Documents Required for an Accounting and Tax Records Examination

The outcome of an accounting and tax records examination is largely decided before the first calculation is ever run — at the stage where a party assembles its documents. A forensic expert examines only the materials provided and does not gather evidence independently, so the completeness of the primary records, registers and financial statements directly determines whether the questions put to the expert can be answered at all. Below is the baseline document package for specialty 11.1, the requirements for its form, and the typical reasons materials are returned without execution.

Specialty 11.1: what an accounting examination actually covers

Economic expertise in Ukraine is divided into narrower specialties, and the list of required documents depends on which one your question belongs to:

• 11.1 — documents of accounting, tax accounting and financial reporting;
• 11.2 — documents on the economic activity of enterprises and organisations;
• 11.3 — documents relating to financial and credit operations.

Specialty 11.1 is the core of “records-based” cases: whether the figures in tax returns are supported by primary documents, whether declared income matches the accounting data, whether a specific transaction is reflected in the accounts, and whether VAT liabilities and input tax credit were formed correctly. That is why the package here is built around accounting registers and financial statements rather than the movement of funds alone (which sits closer to 11.3) or general performance indicators (11.2). If the question falls on a boundary, the specialty is worth agreeing in advance — otherwise some questions risk falling outside the expert’s qualification, and the conclusion becomes vulnerable.

The core principle: the expert works only with what is provided

This should be understood before any motion or court ruling is filed. Under the Law of Ukraine “On Forensic Expert Examination” and the Instruction on the Appointment and Conduct of Forensic Examinations and Expert Studies (approved by Order of the Ministry of Justice No. 53/5), a forensic expert:

• examines only the objects and materials provided — the expert does not “top up” documents from the accounting department, the bank or counterparties;
• does not gather evidence independently and does not establish facts beyond what has been supplied;
• has the right to file a motion for additional materials where those on hand are insufficient to answer.

The logic follows directly: completeness of the materials is the initiator’s responsibility, not the expert’s. If a document is not among those provided, for the purposes of the study it does not exist. And where a question cannot be answered without it, the expert will either move for the package to be completed or issue a notice that a conclusion cannot be given. Both paths cost weeks of waiting, so assembling the full package at once is always cheaper.

An examination under specialty 11.1 may be ordered in criminal (KPK — the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine), commercial (HPK — the Commercial Procedure Code), civil (TsPK — the Civil Procedure Code) and administrative (KAS — the Code of Administrative Procedure) proceedings, as well as in the form of an expert study commissioned by a party. The initiator may be an investigator or prosecutor, a detective of the Bureau of Economic Security (BEB), an investigating judge, the court, or the party itself through its lawyer — but the duty to hand over a complete package rests with whoever initiates it.

The baseline package: from primary records to financial statements

An accounting study moves “bottom up”: from the primary document that records an individual transaction, to the registers that aggregate it, and on to the financial statements and tax returns. It is convenient to assemble the materials along these same levels.

Primary documents

Primary records are the foundation, because this is where each individual transaction “lives”. Depending on the subject, you will usually need:

• outgoing and incoming invoices and consignment notes (TTN) — the movement of goods and material assets;
• acts of completed works and services rendered — confirmation of works and services;
• cash documents — cash receipt and disbursement orders (PKO/VKO), the cash book, cash-register reports (RRO/PRRO);
• payment instructions and bank (memorial) orders — the grounds for postings to the accounts;
• tax invoices and their registers — decisive for VAT questions;
• advance reports and payroll statements — settlements with accountable persons and staff.

The Law of Ukraine “On Accounting and Financial Reporting in Ukraine” sets the mandatory requisites of a primary document: its name, the date of drawing up, the name of the enterprise, the content and scope of the transaction, and the positions and signatures of the responsible persons. A document lacking mandatory requisites is assessed critically — it cannot always be used as the basis for a calculation.

Accounting registers

Primary records show individual transactions; registers show how they are grouped in the accounts. Without them, the systemic picture cannot be seen:

• trial balances (oborotno-saldova vidomist) — both general and broken down by accounts and sub-accounts;
• the general ledger;
• account cards and analyses, journal-orders;
• analytical accounting registers for the relevant areas — inventories, settlements with counterparties, settlements with the budget.

It is often the comparison of primary records with registers that yields the key result: it shows that a transaction is reflected in the accounts but supported by no primary document — or the reverse.

Financial and tax reporting

Financial statements “close” the study at the level of summary indicators:

• the balance sheet (statement of financial position) and the statement of financial results;
• tax returns — corporate income tax, VAT, the single tax, depending on the taxation system;
• appendices to returns, breakdowns and adjusting calculations.

Reporting on its own is of little use: a figure in a return is a total, not proof of a transaction. Supplying “just the return, to be quicker” will not work — without primary records and registers there is nothing to confirm the figure.

Contracts, bank statements and supporting materials

This group explains the substance and terms of the transactions:

• contracts with all annexes, specifications and supplementary agreements — subject, price, deadlines, settlement procedure;
• bank statements for all accounts for the period under study;
• relevant case materials — the State Tax Service (DPS) audit report, protocols, explanations — where they bear on the questions posed.

The task defines the documents

So that the package is not assembled “just in case” but tailored to a specific question, use this as a guide:

Typical task before an 11.1 expert	Key documents
Whether the figures in a VAT return are supported by primary documents	Tax invoices and register, VAT return and appendices, trial balance and cards for settlements with the budget
Whether declared income matches the accounting data	Trial balance, general ledger, bank statements, the return, statement of financial results
Whether a transaction with a counterparty is reflected in the accounts	Contract with annexes, TTN, invoices, acts, card of the relevant account
Whether expenses that reduced the taxable object are justified	Primary records for expenses, registers, accounting-policy order, income tax return

Accounting policy and electronic databases (1C/BAS)

The accounting-policy order

The accounting-policy order is an underrated but important document. It shows which accounting methods the enterprise applies: how inventories are valued, how depreciation is charged, how income and expenses are recognised. Without it, the expert can only assume the methodology, and an assumption is a weak point in a records-based conclusion. So the accounting policy is worth including in the package by default.

The database as a separate object

Today accounting is kept in software (BAS/1C, M.E.Doc and the like), and the database can be a separate object of study. But only if it is properly provided and procedurally recorded as a carrier of information — for example, as a seized computer, a copy of the database or an official export. Merely “opening access to the accountant’s computer” is not enough: such an act does not fix the state of the data or guarantee it remains unchanged. In practice, the most reliable approach is to combine paper primary records with official exports from the database — then the electronic data is backed by documents, and the documents by the data.

Form of the documents: originals or properly certified copies

It is on the form of documents that most packages stumble. The general rule:

• the expert works with originals or properly certified copies (signature, date, position of the person, the note “true copy”, and a seal where needed);
• a plain, uncertified photocopy of an illegible or disputed document may be rejected — it cannot always serve as the basis for a calculation;
• if the originals have been seized and joined to the case file, that is fine: what matters is that the copy is certified by the authorised body that ordered the examination.

In practice, when a document reads poorly or its authenticity is in doubt, this is not a “formal detail” but a real ground for not using it as the basis of a calculation. So certification and legibility are worth checking before the materials are handed over.

When documents are lacking: the expert’s motion

An incomplete package leads to one of two outcomes, and both delay the case:

1. A motion for additional materials. Having found a gap, the expert requests in writing what is missing, and the study is effectively suspended until you complete the package.
2. A notice that a conclusion cannot be given. If the necessary documents cannot be provided, or the question cannot be answered without them, the expert issues such a notice — and the party is left without the evidence it needed.

The expert’s motion is not “fussiness” but a statutory tool that gives the party a chance to fix the package while the case has not yet been lost at the evidence stage. It should be answered quickly and on the merits.

Why materials are returned without execution

In expert practice the reasons are almost unchanging, and all of them can be removed at the preparation stage.

• Insufficiency. Only the financial statements or the DPS audit report itself were supplied — without primary records and registers. Or a return was given without bank statements and contracts. There is nothing to confirm the figure.
• Illegibility. Faint scans, cropped pages, missing requisites, indecipherable signatures. A document that cannot be read does not exist for the calculation.
• Contradiction. The primary records do not reconcile with the registers, the figures in the appendices do not match the returns, and there is no explanation for these discrepancies. The expert will not “fill in” an answer but will record the contradiction — and cannot give a categorical conclusion until it is resolved.

The most effective safeguard is to list the document-objects explicitly in the court ruling, the investigator’s or detective’s resolution, or the motion to order the examination, and to state the period under study clearly. Once the list is fixed in writing, there is less risk that part of the materials will be “lost” along the way, and completeness is easier to control.

If you are preparing a motion or ruling for questions that fall precisely under specialty 11.1 and are unsure which package will cover them, it is worth checking the list with a forensic economic expert in advance. A short consultation before the examination is ordered saves weeks of waiting and guards against a conclusion that no answer can be given — I would be glad to help assess whether your materials are complete for your specific situation.