Law 402-FZ "On Accounting" was approved with the aim of establishing uniform requirements for the maintenance of financial and business documents of enterprises. This normative act establishes the legal mechanism for regulating this sphere. The document formulates key reporting requirements. 
402-ФЗ "On accounting": scope
The normative act applies to:
- Non-profit and commercial enterprises.
- Government agencies, territorial self-government structures, administrative apparatuses of state and local extra-budgetary funds.
- Central Bank
- Individual entrepreneurs, notaries, lawyers who created offices, and other individuals practicing private practice.
- Representative offices and other structural divisions of companies established under the laws of foreign countries, international organizations and their branches located in the Russian Federation, unless otherwise provided by interstate agreements.
Application features
Law 402-ФЗ "On Accounting" is used in the management of financial and business securities by the trustee for the property transferred to him and the objects associated with it. It is also used in the framework of a simple partnership and other economic entities. Fundamentals 402-FZ "On Accounting" is used in the preparation of financial and economic documentation during the execution of the production sharing agreement, unless otherwise provided in regulatory act No. 225. 
Key concepts
In 402-ФЗ "About accounting" special definitions are used. They should be known to the employee who compiles the financial and economic documentation at the enterprise. These concepts include:
- Accounting statements. It is a document containing information about the financial condition of the business entity at a specific date, the results of its economic activity, the movement of funds for a certain period. Reporting is systematized in accordance with the requirements established by the law in question.
- Authorized body. It is the executive structure, vested with the Government the authority to carry out functions for the development of state policies and regulations in the field of accounting and reporting.
- Standard. It is a document according to which the minimum requirements for accounting, acceptable methods of its maintenance are established. The standard may be domestic or international.
- Chart of accounts - a systematic list of accounting articles.
- The head of the business entity. It is a person who is the sole executive body of the company or the manager to whom the relevant powers are delegated. The leader can be the specialist responsible for doing business in the organization.
- Reporting period - the time period for which accounting documentation is compiled.
- The fact of economic activity (life). It can be an event, operation, transaction, having or capable of influencing the financial condition of the entity, the result of its economic activity or movement of funds.
The objects
They are listed in Art. 5 chap. 2 of the considered normative act. This provision 402-ФЗ "On accounting" establishes the following controlled objects:
- Assets.
- Facts of economic activity.
- Liabilities.
- Revenues.
- Sources of financing the work of the subject.
- Costs.
- Other facilities established by standards.
Subject's duty
402-ФЗ "On accounting" requires the conduct of financial and economic documentation:
- To individual entrepreneurs, private practitioners. For these entities, the obligation to compile documentation is charged if, according to the applicable regulatory acts on fees and taxes, they record expenses and income or other objects of taxation in the prescribed manner.
- Representative offices, branches and other structural divisions of companies formed within the territory of the Russian Federation formed under foreign laws. For these entities, the condition given in the previous paragraph also applies.
402-ФЗ "On Accounting" prescribes the maintenance of financial and economic documentation from the moment of state registration until the date of termination of the enterprise due to liquidation or reorganization. 
Process features
According to 402-ФЗ "On Accounting", the head of the entity is responsible for the organization of maintaining financial and economic documentation and its storage. If a private practitioner or an individual entrepreneur performs registration of expenses and income, they independently fill out the necessary papers. Along with this, they are charged with other duties stipulated for the head of an economic entity. The manager of the enterprise should assign the responsibility for compiling the documentation to the appropriate specialist. An order is issued for this. 402-FZ "On Accounting" allows the conclusion of an agreement with a private company to provide the latter with appropriate services to the enterprise. For a credit institution, a slightly different procedure applies. The head of such a company is obliged to assign reporting functions to the chief accountant. The manager of a small or medium-sized enterprise can compile documentation independently.
Specialist Requirements
The head of the business entity must verify the compliance of the level of professional training of the employee with the duties that he will fulfill. Only after that the director can sign the corresponding order. 402-ФЗ "On accounting" establishes the following requirements for a specialist:
- The presence of higher vocational education.
- Lack of outstanding or unexpunged criminal record for an economic crime.
- At least three years of work experience in the profession over the past five years. In the absence of higher vocational education, the experience of the employee should be at least five years from the last seven.
Other federal laws governing financial relations may establish additional requirements for a specialist. A legal entity with which the company enters into a service agreement must have at least one employee. Moreover, it must meet the requirements indicated above. The latter also applies to a private practitioner with whom an agreement is concluded to provide him with services in maintaining financial and economic documentation at the enterprise. The chief accountant in a credit institution must comply with the requirements established by the Central Bank.
Controversial issues
Between the head of the enterprise and the chief accountant or another person performing his duties, disagreements may arise regarding the reporting. In these cases, the information present in the primary documentation is accepted / not accepted by the specialist for registration and accumulation in the registers according to the written order of the director. The latter bears sole responsibility for the data generated as a result of these actions. A similar rule applies to accounting objects, the reflection / non-reflection of which a controversial situation arose.