Features of accounting in trade

Accounting in trade organizations occurs in accordance with the law "On Accounting", which involves the establishment of uniform standards for its organization and management. At the same time, there are particularities of accounting in trade, conditioned by the very specifics of the work of this branch of the economic mechanism.

Accounting is a system of accumulation, fixation, classification and generalization of information on property, expressed in monetary form, which is maintained on the basis of permanent documentary accounting. The existence of the law makes it possible to guarantee the unification of this activity in the whole country.

The law formulates the general tasks of accounting:

• Formation of information on the work of the enterprise and its situation;
• Provision of data used in the organization of control over compliance with the economic legislation of the Russian Federation;
• Prevention of negative consequences in the activity of enterprises and search for on-farm reserves.

These tasks are universal and are facing all business entities, regardless of industry. However, each type of business includes quite a lot of features, determined by factors of both internal character and external circumstances. Trade, as a kind of management, also has its own accounting features. In trade, first of all, it should be borne in mind that it is an enterprise that is directly related to the conduct of sales and services, which it is called upon to provide consumers with marketable products.

There are two types of trade, they are wholesale and retail. This classification significantly affects the features of accounting in trade. For example, depending on which type prevails in a particular enterprise, the technologies of warehouse accounting, the accounting and posting of stored products, the procedures for its registration and delivery to consumers largely depend.

The management of an enterprise that deals with trading activities is impossible without a qualitative accounting setting, which should be organized in accordance with all standards and rules.

The main features of accounting in trade are as follows:

• Uniformity of valuation procedures for all transactions of the trading chain from posting goods to its implementation;
• The need to choose the valuation method (cost methods, FIFO, LIFO) for goods when they are written off;
• The need to establish a way of reflecting in the accounting of the purchased marketable products;
• Guaranteed reliability of accounting information and reporting, which is ensured through regular inventory;
• The development of the necessary templates of accounting records, if such is not provided for by standard samples;
• Development of internal procedures and technologies of document circulation;
• The development of methods for controlling business activity, which take into account the specifics of accounting in trade.

As the economic practice shows, the implementation of these methods and accounting standards can significantly improve the efficiency of trade enterprises.

One of the main documents of the accounting system in the trade is the book of income and expenditure accounting, which should be maintained, in addition to the state-owned trading enterprises, and other entities, including IP, which use a simplified system for taxation.

The main requirements for the maintenance of this document are:

• Opening a new book for each new accounting period;
• Possibility of conducting a book both in traditional paper form and in electronic form;
• The book must necessarily be crocheted and numbered, on the last page it must necessarily be written by the head of the enterprise;
• Correction of errors must be justified and certified with the signature of the appropriate official with the indication of the date and the certification of the correction by the seal of the organization.

The responsibility for the proper conduct of the document is borne by the head of the enterprise and the chief accountant.