Bookkeeping in Uzbekistan: What the Law Requires and How to Organise It

Legal framework: the law and the standards

The Law "On Accounting" is in force in the new version approved by Law No. ZRU-404 of April 13, 2016; the latest amendments as of October 2026 were made by Law No. ZRU-1158 of July 13, 2026 (in force from July 25, 2026). Accounting rules are set by the accounting standards, including a simplified standard for small businesses (Article 9); IFRS are applied in the manner established by legislation (Article 10).

The standards are being updated: from January 1, 2027, NSFO No. 1 "Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements" comes into force, replacing NAS No. 1, together with NSFO No. 2 "Basis of Preparation of Financial Statements: Accounting Policies and Accounting Estimates". Both apply to legal entities other than public interest entities and budget organisations.

What bookkeeping consists of

• Receiving primary documents and checking mandatory details: name of the organisation, document title, number, date and place of preparation, content of the transaction in physical and monetary terms, positions and signatures (Article 14).
• Recording transactions in ledgers — journals, statements, books, including electronic ones (Article 15); in practice, in accounting software such as 1C.
• Daily and monthly areas: bank, cash, advances to staff, payroll, warehouse.
• Reconciliations with counterparties and the budget.
• Inventory counts: mandatory before the annual financial statements, except for property counted after October 1; para. 5 of NAS No. 19 lists other cases — change of the persons with material responsibility, discovery of theft, emergencies, liquidation.
• Month-end and year-end close: depreciation, exchange differences, financial result.
• Tax accounting and tax returns — in parallel with financial accounting.

Accounting policy: when to approve and change it

The head of the company ensures the accounting policy is developed (Article 11 of the law). In 2026 the procedure is set by NAS No. 1 (paras. 51–52): the policy is issued by order or instruction of the head, the chosen methods apply from January 1 of the year following the year of the order, and a new organisation adopts its policy no later than 90 days after state registration and applies it from the registration date.

The policy is not changed during the calendar year. A change is allowed on reorganisation, a change of owners, changes in legislation or accounting regulations, development of new accounting methods, and if it makes the information in the financial statements more reliable; it is justified and documented under para. 51. From 2027 NSFO No. 2 applies: the policy may be changed only if a standard requires it or the change gives more relevant and reliable information.

Primary documents and document flow

• An error in a primary document is corrected with the note "corrected", the signatures of the persons who signed the document and the date of the correction (para. 24 of the Regulation on Documents and Document Flow, reg. No. 3538).
• No corrections are allowed in bank and cash documents (para. 25 of the Regulation; Article 14 of the law).
• The movement of documents from preparation to archiving is governed by a document flow schedule approved by order of the head (paras. 52–53 of the Regulation).
• Primary documents and ledgers may be electronic (Articles 14 and 15 of the law).

Financial statements: content and deadlines

• The annual financial statements comprise the balance sheet, the statement of financial results, the statement of cash flows, the statement of changes in equity, notes, calculations and explanations (Article 22).
• Small enterprises and micro-firms file only annual statements consisting of the balance sheet and the statement of financial results (Article 25).
• The deadline for annual statements under national accounting standards (NAS) is no later than March 1, and under IFRS no later than May 1 of the year following the reporting year (para. 7 of Regulation reg. No. 3567). The Regulation does not apply to budget and insurance organisations, commercial banks and non-bank credit organisations.
• The reporting year runs from January 1 to December 31; for a legal entity (other than budget organisations) registered after October 1, the first reporting year ends on December 31 of the following year (Article 24).
• The financial statements are received by the tax authorities, statistics bodies, owners and other bodies specified by law (Article 25).

How long to keep documents

• Primary documents, ledgers, financial statements and other documents on organising and keeping accounts — for the periods set by law, but no less than 5 years after the reporting year (Article 29 of the law, para. 26 of Regulation reg. No. 3538).
• Tax returns and the documents attached to them — at least 3 years following the year of filing, unless the Tax Code provides otherwise. If a rate, incentive, deduction or payment deadline depends on meeting conditions, all supporting documents are kept for at least 3 years after the year in which the conditions ceased to apply (Article 84 of the Tax Code).
• Not subject to mandatory retention and archiving: documents on salaries and other income of individuals and the taxes on them accrued after January 1, 2022; financial, tax and statistical reports filed electronically with the tax and statistics authorities; documents prepared electronically in the tax authority's automated systems (para. 26 of Regulation reg. No. 3538). Tax returns nevertheless remain subject to Article 84 of the Tax Code, so electronic copies of filed returns should be kept for at least the period stated there.

Who can keep the books: in-house, contract accountant or outsourcing

Article 11 leaves the choice to the head of the company: an in-house accounting service led by its head, or an accountant engaged under contract; delegating accounting under contract to a specialised organisation — an audit firm, a tax consultants' organisation or another organisation whose charter provides for such a service; or keeping the accounts personally.

If the company (other than banks and other credit organisations) is subject to mandatory audit, the chief accountant must have higher education and experience in accounting, reporting or audit: with an economics degree — at least three of the last five years, with a non-economics degree — at least seven of the last ten; the head ensures annual professional development. The same requirements apply to the employee of an organisation to which the accounting is outsourced (Article 12).

The choice between in-house and outsourced usually comes down to transaction volume, whether you need an accountant in the office, the cost of replacing an employee and the risk of depending on one person. Note the restriction: an organisation that keeps or restores your books cannot audit you — neither a mandatory nor a voluntary audit — for the same period (Articles 32 and 34 of Law ZRU-677).

Liability and typical errors

For failing to meet obligations under accounting legislation — including failing to ensure reliable data and not carrying out an inventory count — the head of the company and the chief accountant are fined 3–7 BCV (1.32–3.08 million soums at a BCV of 440,000 soums), and for a repeat violation within a year after a penalty, 7–10 BCV (3.08–4.4 million soums), under Article 175¹ of the Code of Administrative Liability. Typical causes of such violations:

• the accounting policy is not approved or does not match the methods actually used;
• documents are posted in a batch at quarter-end, and the chronology is lost;
• there are no regular reconciliations with counterparties and the budget;
• no inventory count is carried out before the annual financial statements;
• documents are destroyed before five years after the reporting year have passed.