Accounting documents

Accounting documents
See also
Sales ledger Purchase ledger Balance an account Cash voucher Credit memo Purchases journal General journal entry Purchase invoice Books of original entry

Accounting documents are the basic source of information on the basis of which financial statements and records regarding audits are prepared. Accounting documents also include ownership of assets and liabilities, evidence of cash transactions, records of accounting books and all kinds of supporting documents (Center for Audit Quality 2009).

Account entries can have various forms

They are for example (R. Hermason, J. Edwards, M. Maher (2010), s.148,262,271; I. Mckenzie (2012), s.18-19).:

• Purchase of goods:

1. Quotation - is an accounting document sent to the customer by the company providing a fixed price that would be charged for the production or delivery of goods and services at the time of acceptance by the customer. Quotations are most often used when companies do not have a normative list of article prices.
2. Purchase Order - is a kind of accounting document that indicates the goods or services that the company wants to purchase from another business entity.
3. Goods Received Note - is a type of document that lists the goods or services that the company has received from the supplier.
4. Purchase invoice - is an accounting document containing a list of received goods or services, unit price, their sum and total amount for them.

• Sales of goods:

1. Sales Order - is an accounting document that describes a placed order for goods or services. The customer sends an order to the company, based on which the company generates a sale order.
2. Goods Dispatched Note - is a document which all the goods sent by the company to the customer are listed.
3. Sales invoice - is an accounting document containing a list of received goods or services, unit price, their sum and total amount for them.

• Payments:

1. Statement or Account Statement - is a document containing a list of transactions on the client's account. Includes credit memos, invoices and payments.
2. Remittance Advice - are documents sent by the customer to the supplier containing payments for invoices and credit notes that have already been settled. This document shows which amounts have already been paid and which have not been paid.
3. Receipt or Official Receipt - a document confirming the payment. Usually the supplier issues it with cash payments. The cashier issues a receipt for goods or services for which the customer pays.
4. Voucher - The type of accounting document that the customer issues. The voucher is a willingness to make payments. Such a document is issued on the basis of an invoice received by the supplier.

• Others:

1. Credit Note - is a kind of accounting document that is sent to the customer by the supplier. Includes a list of overpayments and returned goods.
2. Debit Note - is a document delivered to the supplier by the customer. This applies to the overpayment made by the customer and the goods returned by him. It is an application for the supplier, on the basis of which he can issue a credit note.
3. Ledger - this is a record of all transactions that have been completed by the company. It can take the electronic form. All these transactions are recorded in the book in various accounts. This list is called the account plan.

Accounting records are in paper and electronic form. Each of the accounting entities must also keep accounting records. There are rules that oblige companies and accounting units to keep accounting documents for a specific period of time. In the United States, for example, this period is seven years. However, CPA statements and auditing records are considered as permanent entries. Every entrepreneur must comply with the legal provisions that they regulate as well ways of completing accounting documents as methods of storing and archiving these documents. These legal regulations also apply to documents on electronic media. Due to the changing nature of business activities and the requirements of market participants, both accounting entries and accounting methods are constantly evolving. There is of course a system for electronic document processing for accounting purposes (B. Cunningham 2015, s. 22).

References

• Cunningham B. and others (2015), Accounting: Information for Business Decisions, Cengage Learning Accounting: Information for Business Decisions
• Drury C. (2012), Management and Cost Accounting Management and Cost Accounting
• Mckenzie I. (2012), Financial English with Financial Glossary, second edition Heinle, Cengage Learning
• Pysh P. , Brodersen S. (2014), Warren Buffett Accounting Book: Reading Financial Statements for Value Investing, second edition Warren Buffett Accounting Book: Reading Financial Statements for Value Investing
• Siegel J. G., Shim J. (2010), Barron's Accounting Handbook
• Understanding Quotation, edicted by: Brendel E., Meibauer J., Steinbach M., De Gruyter Mouton, (2011)

Author: Aleksandra Szczęch