On November 28, 2018, amendments to Art. 13 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting” (Law of November 28, 2018 No. 444-FZ). Part 7.1 of Art. 13, according to which financial statements are prepared on paper and (or) in the form of an electronic document with an electronic signature.

At the same time, the organization can generate its financial statements only in in electronic format, without compiling a paper copy already for 2018.

If it is necessary to submit financial statements on paper, for example, to a government agency or another person, the organization must, at their request, make (print) a paper copy of this electronic reporting(Clause 7.1, Article 13 of Law No. 402-FZ).

Small businesses will be able to submit financial statements to the tax office for 2019 in paper form(signature 1, clause 4, article 2 of Law No. 444-FZ). But the reporting for 2020 and subsequent periods, they, like other companies, will be required to submit in the form of an electronic document signed with an electronic signature.

We submit financial statements and AZ for 2019 only to the tax

From January 1, 2020, i.e. from the date of formation financial statements for 2019, a new version of Art. 18 of the Law "On Accounting" (Law of November 28, 2018 No. 444-FZ).

According to these amendments, organizations will not submit annual financial statements for 2019 to statistical authorities, as they currently do, but only to the Federal Tax Service at the location of the organization and necessarily in the form of an electronic document.

The new norm establishes that the state information resource will be formed and maintained by the Federal tax service based:

financial statements of organizations obliged to compile them;

audit reports on reporting subject to statutory audit.

The formats and procedure for submitting reports and audit reports (AR) in electronic form will be approved by the Federal Tax Service. The agency will also ensure that interested parties have access to this resource.

The deadlines for submitting annual reports to the IFTS are the same: no later than 3 months after the end of the reporting period (calendar year), usually the last day for reporting falls on April 1.

The auditor's opinion on the reporting requiring a statutory audit for 2019 will also need to be submitted to the Federal Tax Service in electronic form simultaneously with the reporting itself or within 10 working days from the day following the date of the conclusion, but no later than December 31 of the following reporting year ( clause 5, article 18 of Law No. 402-FZ).

Thus, from January 1, 2020, Rosstat ceases to be authorized to collect sets of financial statements of organizations, including revised ones, and audit reports on them for 2018 and earlier periods (subclause 2, clause 5, article 2 of Law No. 444- FZ). Therefore, in the presence of such revised reporting, organizations will have to submit it to the IFTS.

Since the new version of Art. 18 of the Law on Accounting comes into force only from 2020, the submission of financial statements in 2019 (for 2018) will still be submitted to the statistical authorities.

Penalties for financial statements and audit reports will increase in 2019

The Ministry of Finance of Russia has prepared draft amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (new article 15.11.1) on liability for failure to submit to the IFTS a mandatory copy of the annual accounting (financial) statements and the audit report 2019 (if it is subject to mandatory audit) in order to form a state information resource such reporting.

The amount of the fine will depend on whether a mandatory audit is necessary? If yes, then the penalty is much higher.

Type of violation	Currently in Rosstat, fines, rub.	Accounting statements 2019 in the IFTS, fines art. 15.11.1 Administrative Code, rub.
Did not pass the accounting or handed over incompletely	For officials - 300-500 (Article 19.7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) + 5-10 thousand (Clause 1 of Article 15.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses); For legal entities - 3-5 thousand (Article 19.7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) In case of repeated violation For officials - 10-20 thousand or disqualification for 1-2 years (clause 2 of article 15.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses):	For officials - 50-70 thousand; For legal entities - 100-200 thousand rubles.
Did not submit audited reporting and AZ or submitted it incompletely		For legal entities - 300-500 thousand rubles.
Did not submit financial statements by December 31 of the year following the reporting year		For officials - 80-100 thousand; For legal entities - 200-300 thousand rubles.
Did not submit audited financial statements and AZ until December 31 of the year following the reporting year		For officials - 100-200 thousand; For legal entities - 500-700 thousand rubles.

Thus, the penalties for the audit report in 2019 (failure to provide it) will increase significantly. Therefore, please be careful and do not forget to audit in a timely manner!

Which organizations must submit an audit report to Rosstat?

The obligation to submit an audit report to Rosstat is established by Art. 18 of the Law "On Accounting" dated December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ and in the regulatory acts of Rosstat. So, in the order of the department dated March 31, 2014 No. 220, it is indicated that if the annual financial statements of the company are subject to mandatory verification on the part of auditors, it is mandatory to submit a report to the statistical authorities.

In Art. 5 of the law "On audit activity» dated 30.12.2008 No. 307-FZ specifies the criteria by which managers and officials will be able to determine whether the organization is subject to annual audit by auditors.

In addition, you can rely on the following regulations:

• Part 4 Art. 18 of the law "On participation in shared construction…” dated December 30, 2004 No. 214-FZ (developers);
• paragraph 8 of Art. 7.2 of the Law "On Non-Commercial Organizations" dated January 12, 1996 No. 7-FZ (state companies);
• paragraph 2 of Art. 7.1 of Law No. 7-FZ of January 12, 1996 (state corporations);
• Part 4 Art. 12 of the Law "On Self-Regulatory Organizations" dated December 1, 2007 No. 315-FZ (SRO).

The following entities must submit an audit report to Rosstat:

The obligation to provide an audit report does not apply to agricultural cooperatives, state and local authorities, state non-budgetary funds, unitary enterprises, state and municipal institutions.

What should be included in the auditor's report?

• name of the addressee (for whom it is intended);
• the name of the audited organization and information about it;
• information about the audit firm;
• responsibility of the auditor and the audited organization;
• list of audited financial statements;
• the amount of work performed by the auditor;
• the opinion of the auditor who conducted the audit of the statements (an indication of the circumstances that affect the reliability of information in financial documents);
• auditor's signature;
• the date on which the opinion was drawn up.

The main part of the document provides grounds for drawing conclusions about the reliability of the financial statements presented. In the results of the audit, the auditor reflects his opinion, which may be:

• unmodified (if the auditor believes that the financial statements accurately reflect the results of the organization's activities);
• modified (otherwise).

The modified opinion can be:

• qualified opinion (if the audit revealed significant misstatements, but they do not affect most of the significant elements of the reporting);
• negative opinion (if the misstatements affect important indicators of financial statements); this means that the auditor did not confirm the reliability of the audited documentation;
• refusal to express an opinion (if the auditing specialist was not given access to the reporting or the management of the organization prevented the audit).

A sample audit report can be found here.

Don't know your rights?

Deadlines and procedure for providing an opinion

In part 2 of Art. 18 of the law dated 06.12.2011 No. 402-FZ states that the audit report can be submitted in two ways:

• along with annual accounting;
• separately from the accounts on any day during the year following the reporting period (until December 31), but this must be done within 10 days following the date of the auditor's report.

IMPORTANT! Since the number of copies of the report is agreed in advance with the auditor, do not forget to order an additional copy for submission to the statistics service.

The date of submission of the report is:

• date of direct submission to the statistical agency;
• date of posting;
• the date of sending the conclusion in electronic format, recorded by Rosstat or the telecom operator.

The conclusion with the conclusions of the auditor is provided to the statistical authorities:

• in the form of an electronic document sent to Rosstat via telecommunication channels;
• on paper provided to the management of Rosstat personally by the head of the organization or an authorized person, as well as sent in the form of registered mail.

Punishment for violators

Art. 19.7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation provides for administrative liability for organizations and managers for the late submission of the results of an audit by external auditors to the statistical authorities. Cases of violators are considered in court.

The following fines have been established:

• for officials - 300-500 rubles;
• for companies - from 3 to 5 thousand rubles.

IMPORTANT! Paying the fine does not release you from the obligation to undergo an audit and submit an appropriate conclusion to the statistical authorities.

In addition, violators will be punished under Art. 15.11 and 15.19 of the Code of Administrative Offenses.

For the absence of a mandatory audit report, the following penalties have been established for responsible persons:

• from 5 to 10 thousand rubles. - in case of primary violation;
• from 10 to 20 thousand rubles. or disqualification for a period of 1 to 2 years - if repeated.

More significant penalties are provided for non-disclosure of information in financial markets:

• for officials - from 10 to 50 thousand rubles;
• for organizations - from 300 thousand to 1 million rubles.

How to write a letter to Rosstat about the lack of auditor's conclusions?

If during the reporting period you did not carry out economic activity and did not receive income, you need to send letter to Rosstat on the absence of an audit opinion. The letter can be sent to the e-mail address of the department or by Russian Post.

There are no strict requirements for the form of the letter - it is enough to write it on the form with details legal entity. In the header of the application indicate the name of the recipient (it will be the statistical department), the name of the sender, address, OKVED. In the main part, Rosstat is notified that the organization does not have the conditions established by Art. 5 of the Law "On Auditing".

In addition to the financial statements, it is necessary to submit an audit report to the statistical authorities. Failure to comply with this requirement is fraught with penalties.

If the company is subject to mandatory audit, the fines can be very significant. For what exactly, you will find out from our review.

What is the responsibility for the statutory audit

The most interesting thing is that the current legal norms do not provide for a fine for not conducting a mandatory audit. That is, for the very fact of absence. But do not relax. Since, if a mandatory audit is not carried out, a fine is imposed for a slightly different one.

Basically, the fine for a mandatory audit in 2018 is associated with such a document as an audit report. In this context, sanctions for evading a mandatory audit are provided for by the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

The result is a vicious circle: as such, the current legislation does not provide for a fine for failing to pass a mandatory audit. However, it is impossible to get an audit report in your hands without an analysis of financial statements by third-party specialists.

Thus, there is no liability for failure to pass a statutory audit, as well as liability for avoidance of a statutory audit.

Rosstat: fine for mandatory audit in 2018

If an organization, by virtue of law, must conduct a mandatory audit of its annual statements, then an audit report must be submitted to the local division of Rosstat at the place of registration along with a copy of the financial statements. And - to be in time in due time. Otherwise, the penalties for a mandatory audit are as follows (Article 19.7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation):

• for the company as a whole - from 3 to 5 thousand rubles;
• for an accountant (most likely) - from 300 to 500 rubles.

The law establishes 2 options for the period when the audit report on the reliability of financial statements must be received by Rosstat (part 2 of article 18 of the Law<О бухучете˃ № 402-ФЗ):

1. Together with the annual accounting - in the general period.
2. If the verdict of the auditors is not yet ready, then the law gives 10 working days from the date of their conclusion, but no later than December 31 of the year following the reporting one.

Disclosure of the auditor's report

This only applies to joint stock companies. For them, paragraph 2 of Article 15.19 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation provides for a large fine. Including - and for violation of the rules for disclosure (disclosure) of the audit report:

• for officials - from 30,000 to 50,000 rubles (or deprivation of the right to a profession from 1 to 2 years);
• for joint-stock companies as a whole - from 700,000 to 1,000,000 rubles.

Please note that for PJSC and OJSC there is a single deadline for disclosing financial statements and an auditor's report. That is, they must be published for general information together and at the same time. For example, in 2018, this should have happened before April 03 inclusive. (Clause 71.4 of the Regulations on Information Disclosure by Issuers of Equity Securities, approved by the Bank of Russia on December 30, 2014 No. 454-P).

In order to obtain a qualified independent opinion on the reliability of its accounting (financial) statements, an organization may involve a specialized audit organization or an individual auditor in checking these statements. But in some cases, conducting an annual audit is an obligation, not a right of an organization. We will tell you about the criteria for a mandatory audit in 2019 in our consultation.

General criteria for statutory audit 2018

The main criteria and subjects of mandatory audit are provided for by the Federal Law of December 30, 2008 No. 307-FZ. In general, an organization is required to conduct an annual audit of its financial statements for 2018 if it satisfies any of the conditions specified in Part 1 of Art. 5 of the Federal Law of December 30, 2008 No. 307-FZ.

Thus, the criteria for a mandatory audit are:

• the organization has the organizational and legal form of JSC;
• the organization's securities are admitted to organized trading;
• the organization is a credit institution, a credit history bureau, an organization that is a professional participant in the securities market, an insurance organization, a clearing organization, a mutual insurance company, a trade organizer, a non-state pension or other fund (with the exception of a fund that has the status of an international fund in accordance with the Federal Law dated 08/03/2018 N 290-FZ), a joint-stock investment fund, a management company of a joint-stock investment fund, a mutual investment fund or a non-state pension fund (with the exception of state extra-budgetary funds);
• the volume of proceeds from the sale of products (sales of goods, performance of work, provision of services) of the organization for 2018 exceeded 400 million rubles;
• the amount of assets in the balance sheet as of December 31, 2018 exceeds 60 million rubles;
• the organization presents or discloses annual summary (consolidated) accounting (financial) statements.

Thus, for example, the organizational and legal form of a JSC obliges the organization to conduct a statutory audit, regardless of compliance with other criteria, and for a statutory audit of an LLC, the criterion may be, for example, the amount of revenue or the amount of assets.

Other cases of mandatory audit established by federal laws

In addition to the main criteria for a mandatory audit listed above, there are conditions under which an organization is required to conduct an audit due to the requirements of federal laws.

So, for example, a mandatory audit is carried out in relation to financial statements:

• state-owned companies (clause 8, article 7.2 of the Federal Law of January 12, 1996 No. 7-FZ);
• state corporations (clause 2, article 7.1 of the Federal Law of 12.01.1996 No. 7-FZ);
• housing savings cooperatives (Article 54 of the Federal Law of December 30, 2004 No. 215-FZ);
• developers (part 5 of article 3 of the Federal Law of December 30, 2004 No. 214-FZ);
• non-profit organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent (clause 1, article 32 of the Federal Law of January 12, 1996 No. 7-FZ);
• self-regulatory organizations (part 4 of article 12 of the Federal Law of December 1, 2007 No. 315-FZ).

Mandatory accounting audit: where to submit the audit report?

Starting from the reporting for 2019, financial statements are submitted only to the Federal Tax Service (with some exceptions). Moreover, as a general rule, reporting will need to be submitted electronically (reporting for 2019 can be submitted by small businesses on paper). For organizations whose reporting is subject to mandatory audit, the audit report must be submitted either together with the financial statements, or no later than 10 business days following the date of the audit report, but no later than December 31 (

Organizations compiling financial statements are required to submit them to Rosstat, and some of them are also required to submit an audit report.

From the article you will learn:

• how to send accounting (financial) statements (BFO) to Rosstat;
• how to send an audit report together with the BFO;
• how to send an auditor's report separately from the BFO.

Regulatory regulation

BFO is information on the financial position of an economic entity as of the reporting date, as well as on the financial result of its activities and cash flows for the reporting period, systematized in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 N 402-FZ "On Accounting".

Organizations obliged to compile the BFO must send one copy of it to the state statistics agency for the formation of a state information resource (clause 1, article 18 of Federal Law N 402-FZ).

Check if you have to submit an audit report to Rosstat

Deadline for the provision of BFO: no later than 3 months after the end of the reporting period.

Organizations subject to mandatory audit must additionally send an audit report to Rosstat (clause 2, article 18 of Federal Law N 402-FZ):

or within 10 working days from the day following the date of the auditor's report, but no later than December 31 of the year following the reporting year. Methods for submitting a copy of the BFO and an audit report to the statistics authority (Order of the Federal State Statistics Service dated March 31, 2014 N 220):

• on paper: in person or by mail (with acknowledgment of receipt);
• in electronic form via TCS.

Sending from 1C

Sending BFO together with the auditor's report

If the Organization has a service 1C-Reporting, then you can send the BFO and the audit report to Rosstat immediately from the 1C program. The preparation and sending of the report occurs through: Reports - 1C-Reporting - Scheduled reports.

The auditor's report is attached to the full financial statements ( Accounting statements since 2011) on the tab Additional files. If you want to send only the BFO, and the auditor's report will be sent later, then leave this field blank.

A copy of the report for Rosstat can be created from the report form using the link Submit to Rosstat.

In the next step, you need to specify the period and click on the button Create.

Specify Signature date.

In field Financial statements the report will be specified by default, from the form of which an instance was created for Rosstat. You can change it if necessary.

To save a copy of the report, click the button burn.

Sending via service 1C-Reporting- by button Send.

Sending an audit report after the financial statements

Sending an audit report separately from the BFO through the service 1C-Reporting possible through informal workflow on the tab Letters.

You need to create a new letter.

In field To whom indicated department of Rosstat(must be selected from the list of regulatory authorities).

The file with the audit report is attached by clicking the button Add.

By button Send a letter is sent with an attached audit report to Rosstat.

The 2017 mandatory audit is designed to disclose information about economic entities as openly and transparently as possible. At the same time, it allows you to increase the efficiency of the company, reduce pressure on conscientious organizations, identify risks and errors, and eliminate them with minimal losses. Mandatory audit in 2017, as before, is regulated by law and its failure to conduct can lead to unpleasant consequences.

Responsibility for mandatory verification in 2017