The profession of an accountant has always been necessary and important, and in recent years it has become even more prestigious. The accountant is aware of all the affairs of the enterprise, since he must reflect financial and economic operations in accounting and, using the benefits correctly, minimize taxes. It depends on his work how much will be transferred to the budget and whether the company will have to pay fines. Therefore, many managers treat accountants with respect and trust them.
But we should not forget that this profession is associated with financial responsibility. For serious violations in work, both unconscious and accidental, and deliberate, for the use of his official position for personal gain, an accountant can be brought not only to disciplinary and administrative, but also to criminal liability. How and for what exactly, we will tell in this article.
Responsibilities of an accountant
Typically, accounting for business transactions is maintained by the accounting service, or, as it is often called,. It is headed by the chief accountant. But sometimes an organization has such a small staff that all its affairs are handled by one accountant. In this case, the functions of the chief accountant are assigned to him. In addition, accounting can be entrusted to a specialized organization or a specialist accountant. This follows from the Regulations on Accounting and Accounting in the Russian Federation, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 29, 1998 N 34n (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations on Accounting and Reporting).Paragraph 2 of Article 7 of the Federal Law of November 21, 1996 N 129-FZ "On Accounting" establishes that the chief accountant is responsible for the formation of accounting policies, accounting and timely submission of complete and reliable financial statements.
The chief accountant is appointed to the position and dismissed from it by the head of the organization, and he is also subordinate to him. So what do you do in case of disagreement? The accountant, by written order of his superior, is obliged to accept for execution documents on disputed transactions, but then only the head will be responsible for the consequences.
Issues related to the work of an accountant at an enterprise are regulated by the Regulations on Chief Accountants, approved by Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of January 24, 1980 N 59. However, this document is practically not used today. However, it has not been officially canceled, so accountants can be held liable in the cases provided for here. For example, it is punished:
As you know, without the signature of the chief accountant, monetary and settlement documents are considered invalid and cannot be accepted for execution. Therefore, the accountant is responsible for the content of these documents.
By the way, instead of an accountant, authorized persons can sign (clause 14 of the Regulations). Their list is approved by the head in agreement with the chief accountant. The schedule of document circulation at the enterprise is also drawn up. But only the chief accountant controls the execution of this schedule, he is also responsible for its violation.
As for primary documents, accounting registers, accounting reports and balance sheets (before they are transferred to the archive of the enterprise), then, of course, their execution and preservation are the responsibility of the accountant.
It remains to add that in accordance with the letter of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation dated October 4, 1993 N 18 "On approval of the procedure for conducting cash transactions in the Russian Federation", control over the correct conduct of cash transactions is assigned to the chief accountant of the enterprise. Consequently, the appointment, dismissal and relocation of all financially responsible persons (cashiers, warehouse managers, etc.) must be coordinated with him.
Disciplinary responsibility
Of course, an accountant, like any employee of an enterprise, can be held liable for violation of labor discipline. First of all, this is the failure to fulfill all the above duties: after all, for an accountant they are labor. Of course, being late, absenteeism, appearing at work in a state of intoxication are also violations of discipline for which the employee must be punished.Punishment is determined in accordance with labor legislation. This may be a remark, a reprimand, a severe reprimand or dismissal. Moreover, dismissal is possible only in cases expressly provided for in the Code of Labor Laws of the Russian Federation (Labor Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Note that any other measures of liability for violation of discipline cannot be applied to an accountant. For example, the head does not have the right to fine him or reduce the leave he is entitled to by law. Of course, an employee's salary can be reduced, but this cannot be made dependent on his misconduct.
Imposing disciplinary sanctions, the head of the enterprise should adhere to a certain order. Let's analyze this order on a conditional example. Suppose an accountant skipped one of his working days. An employee can be punished for this one offense no later than six months after it was committed. As soon as the administration found out about absenteeism, a written explanation should be required from the accountant. From that moment on, the leadership has exactly a month to punish the offender. The collection is drawn up by an order for the organization, with which the accountant must be familiarized against receipt. It must be added here that, based on the results of an audit or audit of financial and economic activities, a penalty can be imposed within two years from the date of the misconduct.
Material liability
The liability of employees of the organization is provided for by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. An accountant, like any other employee, is only responsible for direct damage to the enterprise, and in an amount not exceeding his monthly salary. Note that the accountant does not directly deal with values. Therefore, he cannot be held fully liable. Moreover, he does not even have the right to receive money and inventory items for the enterprise by checks. However, an exception is made for small enterprises: in agreement with the bank, the chief accountant can also perform the functions of a cashier. In this case, it is mandatory to conclude an agreement on full liability with him.Example 1
The accountant of Gvozdika LLC signed a power of attorney, according to which an employee of this enterprise was to receive 15,000 rubles from another organization. and bring them to the accounting department. It was necessary to deliver the money urgently, so the employee did not conclude an agreement on full liability. The worker received the money, but lost it on the way. The head of the enterprise issued an order in which he ordered the chief accountant to compensate for the damage caused: after all, he signed a power of attorney and sent the employee for valuables without concluding an agreement with him on full liability. The accountant refused to pay the money and went to court. The case was decided in his favor. The court pointed out that the accountant does not bear any responsibility in this case, since he himself did not service the values. The court ruled that the employee who received the goods under a one-time power of attorney should be punished. At the same time, the court referred to paragraph 5 of Article 31 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
Unlike an accountant, a cashier bears full financial responsibility. On the basis of Article 121.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the enterprise concludes an appropriate agreement with him in writing. Note that such contracts can only be concluded with employees who have reached the age of 18 and perform work directly related to the storage of valuables, their transportation, sale, etc.
Example 2
The cashier discovered that 20,000 rubles were missing from the cash register. He reported this to the head of the organization. He decided that the cashier himself was guilty of the loss, and demanded a refund from him. The cashier wrote to the police a statement about the theft and indicated in it that the money was stolen by a worker who, two days before the discovery of the loss, changed the wiring in the cash register. However, the head of the organization still went to court with a demand to recover the missing money from the cashier. The court ruled in favor of the employer, and the cashier had to pay 20,000 rubles. Two months later, law enforcement agencies detained a fitter who confessed to stealing money from the cash register. The court reviewed the case and found that the cashier does not bear material responsibility, since he is innocent of the loss. According to this decision, the money was returned to him.
Administrative responsibility
First of all, let us turn to Article 15 of the RSFSR Code of Administrative Offenses. It is established here that officials are liable for administrative offenses related to failure to perform official duties. This rule also applies to the accountant, who is an official of the organization.What is an administrative offense? This is an unlawful act or omission that was committed with intent or negligence. Intention takes place if the offender was aware that his action was illegal, foresaw harmful consequences, wished or knowingly allowed them. Negligence is a situation when the perpetrator knew about the possibility of harmful consequences, but frivolously counted on their prevention or did not expect such consequences, although he should have and could have foreseen them.
The chief accountant bears administrative responsibility only in those cases when he violated the norms of the legislation on taxes and fees, the execution of which is entrusted to him.
Indeed, sometimes organizations charge taxes and other obligatory payments not on time or not in full. Then the federal bodies of the tax police have the right, as a preventive measure, to issue written warnings to the managers, chief accountants and other officials of these enterprises. Accountants who do not comply with such requirements must pay a fine of up to 100 minimum wages, that is, 10,000 rubles. Recall that from January 1, 2001, fines are accrued based on the base amount equal to 100 rubles. This is stated in Article 5 of the Federal Law of June 19, 2000 N 82-FZ "On the Minimum Wage".
Criminal liability
The head of the organization and the chief accountant, as well as persons actually performing their duties, may be held liable under Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). What accounting offenses are pursued by the Criminal Code? This is an indication in the documents of deliberately distorted data on income or expenses, or the concealment of any objects of taxation, if as a result a large amount of taxes was not paid, namely 1,000 minimum wages, that is, 100,000 rubles.Well, what is the punishment? The perpetrators are deprived of the right to engage in accounting activities for up to five years. Arrest for a term of four to six months or imprisonment for up to four years is also possible. But in each case, the punishment is determined by the court.
There are no exact criteria here, but the court always takes into account the extenuating circumstances specified in Article 61 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: for example, surrender or the fact that the perpetrator has young children. In such cases, the maximum penalty is four months of arrest. In addition, a suspended sentence or a suspended sentence is possible.
In the presence of aggravating circumstances, given in article 63 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the sentence is more severe and there can be no question of any conditional conviction.
If the accountant has repeatedly evaded taxes and the non-payment amounted to a particularly large amount, or he was in collusion with a group of people, then he can be imprisoned for a period of two to seven years. A particularly large amount is 5,000 minimum wages, that is, 500,000 rubles.
Example 3
The accountant deliberately did not take into account part of the tax base, which is why the organization underpaid tax to the budget. This was revealed by the test. As a result, 100,145 rubles were recovered from the organization. tax and penalties, as well as a fine of 1900 RUB. The tax police initiated a criminal case against this accountant under Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. However, later it was closed, because the accountant managed to prove that there was no crime. He proved his case in the following way. Although 100,145 rubles were collected to the budget, the amount of unpaid tax is only 95,000 rubles, the remaining 5,145 rubles. - penalties for 65 days of delay. Penalties were calculated as follows: 95,000 rubles. * ((25% / 300%) * 65 days) = 5145 rubles. Note that the refinancing rate during this period did not change and amounted to 25 percent. Thus, the amount of hidden tax is only 95,000 rubles. In accordance with the Criminal Code, this cannot be considered a large amount, therefore, there is no corpus delicti.
But suppose that the accountant himself did not commit the crime, but only contributed to its commission with advice, instructions, etc. This means that he will be liable under Article 33 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation as an instigator or accomplice.
I must say that, when deciding on the punishment of an accountant, the court always takes into account the dependence of the accountant on the head of the organization. After all, as we have already said, the chief accountant is obliged to execute the written order of his boss, despite his inner conviction that it is illegal. This relieves the accountant of criminal responsibility. As part 1 of article 42 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation says: "It is not a crime to cause harm by a person acting in pursuance of an order or instruction binding on him." Criminal liability in such cases is borne by the person who gave the illegal order, that is, the head of the organization.
Particular attention should be paid to the situation when the chief accountant is in the service of state bodies or municipal institutions. He can be attracted if he: abuses his official powers (Article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), exceeds these powers (Article 289 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), illegally participates in business activities (Article 289 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), takes bribes (Article 291 of the Criminal Code Russian Federation), commits forgery (Article 292 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) or neglects his official duties (Article 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
In bringing accountants to criminal liability for such crimes, the court may impose the following sanctions on them:
- fine;
- deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities;
- compulsory work, in which the convict performs unpaid socially useful work in his free time from his main job;
- correctional labor served at the place of work of the convict;
- confiscation of property;
- restriction of freedom, when the convict is kept in a special institution without isolation from society;
- arrest, that is, keeping the convict in conditions of strict isolation from society;
- deprivation of liberty.
The position of chief accountant is very attractive - high status, good pay. However, it also comes with a lot of responsibility. This responsibility is so serious that some specialists deliberately do not go for a promotion, not wanting to bind themselves with such obligations. Let's see what the chief accountant is responsible for?
Duties of the chief accountant
The responsibility of the chief accountant directly follows from his official duties. It is the chief accountant who forms the accounting policy at the enterprise, organizes and manages the collection of accounting information, maintaining accounting and tax registers, accounting for assets, liabilities of the enterprise and the financial results of its activities. He monitors the compliance of accounting with the requirements of accounting, tax, management and statistical accounting.
The chief accountant is required to organize an accurate and timely reflection on the accounts of all business transactions, the formation of financial results, the fulfillment of obligations, the movement of assets. They exercise control over the quality and order of registration of primary documentation.
The chief accountant heads the work of the accounting department, and in small firms he often does all this work, being both a manager and an executor in one person. He is responsible for the timely transfer of due taxes and fees to the budgets of all levels, for the repayment of debts, ensures compliance with cash and financial discipline, interacts with regulatory authorities, ensures the preparation of all necessary reports and their submission in the prescribed manner. He is also responsible for maintaining accounting records.
As can be seen from the above, the chief accountant has enough worries. And for failure to fulfill all these duties, he faces quite serious responsibility.
Responsibility of the chief accountant
Working in such a challenging position comes with several responsibilities.
Disciplinary responsibility arises in case of poor quality of performance or non-performance of their duties by the chief accountant. For example, an employee did not come to work or did not submit a reporting package on time. Since in his work the chief accountant reports directly to the head of the enterprise, it is the head who can impose a penalty in the form of a reprimand or remark. At the same time, the employer must act within the framework established by federal law, the Charter of the enterprise, regulations on discipline and other regulatory documents. For repeated bringing to disciplinary responsibility, the manager may terminate the employment contract with the chief accountant.
essence liability consists in compensation to the employer for the direct damage caused. Direct damage is recognized as a real decrease in the cash property of the enterprise or a decrease in the quality of the state of such property. The legislation establishes a number of cases in which the chief accountant is obliged to compensate the employer for losses. These are identified shortages of valuables, cases of intentional damage for criminal purposes or in a state of intoxication, when disclosing trade secrets and in other cases causing damage in the course of performing work duties.
Officials of the organization, including the chief accountant, may be involved in the proceedings for a tax offense. The Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not provide tax liability chief accountant. If the fact of a tax offense is revealed, the chief accountant may be brought, depending on the circumstances of the offense, to administrative, criminal or material liability.
When an official commits an administrative offense, he is subject to administrative responsibility. Such offenses are usually associated with non-fulfillment or poor performance of one's duties. At the same time, if the organization in which the chief accountant works is held liable for a tax offense, then the chief accountant himself may also be held administratively liable. It is worth knowing that the chief accountant bears administrative responsibility only if his guilt is fully proven. If the blame for the offense lies with the leader, then the leader is punished for this. Therefore, in the event of a divergence of opinion between the chief accountant and the director on the implementation of a separate business transaction, it is better for the chief accountant to insure himself with a written order of the director, in which he takes full responsibility for the consequences.
Crimes in the economic sphere can lead to criminal liability. This will happen if the guilt of the chief accountant for embezzlement, misappropriation, illegal actions during the bankruptcy of the company, abuse of his powers, especially serious tax crimes and evasion of customs payments is proved.
The chief accountant may be subject to an administrative fine, he may be assigned corrective labor, he may be deprived of his liberty or the right to hold certain positions. A competent specialist can avoid all this by being guided in his work by the main axiom known to every chief accountant: any business transaction must be supported by correctly executed documents.
Vasilisa Mezentseva
The profession of an accountant has always been necessary and important, and in recent years it has become even more prestigious. The accountant is aware of all the affairs of the enterprise, since he must record financial and economic operations and, using the benefits correctly, minimize taxes. It depends on his work how much will be transferred to the budget and whether the company will have to pay fines. Therefore, many managers treat accountants with respect and trust them.
But we should not forget that this profession is connected with financial responsibility. For serious violations in work, both unconscious and accidental, and deliberate, for using his official position for personal gain, an accountant can be brought not only to disciplinary and administrative, but also to criminal liability. How and for what, we will tell in this article.
Responsibilities of an accountant
Usually accounting of economic operations is carried out by the accounting service, or, as it is often called, accounting. It is headed by the chief accountant. But sometimes an organization has such a small staff that all of its affairs are handled by one accountant. In this case, the functions of the chief accountant are assigned to him. In addition, accounting can be entrusted to a specialized organization or a specialist accountant. This follows from the Regulation on Accounting and Accounting in the Russian Federation, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 29, 1998 N 34n (hereinafter referred to as the Regulation on Accounting and Reporting).
Paragraph 2 of Article 7 of the Federal Law of November 21, 1996 N 129-FZ "On Accounting" establishes that the chief accountant is responsible for the formation of accounting policies, accounting and timely submission of complete and reliable financial statements.
The chief accountant is appointed to the position and dismissed from it by the head of the organization, and he is also subordinate to him. Well, what to do in case of disagreement? The accountant, by written order of his boss, is obliged to accept the documents on disputed transactions for execution, but then only the head will be responsible for the consequences.
Issues related to the work of an accountant at an enterprise are regulated by the Regulations on Chief Accountants, approved by Decree of the USSR Council of Ministers of January 24, 1980 N 59. True, this document is practically not used today. However, it has not been officially canceled, so accountants can be held liable in the cases provided for here. For example, it is punished:
On a par with the head, the chief accountant is responsible for non-compliance with the rules and regulations that govern the financial and economic activities of the enterprise. In addition, in cases where quarterly and annual reports are not submitted on time to the relevant authorities, the chief accountant is also to blame.
As you know, without the signature of the chief accountant, monetary and settlement documents are considered invalid and cannot be accepted for execution. Therefore, the accountant is responsible for the content of these documents.
By the way, instead of an accountant, primary documents can be signed by authorized persons (clause 14 of the Regulations). Their list is approved by the head in agreement with the chief accountant. A workflow schedule for the enterprise is also drawn up. But only the chief accountant controls the execution of this schedule, he is also responsible for its violation.
As for the primary documents, accounting registers, accounting reports and balance sheets (before transferring them to the archive of the enterprise), then, of course, their execution and safety are the responsibility of the accountant.
It remains to add that in accordance with the letter of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation dated October 4, 1993 N 18 "On approval of the procedure for conducting cash transactions in the Russian Federation", control over the correct conduct of cash transactions is assigned to the chief accountant of the enterprise. Consequently, the appointment, dismissal and relocation of all financially responsible persons (cashiers, warehouse managers, etc.) must be coordinated with him.
Disciplinary Responsibility
Of course, an accountant, like any employee of an enterprise, can be held liable for violation of labor discipline. This is, first of all, the failure to fulfill all the above obligations: after all, for an accountant they are labor. Of course, being late, absenteeism, appearing at work in a state of intoxication are also violations of discipline for which the employee must be punished.
Punishment is determined in accordance with labor legislation. It can be a remark, a reprimand, a severe reprimand or a dismissal. Moreover, dismissal is possible only in cases expressly provided for in the Code of Labor Laws of the Russian Federation (Labor Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Note that any other measures of responsibility for violation of discipline cannot be applied to an accountant. For example, the manager does not have the right to fine him or reduce his legal leave. Of course, the employee's salary can be reduced, but this cannot be made dependent on his misconduct.
Imposing disciplinary sanctions, the head of the enterprise should adhere to a certain order. Let's analyze this order on a conditional example. Suppose an accountant skipped one of his working days. An employee can be punished for this one misconduct no later than six months after it was committed. As soon as the administration found out about absenteeism, the accountant should require a written explanation. From this moment on, the leadership has exactly a month to punish the offender. The collection is drawn up by an order for the organization, with which the accountant must be familiarized with the receipt. It must be added here that, based on the results of an audit or audit of financial and economic activities, a penalty can be imposed within two years from the date of the misconduct.
Material liability
The liability of employees of the organization is provided for by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. An accountant, like any other employee, is only responsible for direct damage to the enterprise, and in an amount not exceeding his monthly salary. Note: an accountant does not directly deal with values. Therefore, he cannot be held fully liable. Moreover, he does not even have the right to receive money and inventory for the enterprise himself. However, an exception is made for small enterprises: in agreement with the bank, the chief accountant can also perform the functions of a cashier. In this case, it is mandatory to conclude an agreement on full liability with him.
The accountant of Gvozdika LLC signed a power of attorney, which an employee of this enterprise was supposed to receive 15,000 rubles from another organization. and bring them to the accounting department. It was necessary to deliver the money urgently, so they did not conclude an agreement on full liability with the employee. The worker received the money, but lost it on the way. The head of the enterprise issued an order in which he ordered the chief accountant to compensate for the damage caused: after all, he signed a power of attorney and sent the employee as valuables without concluding a full liability agreement with him. The accountant refused to pay the money and went to court. The case was decided in his favor. The court pointed out that the accountant did not bear any responsibility in this case, since he himself did not serve the values. The court ruled that the employee who received the goods under a one-time power of attorney should be punished. At the same time, the court referred to paragraph 5 of Article 31 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
Unlike the accountant, the cashier bears full financial responsibility. On the basis of Article 121.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the enterprise enters into a corresponding agreement in writing. Note that such contracts can be concluded only with employees who have reached the age of 18 and perform work directly related to the storage of valuables, their transportation, sale, etc.
Cashier discovered that 20,000 rubles were missing from the cash register. He informed the head of the organization about this. He decided that the cashier himself was guilty of the loss, and demanded a refund from him. The cashier wrote to the police a statement about the theft and indicated in it that the money had been stolen by a worker who, two days before the discovery, had lost the wiring in the cash register. However, the head of the organization still went to court with a demand to recover the missing money from the cashier. The court ruled in favor of the employer, and the cashier had to pay 20,000 rubles. Two months later, law enforcement agencies detained a fitter who confessed to stealing money from the cash register. The court reviewed the case and found that the cashier does not bear material responsibility, since he is not guilty of loss. According to this decision, the money was returned to him.
Administrative responsibility
First of all, let us turn to Article 15 of the Code of the RSFSR on Administrative Offenses. It is established here that officials are liable for administrative offenses related to failure to perform official duties. This rule also applies to the accountant, who is an official of the organization.
What is an administrative offense? This is an illegal act or omission that was committed with intent or negligence. Intention takes place if the offender was aware that his action was illegal, foresaw harmful consequences, wished or consciously allowed them. Negligence is the situation when the perpetrator knew about the possibility of harmful consequences, but thoughtlessly counted on their prevention or did not assume such consequences, although he should have and could have foreseen them.
The chief accountant bears administrative responsibility only in those cases when he violated the norms of the legislation on taxes and fees, the execution of which is entrusted to him.
Indeed, sometimes organizations charge taxes and other obligatory payments not on time or not in full. Then the federal bodies of the tax police have the right, as a preventive measure, to issue written warnings to the managers, chief accountants and other officials of these enterprises. Accountants who do not comply with such requirements must pay a fine of up to 100 minimum wages, that is, 10,000 rubles. Recall that from January 1, 2001, fines are charged on the basis of a base amount equal to 100 rubles. This is indicated in Article 5 of the Federal Law of June 19, 2000 N 82-FZ "On the Minimum Wage".
Criminal responsibility
The head of the organization and the chief accountant, as well as persons actually performing their duties, may be held liable under Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). What accounting offenses are pursued by the Criminal Code? This is an indication in the documents of deliberately distorted data on income or expenses, or the concealment of any objects of taxation, if as a result a large amount of taxes was not paid, namely 1,000 minimum wages, that is, 100,000 rubles.
Well, what is the punishment? The perpetrators are deprived of the right to engage in accounting activities for up to five years. It is also possible arrest for a term of four to six months or imprisonment for up to four years. But in each case, the punishment is determined by the court.
There are no exact criteria here, but the court always takes into account the extenuating circumstances specified in Article 61 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: for example, surrender or the fact that the guilty person has young children. In such cases, the maximum penalty is four months of arrest. In addition, a suspended sentence or a suspension of the execution of the sentence is possible.
In the presence of aggravating circumstances, cited in Article 63 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the sentence is more severe and there can be no question of any suspended sentence.
If the accountant has repeatedly evaded taxes and the non-payment amounted to a particularly large amount, or he was in collusion with a group of persons, then he can be imprisoned for a term of two to seven years. A particularly large amount is 5,000 minimum wages, that is, 500,000 rubles.
The accountant deliberately did not take into account part of the tax base, which is why the organization underpaid tax to the budget. This was revealed by the test. As a result of the organization, 100,145 rubles were recovered. tax and penalties, as well as a fine of 1900 rubles. The tax police initiated a criminal case against this accountant under article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. However, it was later closed, since the accountant managed to prove that there was no crime. He proved his correctness in the following way. Although 100,145 rubles were recovered from the budget, the amount of unpaid tax is only 95,000 rubles, while the remaining 5,145 rubles. - penalties for 65 days of delay. Penis were calculated as follows: 95,000 rubles. * ((25% / 300%) * 65 days) \u003d 5145 rubles. Note that the refinancing rate during this period did not change and amounted to 25 percent. Thus, the amount of hidden tax is only 95,000 rubles. In accordance with the Criminal Code, this cannot be considered a large amount, therefore, there is no corpus delicti.
But suppose that the accountant himself did not commit the crime, but only contributed to its commission with advice, instructions, etc. This means that he will be liable under Article 33 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation as an instigator or accomplice.
I must say that when deciding on the punishment of an accountant, the court always takes into account the dependence of the accountant on the head of the organization. After all, as we have already said, the chief accountant is obliged to execute the written order of his boss, despite his inner conviction that it is illegal. This relieves the accountant of criminal liability. As Part 1 of Article 42 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation says: "It is not a crime to cause harm by a person acting in pursuance of an order or instruction binding on him." Criminal liability in such cases is borne by the person who gave the illegal order, that is, the head of the organization.
Special consideration should be given to the situation when the chief accountant is in the service of state bodies or municipal institutions. He can be attracted if he: abuses his official powers (Article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), exceeds these powers (Article 289 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), illegally participates in entrepreneurial activities (Article 289 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), takes bribes (Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), commits forgery (Article 292 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) or negligently treats his official duties (Article 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
In bringing accountants to criminal responsibility for such crimes, the court may apply the following sanctions to them:
deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities;
compulsory work, in which the convicted person performs unpaid socially useful work in his spare time from his main job;
correctional labor served at the place of work of the convict;
confiscation of property;
restriction of freedom, when the convict is kept in a special institution without isolation from society;
arrest, that is, keeping the convict in conditions of strict isolation from society;
deprivation of liberty.
It remains to add that every accountant can not be afraid of responsibility and harsh penalties. To do this, he only needs to comply with the rules established by law, as well as to fulfill his official duties with the utmost accuracy and timeliness.
The right hand of the manager in many organizations, as a rule, is considered an accountant. The question arises, what does an accountant do, and why does he have such a privilege? A person in this position maintains documentary accounting and tax records, as well as all business transactions, without which it is impossible to conduct business. The accountant always follows the regulations established by law, and also monitors all changes in it. Today, the profession of an accountant is still relevant among economic specialties, as it is in demand in the labor market.
The profession of accountant and its history
The activities of any company cannot fully work without proper document management, therefore, in any company there is always a person of this specialty. What are the functions of an accountant? Here the size of the subject directly matters. If we talk about small institutions, then all the duties are performed by one person - the chief accountant.
In large organizations, a whole department of highly qualified accountants is engaged in conducting business operations and documenting them, where each is focused on a specific area, and also performs the assigned job duties. One is responsible for the cash desk and the payment of wages, the second interacts with foreign exchange transactions, the third manages the warehouse produced by the goods. The chief accountant is always at the head of the headquarters, his task is to coordinate the work of the entire department and draw up reports. Only he bears all responsibility for the financial activities of the company as a whole. The profession of an accountant is always in the black, because he can work not only in one place at once, but also keep records of several small firms at the same time.
An interesting fact about the profession
Accountant(from German "Buch" - book and "Halter" - holder) - a specialist in the field of accounting. The first accountants conducted their activities in ancient India, only then they were called bookkeepers, they worked, as a rule, on accounting for agriculture. The very name of the profession appeared only in the 15th century by the decision of Emperor Maximilian. Around the same time, the first book on accounting was published - the treatise of the Italian Luca Pacioli "On Accounts and Records". In his manuscript, he described and streamlined what an accountant does. This profession appeared in our country at the beginning of the 18th century by order of Peter the Great.
Qualification requirements for an accountant
In general terms, what an accountant does is clear. Now consider what he should be able to do and what qualities he should have. The activity of an accountant is suitable for neat, diligent and mathematically capable people who can work with large amounts of information. In addition to personal qualities, this type of activity requires knowledge in the field of finance, economics, management, statistics and a number of others. During the course of their work, any accountant is obliged to engage in self-development, attend seminars and advanced training courses, and also observe changes in accounting rules. When applying for a job, the candidate is subject to the following general requirements:
- higher or secondary special economic education;
- Knowledge of accounting and tax laws;
- PC skills, knowledge of the 1C program;
- if you have to work in international companies, knowledge of IFRS (International Financial Reporting System) is required.
The age range of the most demanded specialists in the labor market is 23-50 years; accountants under the age of 30 make up 60% of the total number of specialists; from 30 to 40 years - 25%, from 40 to 50 - 12%. The salary of a qualified specialist depends entirely on professional experience and the industry in which he works. This profession has good career prospects.
Job description of an accountant
Each organization has its own job description for an accountant.. Since there is no standard regulating the content and procedure for developing job descriptions, all companies independently form a description of a particular position. That's why a document from one company may not fit another. This local document spells out the production powers and job responsibilities of a specialist, which vary from the scope of the company, the structure of the financial and economic department, as well as from the site that a particular specialist is to conduct.
The candidate is introduced to the job description before signing the employment contract. If this moment is missed, then in the future, the specialist cannot be held disciplinary liable for negligent attitude to work. Moreover, it is desirable that all obligations are strictly listed in the document, so that it would be easier to resolve pre-trial and judicial skirmishes between the parties. If the company is large, then each accountant of the department should have its own job description.
The document is developed by a personnel officer or the head of a department together with a lawyer. After that, the instruction is approved by the management that has such authority, affixing the main seal of the company on it. Usually documents come in three copies. The first copy of the job description for each employee is stored in the personnel department, the second - with the head of the unit, the third - with the employee.
If the accountant performs a wider range of duties, then his job description will be more complete.
Responsibilities of an accountant
Functional responsibilities, for each specific case, are reviewed and changed. The following functional responsibilities of an accountant are general, you can draw up your own instructions for them. These include:
- calculation, accrual of remuneration according to the established legislative tariffs;
- calculation, accrual, as well as transfer of taxes for reporting periods;
- preparation of documentation for evaluation and subsequent planning of actions to optimize the use of financial resources;
- participation in settlements with customers, suppliers;
- preparation, submission of tax reports to the tax authorities in due time;
- fixing on the accounting accounts of operations related to the movement of fixed assets, as well as inventory;
- participation in various investment projects;
- finding sources of financial and resource losses, preventing shortages;
- conducting many financial transactions for the purchase, as well as the sale of the company's products: drawing up receipt documents, reconciling the calculations of the cost of production;
- accounting of the property of the organization, fixed assets, liabilities;
- work with financial documentation, which includes acts, invoices, contracts;
- inventory of the company's material assets, as well as execution of relevant acts;
- registration and issuance of all kinds of certificates to workers, in particular, wage certificates;
- cooperation with other banks;
- fulfillment of the orders of superiors.
Typical job responsibilities of accountants are given in Qualification directory of positions of managers, specialists and other employees, approved by the Decree of the Ministry of Labor of Russia of August 21, 1998 No37. From this document it immediately becomes clear what the accountant does at the enterprise. If the chief accountant is temporarily absent from the workplace, then his duties fall on the deputy, who receives the appropriate rights and is responsible for the performance of the duties assigned to him.
Accounting is one of the most common professions today. Everything about the features of this work will be discussed in this article.
Who is an accountant?
An accountant is a person involved in financial accounting, documentation and reporting to the proper authorities. This profession is quite difficult. The functions of an accountant are very difficult. However, all the complexity of the work is compensated by a decent salary and the possibility of career growth.
Today, work related to accounting is quite in demand in the labor market. Indeed, in almost any company or firm, a specialist is required who would be engaged in maintaining documentation and financial accounting. In fact, the activities of the company depend on the accountant: the budget of the enterprise, the salaries of employees, the payment for the supply of products, etc. If the company is small, then only one chief accountant will be enough. At the same time, the functions of the chief accountant are always much broader and more voluminous than usual. If the company is large, then a whole accounting department will be needed.
What does an accountant do?
It is worth a little wider to reveal the functions of an accountant. Responsibilities, it is worth saying, the representative of the profession in question has quite a lot. And all of them are not as simple as it might seem at first glance.
- The accountant is obliged to exercise constant control over the level of wages of the company's employees. Responsibilities for the distribution and calculation of salaries are also in his competence.
- The accounting officer must periodically submit reports to the appropriate authorities, usually fiscal.
- The representative of the profession in question is engaged in the optimization of tax deductions.
- Primary documentation, which includes tax invoices, balance sheet, TTN - all this is also under the strict control of the accountant.
- If the company carries out export or import operations, the work of documenting them is assigned to the accountant.
All the duties and functions of an accountant listed above are far from the only ones. This specialist can be entrusted with many other cases. Everything depends mainly on the specifics of the company in which there is an accounting department.
Required education to become an accountant
In order to get a job in accounting and become a qualified specialist in your field, you must, of course, get the appropriate education. 
A job candidate must have a financial and economic higher education. Where more willingly will they take a person who has a special certificate - an auditor or a professional accountant. But getting such a document is not very easy: you have to listen to a special course of lectures and pass exams.
Graduates of famous universities like the Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics and financial academies will also be highly valued. If a person plans to work in an international company, he will have to obtain a special certificate of IFRS - International Financial Reporting Standards.
A competent specialist should not be limited to the knowledge gained in the course of education at a university. It is highly desirable to understand the law, to know the principles of working with 1C, Access and Excel programs. No less important is work experience when applying to any company: work experience must be at least one year.
Demand for the profession of accountant
The job functions of an accountant are incredibly voluminous. Often, start-up companies cannot even provide themselves with proper accounting. 
This is due, of course, to the lack of truly competent specialists.
The profession of an accountant is really in demand today. But there is one extremely interesting detail here. Russian universities graduate a fairly large number of people with the specialty we are interested in. However, many enterprises still cannot provide themselves with a staff of accountants. In this regard, university graduates should be given one recommendation: just a diploma of graduation from an educational institution is not enough. You need to constantly work on yourself, acquire new skills, improve yourself. Company leaders are very fond of competent professionals. The functions of an accountant should not be limited by the requirements. In addition, a representative of the profession in question is one of the few workers with the possibility of real career growth. Only by working on yourself, you can get a good position and a high income.
Advantages of the profession
Of course, the popularity of the work of an accountant should be due to many advantages. 
The benefits of this profession really are, and considerable. These include:
- High profit payment. Despite the prevailing stereotype of an accountant as a "little man" with a small salary, you can still get very good money for your work.
- The demand for the profession in question. Almost any company needs competent specialists, so finding a job will not be so difficult.
- Additional earnings. Many legal entities, small firms, individual entrepreneurs often need people who are familiar with the functions of an organization's accountant firsthand. Such PEs may not hire a specialist for a permanent job, but occasionally use his services. It is worth noting that such "single" orders can be paid very well.
The advantages, therefore, of the profession of an accountant are really weighty.
Disadvantages of the profession
There are some flaws in every job. In the profession in question, they are also lacking. 
What can be highlighted here?
- Difficulty absorbing large amounts of information. Of course, you can keep all the data on paper. Another question is whether it will be so convenient. Often an accountant really has to memorize a lot of very different material, and this, of course, is a big drawback. But you can also look at this situation positively: memorization will not harm a person’s consciousness in any way, but, on the contrary, will only strengthen it.
- Frequent conflicts with superiors. The thing is that after checks - both tax and audit - all claims will be made only to the accountant. And do not think that these conflicts can somehow be avoided. Even in an ideally arranged enterprise, as a rule, the accounting department is "to blame" for everything. This can also be attributed to the angry views of workers who were delayed wages.
- High responsibility. There is not much to explain here. And so it is clear how important the functions of an accountant in an enterprise are.
Career and prospects
Students of financial and economic universities can work as accountants (or assistant accountants) in their senior years. 
Due to this, at the time of graduation, graduates have little experience. This will help you get into any business. However, it is better to forget about the imminent career growth for the first time of work. For five years, the accountant will be required to perform simple routine work. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't improve yourself. Performing his labor functions as an accountant, a person must constantly replenish the baggage of his knowledge. Only by effective work will it be possible to grow up to the chief accountant. But you should not stop here either: the career ladder provides for even higher positions.
Who is a chief accountant?
The duties of a simple accounting worker and chief accountant vary. The level of income, rights, requirements, etc. is also different. How can the functions of the chief accountant (chief accountant) be characterized? 
This will be discussed further.
To begin with, it is worth pointing out that the chief accountant manages all accounting. His responsibilities include the implementation of external and internal document management. But the main functions of the chief accountant are as follows:
- Within its competence, this specialist has the right to resolve various administrative disputes.
- Expenses, profits, tax payments, etc. - the chief accountant is also responsible for all this. His responsibilities also include reporting.
- The chief accountant monitors compliance with the procedure for issuing primary and accounting papers, necessarily in accordance with the established procedure.
- Drawing up various kinds of plans - both strategic and analytical.
So, we already know who an accountant is and what he does. His duties and functions were discussed in detail. The accountant, who is the head of the department, has even more work to do. Of course, a specialist with at least five years of work experience can apply for this position. And do not think that the position of chief accountant is the highest level of career growth. It's not like that at all. Competent specialists can leave the accounting department and become financial or general directors of companies.
