How to write-off receivables?

Overdue accounts receivable are considered to beindebtedness which, in accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, its Article 196 was not paid for three years. Before you can write off the receivable, you must also take into account the day from which the limitation period starts to be calculated - it is the date when the person learned of a violation by the debtor of his right. The same provisions are followed when writing off not only receivables for legal entities, but also for individuals. Documents confirming the commencement of the limitation period are contracts, warning letters sent by the organization to the debtor. The limitation period may be interrupted for two reasons:

• Recognition debtor, that is, during the three-year period the debtor paid some sums of its debt (Article 203 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
• Submission of a claim in the established order to the judicial authorities.

After the interruption of the statute of limitations, a new periodis calculated in a new way, that is, if in 2 years the enterprise received from the debtor any amount of money or the creditor enterprise filed a claim to the court, the limitation period was interrupted, and the debtor must pay its debts for the next three years . The only exception may be the bankruptcy of the debtor or the creditor, that is, when the enterprise is liquidated, if it does not have assigns, the debt is canceled.

Reflection in accounting

Write-off unrealistic and overduedebts are carried out in accordance with the Accounting Regulation No. 34n - the norm as to whether it is possible to write-off receivables, and how this is done in accounting, regulates paragraph 77 of this provision. Thus, the accounts receivable are debited on the basis of a preliminary inventory, an order or an internal order of the head of the organization. The amount of write-off is charged to the account on which the reserve of doubtful debts is taken into account. Please note that not all commercial organizations create a reserve account for which deductions are made during the company's activity, the amount of which does not exceed 10% of the company's monthly profit. Therefore, in the absence of such a reserve, write-offs are carried out for non-operating expenses, which are accounted for in the "Other expenses" sub-account according to the plan of accounts.

If the organization has found a way how to write offoverdue accounts receivable, this does not mean that the debtor is not obliged to pay them. In account 91 or on the reserve account, accounts receivable are retained for five years in the form in which it was deducted. This rule is enshrined in Chapter 26 of the Civil Code. For five years, the organization has the opportunity to again demand from the debtor the amount of debt, if the situation in the financial situation of the debtor has changed for the better, as it became known to the lender. For five years, the amount of overdue accounts receivable is necessarily taken into account in the organization's balance sheet.

Tax accounting

In addition to accounting, there are doubtful debts, andand the amount of overdue accounts receivable must be accounted for by the organization and within the framework of tax accounting. In order to know how to write off receivables correctly, it is necessary to study the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia No. 03-03-06 / 1/3 dated January 13, 2009, which states that the main criterion for recognizing a debt is uncollectible is the expiry of the limitation period. Moreover, regardless of whether the organization has taken any measures to recover this debt or not. Thus, after the expiry of the limitation period, the amount of debt is accounted for in the item of expenses when taxing the profit of the organization.

If an organization includes an overduereceivables for non-operating expenses for taxation, each amount of the debt is confirmed by the relevant documentation. Thus, when it is possible to write off a receivable, an enterprise or other legal entity submits, together with the reporting to the tax inspection, agreements confirming the dates of payment periods, reconciliation acts between the debtor and the enterprise, commodity invoices, certificates of work performed or other documents .