Rules for maintaining an enterprise's book of records in Ukraine: practical tips

The main register of accounting transactions for those using a simplified taxation system is a ledger of income and expenditure. All enterprises, single tax payers of 1-3 Group, are required to maintain it, regardless of the type of their activity, form of ownership, methods of generating income.

Today we will talk about the accounting book, how to maintain it and how to properly organize the accounting process at the very start of your business.

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How to keep and fill in the accounting books correctly?

The form of the accounting book and the order of its filling is approved by the Order of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. 

• If the 1-3 Group taxpayers are not VAT payers - they shall record only their income;
• The VAT payers operating under Group 3 of the single tax shall maintain the income and expenditure ledger.

When should you start keeping the books?

At the time of registration as a single taxpayer, you should buy the accounting book, fill in the title page, number the pages, string them together and submit it to the tax authority for registration. And only after registration, this accounting book can be used for accounting your income/expenses.

How to fill in the income?

• Income shall be recorded daily in the total amount, separately for non-cash and cash payments. 
• At the end of the month and the end of each reporting period, cumulative total amounts for the period shall be recorded in the books. 
• The amounts shall be recorded in to the nearest kopeck. 
• Corrections shall be made by a corrective line with the sign “-”.

Please note! The income and expenditure ledger of the 3 Group single taxpayers registered as VAT payers shall specify the income without VAT.

You can also fill in the electronic accounting book in the taxpayer cabinet, however, we do not recommend to do it, because it’s sometimes problematic to log in this cabinet (due to technical problems on the server of the State Tax Service), and the books should be filled in daily.

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What happens in case of failure to keep the accounting book?

Sometimes enterprises “forget” about the necessity to fill in the books on a daily basis, or keep it carelessly, with errors and not in full. This inevitably leads to penalties. In this case, there are 2 types of penalties: 

• administrative - at the moment it amounts to UAH 51 - 85; 
• according to the Tax Code of Ukraine, in case of non-compliance with accounting requirements, the enterprises shall be imposed with a penalty of UAH 510 at the first inspection and UAH 1,020 at following inspections.

In addition, if the inspectors find out that you don’t keep the accounting book, you’ll be imposed a fine of five times the amount identified.

If you want your accounting books to be filled in correctly and on time, entrust us with this task. We will ensure proper accounting of your business activity without penalties or delay.