What are accounting documents? How to organize and manage accounting documents

Accounting documents are legal evidence and basis for accounting entries, reflecting economic and financial transactions that have arisen and been completed in a business or organization. Because accounting documents are the legal basis for making financial report Therefore, accountants need to clearly understand the nature of accounting documents in order to apply and manage them properly.

Join Bizzi to learn more about accounting document management methods in the article below.

What is an accounting document?

General DefinitionAccounting documents are papers and information carriers that reflect the accounting, economic and financial transactions that have arisen and been completed, and are also the basis for accounting entries. They include documents such as invoices, receipts/payments, warehouse receipts/deliveries, or other information carriers in the process of exchanging and buying and selling goods.

Accounting documents play an indispensable role in the process of recording and confirming a business's financial information, helping to maintain the accuracy, transparency and control of the accounting system.

What is the effect and significance of the Accounting document management method?

The accounting voucher method has many important effects and meanings in corporate financial management:

• Collect and record information: Accounting documents play an important role in collecting and recording information about economic transactions, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of data. It also helps to increase clarity and uniformity in performing economic operations, conveying orders from management to the implementing department.
• Legality: Accounting documents are considered the legal basis for all accounting data and documents. They provide valid and accurate evidence of financial and economic transactions, play an important role in checking compliance with economic and financial policies, regulations, and procedures, and are also the legal basis for resolving disputes and complaints related to economics and finance.
• Control and monitoring: Accounting documents support risk management and internal control, help detect abnormalities and risks, thereby providing effective prevention and control measures. They help administrators closely control expenses, detect errors and promptly adjust financial issues.
• Providing information for analysis and decision making: Accounting documents provide information necessary for analysis and making business decisions, helping to evaluate financial performance, profitability and competitive positioning of the enterprise.
• Accounting basis: The preparation of accounting documents is the starting point of accounting work, aiming to build an internal control system and provide a basis for recording arising transactions in a transparent, detailed and complete manner.

What are the contents and elements of an Accounting document?

Each accounting document must contain all the specific elements of the content, scale, time, location of economic activities, as well as the parties involved and responsible persons.

Required basic elements:

According to the 2015 Accounting Law, accounting documents must have the following main contents:

• Name and number of accounting document.
• Date, month, year of accounting document creation.
• Name and address of the agency, organization, unit or individual preparing the accounting document.
• Name and address of the agency, organization, unit or individual receiving the accounting voucher.
• Content of economic and financial transactions arising.
• Quantity, unit price and amount of economic and financial transactions are recorded in numbers; total amount of accounting documents used to collect and pay money are recorded in numbers and words.
• Signature, full name of ncreators, reviewers and relevant parties to accounting documents.

Additional factors (possible):

In addition to the main contents, accounting documents may have other contents depending on the type of document:

• Transaction accounting: Identify and classify revenues, expenses or transactions according to their respective accounting accounts.
• Scale and norms of economic activities: Describe quantity, volume, unit of measurement.
• Payment terms and methods: Determine payment terms and timing.
• Place of delivery: Indicates where the economic activity is performed.
• Business logo: Helps identify businesses that generate economic information.

Classification of common accounting documents

Accounting documents can be classified according to many different criteria:

• Based on the use of the certificate:
  • Order document: Used to convey orders or instructions.
  • Certificate of compliance: Proof of completed economic transactions.
  • Documents and procedures: Summarize and classify transactions for easy recording and comparison.
  • Joint documents: Combines the characteristics of two or more types of documents.
• Based on the order of document creation:
  • Original document (original document): Created directly when economic transactions arise or are just completed.
  • General documents: Used to summarize data of economic transactions of the same type.
• Based on the method of document creation:
  • One-time voucher: Record the transaction only once.
  • Multiple vouchers: Record a type of transaction and repeat it many times, accumulate data.
• Based on the content of economic transactions reflected in the documents: Includes documents related to labor, wages, inventory, sales, currency, fixed assets.
• Based on the form of the document:
  • Normal certificate: In paper form.
  • Electronic documents: In the form of electronic data, encrypted and unchanged during transmission/storage.

Regulations on how to organize and manage accounting documents according to current laws

The organization and management of accounting documents must comply with strict legal regulations as follows:

• General regulations on document preparation:
  • All economic and financial transactions must have accounting documents created and only created once for each transaction.
  • Accounting documents must be prepared clearly, completely, promptly, and accurately according to the content specified on the form. If there is no form, the accounting unit can prepare it itself but must ensure that all basic contents are sufficient.
  • The business content on the voucher must not be abbreviated, erased or corrected. When writing, it must be written in ink, numbers and letters must be written continuously, without interruption, and blank spaces must be crossed out. Erased or corrected vouchers are not valid for payment and accounting entries. When written incorrectly, it must be canceled by crossing out the incorrect voucher.
  • Accounting documents must be made in the prescribed number of copies. In case multiple copies are made for a transaction, the contents of the copies must be the same.
  • The preparer, approver and other persons signing the document are responsible for the content of the document.
• Signature regulations:
  • Accounting documents must have sufficient signatures according to the prescribed titles, signed in indelible ink, not using red ink or pre-engraved signature stamps. Signatures of one person must be consistent.
  • The signature must be signed by an authorized person or an authorized person. It is strictly forbidden to sign documents without fully stating the content under the responsibility of the signatory.
  • Payment vouchers must be approved by the authorized person and signed by the chief accountant or authorized person before implementation, signed on each copy.
  • Electronic documents must have electronic signatures, which are as valid as signatures on paper documents.
• Conditions for electronic documents:
  • Must have full content as prescribed and be presented in electronic data form, encrypted without being changed during transmission or on the information carrier.
  • Must ensure data security and integrity during use and storage; must be managed and checked against all forms of exploitation, intrusion, copying, and theft.
  • Electronic documents are managed as accounting documents in original form but must have suitable equipment for use.
• How to organize and manage accounting documents when in use:
  • Information and data on accounting vouchers are the basis for accounting entries.
  • Accounting documents must be arranged according to economic content, in chronological order and safely preserved according to legal regulations.
  • Only competent state agencies have the right to temporarily detain, confiscate or seal accounting documents. When doing so, they must photocopy the documents, sign the confirmation and hand over the copies to the accounting unit, and at the same time make a record stating the reason and quantity.
• Storage period: Proper management of accounting documents must be stored for at least 5 years, however in some special cases (e.g. related to taxes), the storage period may be longer as required by tax authorities and other legal regulations.

Accounting Document Circulation and Processing Procedure

The process of circulating documents in accounting includes specific stages to ensure information is processed continuously and effectively:

• Step 1: Prepare and receive documents:

This stage requires preparing documents according to the prescribed form or self-preparing (if there is no form), and ensuring that the documents contain all the necessary information. Documents need to be signed and confirmed by relevant people to be considered legal.

• Step 2: Check the validity and legality of the document:

After receiving the documents, the verification process is carried out to ensure the validity, legality and reasonableness of the information and signature. Only when the documents have been verified and confirmed to be valid can they be used as a basis for accounting entries. In case of detecting invalid documents, the accountant must refuse to accept them and report to the management level. (For foreign documents, they must be translated into Vietnamese and attached with the original).

• Step 3: Use vouchers and accounting records:

This stage involves the use of documents to provide necessary information to business leaders and perform accounting entries. Documents are classified according to each type of transaction, the nature of the expense and the location of occurrence to meet the requirements of accounting entries. Then, based on the information in the documents, accounting entries are made and recorded in the corresponding accounting books.

• Step 4: Preserve, store and destroy documents:

After the vouchers have been recorded in the accounting books, the process of preserving and reusing the vouchers is carried out during the accounting period to check and compare the data. The vouchers need to be carefully preserved to avoid damage, loss and easy retrieval. The accounting vouchers are the legal basis and also represent the historical documents of the enterprise. After being recorded and the accounting period is over, the vouchers are transferred to the storage process. When the storage period expires, the vouchers are destroyed according to regulations to free up storage space and maintain the organization of the system.

Technology solutions support effective organization and management of accounting documents

In the modern business environment, the application of technology to accounting document management is an important factor to achieve accuracy, transparency and efficiency.

• The role of accounting software: 

Accounting software today is not only an automatic bookkeeping tool, but also a central platform to help organize - manage - retrieve - control accounting documents professionally, accurately and save human resources.

• Bizzi – AI assistant for finance and accounting department, providing a comprehensive cost control system, automating revenue and expenditure processes and document management.
  • Processing, reconciling and managing input invoices (IPA + 3way): Bizzi Bot uses RPA and AI technology to automatically upload, check and reconcile invoices. The platform automatically compares invoice details with purchase orders (POs) and warehouse receipts (GRs) in real time to detect discrepancies. It also verifies valid suppliers (checks MST, status on tax systems) and alerts risky invoices from suppliers with signs of irregularities. Incoming invoices are automatically recorded and stored for 10 years, and API integration with ERP & Accounting systems to synchronize data.

• • • Electronic bill (B-invoice): Bizzi supports the creation of standard electronic invoices (XML/PDF), with customized invoice templates according to the business brand. The platform allows for mass invoice issuance, direct connection to the tax authority system to authenticate the authentication code, and archive invoices for at least 10 years. Users can look up, download & print invoices in PDF, XML format (integrated with digital signature), and manage invoice status (issued, sent, paid, canceled or adjusted). The solution also integrates with accounting & ERP software.
    • Business Expense Management (Bizzi Expense): Allows you to set and allocate budgets by department/project to control spending, monitor spending against budget, and alert when it exceeds. The automated spending approval system helps speed up the request approval process, track expenses in real time, and generate detailed expense reports. Businesses can set and enforce spending policies, as well as define flexible approval flows.
    • Accounts Receivable Management (ARM): Provides automatic debt reminders according to scenarios via email and text messages. The system helps track and reconcile debts and important indicators such as DSO (Days Sales Outstanding), debt aging reports. It automatically records and tracks debts of each customer and supplier, provides warnings when debts are close to payment deadline or show signs of overdue, and creates detailed debt reports.

Conclude

In short, the accounting voucher method plays an extremely important role in creating a reliable and effective accounting system. It not only ensures the accuracy and reliability of financial information, but also helps to control and track business transactions clearly. 

For any organization operating in the field of accounting and finance, understanding what accounting documents are and applying the correct accounting document method is an important factor to achieve business success. Combining the application of technology solutions such as Bizzi can optimize the process of organizing and managing accounting documents, improving efficiency and minimizing risks for businesses.

• Sign up for a Bizzi product trial here: https://bizzi.vn/dang-ky-dung-thu/
• Schedule a demo: https://bizzi.vn/dat-lich-demo/