The "Restaurant Management" business encyclopedia
The specifics of electronic document circulation for accounting, financial and personnel-related processes include a by far greater number of involved legally binding actions than one may encounter in other fields. While companies control other business processes through their internal regulations, accounting and personnel administration are subject to the requirements of law.
In Russia, many difficulties of using electronic personnel-related document circulation are due to the imperfections of relevant legislation and to that many documents must be approved with either physical or electronic endorsement. There is, possibly, no need to explain how the wide use of electronic signatures would make life easier for many territorially distributed organizations and how much money would be saved if physical document circulation ceased to exist.
At this time, there are already the necessary technologies and laws regulating electronic document circulation in this sphere. Every judicial entity, which, in the final count, is always a physical person should promptly, at low cost, receive his or her own electronic digitizer that will enable him or her to use their electronic signatures. Theoretically, at this time, any person may obtain his or her electronic identifier. However, creating, safekeeping, updating and authenticating such identifiers will cost some money. Another difficulty is in that far from all by-laws provide for electronic document circulation. Many situations still require physical endorsements and paper documents. This destroys every effort towards the creation of electronic document circulation. For instance, for over a year, legislators have tried to switch to electronic VAT documents. This would be a step ahead, making easier both accounting and inspections. However, having transmitted all their invoices electronically, companies still must follow them up with paper documents categorically required by tax agencies.
Another example is the impossibility of hiring remotely. Applicants still must produce their workbooks and employers physically endorse them. This is why business processes are divided into segments that either require or not paper documents. That is, the introduction of electronic document circulation is segmented.
However, even in the existing situation, setting up electronic accounting and personnel-related document circulations has lots of advantages. Firstly, when the setup is successful and business processes are organized correctly (what is needed for that will be discussed further on), the processing of documents is sped up and fewer documents are lost in transportation.
Because many fields in electronic documents are filled in automatically, there are fewer errors. The process becomes transparent. Getting analytical data concerning company employees or even simply extracting required resumes or payroll data from databases becomes much easier.
The available products
According to Tatiana Elizarova, head of the Department of Sales and Marketing of the DigitalDesign company, the automation, in a system of electronic document circulation, of accounting and personnel-related functions is normally done in the course of the overall setup of the system or while modernizing and extending the functionality of an existing solution. Normally, again, a system of electronic document circulation is not purchased for just these departments, such projects being rather expensive.
On the whole, all the products required for setting up electronic document circulation are divided, according to their purposes, into systems for servicing business processes and systems mostly oriented towards the safekeeping and finding data. The former are most often called systems of electronic document circulation, while the latter are known as systems for knowledge base management. They are similar in nature and, at this time, are gradually brought into single systems.
There are many offers from various vendors on the market. Those wishing to set up electronic document circulation use the products of EMCDocumentum, SAP, IBM and Microsoft. At this point, a note may be in order that such heavy ERP systems as SAP may, of course be used, among other things, for setting up systems for managing electronic content. However, this is rather just a bonus sooner than the principal objective of their implementation.
One may also use free software-based products. Among the most popular, lately, systems of this kind, we may name AlfrescoECM. It works with various DMS, is easily integrated in companies' IT infrastructures, supports files of any formats and allows to work remotely with corporative portals. According to developers, it is a flexible easily adjustable and highly productive system.
However, there is no universal product to be used for setting up personnel-related document circulation, as widespread as S1 in accounting and perceived as industry standard.
Preparing for setting up
At the stage of preparation for setting up a system of document circulation, the most important and the most difficult job is to correctly describe all the business processes. For instance, if just one employee has the right to sign a certain document, then, in case this employee is on leave, sick or on a business trip, the process will stall unless the administration gets involved. Systems are not always adjusted flexibly enough and, sometimes, changing things along the way may be rather difficult.
On the other hand, such are the defects not of certain products but of their initial settings. Theoretically, from the start, users may be granted the right to modify certain structural elements in the course of operation. Yet most systems are rigidly bound to the structures of their databases that may not be quickly changed. When setting up a system, one should understand very well that it may not be "persuaded" to wait a bit longer, or accept a substitute signature, or be changed "on the fly". This is why one must provide ways of tracing documents or transferring the rights of signature, etc.
One should remember that there is hardly such a thing as a real-life ideally working model of business processes. One should foresee all exceptions and provide incentives and penalties for employees involved in the project. For instance, it is very likely that an electronic document sent to an employee to be signed by him or her may be delayed, no one goading the employee to be prompt. This problem is normally dealt with by providing, in the settings of the system, a way of assigning tasks to users, monitoring their statuses and sending out reminders. Very often, penalties are provided for, in the regulations concerning the functioning of electronic document circulation systems, for employees delaying the coordination of document circulation.
However, to think through, ahead of time, all versions of business processes is difficult. This is why the greatest market advantages are with flexible systems allowing changing things on-the-go.
The next thing to pay attention to when setting up electronic document circulation are accounting policies. Electronic systems make all processes maximally transparent. They will not allow the post factum making or signing of documents. This, of course, presents certain difficulties for forgetful or unreliable counteragents.
When setting up a system, one should allow for psychological complications. Firstly, one should receive descriptions of requirements for the system to meet from all company departments involved in the project. Secondly, these requirements must be coordinated. The latter may prove hard to do, the requirements of various key persons possibly not just being different but, sometimes, mutually excluding.
One should also remember that far from all employees may welcome the transparency of work. Some may consider it an infringement on their rights and authorities. For instance, if previously a secretary could manipulate employees by holding back some papers to be signed by the boss, while pushing others forward, now the electronic system will eliminate the possibility of this.
As a rule, when electronic document circulation is set up, it is integrated with the existing accounting system. This is achieved by synchronizing sources of reference data. While normally, when IT systems are set up, the existing infrastructures need to be additionally adjusted, accounting systems need no such thing. A system of electronic document circulation is a source of documents for the system itself, allowing to load them from a database rather than entering them by hand. After the documents are processed, that is, modified, the system will put them, or reference data updates, back into the database.
Here is a comment by Tamara Mokeyeva, the senior analyst of the Diadoc system of electronic circulation of primary documents, employed as a developer by Kontur SKB: "The following are the steps to be taken when preparing one's systems of personnel and financial accounting for setting up electronic document circulation:
1. The organization must duly modify its accounting policies, indicating that documents concerning certain economic operations involving certain counteragents will be arranged, endorsed and transmitted electronically; a separate directive must establish the schedules of electronic document circulation.
2. The company must purchase electronic signature certificates for authorized persons. If, in the organization, an authorized person acts on the authority of a Power of Attorney, then a Power of Attorney must be prepared for signing electronic documents with an electronic signature. A Power of Attorney for the transference of the right of signature is made out the same way as that for paper documents with one difference: besides the full name of the authorized person, the number of his or her electronic signature certificate should be indicated.
3. Workstations allowing to connect to the Internet must be prepared, a crypto-pro license purchased and the method of and place for safekeeping electronic documents arranged for.
4. If the organization intends to integrate its system with the system of document circulation, technical documentation must be prepared and solutions devised".
Setting up electronic document circulation for the HR and accounting departments
We have already indicated the basic advantages of setting up electronic documents circulation system for the HR and accounting departments and mentioned the principal obstacles to the use of electronic document circulation in Russia. Now, we will try and see what are the future prospects of establishing electronic documents circulation.
According to Tatiana Elizarova from DigitalDesign, the automation of accounting document circulation in the form of document coordination is a rather frequent occurrence in Russia. Such is actually every second project concerning the setup of electronic documents circulation. As to HR documents circulation, it is automated far less frequently. There is an understanding of the benefits of setting this up, yet actual implementations occurs very infrequently. This may be changed by, say, Federal Law FZ No. 152 "On Personal Data" that regulates the processing of the personal data of physical individuals, including company employees. Among other things, this law determines requirements to the security of system processing such data: they must be FSTEK certified.
It is conceivable that electronic documents circulation systems for accounting and HR departments will be actively set up in many Russia's companies. The introduction of electronic VAT documents circulation will become a serious stimulus for that because that will create a single logical chain of the document circulation of a large number of various companies. Stronger market players and retailers will dictate their rules to weaker ones, so those will have to also set up electronic documents circulation systems. Because any company wins only if it introduces electronic VAT documents circulation with all its counteragents at once.
Integration with foreign partners also stimulates the introduction of electronic documents circulation systems. As is known, in Western Europe, companies no longer use paper invoices long since successfully replaced by electronic ones.
According to Tamara Mokeyeva, the senior analyst of the Diadok company, over the past ten years, about 70% of all Russia's taxpayers switched to the electronic delivery of their tax documents. It is easy to forecast that inter-company electronic documents circulation will follow the same way. And, when this occurs, the process will be sped up. The point is that, technically, at this time, both Russia's companies and tax agencies are prepared for electronic documents circulation much better than at the turn of the century. The convenience of electronic documents and the financial advantages of electronic documents circulation will soon persuade companies to forsake paper documents altogether. According to the Diadoc company, after one year of directive No. MMV-7-6/138 going into force, 0.8% of all invoices will become electronic. Within several years, this may become 20% to 30%.
All legislative initiatives also promote the introduction of electronic document circulation. For instance, the years 2010 and 2011 were very significant as concerned electronic invoices. Most normative documents were reviewed and all issues related to digitizing paper documents were thought over. At this time, primary accounting documents are being actively digitized. For instance, the XML formats of invoices and delivery/acceptance statements have been approved by No. MMV-7-6/172 directive of the Federal Tax Service of Russia, dated 21.03.2012, entitled "On the Approval of the Formats of Primary Accounting Documents". Besides, the law makers have approved the new status of companies providing electronic document transmission services. At the state level, there is now one more acknowledged kind of service provider, the electronic document circulation operator. Such operators will transmit electronic documents. They will be able to assist companies in setting up electronic document circulation systems and settling all technical issues.
As of now, the Ministry of Taxation of Russia, by its directive No. MMV-7-6/253, has approved the provisional statute concerning a network of trustworthy operators. Leading operators already communicate with supervisory agencies in relation to the development of electronic document circulation. Very recently, an agreement was reached as to setting up roaming between the largest operators. This will allow companies connected to different operators to exchange documents and, therefore, will significantly extend the network of electronic counteragents.
Among the closest possibilities, as concerns electronic document circulation, I would like to make an emphasis on switching to electronic communication between all companies, the expansion of the range of electronically transmitted documents, the delivery of documents to supervisory agencies only through electronic means and the setting up of electronic archives.
By Alexei Marinenok, Head of the Department of Software Subsystems Development
