The act of reconciliation of mutual settlements between individuals. How to read the reconciliation act correctly: tips and rules

In order not to be mistaken in mutual settlements, legal entities and individual entrepreneurs draw up a reconciliation act based on the results of the period.

What is an act of reconciliation

An act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is a document that is drawn up by two legal entities or entity and IP to agree on payments and understand whether one owes the other.

This is not a binding document: it is drawn up if both parties agree to sign it. Despite this, the reconciliation act is used by most organizations in all sectors of the economy.

What is used for

Typically, companies reconcile data on certain contracts or invoices for a specific period of time. The purpose of drawing up a reconciliation act is to find and record discrepancies in all receipts of money.

Identified debt helps the parties to agree on the timing of its repayment. The act of reconciliation, together with the contract, invoices, waybills, will confirm the violation of the deadlines when applying to the court.

An act of reconciliation of mutual settlements must be drawn up annually in order to repay debts, if any. Article 196 of the Civil Code establishes the limitation period for cases related to the return of debt. And according to Art. 200 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, you can apply to the court no later than three years from the moment the debt was discovered.

If you do nothing within three years, then the debtor in court can refer to the fact that the statute of limitations has expired. The court will decide in his favor, and you will not receive your money.

The statute of limitations can be interrupted. To do this, you need to draw up and sign a reconciliation act within three years after the appearance of the debt. If the debtor who signed the act has not paid the debt, then you can go to court, which will decide to interrupt the statute of limitations. And you'll have three more years to collect the debt.

Who is involved in the preparation of the document

Any of the parties to the agreement may request an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements. It is compiled by an accountant for financial documents: invoices, invoices, acts of work performed, etc.

Before sending the document to the counterparty signs it Chief Accountant, head of the organization or other authorized person. The reconciliation act will have legal force if it is signed by the head of the organization or the accountant has a power of attorney that allows him to sign all important documents of the organization.

How to reconcile accounts

The act of reconciliation is made up of one of the positions:

By product name or article number.
Under contract.
For a specific delivery.
For a certain period of time.

It is better to draw up an act after receiving the money closing the contract, or after the goods have been delivered.

It happens that a reconciliation act is drawn up during an inventory of the property and funds of the organization. Usually, after such a check, a receivable or payable is found. Based on the results of the inventory, you must immediately draw up a reconciliation report and send it to the counterparty.

How to make a reconciliation act

generally accepted standard form there is no deed. The document is drawn up in free form or according to its own template.

Usually, the act consists of an introductory part, which indicates the name of the document, the date it was drawn up, the purpose and details of the organizations that signed it, and tables that indicate the dates of transfer of money and receipt of goods, details of supporting documents, debit and credit amounts.

The act is printed in two copies. Each side gets its own.

Send the signed and completed acts to the counterparty. The counterparty verifies the information specified in the document. If there are no discrepancies, then the counterparty signs the act, keeps one copy for himself, and sends the second back.

Since 2016, documents can not be certified with a seal. But it is better to do this, because without a seal, the reconciliation act will not be valid in court.

In order for the second party to sign the reconciliation act as soon as possible, indicate the time frame in which the counterparty must return the second copy back.

How to create an act in Elba

Elba generates a reconciliation act in the "Contractors" section → the required counterparty → create a new → reconciliation period. The act will contain data from the "Money" and "Documents" sections.

For example, if an individual entrepreneur in Elba has an outgoing invoice, an incoming act and a receipt in the “Money” section from one LLC, then the reconciliation act will look like this:

According to this act, the LLC owes IP 119,400 rubles, and if the LLC signs it, it will agree with the debt.

An act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is a document that reflects the state of settlements between two parties (companies, counterparties) for a certain period of time. In our article, we will teach you how to fill it out correctly and give an example for download.

Sample Forms

The current legislation does not approve a single form of the reconciliation act, therefore, if necessary, each enterprise can develop this form independently.

Samples of filling out the forms of the reconciliation act and an approximate form of the form are presented below:

Why do you need an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements

If it is planned to extend large contracts;
If you need to organize a settlement;
During the inventory period;
When one of the parties trades in installments;
To draw up reports on debts for management, regulatory authorities, etc.;
if goods of a very high value are involved in mutual settlements;
To clarify the settlements between the parties.

The legislation does not oblige organizations to draw up acts of reconciliation of mutual settlements at a certain time, this is decided by the organization itself.

The reconciliation act consists of two parts - for two enterprises. The left column is filled in by the initiator of the drafting of the act, the right - by his counterparty. Usually, the reconciliation act looks like a list of documents sorted by creation date. Or, instead of documents, the operations performed are listed: sale, purchase, payment, etc.

Form of the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements

act number;
the period for which the reconciliation is carried out;
names of the parties (organization and person acting on its behalf);
details of the agreement between the parties;
Details of transactions (with numbers and dates of invoices, payment orders or other papers confirming the delivery and payment for services or goods), the amount of transactions;
Final balance in monetary terms;
Handwritten signatures of the accountant and director, seal;
Dates of signing the Act.

The document is drawn up in duplicate and signed by the chief accountant and the director of the organization. If there are no property disputes between organizations, and the drafting of the act is purely nominal, it can only be signed by chief accountants. But such an act will not be valid in court.

Then, to check their own register of transactions and enter the results in the right column, both copies are sent to the accounting department of the counterparty. If the counterparty agrees with the data specified in the act, then a second seal and signatures are put. One act is returned to the initiator, the second one remains with the counterparty.

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If discrepancies are found, a note is made at the bottom of the document. If, due to discrepancies discovered, the counterparty refuses to sign the act, and the initiator's claims are confirmed by other documents, the initiator may sue. To speed up the resolution of such disputes in the contract, it is necessary to stipulate in advance the time frame within which the counterparty is obliged to make its own calculations and return the signed act or pay off debts.

Reconciliation of mutual settlements and drawing up an act are carried out when making trade transactions and determining the financial obligations of the parties. The act of reconciliation of settlements is a secondary document. When drawing up an act of reconciliation, the occurrence of disagreements between the parties is minimized.

Reconciliation of mutual settlements is a procedure during which the parties confirm the absence or presence of debt in the settlements. This is necessary to prevent the occurrence of disputes, or to quickly resolve them.

The counterparty may refuse to carry out the reconciliation act, but this often means hiding the debt.

According to the law, a company cannot force a counterparty to force a reconciliation. The act is drawn up on a voluntary basis.

What is the procedure for reconciliation of mutual settlements?

Reconciliation procedure:

Oral discussion of commitments;
Providing data on debt obligations;
Entering data into the act of reconciliation;
Attaching to the act of reconciliation of settlements a link to the agreement between the parties;
Statement of the necessary signatures and seals. Special attention is given the signature of the accountant, without which the act will not be valid.

What documents are required for settlements?

Is it necessary to draw up an act of reconciliation?

Reconciliation of calculations and drawing up an act are required in the following cases:

Providing the buyer with installments or deferred payment;
Constant cooperation between the seller and the buyer;
The company offers a wide range of products;
High cost of goods;
Further conclusion of agreements between the seller and the buyer.

Drawing up an act is obligatory for insurance of the enterprise. If the counterparty does not want to spend time and energy on drawing up an act, you should independently reconcile.

Who completes and signs the act form?

The preparation and signing of the act is carried out by an employee of the accounting department of the company. Each firm creates your own form of the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements, since its form is not defined by law. The accountant enters all the data provided into the document and puts his signature in a certain place of the act.

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In addition to the accountant, the director of the company also puts his signature.

After drawing up the act, both copies are provided for signature to the counterparty.

Algorithm for drawing up an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements

The document can be drawn up in free form, since the legislation does not provide for a single, unified form. When filling out, you can follow the template.

When drawing up the act, attention should be paid to:

Indication of the reasons for which it is necessary to draw up an act;
Full personal and passport details of the parties;
The exact date of preparation and signing of the document;
Indication of the calendar period during which the calculations will be clarified;
Details of contracts;
The size of the debt of the parties;
Seals and signatures.

Most often, the reconciliation act is drawn up in the form of a register of documents that are ordered by date of creation, have all the necessary signatures and seals. A reconciliation act should be drawn up at the beginning of cooperation, a transaction, or immediately after the signing of the last act.

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In the absence of the details of any party in the document, the act does not become invalid, but has less force in court, provided that all other necessary data are indicated correctly.

The main sections of the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements:

Date of drawing up the act;
The name of the organization that prepared the act and the details of the counterparty;
Indication of the full name of officials;
The name of the operation;
Specify debit and credit amounts.

Form, details and structure of the act of mutual settlements

The act of mutual settlements can be drawn up in any form. The act must include all the details of the parties, an indication of the reconciliation periods, the balance for the beginning and end of the period.

The information in the act is provided sequentially. Credit and debit amounts, as well as the names of operations, fit into the table.

The act of mutual settlements may have several pages, one for each heading.

Document formatting requirements

The main requirements for registration, without which the document has no legal force:

The presence of signatures of the accountant, director and counterparty (debtor), without which the document is not valid;
The act of reconciliation must be drawn up on the letterhead of the company. Financial and spelling errors are not allowed;
Two authentic copies of the document signed by the parties;
On the part of the compiling enterprise, the signature is put either by the director or the chief accountant. Their signatures must be necessarily certified by personal seals.

Where can I download a sample act for free?

You can download the reconciliation act in Excel format for free

Optimal timing for reconciliation

The act is drawn up for any period necessary for reconciliation. It can be for a month or a year. There are no strict requirements for registration, timing and frequency.

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Basic rules for drawing up an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements:

legally correct form act;
Drawing up an act by the chief accountant of the enterprise;
Availability of all necessary details of the parties;
The presence of a reference to the main contract between the parties;
The period for which data is reconciled;
The presence of seals and signatures of all parties. Without the counterparty's signature, the act is not valid.

Putting your signature on the document on reconciliation of mutual settlements, the counterparty acknowledges the existence of a debt that must be repaid.

The role of the act of mutual settlements in the litigation

If disputes arise and one of the parties goes to court, the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements plays an important role.

If you have a reconciliation document, you can avoid the process of proving, since all the necessary data are indicated in the act and certified with a seal and signature. The act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is a weighty proof.

When attempting to resolve a dispute in pre-trial procedure, the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is a confirmation of the recognition by the party of the existence of debt obligations.

Only the act of reconciliation, which is signed by both counterparties, the accountant and the director of the company, has legal force.

The counterparty may refuse to complete the reconciliation act and affix a personal signature on the document. It is impossible to legally influence his decision.

You can protect yourself from such situations by prescribing the mandatory completion of the reconciliation act in the contract for the provision of services or the sale of goods.

What to do if mutual settlements were incorrect?

In the event of disputes in judicial practice, judges often expressed the opinion that the reconciliation act does not serve as the main evidence of the existence of debt for the counterparty, but nevertheless it is a significant reinforcement of other documents indicating it.

will tell you how to quickly and easily compose this document.

If there is an act, the judge has the right to increase the limitation period for considering the claim. In this case, the beginning of the term is calculated based on the date indicated in the document, without taking into account the date for which the dispute arose between the parties.

The signing of the reconciliation act by the counterparties is evidence that the parties confirm the existence of a relationship between them and indicate the exact data necessary for reconciliation of settlements.

The document is evidence of the absence of debt obligations.

Do you want to reconcile mutual settlements in 1C? Watch the following video for detailed instructions:

The organization should ensure the completeness and reliability of the data reflected in its accounting records and financial statements. For these purposes, an inventory of settlements is also carried out. It is aimed at checking the validity of the amounts that are on the accounts accounting. An inventory of settlements is made on the basis of reconciliation acts drawn up and agreed with counterparties. Recall that it is necessary to carry out an inventory of calculations, at least, before compiling annual financial statements (clause 27 of the Regulation, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of July 29, 1998 No. 34n). In other cases, counterparties determine the frequency of drawing up reconciliation acts on their own.

How to draw up an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements with counterparties, we will tell in our consultation.

How to make a reconciliation act?

There is no single, mandatory form of the reconciliation act (form). Therefore, the organization can develop such a form on its own.

In the context of accounting automation, the function of generating reconciliation acts is usually provided by the accounting program. You only need to select from the directory the counterparty for which you want to generate a reconciliation act, indicate the date on which the reconciliation act is drawn up, as well as the period for which settlements with the counterparty will be shown in the reconciliation act. Also possible varying degrees detailing reconciliation acts: for the counterparty as a whole or, say, in the context of a specific contract.

Of course, the act of reconciliation can also be drawn up manually. But this process, of course, will be more laborious.

For a reconciliation act, a sample form is usually a table divided into 2 parts - to reflect data on transactions by each of the counterparties. It indicates the name of the operation, the supporting documents, the debit and credit amounts. And what is the opening balance in the act of reconciliation? At the beginning and end of the table in the reconciliation act, information is usually provided on the balance at the beginning and end of the reconciliation period, that is, on the balance of the debt. The debit balance in the section filled out according to the data of organization A shows how much organization B owes it, information about the operations of which is reflected in the opposite part of the table. Accordingly, for example, the closing credit balance means how much Entity A owes Entity B at the end of the reconciliation period. And what does the debt in favor in the act of reconciliation mean? It shows the amount and the counterparty, to which there is a debt at the end of the period reflected in the reconciliation act.

The organization that initiated the drawing up of the reconciliation report transfers it to its counterparty and offers to fill in the table with information on the status of settlements according to its data. Sometimes, when companies are sure that there will be no discrepancies, the reconciliation act is transmitted with both parts of the reconciliation table already filled out (that is, for both counterparties). The second party only needs to sign it. If discrepancies are identified, the counterparty will not sign such an act, but may transfer its copy of the reconciliation act or send a protocol of disagreements, which is also drawn up in any form.

When drawing up reconciliation acts, it is important to ensure that they are signed by authorized persons. This is the head of the organization or a person acting on behalf of the organization by proxy. Indeed, otherwise, it will be difficult to prove that the counterparty really recognized his debt on the basis of such a reconciliation act.

For the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements, a sample of filling out 2018 is given below.

For the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements, the form can be downloaded free of charge at the link below.

Act of reconciliation and limitation period

Recall that the signing by the parties of the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements interrupts the limitation period, which in the general case is 3 years. After all, drawing up an act with the debtor means that he recognized his debt (Article 203 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Consequently, the limitation period after the drawing up of the act of reconciliation begins to flow again. That is why, if the organization is sure that the debtor will not return the money, signing a reconciliation act with him will only delay the moment when the creditor can write off the debt at a loss and take it into account when taxing profits. Learn more about debt relief expired statute of limitations we told .

Often, in the accounting department of a company or from an individual entrepreneur, representatives of a counterparty request an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements, reflecting the state of settlements between counterparties on a certain date. Is this document really needed, by whom and for what it is used, how it is filled out - we will consider in more detail.

Why do you need an act of reconciliation

Heads of enterprises or individual entrepreneurs in their work are constantly faced with the need to understand who owes how much and to whom. You can get the information you need from accounting programs and registers, but what if the counterparty does not agree with it? To check the correctness of accounting for documents, deducing the balance, a special document is used - an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements. Based on it, it is easier to detect discrepancies and confirm the presence or absence of receivables / payables according to accounting data.

Who completes and signs the act

Completing the acts of reconciliation of mutual settlements is usually the responsibility of the accountant who maintains this section: for suppliers - to the employee receiving primary documents for deliveries, for buyers and customers - to the one who unsubscribes goods, materials for sale. After filling out and signing, the act is transferred to the second party to enter their data.

The completed document must be signed by representatives of both parties. Who exactly - depends on the purpose of the reconciliation:

For the purposes of confirming settlements between organizations (IP) and accounting - by the heads of the parties and / or chief accountants.

For others - for example, to substantiate a claim or go to court, acts of reconciliation of mutual settlements with counterparties must be signed by managers, individual entrepreneurs personally or by authorized representatives with confirmation of their authority. Moreover, for a representative of an individual entrepreneur, the power of attorney must be notarized. When signing, you need to receive (or attach) certified copies of documents confirming the right to sign.

Such a procedure for signing is not approved by law, according to general rule the manager is responsible for the state of accounting, and it is he who has the right, as the sole executive body of the organization, to sign any documents on behalf of the company, however, in business practice, they are guided by the options outlined.

The form "Act of reconciliation of mutual settlements", a sample design are given below.

Consequences of signing the act

For accounting and tax accounting

The act of reconciliation of mutual settlements interrupts the limitation period (in general cases, 3 years in accordance with Article 196 of the Civil Code), i.e. after its signing by the parties, the specified period begins to be calculated again. Therefore, the signing of the document by the counterparty indicates that this party recognizes the debt (including overdue under the contract), but does not yet pay it, and the other party agrees with this. In such cases, upon the expiration of the limitation period, in tax accounting it is necessary to include the overdue "receivable" or "creditor" in non-operating expenses or income, respectively.

To collect a debt

Reconciliation act - a document recognized in court when considering cases of debt, monetary obligations, if it is completely filled out with all the necessary details and signed by authorized persons. The grounds for the requirements are still primary documents (agreement, consignment notes, waybills, acts on the work and services performed, invoices and UPDs, payment orders, cash orders and others), but in their absence, the act serves as evidence of the obligation that existed at the time of its signing. If there is a reconciliation act, you can not store part of the documents for more than a 5-year period under the current contract.

Filling order

For the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements, the form is not approved government bodies, you can develop it yourself. In one of the most common accounting programs - 1C, the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements is filled in automatically, according to the documents entered into the program; you only need to specify the counterparty and the reconciliation period, as well as the accounting account (if accounting was kept in the context of contracts, you can display the calculations separately for each contract or for all together as a whole for the counterparty). The period is chosen arbitrarily, it is more convenient when it coincides with the tax or reporting period - for example, a quarter or a year. You can download the act of reconciliation of mutual settlements below.

What is indicated:

In the upper part ("header" of the document):

between whom reconciliation is carried out - the name of counterparties and responsible persons;

reconciliation period;

the contract under which the transactions were made;

Many do not indicate the place of filling, this is acceptable, but from the point of view of document management, it is more correct to indicate where the act was drawn up.

An act of reconciliation of mutual settlements, a sample filling-2019, we provide at the end of the article.

Below in the text of the act, or in a special table, accounting indicators are signed, namely:

balance of settlements at the beginning and end of the period, turnover for the period;

names of operations, numbers and dates of primary documents with amounts on them.

In conclusion, it states:

a final record of the presence / absence of debt and in favor of whom, if any;

positions are indicated, signatures and transcripts of F.I.O. signatories of the deed.

Since the organization (IP) does not have to have a seal, the seal can be omitted; if there is, it is better to certify the document with it.

First, the filling party enters all its data into the form, prints it out.

After signing, the document is transferred to the second party. The counterparty checks the entered indicators, fills out his side of the act (sometimes, if there are no discrepancies, the counterparty simply signs the act, but it is more correct to completely fill in all the columns).

If discrepancies are identified, primary documents are raised, their indicators are checked (for example, if the difference is in the amount of the invoice, you need to check the prices and quantity, the grand total). Missing duplicates and copies of documents are requested. After the discrepancies are resolved, it is recommended to draw up an updated reconciliation act.

The act of reconciliation of mutual settlements - sample filling:

The form "Act of reconciliation of mutual settlements" can be downloaded below.