Primary financial documents in Ukraine are conflicting with the usual practices in the vast majority of civilized countries. In particular, such a document as statement of acceptance has become widely used in Ukraine. This is one of the key primary financial documents for tax accounting in the country. In contrast, foreign counterparts (except for several countries of the former USSR) do not use this document, which entails transaction costs for Ukrainian entrepreneurs, including impossibility to exploit such a standardized document in the world as e-invoice. In the report “Euro-integration of accounting: why statements of acceptance are not needed anymore”, the CASE Ukraine team investigates the problem of statements of acceptance circulation, and estimates the cost of maintaining this practice for both businesses and the economy as a whole.
According to CASE Ukraine estimates, the turnover of statements of acceptance takes up to 13% of working time of an accountant and up to 5% of working time of a CEO. It costs UAH200-300 to produce one pair of statements of acceptance in working time equivalent. In general, the economy loses up to UAH 34 billion per year from the circulation of the statements of acceptance (about 0.6% of GDP).
According to a survey commissioned by CASE Ukraine, 74% of companies believe that it would be easier for them to work in conditions where signing statements of acceptance is not mandatory. Accountants are more cautiouse of renouncing statements of acceptance, although 64.6% of accountants believe that it would be easier for them to work in conditions where signing the statements is optional.
The authors of the study propose to make statements of acceptance optional and reflect this change legislatively. Also a respective letter of explanation from the tax authorities will be needed. At the same time, given the entrenched practices of statements of acceptance circulation, no need for complete abolition of the statements. The entrepreneur must decide by himself which document to use to confirm the fact of incurred costs – a statement of acceptance or an invoice.
Parallel circulation of invoices and statements of acceptance as primary financial documents is offered as the best option for the transition period until e-invoices are fully implemented.
You can find with the results of the research and a more detailed description of the proposals at the link (Ukrainian version)
This report was produced under the “Stamping out Statements of Acceptance in Ukraine for reducing red-tape and business costs in Ukraine and eliminate mandatory statements for Ukrainian businesses” project with the financial support of the Atlas Network.
