Contacts

How to properly fill out an expense report: an example of filling out

Advance reports - refer to the category of primary accounting documents that are used in accounting to account for financial costs incurred by an employee of an enterprise during a business trip. Also, this document is used in case of expenditure of material resources of the enterprise by hired personnel. In this article, we propose to consider the rules for filling out an advance report.

A business trip is considered to be the sending of an employee for a short period of time for negotiations to another organization, a branch with verification and other activities that are outside the location of the workplace.

Purpose of the document

The form in question has a unified form No. "AO-1" It should be noted that legal entities have the legal right to use independently developed forms. However, the use of papers with a uniform form is more preferable. The task of the organization's management is to create an order containing information about officials who have the right to receive accountable financial resources. Until 2018, such powers could only be assigned to those employees of the enterprise with whom labor agreements were concluded.

Today, it is allowed to issue accountable funds to persons with whom a civil agreement has been concluded.

It should be mentioned that the content of the order should disclose the purpose of spending the funds received, their maximum amount and a specific period of time. In the event that an employee of an enterprise is referred on a business trip, the issuance of material resources is made in accordance with an order for a business trip or on the basis of a travel list.

An employee who has received funds to cover expenses for the entire business trip must submit reports to the accounting department. The deadline for submitting the advance report is three days, after the expiration of the period fixed on the pages of the order from the management of the enterprise. This document is one of the justifications for the expediency of spending the company's financial resources, which means the need to attach documents confirming the targeted use of the accountable funds.

Nuances and subtleties

In order to confirm the feasibility of using the reporting amounts, the employee must fill out advance reports. Such a document is filled out on both sides, after which it is sent to the accounting department for verification. Reviewed report is sent to the management of the organization for approval. According to the current bill, this primary accounting document is filled in a single copy.


The spending of money given to an employee in advance is confirmed using the primary accounting document - an advance report

It should be noted that the number of the advance report in OKUD (All-Russian Classifier of Management Documentation) was changed in 2015. Previously, this form bore the number "0504049". On March 30, 2015, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation issued an order number fifty-two, on assigning a new number to this form. Today, the number of the advance report is OKUD "0504505". Below, you can familiarize yourself with what the form of an advance report form according to OKUD 0504505 looks like. This document contains a tear-off part that should be transferred to an employee of the enterprise after an accounting check.

The procedure for drawing up the AO-1 form

According to the current legislation, each company has every right to independently draw up the document in question. However, there is a clear regulation that provides for the mandatory details that must be present in such papers. These details include:

  • registration number and date of compilation;
  • the name of the company;
  • the amount of funds received and spent;
  • list of attachments to the main document.

Advance reporting is filled in handwritten or typewritten form (on a computer). One of the important criteria is the certification of the document by the signature of an official with the necessary powers. In the case of an electronic version of the document, a digital signature of the manager is required. This type of compilation of primary documentation is allowed only when an electronic document management system is used within the enterprise.

When deciding on the issuance of an accountable amount to an employee of the enterprise, the head must issue a corresponding order. One of the important stages of writing a report is checking the line "Assignment of advance payment"... This line must exactly match the wording available in the order of the company's management.

Below is an advance report, a sample of filling.


If the deadline for the submission of the advance report by the accountable person has not been met, this is considered a violation of cash discipline.

Posting in accounting

In the book of accounting of expenses that were performed by an employee of the company during the period of a business trip, accounts for settlements with employees, expense accounts and other types of documents are used. In the event that the amount is issued in the form of cash, it is necessary to make this note: "Dt count 71 CT count 50". Such marks are fixed on the basis of a correctly drawn up cash outflow order.

In the event that financial resources are credited to the bank card of an employee of the enterprise, the following note is made in the accounting book: "Дт сч.71 Кт Сч.51". To perform such operations, the accountant needs to fill out a payment form for a financial institution. After the employee returns from a business trip, his responsibilities include providing the accounting department with a correctly executed advance report.

Based on this sheet and the corresponding applications, the following entries are recorded in the accounting book:

  1. "Dt count. 10 Ct. Count 71"- in a situation where the accountable amount was spent on the purchase of inventories.
  2. "Dt count 41 Ct count 71"- in the case of purchasing inventory items.
  3. "Dt w. 20, 23, 25.26 Kt w. 71"- in the case of spending on the needs of the structural divisions of the enterprise.
  4. "Dt count. 44 Kt count. 71"- in the situation when the expenses were made by the trading company.

In a situation where an employee of the enterprise has unspent financial resources, he needs to transfer them to the management of the company. When returning to the cashier, the code is indicated: "Dt count. 50 Kt count. 71". When transferring back from a bank card to a bank account of an enterprise, the code is recorded: "Дт сч.51 Кт сч.71". In the event that the reporting amount was insufficient to perform certain operations, the company compensates the employee for financial expenses. In the case of payment through the cashier, the code is indicated "Дт сс. 71 Кт сч.50", and with a bank transfer "Дт сч.71 Кт сч.51".

In some cases, the employee cannot provide the necessary documents confirming the feasibility of expenses. Such a situation may arise when the documentation is lost or it is impossible to provide checks, due to spending on personal needs. In this case, the code number 94 is used. In the book of accounting, a note is made “Dt cc. 94 Ct cc. 71 ", which reflects the lack of funds. Further, the amount of the shortfall is deducted from the employee's salary in accordance with the posting code "Dt account 70 CT account 94".


An advance report means a two-sided unified form, which must be completed by the responsible officer and accountant.

Terms used:

  1. Dt (debit)- the act of transferring funds.
  2. CT (loan)- an act of full or partial refund of the reporting amount.
  3. Mid- check.

Supporting documentation

During the processing of expenses related to a business trip, the accountant must be based on Decree No. 749 dated October 13, 2008. This document says that an employee who goes on a business trip must obtain a travel certificate. It should be noted that there are regulations regarding the form of certification. It must indicate the dates of the business trip, as well as be signed and sealed by the company's management.

The amount of expenses is calculated based on checks, tickets and receipts submitted to the accounting department. Data supporting documents are an integral part of the advance report. Upon returning from a business trip, the employee must surrender the issued certificate. After that, reports are drawn up for submission to management for approval. In order to reduce the risk of claims from the tax authorities, it is necessary to approach filling out papers with increased responsibility. In case of an incorrectly completed report, the accountant has the right to refuse to accept the documentation.

The employee's task is to collect all cash and sales receipts, as well as other forms of strict reporting. All of the above documents are attached to an A4 paper sheet. By doing this, you can reduce the risk of losing important expense report attachments. Some accountants recommend that employees take a photocopy of each document in order to reduce the risk of loss of documents due to ink fading. Such attachments to the report allow the company to prove the feasibility of financial costs during a business trip, during the period of inspections by the tax authorities.

Subtleties of filling out the report

Considering the question of how to properly draw up an advance report, it should be noted some of the subtleties associated with the process of sending an employee on a business trip outside the Russian Federation. In this case, there is no need to issue a travel certificate, since all the required dates are recorded on the pages of the foreign passport.


The unified report form refers to documentation that is subject to strict reporting, intended for transfer to the tax authority

After an official is selected for a foreign business trip, the task of the company's management is to prepare the necessary order, which records the purpose of the business trip, position, surname and initials of the employee, as well as the destination. It is allowed to independently set the size of daily expenses. According to statistics, daily expenses do not exceed the amount subject to personal income tax. The company pays for the flight to the destination. The task of an official sent on a business trip is to prepare documents confirming expenses for accommodation, flights, payment of state fees and translation services.

Rules for filling out an advance report

So let's look at an example of filling out a travel expense report. On the main sheet of the form, you should indicate the name of the enterprise and department where the employee's labor activity is carried out after returning from a business trip. Next, the position, purpose of the trip, registration number of the form and the date of filling out the papers are indicated.

The tabular part reflects information about the funds that were issued to the official. Here, the amount of the received advance payment and the financial costs incurred during the business trip are recorded. Further, a summing up is carried out, where it is revealed whether there are unspent funds left. On the reverse side of the document in question, a generalization of information about the primary documentation is provided, confirming the fact of the targeted nature of the existing expenses. This type of document includes commodity and cash receipts, receipts, acts and invoices. It is important to note that data should be systematized and recorded in chronological order. After the information is organized, it is attached to the main document.

After filling in all the necessary papers, the finished reporting is transferred to the accounting department to check the expediency of spending the amount. The correctness of filling out the documentation is also considered. After the audit, the accountant fixes the invoices that are attached to the expense report. After that, the documents are signed by the accountable person, which are then submitted for approval to the company's management.

In the event that a person who has returned from a business trip has unspent funds, it is necessary to return the remaining amount to the cashier or the accounting department. In the event of cost overruns, the company must make up for the employee's losses. In a situation where an employee is in arrears on a previously issued advance payment, personal expenses are not reimbursed. The process of filling out such forms is quite simple, however, various nuances must be taken into account.

In order to avoid mistakes when drawing up a document, you should consult an accountant.


The document can be drawn up in paper or electronic form, with the obligatory certification by the signature of the direct management of the company

Advance reporting is filled in by a person who arrived from a business trip and a representative of the accounting department. The task of the inspector is to analyze the correctness of the information provided. In addition, the employee must be issued an accounting receipt confirming the fact that the report has been registered. A receipt is a detachable part of the form, which indicates the registration code, the date of writing the report, the surname and initials of the official who received the accountable funds. Next, the amount of recorded financial expenses and the number of additional investments to the report are indicated.

In the event that the reporting is not drawn up correctly, the accounting department retains the right to refuse to accept documents. In this situation, the official becomes the debtor of the enterprise. In case of refusal to reimburse the debt, the management of the organization has the full right to withhold the necessary funds from the employee's salary, in accordance with article one hundred thirty-seven of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. It should be noted that the retention of funds is carried out with the consent of the employee.... This fact must be documented. In the event that the employee refuses to cover the amount of expenses, the conflict that has arisen is resolved in court.

Did you like the article? Share it