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Submission of electronic reporting for free - myth or reality

Over the past few years, the state has been increasingly pushing organizations to switch to electronic tax reporting, which is carried out through specialized telecom operators (not for free).


The association with toll roads is involuntarily traced, where a free alternative to a paid site must be present. Since the main direction of my activity is the maximum reduction of IT organizations costs, in this article I will try to consider the possibility of free delivery of electronic reporting.


I will immediately designate the area - the overall situation will be considered without deepening into operating systems and other software, since this is the topic of other articles preparing for publication.


Obligation to submit reports electronically


The obligation to submit reports electronically is set by each regulatory authority. It is also permissible to voluntarily switch to electronic document management (EDM). More information can be obtained by contacting the supervisory authority or on their official websites:



Useful resources and materials:



Required software


To submit electronic reporting, at least three conditions must be met:


  1. Availability of a program for filling and reporting in electronic form;
  2. Availability of service or program for transferring reports in electronic form;
  3. Availability of a Qualified Electronic Signature (CEP) and a cryptographic provider program.

It would be nice to have an intelligent accountant and system administrator.


Market Overview


The market of products for EDI is represented mainly by four special operators: Tenzor, Takskom, PF SKB Kontur CJSC, and Kaluga Astral CJSC. There are a number of smaller players, for example, Rus-Telecom LLC with its flagship Feldjeger .


In addition to products for reporting, there are programs for accounting with the ability to transfer reports to regulatory authorities: 1C (Kaluga Astral is used for transmission), Contour.Elba and Contour. Accounting, My business, Button, BuchSoft Online, ImBoss, Sky.


All solutions represent an integrated approach, offering filling in reports, uploading finished files from other accounting systems and their transfer, as well as a number of related services (regulatory framework, EDI with contractors, etc.). Naturally, all decisions are paid and their cost can vary considerably depending on the type of organization and tax regime.


The website of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation contains a list of Organizations - Operators of Electronic Document Management .


Do not forget that each supervisory authority makes it possible to complete and submit electronic reporting using its own programs and resources. About this further.


Completion and reporting


Reporting is usually downloaded from accounting software (1C, Parus, SAP, etc.). This is often associated with a number of problems, since the electronic reporting formats are constantly changing and not all programs keep up with these updates. Sometimes users themselves do not bother to install another update in time, or uploading is impossible due to other technical reasons (lack of the required format, invalid XML at the output, etc.).


In this case, you can use the free software for the preparation of electronic reporting, which is offered by the regulatory authorities themselves:



Also on the websites of regulatory bodies there are additional software and services that can be useful despite the way of preparing electronic reporting.


Many products of special communication operators (for which a lot of money is paid) directly refer to the resources of the controlling authorities:



Contrary to popular belief (that the state software is extremely imperfect), all of the above programs of acceptable quality and perform their functions. Many of them are built on the principle of separate loading of xml-templates of necessary forms. This requires some control by the user, since the templates are often updated (especially at Rosstat).


Tip! It makes sense to make an intermediate repository of the necessary xml-templates in order to then centrally update them. At the moment I am sending out templates and informing accountants about updates using several simple Python scripts.


Reporting


Supervisory authorities provide a free opportunity to transfer reports through their own services:



Requirements for working with resources are standard. You must have a Qualified Electronic Signature (CEP), a cryptographic provider program, and you may need a plugin for the cryptographic provider to work with the browser.


The disadvantage of this method is the need for separate registration on each of the resources, which is not very convenient for large amounts of data. Unlike paid solutions that offer a single seamless interface.


Qualified Electronic Signatures (CEP)


Before sending, prepared report files must be signed by electronic signature. This is the only bottleneck that cannot be cheapened, because no one makes a signature for legal entities for free (in fact, you can get it for free as part of the action, more on this later).


The official resources provide lists of accredited certification centers where you can issue an electronic signature. There are also requirements for them. If there is already any electronic signature, then it is quite possible that it is suitable for signing reports.


It is also necessary to have a crypto-provider program. The official resources of the regulatory bodies mainly use CryptoPro. The program has a trial license for three months. To save money, you can install CryptoPro version 3.9, and then install CryptoPro 4.0 ( learn more about supported OS ), winning 6 months of free work. Then, in order to avoid problems and headaches, it is easier to purchase a license.


A number of special operators offer cloud CEP (Cloud) for their services, which are stored on the server of a specialized telecom operator. Working with KlaudKEP does not require a crypto-provider. But working with KlaudKEP on third-party resources is impossible.


Upd : Kaluga-Astral allows you to use the free VipNet CSP crypto-provider.


Other ways to save


There is another quite simple way to save - all sorts of shares of special communication operators. At the moment (05.05.2016) the following actions are valid:



CEP issued as part of the action. Test - I do not want!


Results


When using the programs and resources of supervisory authorities will have to spend money on the acquisition of the CEP. The average current cost (May 10, 2016) is approximately 1500 r. Separately, I’ll note that CEP and crypto-providers are used not only for reporting, but also for Internet banking, various resources (public services, etc.). Therefore, their costs can not be attributed solely to electronic reporting.


This approach is not for everyone. It does not suit large companies with large amounts of data (and completely different budgets), it is more expedient for them to use a paid solution. But small organizations and individual entrepreneurs may well use free analogues.


The test drive option will suit everyone, as they give access to the full functionality of the programs, but temporary. Of course, if you are not going to register a new company every year.


Many special operators offer minimum tariff plans starting from 500 rubles (excluding stocks). Low cost is achieved due to the fact that many operators are at the same time certification centers issuing CEP. At the same time, such tariffs have a lot of restrictions and nuances, so before buying you need to carefully clarify all the pitfalls of cheap solutions. For example, they can include only the possibility of reporting, without the possibility of its filling.


Through some separator operators you can submit zero reporting absolutely free. With this approach, you do not have to spend money on the CEP. This may be better than using official channels.


You can get acquainted with the tariffs at the following links:



Attention! When choosing a tariff plan, be sure to specify your region, as there is a different cost in different regions.


Separate attention deserve solutions for accounting with the possibility of its delivery. The total cost of ownership for such solutions may be cheaper:



Isn't it easier to buy a complete solution?


Many people mistakenly believe that it is enough to pay money and the special operator will do everything himself. It's a delusion. The functions of the special operator are defined quite clearly, and the contracts are written correctly. By and large, the only obligation of the operator is to take the report and deliver it to the receiving complex of the controlling authority. For everything else, he is not responsible.


From my own experience I will say that with purchased complex solutions, problems are no less (and sometimes more) than with the described approach. In many ways, the problems are connected not so much with the operators, as with the reception complexes of state bodies and not very competent inspectors.


There are cases when special operators simply do not have time to implement new versions of forms or technical problems occur and you have to turn to free programs and send reports through official channels.


It is also worth bearing in mind that marketers do an excellent job and competently impose costly solutions (from 6,000 rubles or more). Despite the fact that the user is required to submit only two or three reports.


The notorious human factor


During my practice I have met many different accountants. Among them were young girls, falling into a stupor when moving the label to another corner on the desktop. There were elderly matrons who could clean Cookies in the browser. Much depends on the human factor, which should also be considered.


Sometimes it is more expedient to choose a ready-made integrated solution and throw a tight accountant on the shoulders of the official technical support of the special communication operator, saving your nerves and time (this is a controversial moment).


There is a category of accountants who see some guarantor of calm or scapegoats in special operations, in case of ambiguous situations. Many special operators provide official letters in case of any technical problems.


Conclusion


As you can see, you can submit an electronic report without paying a single ruble. But temporarily. Using official free resources requires some cash outlay. On the other hand, within the framework of this business, 1,500 rubles is a ridiculous amount.


The disadvantages of free solutions include their fragmentation, which is not a problem with small amounts of reporting. With a competent approach by the system administrator and the adequacy of the accountant, the free solution can be customized as well as the paid one. Further maintenance of both options will still require periodic intervention by the system administrator (updating the CEP and root certificates, fixing xml, setting up cryptographic providers and other related problems).


Thank you for reading to the end. Write in the comments if you have any questions or I missed something.


Upd : Thank you for the valuable comments ( one and two times ) to Niklsmgn and shachneff users .


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Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/300732/

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