Sales accountant: responsibilities and typical errors

Rules for the area

• e-invoices (ESF) on shipment — as a rule, in the electronic system (Article 47 of the Tax Code);
• when the price or quantity changes — an additional or corrected e-invoice (Article 47); on a return — adjustment of the VAT base (Article 257);
• for entities reporting under IFRS, revenue is recognised when control of the goods or service passes to the customer (IFRS 15).

What the area covers

Preparing documents for shipments and services rendered, recording revenue, monitoring receivables, reconciliations with customers and taking part in the period close.

In companies with a large flow of sales, this area is often a separate position.

• shipping documents and acceptance certificates
• revenue recognition
• settlements with customers
• reconciliations and reconciliation statements
• monitoring of receivables

Where errors arise

The moment of revenue recognition, documenting returns and discounts, recording advances, and mismatches between accounting data and shipping documents.

Each of these situations affects the tax base, so the cost of carelessness here is higher than the accounting average.

How to bring it into order

Start with a document flow procedure: who passes documents to accounting and when, and how non-standard situations are documented.

Then — regular reconciliations with customers so that balances do not turn into disputes by the end of the year.

How shipment, documents and cash are linked

The sales area rests on three events: shipment, documentation and receipt of payment. They rarely coincide in time, and errors arise precisely in the gaps.

The specialist's task is to make sure each event is recorded in its own period and supported by a document, rather than aligning everything to the date cash comes in.

• contracts and delivery terms
• delivery notes and acceptance certificates
• invoices and their adjustments
• advances from customers
• returns and claims

Advances and returns

Advances received are the most common source of misstatement: the money has arrived, the obligation has not been fulfilled, but revenue is already shown. Such an error changes both the result for the period and settlements with the budget.

Returns require no less attention: they should be recorded as an adjustment, not as a reduction of current sales, otherwise data for different periods stops being comparable.

Reconciliations with customers

Regular reconciliation statements with key customers remove most future disputes and at the same time confirm the receivable balances in the financial statements.

Experience shows that the less often reconciliations are done, the more stuck amounts appear in the books whose origin no one remembers a year later.

How to restore order in the area

It is worth starting with an inventory of settlements: go through balances by customer, find unsupported amounts and close them with documents.

Then the documentation procedure is written down: who issues documents, how quickly they reach the books and who checks completeness. Without this, order will not last long.

Differences for individual entrepreneurs and companies

For an individual entrepreneur, sales are usually simpler: fewer items and counterparties. A company adds discounts, deferred payment, long-term contracts and work through intermediaries.

The more complex the contract terms, the more important it is for the accountant to read them before shipment rather than after a dispute arises.

What to check right now

A quick self-check: is there a signed document for every major shipment, are advances from prior periods closed, and do receivable balances match customers' records?

If even one point raises doubts, the area needs a review: from here on, discrepancies will only accumulate.

How Leader Audit helps

We run the sales area as part of our bookkeeping services and review it during audits.

Leader Audit is an audit firm with 13 years of practice and more than 220 audits completed.