How to do accounting for an individual entrepreneur yourself: step-by-step instructions

Who is required to keep accounting records in the Russian Federation?

The answer to this question is given by Art. 2 of the Law “On Accounting” dated December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ. Those required to maintain accounting in the Russian Federation include:

organizations engaged in commercial and non-profit activities;
government agencies, local governments, management bodies of extra-budgetary state funds (including territorial ones);
Bank of Russia;
Individual entrepreneurs, private practitioners;
Representative offices and divisions of foreign and international organizations located in the Russian Federation.

Thus, formally, individual entrepreneurs are classified as economic entities that are required by the state to keep accounting records.

However, in paragraph 2 of Art. 6 of Law No. 402-FZ IP are mentioned among those who may not do this. In this case, a mandatory condition must be met: the entrepreneur keeps records of income and expenses and other taxable items and physical indicators related to his activities.

So what is meant by keeping records mentioned by the legislator in paragraph 2 of Art. 6 of Law No. 402-FZ, and which entrepreneurs are required to keep accounting, and which individual entrepreneurs can rightfully not bother themselves with accounting?

How can an individual entrepreneur claim his right to accounting?

If an individual entrepreneur decides to keep accounting records, he must follow the requirements of Federal Law dated December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ and by-laws on accounting (PBU, Chart of Accounts and other regulatory documents of the Russian Ministry of Finance on accounting).

First you need to decide who exactly will do the accounting for the individual entrepreneur. If an individual entrepreneur decides to conduct accounting, he is equal in status to the head of the organization. This means that he organizes accounting and storage of primary records (Part 2 of Article 7 of Federal Law No. 402-FZ of December 6, 2011). Accordingly, IP:

or hires a chief accountant (and perhaps creates an accounting service for him),
or entrusts the duties of an accountant to another employee,
or entrusts accounting to a third-party company or a civil contract specialist;
or performs the duties of an accountant personally.

However, when an individual entrepreneur exceeds the level of a medium-sized business entity, he no longer has the right to conduct accounting personally and must delegate this function to other persons (Part 3 of Article 7 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ). An individual entrepreneur is large if for the previous year the average number of its employees is more than 250 people and (or) income exceeds 2 billion rubles. (Clause 2 and 3 Part 1.1, Part 3 Article 4 of the Federal Law dated July 24, 2007 No. 209-FZ, Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 4, 2016 No. 265).

In order to initially express its decision to introduce accounting, the individual entrepreneur must approve its accounting policy. An accounting policy is a document in which an individual entrepreneur selects the methods of accounting and reporting he needs from the totality of all the methods proposed in PBU and other regulatory documents on accounting (Article 8 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ). Further, when maintaining accounting, you will need to follow the established accounting policies.

The first point of the accounting policy may just be a statement about maintaining accounting records from such and such a date in accordance with Federal Law dated December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ.

In order to declare accounting to the state and counterparties (existing and potential), an individual entrepreneur must prepare annual financial statements and submit a copy of it to the territorial statistics body (part 2 of article 13, part 1 of article 18 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ).

More information about the accounting policies of individual entrepreneurs

What is meant by accounting for income and expenses?

The concept of “accounting for income and expenses” is used in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which obliges taxpayers, in cases established by law, to account for income, expenses and their taxable items (subclause 3, clause 1, article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Thus, individual entrepreneurs may not maintain accounting records if they maintain tax records.

Let us remind you that entrepreneurs can apply the following tax regimes in their activities:

simplified tax system;
OSNO;
Unified Agricultural Sciences;
UTII;
PSN.

Let's consider which of these regimes provide for accounting for income, expenses and other objects of taxation.

How an individual entrepreneur can do accounting on his own: step-by-step instructions for 2020

So, to the question: “Is an individual entrepreneur required to keep accounting records in 2020?” we received a negative answer. But although individual entrepreneurs do not keep accounting records and do not submit financial statements, we have already said above that entrepreneurs need to maintain document flow related to business. Where to start accounting for an individual entrepreneur? Read our step-by-step instructions.

Step 1. Make a preliminary calculation of the expected income and expenses of your business. You will need this data when calculating your tax burden.

Step 2: Select your tax regime. You can find out in detail what regimes or taxation systems an individual entrepreneur operates in Russia in the article: “Taxation systems: how to make the right choice?” Here we will only list them: the main taxation system (OSNO) and special tax regimes (USN, UTII, Unified Agricultural Tax, PSN, NPD). The tax burden of individual entrepreneurs directly depends on the choice of taxation system. The amounts that you must pay to the budget may vary significantly in different modes. If you do not know how to calculate your tax burden, we recommend that you get a free tax consultation.

Step 3. Familiarize yourself with the tax reporting of the selected regime. You can find current reporting forms on the Federal Tax Service website tax.ru or in our selection of samples.

Step 4. Decide whether you will hire workers. How can an individual entrepreneur keep accounting records for an employee? Employers' reporting can be called quite complex, and its composition does not depend on the chosen tax regime and the number of employees. In 2020, several types of reports are submitted for employees: to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, to the Social Insurance Fund and to the tax office. For example, by January 20, all individual entrepreneurs must submit information on the average number of employees. In addition, employers must maintain and store personnel records.

Step 5: Study your regime's tax calendar. Failure to comply with the deadlines for submitting reports and paying taxes will lead to fines, penalties and arrears, blocking of the current account and other unpleasant consequences.

Step 6. Decide on the type of accounting service. Using simple modes, such as the simplified tax system Income, UTII, PSN, you can conduct accounting for individual entrepreneurs yourself. Your main assistant in this case will be specialized online services, such as 1C Entrepreneur. But for OSNO and simplified taxation system Income minus expenses, as well as with a large number of business transactions, it is more reasonable to outsource accounting for individual entrepreneurs.

Step 7. Maintain and save all documents related to the business: contracts with counterparties, documents confirming expenses, bank statements, personnel documents, cash register reports, primary documents, incoming information, etc.
The tax inspectorate can check documents on the activities of an individual entrepreneur even within three years after deregistration.

Should individual entrepreneurs keep accounting records using the simplified tax system?

Let us turn to the clarifications of the Russian Ministry of Finance (letter dated July 26, 2012 No. 03-11-11/221), whose specialists interpret this situation as follows.

According to Art. 346.24 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, simplified persons are required to record their income and expenses in the book of income and expenses of organizations and individual entrepreneurs using the simplified taxation system. Its form and procedure for registration were approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated October 22, 2012 No. 135n.

Consequently, the obligatory condition for accounting income and expenses by simplifiers, established by paragraph 2 of Art. 6 of Law No. 402-FZ will be observed, which means that they may not keep accounting.

The following articles will help you fill out the specified tax register correctly:

“How to keep a book of income and expenses under the simplified tax system (sample)?”;
“Book of accounting for income and expenses under the simplified tax system in 2018–2019.”

Accounting for an individual entrepreneur

Accounting for individual entrepreneurs on OSNO

Many entrepreneurs simply have no alternatives when choosing a tax regime; only the general tax regime (OSNO) is suitable for them. For example, if the activities of an individual entrepreneur are mainly related to the performance of work or provision of services for large companies that apply the general taxation regime. Its peculiarity is the presence of value added tax (VAT), the standard rate of which today is 20%.

If organizations on OSNO order, for example, spare parts from individual entrepreneurs on the simplified tax system, then they will not be able to receive VAT deduction, which means their expenses will increase. This, of course, is not beneficial to anyone - why pay more taxes if you can cooperate with those who work with VAT and reduce the amount of VAT payable to the budget?

There is even a popular joke among accountants on this topic:

Two experienced accountants are trying to balance the annual balance sheet. Both were very tired. Suddenly the first one asks the second one: “Listen, I forgot, how many months are there in a year?” The other quickly answers, without taking his eyes off the calculations: “Ten.” without VAT.

Let's return to how to keep an individual entrepreneur's accounting on OSNO. Here you cannot use half-measures and approximate figures, since then it will not be possible to correctly calculate VAT, which is determined separately for accrual and deduction.

Example: Individual entrepreneur Anton Ivanovich Vasiliev produces countertops for furniture. Let's assume that Anton Ivanovich sells them in large quantities, which makes kitchen sets and sells them wholesale to different stores. The company operates on OSNO and pays VAT to the budget. Let's say she sells headsets worth 600,000 rubles per month including VAT.

Value added tax: 600,000 / 1.2 = 100,000 rubles.

The countertops for these kitchens were purchased for 120,000 rubles including VAT (tax amount 20,000 rubles). Then “Dream Kitchen” will have to pay 0 = 80,000 rubles to the budget.

If Anton Ivanovich had worked for the simplified tax system without VAT, it is not a fact that he would have found partners in the form of large companies, since it is not profitable for the latter to cooperate with the “simplistic” ones.

Individual entrepreneurs will also need accounting for OSNO in the following cases:

for comprehensive control and subsequent analysis of the results of economic activity - you can calculate liquidity ratios, turnover ratios and others, and then draw a conclusion about the state of affairs and identify hypothetical growth points;
to be able to search for work on tender services - often financial statements are a mandatory item in the list of documents that need to be submitted to the competition site;
to attract investors or obtain a bank loan - reporting will help prove that the individual entrepreneur has prospects.

Thus, entrepreneurs most likely cannot do without transparent accounting on OSNO. And this will not be a whim or an excess - the presence of financial statements will help you get a loan if necessary, attract investors, and win a tender.

Accounting (financial) statements for individual entrepreneurs using the simplified tax system

Keeping accounting records for individual entrepreneurs using the simplified tax system, as mentioned above, is not mandatory - it is legal not to keep records at all or organize simplified ones. Tax accounting cannot be neglected, otherwise penalties will follow. A simplified tax return is submitted once a year, but in order to create it, you need to know how things are going in the business. This is what financial accounting is for.

This is interesting: How to raise money for a project on the Internet

To determine the tax base, a “Book of Income and Expenses” is usually kept. Of course, you don’t need to hand it over anywhere, but you can present it in case of a tax audit. Individual entrepreneurs using the simplified tax system “Income minus expenses” record in the book all business transactions related to income and expenses. Under the “Income” tax regime, the book indicates all income, as well as insurance premiums (you can use them to reduce the amount of tax payable).

Fragment of the form “Income and Expense Accounting Book”

Do individual entrepreneurs keep accounting records on OSNO?

This situation is similar to the previous one (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 26, 2012 No. 03-11-11/221).

According to paragraph 2 of Art. 54 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, entrepreneurs working for OSNO take into account income and expenses for their commercial activities in the book of income and expenses and business operations of individual entrepreneurs, approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia No. 86n dated August 13, 2002 and the Ministry of Taxes of Russia No. BG-3-04/430.

Read about the tax burden of individual entrepreneurs on the OSN here.

Thus, the condition for accounting for income and expenses (clause 2 of Article 6 of Law No. 402-FZ) is also met here. Consequently, individual entrepreneurs on OSNO, like simplifiers, are free to refuse accounting.

For a comparison of popular tax regimes for small businesses, read the article “What is the difference between the simplified tax system and the OSNO? What is more profitable?

Do I need accounting for individual entrepreneurs on the Unified Agricultural Tax?

The answer to this question can also be found in the explanations of the financial department (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated August 27, 2012 No. 03-11-11/257).

According to paragraph 8 of Art. 346.5 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, in order to determine the tax base for the Unified Agricultural Tax, entrepreneurs are required to take into account income and expenses in the book of income and expenses of individual entrepreneurs applying the taxation system for agricultural producers. Its form and design rules are enshrined in the order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated December 11, 2006 No. 169n. In addition, entrepreneurs on the Unified Agricultural Tax from January 2020 are required to pay VAT. To account for VAT transactions, individual entrepreneurs must maintain a purchase book and a sales book, as well as issue invoices.

An individual agricultural producer has the right to apply the exemption and not pay VAT. Read more about the procedure for applying for benefits in the material “Is there a VAT exemption for agricultural producers in 2020?” .

And again we come to a similar conclusion: individual entrepreneurs on the Unified Agricultural Tax can refuse to do accounting.

The article “Rules for maintaining a book of income and expenses under the Unified Agricultural Tax” will help you correctly draw up an accounting book for individual entrepreneurs on the Unified Agricultural Tax.

Basics of proper accounting

In 2020, four main tax schemes for small businesses were adopted. OSNO is considered the default system - it operates at all enterprises. For individual entrepreneurs, it is complex and unprofitable, so it is much more convenient to prepare documents for a simpler scheme in advance.

On a simplified basis (USN)

Consumer corner for individual entrepreneurs - what is it and how to arrange it correctly

STS – simplified taxation system, simplified. It implies a simple procedure for preparing documents - in the form of journals and tables, which reflect all possible events in the financial and economic activities of the enterprise. The simplified tax system is suitable for small and micro enterprises so that the tax burden does not stop their development.

To account for financial activities, the “income minus expenses” scheme is used. The income column takes into account the entrepreneur’s personal funds invested in the business, payments under contracts from counterparties, income from the sale of the product, and profits from previous years. When checking financial statements, tax authorities pay special attention to expenses.

This article includes:

procurement of materials for production;
cost of fixed assets (including rent for premises);
advertising expenses;
employee salaries;
payment of VAT;
losses from previous years.

Income is taken into account on the same day as money is received into the company’s account or cash register, and for the correct calculation of expenses it is required that the individual entrepreneur transfer money to the supplier and receive the product or service. If money has been paid, but the product or service has not yet been received, then the expenses are not counted.

Attention ! A separate clarification for trading enterprises: if they are engaged in the resale of goods, the money spent on the purchase of goods will be considered expenses only when the goods are sold.

All this must be taken into account when maintaining the accounting records of individual entrepreneurs - negligence in documents can cost money or freedom. An entrepreneur is required to submit a tax return annually, which will indicate his income and expenses - the amount of tax depends on the difference between these items.

The simplified tax system is the simplest and most convenient taxation system for individual entrepreneurs

The simplified scheme allows for simpler reporting, no revaluation of fixed assets and recalculation of income and expenses of previous years if errors were made, taking out loans on simpler terms and not forming reserves, submitting reports remotely.

Accounting for individual entrepreneurs can be carried out using three types of simplified tax system - simple, abbreviated and complete. The simple type is a way to start a business without serious tax obstacles; it is used only by small enterprises. Abbreviated - also suitable for small organizations, requires more careful documentation and the use of the double entry method. Full – requires full accounting, but taxes are still collected according to a simplified scheme. It is used for enterprises that risk ceasing to be a small business in the near future.

On UTII

UTII is a single tax on imputed income. The essence of this system is that the company pays a fixed amount every quarter, all other taxes are not taken into account. The amount is revised every year at the federal and regional levels. The scheme is applicable only for a limited number of activities - household services, catering, trade, veterinary medicine, parking and car repair.

The main advantage of this scheme is that the entrepreneur always knows how much and when he must pay. For those who do their own accounting, this is the most convenient scheme. Plus, you don't have to pay any other taxes.

Significant disadvantages are that the tax amount remains unchanged, even if the individual entrepreneur incurs losses. Also, counterparties working with enterprises on UTII cannot receive compensation for their taxes.

On patent (PSN)

The introduction of a patent tax system has made life much easier for many small entrepreneurs - there is no need to provide reporting on PSN. The essence of the system is that an individual entrepreneur acquires a patent for his activities - a permitting document for a period of six months or a year. How much a patent costs is determined by the state; as long as it is valid, you do not need to pay taxes.

Note ! PSN is a convenient option for starting when an individual entrepreneur wants to find out the prospects and understand whether he will be able to do business in the future.

Convenience of a patent - the entrepreneur sets its validity period himself. Patents can be purchased in several types in different regions, and time is wasted on bureaucratic delays only once.

Among the disadvantages, there are strict restrictions on the number of employees and the area of the sales floor, if we are talking about retail trade. Insurance premiums do not reduce the cost of the patent (for the simplified tax system and UTII this is the most effective way to reduce the amount of tax).

On OSNO

Accounting for individual entrepreneurs on the general taxation system is the most difficult process. For individual entrepreneurs, taxes are established on income and property of individuals, as well as VAT (its rate varies depending on the volume of business). Organizations, including small businesses, if they have chosen the OSNO program, pay income tax, corporate property tax and VAT.

OSNO is not entirely suitable for individual entrepreneurs

It makes sense to issue an OSNO when the company will have reduced rates for income tax, or it needs to pay VAT. Also, individual entrepreneurs who have not formalized the transfer to other taxation systems are forcibly transferred to OSNO.

Should I organize accounting for individual entrepreneurs on UTII?

But this situation is somewhat different from the previous ones. Indeed, although the norms of paragraphs 6–7 of Art. 346.26, paragraph 9 of Art. 346. 29 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation require individual entrepreneurs on imputation to, in some cases, record income and expenses (including separate ones), but the procedure for this accounting for imputed persons is not fixed anywhere. In addition, within the meaning of the imputed tax itself, the amount of income and expenses in this case does not matter, since the imputed tax is calculated based on the basic profitability and physical indicator (clause 2 of Article 346.29 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

At the same time, in practice, individual entrepreneurs on UTII may be faced with keeping records of indicators on the basis of which the tax base is calculated (for example, individual entrepreneurs engaged in the provision of household services will have to keep records of the number of employees and working hours).

For those imputed working in the retail trade sector, only documents that record the characteristics of the premises used for business activities can be classified as tax registers with a greater assumption.

In addition, all individual entrepreneurs (including imputators) are required to keep records of other taxable objects that they have (fixed assets, intangible assets, etc.)

One way or another, the Russian Ministry of Finance recognizes that all accountants, regardless of what type of activity they carry out, can rightfully refuse to conduct accounting (letter dated July 17, 2012 No. 03-11-10/29).

The article “The UTII taxation system: the pros and cons of imputation” will tell you about the advantages and disadvantages of this tax regime.

Initial accounting balance of individual entrepreneurs

Most often, an entrepreneur decides to do accounting not from the very beginning of his activity, but after working for some time. Accounting to some extent brings an individual entrepreneur closer to the status of a commercial organization. Reputable creditor banks, partners, buyers and clients treat the entrepreneur who does accounting with great confidence.

However, you must comply with regulatory requirements:

maintain accounting continuously from the date of state registration until the date of termination of activity (Part 3 of Article 6 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ);
reflect all facts of economic activity in accounting (clause 6 of PBU 1/2008);
Reliably and completely reflect in the accounting statements the financial position, financial results of activities and changes in the financial position of the individual entrepreneur (see paragraph 6 of PBU 4/99).

Thus, if an individual entrepreneur does not conduct accounting using the double entry method from the beginning of its activities, then on the date of commencement of accounting, it is necessary to calculate the opening balances for the accounting accounts. When calculating, you will have to take into account all the property, property rights and obligations of the individual entrepreneur related to the entrepreneurial activities of the individual entrepreneur. The calculation must be done using those accounting methods that are prescribed in the accounting policy.

Accounting for individual entrepreneurs on a patent

Entrepreneurs who have chosen PSN for their activities, just like all other individual entrepreneurs, may not keep accounting, since they carry out tax (clause 1 of Article 346.53 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) in accordance with the procedure approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 22, 2012 No. 135n .

For information on individual entrepreneur reporting on PSN, see the article “Individual entrepreneur reporting on PSN - pros and cons.”

IMPORTANT! The absence of the need for accounting for entrepreneurs entails that they do not have to submit financial statements.

What is accounting

Accounting is a system of comprehensive collection and synthesis of information, as well as careful recording of facts about the economic activities of an economic entity. Simply put, it is a record of every transaction performed .

For example, an entrepreneur shipped goods - issued a delivery note and an invoice (if working with VAT), received money for them by bank transfer - recorded the receipt of funds to the current account.

Accounting is necessary to know exactly how things are going for a businessman: using the balance sheet, you can see the presence of real estate and equipment in the property, what is the amount of credit obligations, and whether there are receivables. Accounting statements as a whole allow for a sober assessment of the financial position of an individual entrepreneur as of a certain date.

Accountants account for every transaction, even the purchase of pens and erasers

Many people think that accounting and tax are identical concepts, synonyms. However, this idea is fundamentally wrong; these are completely different things, which even have different goals:

accounting's main goal is informational (providing data on the financial condition of an economic entity);
for tax accounting - fiscal (to enable the state to monitor the correctness of calculation and payment of taxes).

Thus, accounting is necessary so that an entrepreneur can soberly assess the financial situation, see prospects and formulate a strategy for further development. And the tax office is intended to systematize information about the subject and formalize it in accordance with the primary documentation. For what? To correctly and timely calculate taxes, guided by the rules prescribed in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

It is important to understand well the difference between accounting and tax accounting, since only then will it be possible to establish their proper management.

How to keep books of income and expenses

There are a number of criteria that entrepreneurs (and other persons filling out the relevant registers) must comply with when maintaining books of income and expenses:

books must be kept in Russian;
each tax period must have its own accounting book;
all completed business transactions are reflected in the register in full;
entries in the book must meet the principle of reliability and be recorded continuously and in chronological order;
as the basis for each business operation, the individual entrepreneur must have a supporting source document;
it is allowed to keep registers on both paper and electronic media (at the same time, at the end of the tax period, the electronic version of the books must be printed, bound and numbered);
The rules for correcting erroneous entries in the book must be followed: corrections must be documented, confirmed by the signature of the entrepreneur with the obligatory indication of the date of the correction.

What do accounting services for individual entrepreneurs include?

If we take into account only the cost of accounting services, it may seem that the most profitable option is to do the accounting yourself. However, this method may only be suitable at the initial stages of business development. Those planning to expand will definitely need accounting optimization. In some cases, this can be done by transferring financial statements to an outsourcing organization.

So, in what cases is it advisable to use the services of remote specialists and what is their cost?

Accounting support is relevant:

If business development is progressing at a good pace and you need to clearly reflect the flow of funds.
If there is an accountant (or even several) on staff, however, when compiling reports, he regularly makes mistakes.
In the event that the chief accountant leaves the company without transferring matters to another specialist.
If the tax inspectorate identifies many shortcomings during an audit.

What services do specialists from accounting outsourcing organizations provide to individual entrepreneurs:

Maintain accounting in full and in accordance with PBU.
Maintain tax records in accordance with the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
They check whether the primary documentation is correct and enter the information into 1C.
They compile all the necessary reports and send them to the relevant authorities: the Federal Tax Service, the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, the Social Insurance Fund.
Calculate salaries, vacation and sick leave, make relevant reports and annual certificates in form 2-NDFL.
Maintain personalized records and prepare personalized reporting.
Prepare payment orders for payment of tax contributions.
They connect the organization to systems that allow it to submit reports to tax and extra-budgetary funds in electronic form.
They monitor the safe level of tax burden and determine how well it meets the expectations of the Federal Tax Service.
Help to pass desk checks.
They carry out reconciliations with the Federal Tax Service, the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation and the Social Insurance Fund, and receive the required final certificates.
They provide advice on labor relations, accounting, tax legislation, and financial and economic activities.
They unload from the bank, process bank statements, and determine which accounting documents are missing.
Process cash documents and generate advance reports.
Process primary documentation received from clients; reconcile missing documents with suppliers; create missing documents.
Conducts reconciliation with clients and suppliers.
Calculate taxes and suggest ways to reduce the tax burden.
Declarations are completed electronically and sent to the Federal Tax Service, Pension Fund, Social Insurance Fund and other government bodies.
Interact with government agencies.
Maintain personnel records and calculate employee salaries.
They create payment orders for the transfer of wages, payment of tax contributions and other payments.

The list of accounting services for individual entrepreneurs may vary depending on the area in which the company operates. The characteristics of the business also matter.

Possible accounting objects for entrepreneurs

It is worth understanding that the accounting registers that entrepreneurs should maintain are not limited to books of income and expenses. Thus, an individual entrepreneur is not exempt (if he has a corresponding obligation, circumstances or objects) from accounting for:

personnel;
cash transactions;
fixed assets;
NMA, etc.

Individual entrepreneurs may also be subject to the payment of certain taxes (VAT, transport, property tax, personal income tax), contributions to extra-budgetary funds, etc. In this case, he will have to not only maintain the appropriate accounting registers, but also generate reports based on them and submit them to regulatory authorities.

To learn how an entrepreneur can switch to electronic reporting, read the article “How to connect electronic reporting for individual entrepreneurs (nuances)?”

Useful tools for individual entrepreneur accounting

Programs that help with online accounting will make it more transparent and make the work of an entrepreneur easier.

Special programs simplify accounting

Can an individual entrepreneur, at his own discretion, keep accounting records and submit financial statements?

Despite the right granted to entrepreneurs by Law No. 402-FZ not to conduct accounting or prepare financial statements, many individual entrepreneurs do not refuse accounting. And there are objective reasons for this.

The ultimate goal of accounting is the preparation of reports that reliably reflect the financial condition of the entity. The information contained in these reports is used not only by the state, but also by internal corporate consumers of information (owners, managers, employees) and third-party stakeholders (investors, creditors, counterparties, auditors). These users make certain important economic and strategic decisions based on such reporting.

An individual entrepreneur who does not conduct accounting and does not prepare financial statements may face a number of objective difficulties:

refusal to receive a loan, investment, leased property;
refusal of partners to cooperate;
the problematic nature of control over accounts receivable and payable;
inability to qualitatively analyze current performance indicators and make important management decisions;
inability to organize effective financial internal control, etc.

In addition, there may be situations when an entrepreneur will not be able to refuse to maintain accounting records and prepare financial statements for internal corporate reasons. For example, if the individual entrepreneur is part of a holding company that prepares consolidated statements and exercises strict internal control over the activities of its members.

Note that external users (usually for lending and investment purposes) may need accounting statements (forms 1, 2), certified not only by the signature of the entrepreneur, but also by the mark of the tax authority.

IMPORTANT! If an entrepreneur has decided to conduct accounting and prepare financial statements, he can submit them to the Federal Tax Service in the general manner. Tax officials do not have the right to refuse to accept an individual entrepreneur’s financial statements and put a mark on their acceptance on them.

You will find a sample of form 1 in the article “Procedure for drawing up a balance sheet (example)”.

The best cloud online accounting: TOP 8 services

There are a lot of special services for remote accounting. We have selected the best of them and compiled a comparison table. This will help you choose the simplest, most convenient and appropriate service for each business - from small individual entrepreneurs to serious LLCs.

"My business"

More suitable for individual entrepreneurs using the simplified and UTII . Does not work with non-profit organizations. “My Business” is one of the most popular cloud services for online accounting. Provides a trial period of 30 days.

Through this cloud accounting service you can conduct accounting, warehouse, management, and tax accounting. It is also easy to calculate wages through it.

Naturally, all these services are provided within a certain tariff. There are three in total:

Internet accounting. Just an automated online service and several consultations with accounting experts. Price – 833 rubles per month.
Personal accountant. The tariff includes an automated bot for preparing primary documents, a personnel officer, an accountant and a business assistant. Costs from 6600 rubles per month. If your turnover is more than 500 thousand per month, this tariff will not work.
Back office. A full-fledged team to resolve any issues. An expanded version of the previous tariff - professionals will resolve personnel issues and calculate salaries. The team also includes a lawyer. Price – minimum 12,000 rubles per month.

One of the main advantages is low cost. Even a full-fledged back office costs quite adequately. At least it’s much cheaper than keeping specialists on staff. “My Business” is easy to understand. And the liability of online accounting is insured for 100 million rubles.

There are few disadvantages - you cannot conduct personnel records and double-entry accounting through “My Business”. In addition, the service does not conduct financial analysis.

"Kontour.Elba"

Works with individual entrepreneurs and LLCs on UTII and simplified tax system.

For new users, the online accounting service will provide a trial period of 30 days. After it expires, you will have to choose one of four tariffs and continue to work according to it. Description of tariffs:

Zero . It includes zero reporting to the Federal Tax Service (except for reports for employees). Preparation and sending via the Internet. You don't have to pay for it.
Economy _ Suitable for individual entrepreneurs only. Preparation of a report to the Federal Tax Service (except for employees) and calculation of taxes for individual entrepreneurs. If possible, reduce taxes under the simplified tax system “Income” or UTII (for insurance premiums). Price – 1900 rubles per quarter. Per year – 4900 rubles.
Business . It includes the Economy package. The preparation of documents, calculation of expenses and income, and so on are added. Cost – 4,500 rubles per quarter or 12,000 rubles per year.
Premium . The most functional and convenient. It includes all the previous ones. The ability to calculate salaries, taxes and contributions for employees is also added. The service will prepare and send a report to the Social Insurance Fund and the Pension Fund. The price includes professional consultations. This pleasure costs 6,000 rubles per quarter or 18,000 rubles per year.

A big advantage is the availability of special applications for smartphones. This will allow you to monitor your accounting not only from a computer or laptop, but also using a mobile phone. A nice gift from Elba for beginning individual entrepreneurs - free use of the Premium tariff for a year. To do this, the individual entrepreneur must be registered less than three months ago.

There are also disadvantages. Through Elba it is impossible to carry out warehouse accounting, prepare management reporting and conduct financial analysis.

Attention! It is possible to get access to Elba free of charge for one year. To do this, you need to open a current account with Alfa Bank, after which you will receive a promotional code that gives you a year of free service at the maximum rate.

"Sky"

According to the developers, the service was primarily created for small businesses. Works with individual entrepreneurs and small business managers. Taxation systems - any, except for UTII and patents. Does not require any knowledge.

The test period here is shorter and is only two weeks versus a month for previous cloud accounting services. "Sky" offers several opportunities for the entrepreneur.

The first is a regular subscription to the service. Allows you to independently maintain records and use all services. Includes preparation of primary documents, automatic calculation of wages, taxes and contributions. Allows you to generate current reports and close the month without problems. Cost (in rubles): 650 per month, 1800 per quarter and 6500 per year.

Next are comprehensive packages for entrepreneurs. They are meant to be in addition to the main account. The packages provide such opportunities as information requests from the taxpayer (on debts, for reconciliation with the tax office or changing the tax system), issuing an electronic signature and much more. The cost of packages differs depending on the type of organization and taxation system:

For individual entrepreneurs on the simplified tax system (without employees) – 6800 rubles.
For an IM on the simplified tax system (with employees) – 8,000 rubles.
For an LLC using the simplified tax system or OSNO – 8,900 rubles.

Sky is best suited for Alfa-Bank users, since the cloud accounting service is integrated into the banking system. Thanks to this, the client can quickly import statements and send payments. Note that the Elba and My Business services also have integration with Alfa Bank. Integration allows the service to automatically receive information on your banking transactions, on the basis of which the tax will later be calculated.

Outsourcing "Button"

“Button” will become an almost full-fledged back office for accounting. She will take care of almost all the paperwork and

The team includes a lawyer, an accountant and a business assistant. They will be able to fully engage with the company and not only manage its papers, but also solve legal problems, give useful advice on further development and search for opportunities.

The set provides all users with the following:

Reducing taxes and receiving benefits for business.
Closing the month, posting all documents and statements.
A nice bonus is insurance against errors of the “Button” service. Size – 100 million rubles.
A proprietary application that stores all the necessary information on accounting and other issues related to its work.

All these services are included in the service at any tariff. But each has its own characteristics and additional capabilities. The service is offered in three tariffs with a different set of services:

Mini (7000 rubles per month). Works only with simplified tax system. The functionality is compressed, but suitable for small companies and individual entrepreneurs. Includes only the preparation and submission of reports, preparation for inspections and management of two employees.
Button (24,000 rubles per month). Works with all tax systems. Employees will maintain bank accounts, work with paper documents and counterparties (including foreign ones).
Plus button (31,000 rubles per month). In addition to all functions, it allows you to pre-calculate tax and reduce it, make a presentation when working with contractors, and resolve controversial legal issues.

"Button" also works with Alfa Bank, Tochka and Tinkoff. If the client has accounts with one of these organizations, then the service will also be able to service the current account.

"Bukhsoft"

Almost the most profitable online accounting service. It is simple, clear and includes many features. The online cloud accounting service works with all tax systems. Through Bukhsoft you can deal not only with accounting matters, but also with:

monitor trade and related documents;
calculate payroll and manage employees;
prepare and test reports;
send reports online to the relevant authorities and work remotely with counterparties;
formulate the company’s accounting policy using the OSN or simplified tax system;
plan tasks for yourself and performers;
maintain an accountant's calendar;
connect an online cash register.

The minimum cost of the package is 1838 rubles per year (Accounting and Salary and HR). Sending reports online costs from 2,938 rubles per year. Prices are almost imperceptible for any company capable of getting out of the red.

The standard test period is 30 days. After this, you will have to select a service package and pay for it.

"1C Bookkeeping.Online"

A separate service that allows you to maintain accounting, tax and personnel records remotely. The site also offers express business audits and tax advice in all its aspects.

The cost is calculated quite flexibly. When calculating the price per month, the following are taken into account:

selected tariff (comprehensive service, reporting, payment, consultation and personnel decisions);
type of ownership;
taxation system;
how many operations need to be performed per month (from 1 to 150 or more).

The minimum cost will be 800 rubles per month. The maximum is more than 60 thousand rubles, but this is already for large companies with a large document flow and many operations.

A nice bonus is that you can register a new business through the service.

1C Accounting Cloud

It is, rather, a service designed for online use of 1C programs. All a full-time accountant needs is a browser and an Internet connection. There are no special tools or features. The main advantage of this approach is the availability of the database from anywhere.

Specifically, Scloud offers enough advantages for a monthly subscription price of 700 rubles:

uploading an existing database to the site;
professional consultations;
only licensed software;
the ability to work not only through a browser, but also a special client program;
additional highly specialized software.

Such services will allow the accountant to greatly facilitate the daily routine and work with greater convenience. 14 trial days are provided for evaluation.

However, this does not negate the fact that there are no additional helping services, much less a back office, here.

1C accounting “Live!”

The second cloud online accounting service based on 1C programs. Like the previous one, it allows you to work remotely on absolutely any accounting operations using licensed software.

"Live!" offers clients:

a flexible system for customizing packages - from basic programs to industry ones (medicine, hotel business, construction, and so on);
free transfer of database and program configurations to servers;
5 gigabytes of disk space on the Cloud for database storage;
own 1C server for greater reliability with a convenient configurator.

A trial period of 7 days will allow you to familiarize yourself with all the possibilities. You can use the software under an existing license. Or rent a new one.