Meanings of Account Assignment
What is account assignment?
In the bookkeeping, you post each business transaction on the basis of receipts on G / L accounts. So that you can submit the accounting for expenses and income to the tax office on a monthly or quarterly basis. In order to document the correctness of postings, all documents of a certain period are assigned to expense and income accounts. Accordingly, this process is called account assignment.
In most companies, manual pre-accounting takes place. Because it relieves the tax advisor of a lot of work. The entrepreneur notes the amounts to be posted as well as the assigned accounts and cost centers on the posting documents. These details define the booking rate . This, on the other hand, forms the basis for the work of the tax advisor.
The account assignment takes place in three stages:
The receipts are recorded and provided with the date and receipt stamp,
Receipts are sorted chronologically
and checked for accuracy.
As a result, the tax advisor records all types of costs and amounts with software. This automatically calculates the tax rate for sales tax and input tax and at the same time creates the sales tax return for the month or quarter.
Pre-accounting to prepare the booking
The company must do the pre-sorting and assignment of the documents itself. They are part of the preparatory bookkeeping. The pre-accounting clarifies which account is addressed in a booking record and accelerates the whole process. It also ensures that processes run smoothly in the company, so that the accounting department only carries out control and the actual booking. When prepaying, you assign all receipts chronologically and each to an account statement. Then you hand them over to the tax advisor or the accounting department. Balance sheets , financial statements and posting account assignments are not part of the preparatory bookkeeping.
Internal and external documents
In accordance with the receipt principle, no posting may be made without receipt. In order for you to post a receipt properly, it needs qualified information about:
Invoice amount
Value
Type and amount of purchase
Purchase date
Signature of the authorized person
The receipt must also contain an account number to which the posting is made. The accounting department numbers receipts consecutively and stores them in an orderly manner for ten years . The documents are differentiated according to the type of document. External documents that were created outside of the company fall into the category of external documents. These can be countersigned bank or postal receipts, for example.
Internal documents are internal receipts incurred within the company, such as sales invoices or payrolls.
According to ETAIZHOU, a third category is called emergency receipts. You only issue these receipts in an emergency as a substitute for external receipts. This can be done, for example, for a taxi ride without a receipt from the taxi driver. Such an emergency receipt contains the same information as the normal external receipt.
The account assignment with chart of accounts
An accountant who assigns documents to documents must follow the company’s chart of accounts. After all, this plan is a directory of all accounts to be posted in the company. The chart of accounts is derived from standardized charts of accounts . These systematically define the accounts required for certain branches of the economy. Depending on the industry, there are special charts of accounts for banks, industrial companies or retailers. As a result, the industrial accounting framework (IKR) applies nationwide to industrial companies . Whereas for trading companies the standard chart of accounts (SKR) applies. This chart of accounts shows various accounts, so that many companies only use a short version. All accounts that are not needed are eliminated.
Simple and compound posting records
The posting record specifies which accounts are addressed in debit and credit. A further distinction is made between simple and compound booking records. The simple booking record addresses one account in debit and credit . With the composite posting record, however, the posting is made on at least one page to two accounts. Compound booking records are created by taking input and sales tax into account. The cost centers are also indicated on the stamp for the account assignment. Allocation to a cost center enables costs to be allocated to different cost units.
The correct account assignment: the basis of the cost analysis
Only through the account assignment does controlling receive a meaningful database that it can use to analyze costs such as production costs. However, this is only possible if the accounting department assigns all costs to the correct accounts. Account assignment is not a problem for regularly recurring incidents. Aside from extraordinary expenses and income, they sometimes create difficulties. So that you can rule out sources of error from the outset, it is advisable to work with a tax advisor or auditor.
Summary
Account assignment refers to the recording of documents and their assignment in expense and income accounts, usually with the help of a chart of accounts. No posting without receipt. For this reason, you have to show a receipt for every booking. The assignment is made by means of notes on receipts and invoices. Thanks to the booking note, you can find the correct receipt for every booking. The documents are divided into the categories external and internal. They serve as proof of correct bookkeeping and must be kept for ten years.