Importance of official accounting books in Colombia for your Company

All companies are required to keep several official accounting books. There are several laws, such as the Mercantile, Accounting and Tax Laws, which regulate different types of accounting and their formal requirements, which often generates doubts in many entrepreneurs. That is why many of them choose to hire the services of an accounting consultant in Bogota.

While Colombia has been adapting to international accounting and insurance standards, has managed to update the accounting and business documents according to international trends. However, the corresponding legal changes have not yet been made, but everything indicates that the old law 1314 will be modified taking into account the provisions of its third paragraph of article 1, which establishes the following:

“(…) it may be allowed or ordered that both the accounting documentation system, which includes the supports, receipts and books, as well as the management reports and accounting information, especially the financial statements with their notes, be prepared, kept and distributed electronically. To this end, said regulations may determine the rules applicable to the electronic registration of trade books and the electronic deposit of information, which would be applicable to all public registers, such as the commercial register.

Said norms will guarantee the authenticity and documentary integrity and may regulate the registration of books once completed. (…)”

Bearing this in mind, in today’s article we will delve into what an accounting book is and what these official accounting books are in Colombia.

What is a ledger?

When we talk about an accounting book, we must know that it is a document or file in which the financial events recorded for accounting purposes are related chronologically.

In the past, when accounting was carried out by hand, what was known as the ledger was nothing more than a text with pages and more pages, in which the financial activities of each company were recorded chronologically.

Today, ledgers are digitized and stored in accounting software, from which a physical paper ledger is also printed.

What types of accounting books exist?

In accordance with the law, every entrepreneur must keep accounts in which the financial facts are reflected in accordance with accounting standards and principles. However, there is no law in Colombia that specifically indicates what documents a merchant or company must keep.

Within article 8 of the Commercial Code, which deals with accounting books in companies, we are shown some aspects in relation to the books, but without specifying or defining them, the doctrine being in charge of indicating which ledgers should be kept. , distinguishing between main books and the so-called secondary books. Below we will see a list of what these main accounting books are, as well as the most used auxiliary accounting books:

Official accounting books

1. Inventory books and balances
2. Ledger and balance sheet
3. Diary book
4. Shareholders book
5. Minutes book

Auxiliary accounting books

1. Bank book
2. Customer book or portfolio
3. Cash Book

Official Accounting Books in Colombia to consider for your company

Despite all the different types of accounting books, as an entrepreneur there are only 3 official accounting books that you should pay attention to:

Inventory book and balance sheet

In the technical council of accounting Professional Orientation No. 5, the following is specified in relation to the inventory book and balance sheet:

“It is used to record at least once a year the inventories of all assets, rights and obligations of the company or the balance sheet in detail, in such a way that a greater description is presented than that found in the other official or obligatory books (…) Article 52 of the Commercial Code stipulates that at the beginning of its commercial activities and, at least once a year, every merchant will prepare an inventory and a general balance sheet that allow to know in a clear and complete way the situation of his estate.”

Ledger and Balance Sheet

According to the Technical Council of Public Accounting, Ctcp, Professional Orientation No. 5, the ledger and balance sheet is used for the following:

“The values ​​per account or items of the transactions of the respective period are recorded in a summarized way. Starting from the balances of the previous period, the values ​​of the debit and credit movement of the respective period (daily, weekly, fortnightly, or monthly) are shown for later record the new balances, which will be the base as previous balances for the following period. These items correspond to the totals recorded in the journal and the final balance of the same month ”

Journal

Last, but not least, we have the daily book, which meets a series of characteristics according to the technical advice of the accounting office Professional Orientation No. 5:

“It is a book in which all the operations resulting from the economic events that occurred in a period not exceeding one month are recorded day by day. The entries made in this book are a transfer of the information contained in the accounting vouchers, which in turn must be supported by the documents that justify them.”

Conclusion

So far today’s article in which we have seen everything you need to know first-hand the importance of official accounting books in Colombia for your company.

Do not hesitate to contact us in case of any doubt, we will be happy to assist you.