually proves this. And even the fact that the director signed or did not sign the declaration does not affect anything. The main thing is that the declaration has been submitted.

Typically, in criminal cases against directors, companies whose expenses were included in the declarations are called companies that have the characteristics of one-day companies. It will be almost impossible to prove that you did not intend to evade taxes and did not work with fly-by-night companies. You will have to prove that the company was not a one-day company at the time of work. If you find evidence that the company was good and you showed due diligence, the argument of the investigation will be the wording: “the director is obliged to organize accounting and the organization is obliged to pay taxes on its own.” Alas, the principle of guilt also works here.

Punishments under 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for several types of liability. The measure is determined by the severity of the crime committed and the presence of qualifying characteristics.

• Fine in the amount of 100 thousand to 500 thousand rubles;
• A fine in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of one to two years;
• Forced labor for up to two years;
• Arrest for up to six months;
• Imprisonment for up to six years.

Grounds for initiating criminal proceedings

As we already wrote above, the times when investigators opened cases only based on tax materials are a thing of the past. This was the case from 2011 to 2015. At first, in 2011, investigators were allowed to initiate criminal cases only based on materials they received from tax authorities. This procedure was introduced by then-current President D.A. Medvedev in order to protect business from unreasonable pressure from law enforcement agencies. And from October 22, 2014, investigators again gained the right to initiate criminal cases of tax crimes without the initiative of the tax authorities. From this moment on, the reason for initiating a criminal case may simply be a report on the discovery of an offense drawn up by an employee of the operational police unit. And the report can be drawn up on the basis of a denunciation of the fired employee or competitors.

Limitation periods for tax offenses

Investigators can initiate a criminal case for those violations of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation for which tax authorities can no longer collect taxes.

Tax inspectors have the right to check a period not exceeding 3 (three) years. A criminal case can be initiated within the statute of limitations for bringing to criminal liability (Article 78 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation):

• two years after committing a crime of minor gravity (this is evasion of tax from an organization on a large scale);
• six years after committing a crime of average gravity (this is concealment of property or funds);
• ten years after the commission of a serious crime (this is tax evasion from an organization on an especially large scale).

Thus, an investigator can initiate a case against an official of an organization for tax evasion on a particularly large scale within 10 years from the moment the offense was committed. This period significantly exceeds the period that tax authorities check.

In fact, there are now two parallel and completely different tax compliance systems. And if inspections by tax authorities are strictly regulated and provide for a number of special measures to protect the rights of taxpayers, then there are practically no methods of protection during inspections by law enforcement agencies.

A conviction in a criminal case threatens not only criminal punishment for the management of organizations, but also the collection of debt amounts as damages. Moreover, these amounts can be recovered both from the company and from an individual brought to criminal liability. The number of double jeopardy cases brought before the courts is growing every year.

What about the courts?

It will not be a big secret for you that the percentage of acquittals is less than 1. The courts do not show the slightest loyalty towards entrepreneurs against whom a criminal case has been initiated. This is how the practice develops: it is the accused who have to prove their innocence, and not the investigative authorities the guilt of the accused. The prosecutor's office often signs indictments without reading them. The prosecutor only reads the materials of the criminal case for the first time in court. At the same time, people get confused not only with the names of the declarations, but also with the names of the taxes themselves. But this will not affect the court's decision in any way.

In terms of evidence regarding tax offenses, investigators present their expertise with calculations that, in general, seem to coincide with the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, but in detail with a large number of errors and sometimes critical for a particular case. In practice, if the accused orders an independent examination, it is not accepted by the court.

As for conspiracy, in this part the courts do not require special evidence from investigators. Conspiracy is concerted action. With this approach, your actions will always be consistent. After all, the chief accountant takes into account expenses for tax periods (within a certain period), submits declarations (within a certain period), checks the primary documents before preparing reports (within a certain period), the director signs (within a certain period). Everything happens within the exact deadlines, which, alas, are established by law.

If we talk about intent, then any document signed by the director is intent.

Another point, no less important, is the lack of judges who specialize in considering economic crimes. This can completely negate all your attempts to justify yourself.

Civil action after conviction

In resolving disputes related to economic offenses, courts are guided by Article 1064 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which provides that the damage caused must be compensated in full by the person who caused it. Sentences in cases of crimes under Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation must contain a decision on a civil claim brought by the tax inspectorate.

Exemption from criminal liability

Criminal liability for tax evasion can be avoided if you pay the arrears, penalties and fines in full, provided that such a crime has been committed for the first time (notes to Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). It is important to pay off the debt before scheduling a court hearing (Part 1 of Article 28.1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). If this is done later, the fact of paying taxes, penalties and fines will only be a mitigating circumstance.

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In the section on the question: What is correct - accountants or accountants? given by the author Dry out the best answer is That's right, of course, accountants. But now a process is underway in the Russian language when variants arise in the plural of some nouns (naturally, only in colloquial speech, for example, agreements - agreements, professors - professors). in dictionaries they are recorded as variants, one of which is marked “colloquial”, sometimes the variant with “a” is included in the KLYA (codified Russian language), that is, it becomes equal in rights with the variant with “y”. in most cases, the option with “a” wins over the option with “s”. But this is a very long process, as you understand. and the Russian language is a very mobile substance. does not stand still.
Source: my editorial background

Answer from T!M[guru]
accountant

Answer from Anatoly Blokhin[master]
through A

Answer from Neuropathologist[newbie]
accountants

Answer from Aiding[guru]
Accountant

Answer from Elena[guru]
Accountant in the plural.

Answer from Natalia Arnautova[guru]
Accountants, of course! It is very sad that so many people write and speak incorrectly...

Answer from Yotrausik I[guru]
of course Y
I’m surprised by those who answer that through A. you should at least doubt that you’re right and look in the dictionary before answering.
and in general, everyone should have a dictionary in their favorites!

Answer from Oliya[newbie]
Definitely accountants

Answer from Lyudmila[guru]
In Russian, accountants, the plural is I or Y, of course it can be A, lug - lugA. This is the genitive of the singular "accountant". But in colloquial speech it is acceptable “Accountant forward!” with an emphasis on A.

Many people are interested in the answer to the question of how to correctly spell the word “accountant” in the plural. The fact is that the Russian language assumes both options for the use of nouns in the plural and masculine with a consonant as a base, which, among other things, indicate professional skills (for example: accountant, professor). The point is that there are different communication styles.

Colloquial (modern) speech

Colloquial (modern) speech involves the use of the above nouns, ending with the letter A. Therefore, when you say, for example, that “accountants are often late at work in the evenings,” this will be quite acceptable.

Book (traditional) speech

It's another matter if you read a newspaper or a scientific article. In Book or traditional speech, masculine plural nouns with a stem ending in a consonant and indicating professional skills are used ending in the letter Y. In this case, it would be more correct to say: “accountants are always late at work in the evenings.”

Taking into account the above, we can say the following: in order to correctly use “accountant” in the plural, you need to decide what kind of speech you are using. In this case, no one can blame your literacy.