The main features of the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements

The act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is not a mandatory document, however, like reconciliation is not a mandatory procedure. It is carried out at the initiative of the parties. This document does not belong to, therefore, its form is not regulated by law.

Reconciliation of calculations and the preparation of the corresponding act is carried out in order to determine whether there is a debt of one counterparty to another and what is its amount. The reconciliation period is determined in an arbitrary order, usually from the moment when the last reconciliation was carried out.

The parties to the transaction have the right to refuse to conduct reconciliation and even the court will not be able to influence this decision, since there are no relevant legislative norms that would allow this. To avoid a conflict situation in this case, the management of a company that is interested in such a procedure should write down the corresponding clause in a standard contract.

What it is

The act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is a document reflecting the status of settlements for a specific period of time between counterparties. The law does not oblige to draw up this paper, but experience shows that it is better to do this regularly. Reconciliation will eliminate possible errors in tax and accounting.

Using this document, you can check whether all business transactions are correctly reflected in accounting with a specific counterparty, and if any payments or shipments are missed. In addition, the act allows you to detect "doubled" fulfillment of obligations. This paper can be used as evidence in court, which will confirm the existence of unfulfilled obligations.

Another function of the reconciliation act is that after the expiration of the limitation period, it serves as the basis for writing off the existing debt. The countdown of this period begins from the moment the act is signed.

The preparation of this document will be mandatory when it comes to offsetting between the parties to the transaction. This is relevant in the case when companies have entered into two or more contracts for which there are mutual debts. In such a situation, it is easier to sign an agreement on offsetting debts under such contracts. To clarify the amount of debts, it is necessary to draw up a reconciliation act.

There are certain rules for accounting in the organization. According to them, before preparing an annual report, accountants must conduct an inventory of property and liabilities. The most convenient and fastest way to inventory settlements with counterparties is to draw up reconciliation acts.

Features of preparing papers

Where to download word sample for free

The reconciliation act does not have a state-developed and legislatively approved sample. Based on this, organizations independently develop a form that is convenient for themselves or use a sample that can be easily found on specialized sites on the Internet.

The document is in the form of a register. The form can be found online in word and excel format. Most sites allow you to download it for free.

The form of the act includes data on transactions with a specific counterparty for a specific period of time. Such data is entered into the act in the form of a table that has two mandatory columns: debit and credit.

An example of the correct design online

Regardless of whether the accountant draws up the reconciliation act form on his own or uses a ready-made one that he downloaded from the Internet, he should have an idea about the information that should be contained in the document.

The paper must include:

outgoing registration number of the document;
the date the paper was signed;
the time period for which the reconciliation is carried out;
names of contractors;
position and surname of the person who signs the act;
insert a table with debit and credit, data on deliveries, settlements and debts;
balance at the beginning and end of the reconciliation period;
information about the total turnover;
add an empty table in which the counterparty can enter his data in case there are discrepancies in the calculations.

The reconciliation act, which is signed by representatives of both organizations, is a confirmation that the parties agree with the information contained in it and testified to the existence of a relationship between them of a certain nature, namely the presence of debt obligations that arose as a result of the lack of full settlement.

Requirements for filling out documents

In 2017, when conducting accounting, special software products are often used. Given this, it is not difficult to perform various tasks, including filling out an act of reconciliation of calculations. Due to the fact that the information that is necessary to draw up the act is stored in the accounting system, it is the accounting department that is responsible for the reconciliation.

The act is sent to the counterparty in two copies. If the second party has no objections and agrees with the data recorded in the document, the document received from the partner is signed. If there are discrepancies, corrected data is entered into the table, which is sent as a response.

If the accountant who conducts the reconciliation has received back an act with disagreements, he must analyze the causes of the discrepancies. For example, a situation is possible when it was sent to the bank, the money was debited from the payer's account, but they never reached the recipient's account. In such a situation, you need to deal with the bank and make appropriate claims.

However, disagreements between the parties may be more serious, for example, the customer denies the fact that certain services were provided to him.

In this case, according to the existing regulatory documents on accounting, an economic entity has the right to display calculations based on its position. Changes in accounting can be made if there is an appropriate decision of the court, which will establish the truth by making a detailed analysis of the case materials.

How to write it in 1C

The reconciliation act can be filled out in the 1C: Accounting program. To do this, the supplier should enter the "Sale" menu, and the buyer - "Purchase".

How to draw up an act:

Open the section named Settlements with counterparties.
Add a new document - an act of reconciliation, for this purpose you need to click the Create button.
In the document that opens, enter:
- the name of the counterparty with which the reconciliation is carried out;
- what currency was used for settlements;
- details of the contract for the sale or purchase.
If we talk about program 8.2, then it contains several tabs:
- in the first one, data about your company is entered (if there is a debt to your own organization, then it should be entered in the Debit column, and if the company itself is a debtor, in Credit);
- the second tab is information about the partner organization;
- the third is current accounts, here the accounts that need to be checked are selected;
- the fourth column contains information about the officials who sign the reconciliation act (the print settings are immediately configured).
The document does not require postings. It must be saved and then printed.
When the reconciliation is completed and the acts are signed by both parties, it can be noted on paper that the reconciliation has been agreed. This means that the data entered into the document cannot be changed.

Who can sign the form

When preparing a reconciliation act, the question often arises of who signs this document. This problem is very relevant, because when signing a special paper that does not have such powers, it is very easy to challenge it in court and exclude it from the case file.

Thus, the document must be signed by an authorized person, it can be:

individual entrepreneur;
the head of the company who acts on the basis of the Statute: the president or director;
another employee, provided that he acts on the basis of a duly prepared power of attorney.

Often, the document must also be signed by the chief accountant, this is due to the fact that he has the right of a second signature when it comes to documents of a financial nature.

The paper can only be signed by an accountant, if we are talking about internal control over the completeness of the calculations. In the event of a dispute, such a document will not have the proper legal force.

It should be noted that Article 53 of the Russian Civil Code determines that an accountant is not a person who can act on behalf of an organization without an appropriate power of attorney. In addition to the signatures of authorized persons, the document must bear the seal of the organization.

The form of the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements as evidence in court

On the one hand, drawing up a reconciliation act can be very useful in the event of litigation, which concerns the fulfillment of the conditions by the parties to a contractual relationship. However, domestic judicial practice suggests that the attitude towards such a document is ambiguous. Many judges perceive it only as indirect evidence that one side recognizes that it has a debt to the other side.

It is also common for the defendant to object to the legality of signing the reconciliation act, which is presented as evidence in court.

The most common argument is that the document was signed by a person who does not have the appropriate authority. And this means that the claims of the plaintiff are unlawful, since the respondent organization did not recognize its debt to him.

Increasingly, in order to reject the claims of the plaintiff, the courts accept the argument of the responding party that the reconciliation act, not being a primary document, cannot act as a recognition of a debt, as well as a document for extending the limitation period.

If the defendant tries to get away with the argument that the act was signed by an accountant who did not have the appropriate authority to sign it, the complainant can take the following steps:

find and provide other supporting documents: acceptance certificates, invoices, etc.;
ask the defendant to provide the accountant's job description in order to familiarize himself with the scope of his duties and powers;
in order to protect yourself in the future, you should revise the standard contract with counterparties and prescribe in it the procedure for exchanging reconciliation acts;
present as an argument a positive jurisprudence on a similar issue.

Cover letter when completed

The cover letter is a mandatory document that is attached to the reconciliation act. It is carried out in the form of a separate printed document. Having a sample of such a document will greatly facilitate the life of an accountant, especially during quarterly or annual reports.

Having found an example of such a document on the Internet, you can easily customize it for yourself by making minor adjustments that will make it more convenient to fill out.

Young professionals may wonder why they need to fill out such a document. Everything is explained simply: there are certain rules of business ethics, which, among other things, relate to the form of address and the style of correspondence.

Documents that are sent to counterparties cannot simply be packaged and sent to partners. The direction of the papers implies the need to complete some formalities, one of them is the preparation of a cover letter.

A sample letter looks like this:

To: position, organization name, full name, address

From: position, organization name, full name, address

Transmittal letter

To reconcile the settlements between our organizations for (name of services / goods) that were produced (period), we send the prepared reconciliation report.

I ask you to provide one version of the act with the signatures of authorized persons of your organization by _____.

Appendix:

Act of reconciliation of settlements for (name of services / goods)

Position of authorized person ________

Date and signature ___________

Differences in drafting

Certain disagreements may arise between organizations in the course of signing and using reconciliation acts.

What they are and how to avoid them:

Some counterparties refuse to sign the reconciliation act. It should be noted right away that they have every right to do this, since the law does not provide for this procedure to be carried out without fail. In addition, there are no fixed terms and procedures for the reconciliation. With this in mind, one can be guided by the available jurisprudence on this topic. The court has no right to influence the defendant and demand that he provide a signed act. To protect yourself, the company's management should immediately include a clause on signing the reconciliation act in its standard contract with counterparties. This will be the lever that will allow you to demand from them the fulfillment of their obligations.
In situations where organizations have mutual outstanding obligations, the problem may lie in the fact that one of the parties considers that the existing debts overlap each other, while the second company will continue to insist on the fulfillment of the terms of the contract and reconciliation. In order to avoid misunderstandings, it is better to immediately send an explanatory note to the partner, which sets out the benefits received by each of the parties in connection with the offset of outstanding obligations.
Many carefully keep the reconciliation act, not paying attention to the fact that it is high time to put things in order in the primary accounting documents, since sometimes it is not possible to find something in them. This is a big mistake, since the act itself is of no value and cannot serve as evidence in court.
When signing the reconciliation act, it is important to ensure that it is signed by a person with the appropriate authority on the part of the counterparty. Otherwise, the document cannot be used in court as evidence of recognition of debt obligations by the defendant. And, of course, it is important to ensure that the statute of limitations does not expire when filing claims. It is 3 years from the date of signing the act.