What you need to know about the exchange of electronic documents. Electronic documents: types, requirements and features of workflow Is the term copy applicable to an electronic document?

The Tax Code of the Russian Federation (relevant also for “simplified”) states that expenses accounted for for tax purposes must be confirmed by documents drawn up in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. The Tax Code does not establish a specific list of documents that confirm the expenses incurred by the taxpayer. Therefore, the confirmation of the data tax accounting are the primary documents that meet the requirements of the accounting legislation (the Ministry of Finance drew attention to this nuance in letters dated 22.06.2016 No. 03-07-11 / 36393, dated 05.12.2014 No. 03-03-06 / 1/62458). In other words, the “primary”, in addition to the main function - accounting and registration of the facts of economic life - plays an important role in tax accounting. Despite the fact that a lot of materials (including in our magazine) are devoted to the problem of primary documents registration, questions always arise on this topic. We will give answers to some of them today, taking into account the explanations of the official bodies.

Rules for processing primary documents

When drawing up primary documents, an economic entity must first of all comply with the rules established by Art. 9 of the Federal Law of 06.12.2011 No. 402-FZ (hereinafter - Law No. 402-FZ). It is in this article that the requirement is fixed to formalize every (!) Fact of economic life with a primary accounting document. In addition, the named article defines a list of mandatory details that such a document must contain (clause 2):

title of the document;

date of preparation of the document;

the name of the economic entity that compiled the document;

the value of the natural and (or) monetary measurement of the fact of economic life, indicating the units of measurement;

the name of the position of the person (persons) who made (made) the transaction, operation and who is responsible (responsible) for its execution;

signatures of the persons who completed the transaction, the operation and those responsible for its execution, indicating the surname and initials or other details necessary to identify these persons.

Part 5 of Art. 9 of Law No. 402-FZ provides for the possibility of drawing up an accounting document in electronic form.

Essential moment : accounting legislation provides for the possibility of issuing primary accounting documents on paper and / or in in electronic format... It turns out that Law No. 402-FZ does not require simultaneous presence primary paper and electronic documents. In a word, an economic entity has the right to independently choose in what form to draw up accounting documents and exchange them with counterparties - in paper or electronic, since none of them is named as a priority by Law No. 402-FZ (provided that they are drawn up and signed with taking into account the requirements of the current legislation). True, the requirements of tax and accounting legislation differ.

The nuances of processing electronic primary documents

For a document drawn up in electronic form to be equivalent to a paper document, it must contain all the required details of the primary accounting document (their list is given above) and an electronic signature (ES).

Recall: the current legislation provides for the use of three types of signatures for signing electronic documents - simple, reinforced unqualified and enhanced qualified.

By virtue of paragraph 3 of Art. 21 of Law No. 402-FZ, types of electronic signatures used for signing documents accountingare established by federal accounting standards. However, the standard, the provisions of which would determine which signature (of the three above-mentioned) should be used to sign electronic primary documents, has not yet been adopted. The current PBU does not say anything about the types electronic signatureto be used to sign primary documents.

In this regard, the Ministry of Finance, for accounting and tax purposes, allows the possibility of signing an "electronic" primary any the electronic signature provided for by Law No. 402-FZ (see, for example, Letter No. 03-03-06 / 2/53176 of 12.09.2016).

For accounting, this assumption of the financiers is perhaps fair.

Note:to organize the storage of accounting documents, including primary accounting documents, accounting registers, drawn up in the form of an electronic document signed with an electronic signature, the Regulations on documents and workflow in accounting, approved by the USSR Ministry of Finance dated July 29, 1983, No. 105 (in part, not contradicting the relevant laws and regulations legal actspublished later), and the Rules approved by the Order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated March 31, 2015 No. 526 (see annex to the Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated January 22, 2016 No. 07-04-09 / 2355).

But not for tax accounting. By this issue should take into account the recent clarifications of officials of the Ministry of Finance in the Letter of 20.12.2017 No. 03-03-06 / 1/85248. They stressed that relations in the field of the use of electronic signatures in civil transactions regulated by Federal Law No. 63-FZ dated 06.04.2011. Thus, the conditions for the recognition of electronic documents certified by ES as equivalent to paper documents containing the handwritten signature of the persons who issued them are defined in Art. 6 of Law No. 63-FZ.

For example, from clause 1 of the named article it follows that an electronic document signed qualified ES , taken for execution or notice on a par with paper document in almost all cases , except for a situation where the requirement to draw up a paper document is enshrined in federal laws and regulations legal acts... And clause 2 defines the conditions for the recognition of an electronic document signed plain or unqualified electronic signature , equivalent to a paper document in the agreement between the participants of electronic interaction. There are two conditions:

1. When using simple ES the agreement must contain the rules (Art. 9 of Law No. 63-FZ) for determining the person who signs the electronic document, as well as the obligation of the person who creates and (or) uses the simple ES key to maintain its confidentiality.

2. When using unqualified electronic signature the agreement should provide for the procedure for verifying the electronic signature.

Thus, when organizing electronic document flow between the "simplified agent" and his counterparties, the parties have the right to use any kind electronic signature (for example, a simple electronic signature). For interaction with counterparties (execution of documents for transactions), such a signature is sufficient. At the same time, in the Tax Code not contained no additional requirements for the execution of primary documents in electronic form.

In the same time cases in which information in electronic form, signed with a simple electronic signature, is recognized electronic document, equivalent a paper document signed with a handwritten signature, not defined in the Tax Code (see Letter No. 03-03-06 / 1/85248). But! It directly names a number of cases where taxpayers are required to apply qualified ES , eg:

when interacting electronically with tax authorities (sending information messages) (clauses 5.1, 7, article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);

when sending applications for the return (offset) of taxes (Article 78, Tax Code of the Russian Federation);

when submitting tax reports, reports on insurance premiums (clauses 1, 5 of article 80, clause 1 of article 431 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Based on the above norms in aggregate, the Ministry of Finance in Letter No. 03-03-06 / 1/85248 came to the conclusion that a document drawn up in electronic form and signed with a qualified electronic signature may be a document confirming the expenses incurred by the taxpayer, in cases where federal laws or other regulatory legal acts do not establish the requirement to draw up such a document on paper.

Please note: electronic document signed qualified ES, is a proper documentary evidence of the taxpayer's expenses that are taken into account in taxation. But only if the current legislation does not provide for the mandatory preparation of a paper document.

In this way, for tax accounting purposes, only one of the three possible ES has a clear priority - enhanced qualified electronic signature ... This means that the "simplified" does not have the right to choose the use of this or that type of electronic signature for tax accounting.

Note:the Tax Code of the Russian Federation enshrines the right of a tax inspection official conducting a tax audit to request from the audited person the documents necessary for the audit. At the same time, clause 2 stipulates the possibility of submitting electronic documents (via TCS channels). However, in electronic form, only those documents can be submitted whose transmission formats through the TCS channels are approved by the Federal Tax Service (see Letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated 09.02.2016 No. ED-4-2 / [email protected]). For example, an agreement (agreement, contract), including additions (changes); acceptance certificate of works (services); consignment note; consignment note (TORG-12). Accordingly, if the electronic format for the transmission of one or another primary document confirming the taxpayer's expenses is not approved by the Federal Tax Service, such a document is submitted on paper in the form of a certified copy (see Letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia No. SD-3-3 / 808 dated February 29, 2016) ...

Is facsimile on primary documents legal?

Earlier it was mentioned that one of the mandatory requisites in the execution of the primary document is the signature of the person (persons) provided for in paragraph 2 of Art. 9 of Law No. 402-FZ, indicating the surname and initials or other details necessary to identify this person (s). The way of affixing such a signature - by hand (mechanically) or by facsimile - is not stipulated by Law No. 402-FZ. At the same time, it does not contain a direct prohibition on the use of a facsimile signature in the execution of primary documents. After all, the advantage of the latter method is undeniable, especially in a situation when the taxpayer has to draw up a large number of primary documents every day.

For a substantive conversation, we believe it makes sense to explain what a facsimile is. For example, in the Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation of September 27, 2011 No. 4134/11, the concept of "facsimile" is defined as a cliché, that is, an accurate reproduction of a signature by means of photography and printing. And in clause 2 of the Instruction on the procedure for the manufacture, accounting, storage and destruction of seals, stamps and facsimiles, as well as their issuance and use in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, it is stated that the facsimile is analogous to original personal signature of the person made by mechanical means.

Supervisory authorities generally object to the use of facsimiles on primary documents. Another reminder of this was made in the recent Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 08.12.2017 No. 03-03-06 / 1/81951. Earlier, in the Letter dated April 13, 2015 No. 03-03-06 / 20808, financiers also pointed out that the current legislation does not provide for the use of a facsimile signature when preparing primary documents, they must be signed by the person in charge.

However, officials do not substantiate their prohibition in any way, they only insist that the document should contain personal signature of the person who issued it. True, the mention of the personal signature was contained in Art. 9 of Law No. 129-FZ - the predecessor of Law No. 402-FZ. In the current normative act, it is said about the signature without mentioning its identity. But the reference to the expired norm does not bother the financiers at all.

However, even if the instruction on the obligation of a personal signature on the document in paragraphs. 7 p. 2 art. 9 of Law No. 402-FZ, this indication, in our opinion (taking into account the above definitions of the concept of "facsimile"), cannot be unambiguously interpreted so that the signature must be affixed with one's own hand or mechanically.

Not by chance arbitrage practice on this issue is controversial.

For example, the possibility of using a facsimile signature for issuing a "primary" is indicated in the RF Armed Forces Decision No. 307-KG17-1822 dated March 29, 2017 in case No. A42-3320 / 2015. The absence in tax legislation of a ban on facsimile reproduction of signatures on primary documents is stated in the Decree of the AC BBO dated 09.02.2016 No. F01-6109 / 2015 in case No. A29-3865 / 2015.

But there are judicial acts stating that primary documents signed using facsimiles cannot be considered documents drawn up in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. Thus, the arbitrators of the AS MO in the Resolution of 06.04.2015 No. F05-3258 / 2015 in case No. A40-4051 / 14 noted that the use of facsimiles does not apply to the proper methods of processing documents for primary and tax accounting. They are echoed by the judges of the AC MO, who indicated in the Decree of 05/10/2016 No. F05-5570 / 2016 in case No. A40-5400 / 15 that accounting legislation provides for a direct prohibition on the use of facsimile reproduction of the head's signature when preparing primary documents that entail financial consequences.The fact that accounting documents must contain the personal signatures of the relevant persons is also reported in the Resolution of the CA UO dated August 19, 2016 No. F09-7693 / 16 on case No. A71-6027 / 2015 (By the definition of the RF Armed Forces dated December 19, 2016 No. 309-KG16 -16803 upheld).

For our part, we add that the fact of endorsement of primary documents with a facsimile signature cannot be a sufficient basis for asserting that there is no documentary evidence of the costs incurred by the taxpayer. But in any case, the tax authorities will pay attention to such documents (see, for example, the Resolution of the CA Central Office dated November 16, 2017 No. F10-4607 / 2017 in case No. A09-15640 / 2016).

Note:for the formation of tax accounting data, properly drawn up documents are required, confirming the costs incurred by the "simplified". In this regard, it is safer for a "simplified" to put a "live" personal signature on primary documents, otherwise there may be claims from the tax authorities and his position will have to be defended in court.

Primary documents: "can not be replaced"

In the Letter dated 23.10.2017 No. 03-03-10 / 69280, the Ministry of Finance noted that Law No. 402-FZ not provided complete replacement of the primary accounting document previously accepted for accounting with a new, correct document in case of errors in the primary document. However, there is no ban on such actions either. By the way, the Tax Code also does not prohibit entering missing information into primary documents and correcting them by completely replacing them with new documents with the same details in accordance with the requirements of the law. The AS PO drew attention to this nuance in the Resolution No. F06-20469 / 2017 of May 24, 2017 on case No. A72-5811 / 2016.

The arbitrators consider such a substitution possible. So, in the Resolution of the Nineteenth Arbitration Court of Appeal dated February 21, 2013 in case No. A64-3569 / 2012, it is noted: the law (in this case, we are talking about Law No. 129-FZ) does not exclude the right of the subject and its counterparties to amend the primary documents drawn in violation of the established procedure or containing inaccurate information about completed business transactions, and does not prohibit the entity from eliminating the inconsistency of primary documents with the requirements of accounting legislation by making corrections to an incorrectly drawn up document, re-issuing it, replacing it with a duly executed document and submitting the reissued primary documents to the tax authority or to the court to substantiate the legality of the costs incurred.

Thus, if not replacement, then corrections and corrections to the "primary" are possible. A similar right of subjects is enshrined in paragraph 7 of Art. 9 of Law No. 402-FZ. The same rule stipulates that not every document is subject to correction. For example, it is impossible to change cash and bank documents (clause 4.7 of the Bank of Russia Ordinance No. 3210-U dated 03/11/2014, clause 16 of the Regulations on accounting and financial reporting in the Russian Federation).

At the same time, the mechanism for making corrections to the primary documents in clause 7 of Art. 9 of Law No. 402-FZ not clearly spelled out (which ultimately became the reason for disputes about the procedure for correcting the "primary"), it establishes only the minimum requirements for the content of the corrected primary document. In fact, this paragraph sets out the basic rules for the correction method for making corrections, the procedure for implementing which is given in section. 4 Regulations on documents and workflow in accounting (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations) - corrections must be accompanied by an indication of the date of their introduction and information about the person who made them.

Meanwhile, the absence in Law No. 402-FZ of a detailed procedure for making corrections to primary accounting documents allows the subjects to develop such rules on their own and fix them in the accounting policy. In practice, there are two common ways of making corrections to the "primary".

* This methodprovided for in section 4 of the Regulation applies to documents drawn up manually or by an automated method (that is, using specialized accounting software, for example "1C"). In the latter case, despite the electronic method of creating a document, it, in fact, is not such, since in the document flow of the subject it is used as an ordinary paper one.

** This method should not be used when correcting two-sided documents, as changes must be made to both copies. A unilateral change of information in primary documents without mutual expression of the will of the parties is contrary to the law and does not entail legal consequences (see, for example, the Resolution of the First Arbitration Court of Appeal of June 30, 2015 in case No. А43-27322 / 2014). It is also inconvenient when making several corrections to the document - in this case, the document becomes unreadable.

* The named method is based on the method of making corrections by analogy with the approved procedure for drawing up corrected invoices. The title - a new (correcting) document - is taken from the Recommendations of the Fund NRBU BMTs R-41/2013-KpR "Corrections in primary documents". True, within the meaning of the question being analyzed and taking into account the analogy used with invoices, in this case it is more correct to speak of a new (revised) document. In fact, at this method a new primary document is drawn up to replace the wrong one.

Essential moment : The above-mentioned ways of making corrections apply only to the paper "primary". Errors in electronic documents, due to the technical features of their compilation, cannot be corrected by a proofreading method. The only possible way to eliminate them is to draw up a new (correcting) electronic document.

In practice, the signing of documents with an electronic signature has become firmly established in circulation. But in this regard, the question constantly arises whether an electronic signature is equivalent to a handwritten one. We answer it on the basis of the norms of the current legislation on digital signature.

What the law says

The main conditions for recognizing electronic documents as equivalent to paper documents are spelled out in Art. 6 of the Federal Law of 06.04.2011 No. 63-FZ "On Electronic Signatures" (hereinafter - Law No. 63-FZ).

Legal approaches to the use of electronic signatures in electronic documents are as follows.

What's with the seal

Sometimes, in accordance with federal laws, regulations adopted in accordance with them, or business custom, a document must be certified by a seal. Then an electronic document signed with an enhanced EDS and recognized as equivalent to a paper document signed with one’s own hand is recognized as equivalent to a paper document signed with a handwritten signature and a certified seal.

Moreover, federal laws, regulatory legal acts adopted in accordance with them or an agreement between participants in electronic interaction may provide for additional requirements for an electronic document in order to be recognized as equivalent to a paper, certified seal. The system of electronic signature of documents operating at the enterprise should take into account this principle.

If several signers

Sometimes federal laws, regulatory legal acts adopted in accordance with them, stipulate that a document must be signed by several persons.

This means that the electronic document must be signed by persons (authorized officials authority / organization) that produced this document, with the type of signature that is established by the legislation of the Russian Federation for signing the produced electronic document with an electronic signature.

This is one of the conditions for the recognition of electronic documents.

If the package of documents

According to the law, several related electronic documents (a package of electronic documents) can be signed with one electronic signature.

Then each of the electronic documents included in this package is considered signed with an electronic signature of the type with which the package itself is signed.

An exception is made when the person who signed it includes electronic documents in the package of electronic documents:

• created by other persons (bodies, organizations);
• signed by them with the type of electronic signature established by the legislation of the Russian Federation for signing such documents.

In these cases, the electronic document included in the package is considered a signed person, initially who created such an electronic document, by the type of EDS with which this document was signed upon creation. In this case, it does not matter what type of electronic signature the package of electronic documents is signed with.

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Documents can be signed on paper or electronically. On paper for a long time, electronically - it is not clear how.

Pavel Ovchinnikov

12 years working with electronic documents

But here I have been dealing with electronic documents for twelve years and I will tell you: this is an incredible thrill. Let me tell you how it all works, with examples.

Shorter

To start driving electronic document management, need:

1. Convince counterparties to start exchanging electronic documents.
2. Buy an electronic signature certificate.
3. Decide on the method of sending documents: through a special service or without it.

Who needs electronic documents

Despite the convenience and modernity, few people conduct electronic document management. If an entrepreneur under simplified taxation concludes a couple of contracts a year, it may not be so scary for him to send printed documents... But there are cases when electronic document management is extremely useful.

Large companies electronic documents help to reduce costs if the volume of external correspondence exceeds several hundred documents per month. For them, the delivery of securities directly affects the speed of transactions. The costs of document circulation can amount to hundreds of thousands of rubles per year, and the risks associated with losses, errors and fines from the tax authorities further increase costs.

Even if now you sign one act every six months, this does not mean that your business will not grow. You may have large partners who work with electronic documents, and they will demand the same from you.

for instance

The online store regularly accumulated accounts receivable for tens of millions due to the fact that they once again made a mistake in the invoice: the goods are in the truck, and cannot be taken to the warehouse. Days go by while they wait for the courier with the corrected document to arrive from the supplier. We have introduced electronic documents, and now all corrections in documents take less than an hour.

And in a large power supply company, during field tax audits, inspectors annually found violations and errors in documents. The check for fines reached 120,000 rubles a year. It got to the point that the finance department put this money into the budget in advance as overhead costs. We have introduced electronic document management, and now the correctness of documents is controlled by programs, not people. There are no more mistakes.

What is an electronic document

An electronic document is a regular dock or PDF file that can be created and read in any editor. It is important that it be signed with a special electronic signature and sent in a special way.

So that a partner, lawyer or judge would not doubt that it was you who signed the electronic document and no one changed it, digital security specialists came up with an electronic signature. It's like a fingerprint superimposed on a unique set of bits and bytes in your document. Roughly speaking, when signing something with an electronic signature, you say: "I confirm the authenticity of this set of bits."

An electronic signature is attached to any document, after which it is considered signed. The document can be read without a signature. It only guarantees that this is the same unchanged document in the form in which it was sent to you. If you change something in the document and save it, its set of bits will change - the signature will be invalid.

for instance

The two companies decided to sign an electronic contract. We made a contract, agreed on the terms. Now one company signs the contract with its signature and sends it to the other. She opens the contract and decides to fix something on the sly, for example, the amount of fines. Corrects. Saves. Submits first. She looks - oops! - the original signature on this agreement broke. It means that something was fixed, the villains. Then they go to beat the face, probably.

Where to get an electronic signature

An electronic signature is purchased at a special certification center. You just need to find a convenient center in your city. The main thing is that it is included in the list of accredited centers of the Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation.

All the same can be done right in the office of the certification center: just come with all the documents and fill out an application. But in this case, you will have to wait for the cashless payment to take place - this can take several hours. It is impossible to pay for the certificate for the company in cash, just as it is impossible to receive it remotely.

How an electronic signature works

The legal force of an electronic signature is described in the federal law "On Electronic Signatures".

The law defines the types of signatures: simple, unqualified and qualified. You can sign any of them, but with reservations: qualified - for tax, bidding and in some cases for the court; simple and unskilled - for everything else.

Simple or unqualified signature

An affordable and cheap option, but with limited use. An unqualified signature contains cryptographic algorithms but is not verified by any certification authority. A simple one is just a combination of a login and password, an account on the website of public services or the email address of a counterparty.

Such signatures are fine if you are not participating in electronic bidding, do not exchange electronic primary data and do not send tax reports. A simple signature can be used for contracts, invoices and acts, but you will have to sign a separate agreement with the counterparty and record the consent of the parties to trust such a signature.

If you have dozens of contractors and different documents, the scheme will not work. You will have to sign such a document with everyone, and over time this process will slow down, not speed up the work. Then it is better to think about another electronic signature certificate.

To use a simple electronic signature, you need to print and sign a paper version of the agreement or include a special clause in the contract with the counterparty - this is a legal requirement.

Qualified signature

This signature is suitable for invoices and tax. By law, electronic invoices can only be signed with this signature. There is a qualified certificate from 1000 RUR, you can buy it only at a certification center that is part of the FTS's trust zone.

Every year, the Qualified Signature Certificate must be renewed, which adds to the worries: you need to monitor the validity period and order a reissue on time.

To work with a qualified signature, you need to install special program - means of crypto protection of information. The program affixes an electronic signature to the document and verifies the signatures of other participants in the exchange.

Can choose paid program ("CryptoPro CSP") or free ("Vipnet CSP"). Functionally, they are almost the same, but with the free one there may be compatibility problems. Both work on Windows and Mac. The paid one costs about 1000 RUR, the annual payment for the electronic signature certificate is about 1000 RUR.

Some people use a cloud-based electronic signature, which does not require installing a cryptographic protection program. Cloud signature is stored in the exchange service, and every time you sign a document, you receive an SMS with confirmation of the action on your phone. Such a certificate is cheaper and more convenient to use, but less secure than a crypto protection program.

Why do you need a document flow operator

A signed electronic document can be sent by regular email, but this is not secure. If the mail is hacked, the documents will end up in the hands of the intruders. Therefore, for example, the tax office accepts declarations only through special services. Through the same services, you must exchange electronic invoices, otherwise you violate the order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia. Such services are called document flow operators.

For a simple user, this is a pumped-up email... Works through a browser, there are folders with incoming and outgoing, address directory, built-in search, document editor. Inside - a highly loaded service with secure communication channels and encryption, which ensure the security of document transmission.

It is not even necessary to conclude an agreement with an electronic document management operator. Just register, download the electronic signature certificate and pay the invoice tariff. The rest of the worries are taken by the operator: notifies the Federal Tax Service that you have joined the exchange, monitors the formats and guarantees compliance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

There are several dozen such services in Russia. In terms of price, functionality, reliability and speed, they are about the same. It is customary to choose operators according to the quality of the service: how quickly the technical support works, is the operator ready to help connect contractors, what opportunities he offers and whether he has analytic consultants who will help you implement the service into work.

Your counterparty will also have to connect to the operator. He can choose yours or any other - then the exchange will go through roaming, as in cellular communication.

How much do electronic documents cost

Working through an operator, you pay only for a document signed by both parties. On average, the cost of sending a document is about 6-8 R, and all incoming documents are free.

Usually, beginners buy a minimum package of 300 documents, which ends very quickly. Then you have to buy the next package. It is more profitable to buy an unlimited annual package or agree on individual conditions.

Switching to electronic documents is beneficial if you send 100 or more documents per month or at least 1000 documents per year. Then you will cut your paper and shipping costs by almost 5 times.

How much does the workflow cost

1000 paper documents

Now almost all self-respecting enterprises are abandoning paper workflow, replacing it with a more modern one. An electronic document is the most relevant form of existence of all modern files containing a huge amount of the most important information.

Main advantages

The main advantage of electronic documentation is that it allows you to work quickly and efficiently. It is easy to sign materials in this format, even if all those who need to endorse them are far from each other. Due to this, it is possible to save a huge amount of money and effort.

Among other things, the presence of an electronic archive avoids the need to contain a huge number of documents in an organization. For the storage of the accumulating papers, it will be necessary to allocate an appropriate area on the territory of the enterprise, as well as to hire a highly qualified archivist who can quickly understand the available materials. To store an electronic archive, you only need compact removable media or a few hard drives.

Diadoc's electronic document management system is the easiest way to exchange legally significant electronic documents and invoices.

What is meant by ED

An electronic document is a material that is recorded on special media (disks, USB-sticks, additional equipment).

It can be a whole set of images, sound files and symbols. Such a file can be transmitted in space and time using special telecommunication means. Telecommunication channels can also be used for publication, storage and further processing. The main thing here is to correctly process all existing data.

Also, such a document should be understood as a special form with which you can use the data for completely different purposes. It is about recording information on electronic or magnetic material carriers, and then about their further processing and sending to all participants in the data correction process.

All documented materials that have been converted into electronic format are suitable for processing in existing information structures and transmission via TCS. All these files are amenable to analytical processing, which can be done using information systems.

Electronic document and EDS

Electronic documents must have legal force, otherwise they cannot be used when working with other structures. You can secure the action of a document using an electronic digital signature, which has the same capabilities as a regular paper one.

An EDS will be relevant if a number of conditions are met during its formation:

• the certificate of the key that controls the operation of the signature must be up-to-date at the time of signing the electronic files;
• evidence must be presented to determine when the file was signed;
• the authenticity of the digital signature must be confirmed in the same file where it is used;
• the signature should be used in accordance with the information indicated in the attached certificate.

To obtain such a signature, you will need to contact a certification center. In this case, it is necessary to prepare a package of documents in advance. The location of the organization can be clarified in the territorial office The Pension Fund Russia, where you can get SNILS.

In addition to SNILS specified in the pension certificate, you will need to provide a copy of your passport and a valid e-mail. In addition, you need to prepare a USB-drive in advance, on which the employees of the certification center will have to write down the keys and certificates required for the approval of electronic documents.

The details of an electronic document are valid only if it is certified with an electronic digital signature. EDS is of equal importance with the paper counterpart, however, for this, all the necessary conditions... The signature must be legal, registered with the CA.

Electronic documentation

The concept of an electronic document provides that it can consist of more than characters that are understandable to users. The presence of unstructured information is allowed, which must be decrypted by operating systems. The main thing is that the material must be saved on a special medium.

An important part of the document is also a form with a set of attributes required to describe it. Thus, the file should contain information about:

• the date of its formation;
• data author;
• the name of the document;
• format, which is necessary for the correct reading of the materials.

The more detailed information about an existing document is, the easier it will be to work with it in the future. Electronic document and electronic document flow are closely interconnected, without the first, the second is impossible. At the same time, the circulation of materials is greatly simplified if the organizations exchanging information use the same telecommunication systems and software.

Electronic documentation can contain materials that can be used to search for files or classify them according to one or another characteristic. All existing files can have different permissions, they also do not have to carry any structured elements. In this case, the electronic document directly depends on its owner. Structured materials can have special elements with the help of which external additional applications can receive data about individual elements of the file.

Paper and electronic documents cannot be compared with each other, because digital has a number of advantages. Among them:

• the possibility of long-term storage;
• convenience in performing additional operations (editing, deleting, archiving, etc.);
• the ability to search for data within files using key markers;
• ease of handling materials using automated systemsused by organizations practicing electronic circulation.

Now there are several formats of electronic documents, but the most popular is the "odf" format, which is convenient when working with any software.

The concept and structure of an electronic document can vary significantly. A huge impact this is provided by the software for its processing. Separately, materials processed using 1C should be highlighted. Such files differ significantly from others, since they are not separated into separate documents. They can be considered only as an information unit with unique identifiers and modification tools.

Such documentation can also include materials that are created as a result vigorous activity applied information systems. They are dynamically generated using existing material stores. Thus, they do not carry any information about themselves, they can only be considered with the help of the system.

As soon as a document is printed or viewed, it ceases to exist in the system as an object. From that moment on, it functions as a special application. In the event that the file needs to be opened with another software equipment, you will have to convert it.

What electronic documents exist

An electronic document is a file containing certain information that is not always clear to the user. To create archives and collections of these files, you need to know their classification.

• In one embodiment, the materials may differ in the presence or absence of similar printed documents.
• Files can also differ in what kind of information they contain. This classification refers to:

1. text,
2. fine,
3. sound,
4. multimedia publications,
5. software products.

The latter should be considered as alienated works or publications of separate fragments of program texts and codes.

• The largest classification should be considered the types of electronic documents for their intended purpose. Most often, there are official publications that are published government agencies, they usually contain regulations.
• Production publications are used in factories. They carry information about the organization of the existing production. Some materials were specially created to inform employees of certain production areas about the existence of norms and requirements when they are on the territory of enterprises.
• Educational and reference books are produced that are easy to use. You can find the information you need in such a file in a few seconds, this saves a huge amount of time and effort. Such documents can be used not only by students, but also by teachers.
• Political parties quite often use electronic publications as campaign materials. They contain public works that are intended for a wide audience of readers. In such materials, one can most often find analytical information that is used by political scientists and sociologists around the world.
• Another classification of documents distinguishes them by the method of distribution. There are local editions that can be used within a single enterprise, they are also issued in paper versions and in a limited number of identical copies.
• Online editions are intended for widespread use, their number is not limited. Additional paper copies in this case are not required, this increases the value of the electronic document several times. Such documents can be easily sent to archives.

Electronic file documents - a requirement of modern society

Now you know what an electronic document is, what types of it exist, and how they can be used in everyday life. The information can be stored in files in an encrypted format. To work with them, you will need to use existing passwords, which can be changed at any time.

Any user of telecommunication communication channels has the right to create their own documents. The only thing he needs for this is the presence of a special software... The storage period for such files is not limited. You can perform any operations with them at any time.

Questions about the difference between the form of an electronic document and the format have emerged since the time when the Federal Tax Service approved the use of electronic primary documents in tax accounting. It happened more than three years ago. Nevertheless, these concepts are still confused. Let's figure out which is which.

What are electronic document formats?

To answer this question, let's start with a small classification. The entire list of documents used today in organizations can be divided into two groups:

1. Documents that can be used both in paper and electronic form (TORG-12 consignment note, invoice, universal transfer document, certificate of completion, invoice for payment, delivery agreement, etc.).
2. Documents that are allowed to be used exclusively on paper (copy of the invoice provided by the agent to the principal, consignment note (TTN), declaration of conformity, etc.).

In this case, we are interested in the documents of the first group, which, according to the law, are allowed to create, transfer and store in electronic form. True, it should be borne in mind that the law imposes strict requirements on the formats of some electronic documents, as well as on the form of a number of electronic documents.

.XML - uniform format of accounting documents

ED, the format of which is clearly described and defined by law, are called formalized. These include: an invoice, a TORG-12 consignment note and an act of completion.

All other ED (invoices for payment, letters, powers of attorney, transaction passports, etc.) are non-formalized. There are no special requirements for their formats. The data form of electronic documents is also not important.

Formalized documents are created according to the FTS formats. Today, for electronic originals, a single format has been legally approved - .XML, for scanned copies - .JPG, .TIFF, .PDF, .PNG.

What's interesting: there is a mandatory electronic invoice format, compliant FTS is .XML. And there are recommended formats for the act and TORG-12, and this too. XML. Despite the fact that you can exchange primary data in any format, upon requesting in electronic form, the tax authorities will only accept documents in .XML format. If you exchange primary data in a different format, you will have to submit it to the Federal Tax Service on paper. Inconvenient, isn't it? Therefore, to avoid confusion, we advise you to use the formats recommended by the Federal Tax Service.

The form of an electronic document is not its format

Step by step we are getting closer to understanding what constitutes an electronic document format. In fact definitions this concept there may be several. It is also a structured data set that is convenient for storage and automatic processing. The format can also be called encoded text information, which is responsible for the distribution and presentation of data in ED.

Below you can see what an electronic invoice looks like in .XML format. Its body consists of markup elements and the data array itself. You can get acquainted with the requirements for the format of an electronic invoice in the text of the Order of the Federal Tax Service dated 04.03.2015 No. ММВ-7-6 / [email protected].

Now let's move on to the form. If the format is responsible for the "internal content", then the form of an electronic document is its "face". In other words, the way the ED looks on a computer screen or on paper is its form. For some documents, the law defines a rigid form. This primarily concerns the invoice, the form of which was approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 26, 2011 N 1137.

So, let's draw conclusions. Among the entire array of forms and formats, there are mandatory and recommended ones. To understand once and for all the state of affairs with forms and formats of electronic documents, simply refer to the following table.