Today, all companies must GoBD-The correct storage of certain documents must be observed. Correct archiving alone is not enough. The specific measures and procedures to be taken must be recorded in procedural documentation.
Business owners should expect the tax office to demand documented procedures at the latest during the next tax audit. Among other things, they must describe in procedural documentation how the company ensures the GoBD-compliant storage of documents that are relevant to the tax authorities.
GoBD-compliant archiving
The GoBD describes how you are to be informed of the software-supported accounting comply with the tax law principles of good bookkeeping. The principles of proper accounting have long been defined: According to these, all business transactions should primarily be complete, correct, documented, recorded and archived. This must be done quickly and in an organised manner. Nothing must be forgotten or lost and it must be ensured that the documents are traceable and unalterable.
through the digitalization In accounting, receipts and other business documents are no longer stored in files. A digital archive is probably the more modern way to do this. However, such document storage must fulfil all GoBD requirements. For example, documents must be protected in such a way that they cannot be deleted or manipulated. In addition, they must always be clearly related to a business transaction. This type of audit compliance must be verifiable.
What is part of the process documentation?
How can you create a "Audit-compliant archiving" in the process documentation? A company can implement audit-proof archiving using a document management system (DMS). The software, its metrics and technology are then described in the process documentation. This protocol covers all processes, responsibilities and system settings that serve to fulfil the GoBD criteria.
Business software as a prerequisite for procedural documentation
Business software with integrated financial accounting records all processes, business transactions and system settings in the background. In combination with digital document management, a high level of GoBD-compliant archiving is achieved. The software package should log all accesses and changes with a time stamp. The more areas of the company are mapped by the business software, the more documents to be archived are captured by the solution. Everything that takes place outside the company must of course also be recorded, provided it is in the context of the GoBD.
Why the procedural documentation
In the event of an external audit, the auditor must be able to gain an overview of a company's finances with reasonable effort. The figures alone are not enough. The auditor also wants to know how the figures were arrived at. Process documentation provides such information and also makes it clear what precautions have been taken to prevent manipulation.
The general description
The general description contains the basics, functions and areas of application of the accounting system. This includes information on which tasks you perform yourself and what you have outsourced to service providers. It also states whether you use software in the cloud or on-premises uses.
The user documentation
They explain the various application modules and data input fields as well as the internal processing procedures - such as posting rules - and the settings and rules specific to your company in the software. Technical processes such as data input, verification, reconciliation, output, inventory of data and documents and deadlines are also part of the user documentation.
Operating documentation
The operational documentation should describe the elements of the internal control system, the IT controls and the technical and organisational measures (TOMs) that you have put in place to ensure the accuracy and security of your accounting processes, e.g. : Data backup procedures, access controls, user rights, roles, competences, programme change approval procedures and change management procedures.
The technical system documentation
This part of the process documentation covers all components of the system and their interfaces. It describes the interactions between the various system components. It also contains a description of the internal processing rules of the software from a technical perspective (e.g. data flow diagrams, flowcharts and protocols). This part of the documentation also includes error handling procedures and details of the data model. This enables tax administrations to understand how functions and controls are implemented in the software.
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