Recently, the Ministry of Finance revised and issued the "Accounting Informatization Work Specification" (Cai Hui [2024] No. 11, hereinafter referred to as the "Work Specification") and the "Accounting Software Basic Functions and Service Specification" (Cai Hui [2024] No. 12, hereinafter referred to as the "Work Specification") and the "Accounting Software Basic Functions and Service Specification" (Cai Hui [2024] No. 12, hereinafter referred to as the "Work Specification") and the "Accounting Software Basic Functions and Service Specifications" (Cai Hui [2024] No. 12, hereinafter referred to as the " Software Specification"), which will come into force on January 1, 2025. The relevant person in charge of the Accounting Department of the Ministry of Finance answered reporters' questions on issues related to the "Work Specification" and the "Software Specification" (hereinafter referred to as the two specifications).
Q: What is the background and significance of the two revisions?
Answer: First, it is an important measure to implement the new accounting law. The "Decision on Amendments," which was voted and adopted at the 10 th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14 th National People's Congress<中华人民共和国会计法>, for the first time included the informatization of accounting in the Accounting Law, and proposed in Article 8 that "the state shall strengthen the construction of informatization of accounting and encourage the use of modern information technology to carry out accounting work in accordance with the law, and the specific measures shall be formulated by the financial department of the State Council in conjunction with relevant departments." The revision and promulgation of the two norms is one of the important measures to implement the new accounting law.
The second is to serve the objective needs of high-quality economic and social development. Through the revision of the two norms, guide units to strengthen the construction of accounting informatization, standardize the basic functions and services of accounting software in the digital economy environment, effectively solve the problems of "difficult reimbursement, difficult accounting, and difficult archiving" of various electronic vouchers, and promote the realization of "let the data run more and let the masses run less errands", which is conducive to giving full play to the role of accounting data, reducing the cost of social governance and the consumption of social resources, and serving the high-quality development of the economy and society.
Third, it is an inevitable requirement to accelerate the digital transformation of accounting work. With the acceleration of the iteration of modern information technology innovation such as big data, artificial intelligence, mobile Internet, cloud computing, Internet of Things, and blockchain, it is an inevitable requirement for the high-quality development of accounting work to actively use new technologies to promote the digital transformation of accounting work. By revising the two norms, it is conducive to accelerating the digital transformation of accounting work by providing guidance on accounting informatization concepts, technologies, and methods for units.
Fourth, it is necessary to improve the practical needs of the accounting information system. In recent years, our ministry and relevant departments have carried out electronic invoice reimbursement, accounting, archiving pilot, electronic voucher accounting data standard pilot, etc., and achieved positive results, the promotion and application of these pilot results, need to further strengthen the guarantee at the level of system construction through the revision of the two norms.
Q: What is the process of publishing the two revisions?
Answer: Since 2023, in combination with the deepening of the pilot work of electronic voucher accounting data standards, the Ministry of Finance has organized experts to conduct in-depth research on issues such as the revision of accounting informatization work specifications and the impact of the application of electronic voucher accounting data standards on accounting software and services, and organized multiple surveys and questionnaire surveys, on which the first drafts of two revised specifications have been formed. Since then, the opinions of consulting experts of the National Accounting Information Standardization Technical Committee and relevant enterprises and institutions have been solicited on the first draft, and many discussions have been organized to form two draft revisions to the specification.
In April 2024, the General Office of the Ministry of Finance issued a notice to solicit opinions from relevant central departments, local finance departments and the public. At the same time, the Accounting Department of the Ministry of Finance organized a symposium to listen to the opinions of some local financial departments and relevant software companies. After the release of the draft for comments, it has attracted widespread attention from the society, and positive feedback from all sides, with a total of 252 pieces of feedback received in the "Work Specification" and 165 pieces of feedback in the "Software Specification". The feedback generally believes that the framework of the two draft specifications is reasonable, comprehensive and practical, which not only standardizes the basic functions and services of accounting software, but also provides specific guidance for units to carry out accounting informatization. We carefully sorted out all the feedback, fully absorbed and adopted it, and on the basis of repeated discussions, communication and coordination, revised and improved the draft for comments, and finally formed two specifications.
Q: What are the main contents of the two revisions?
Answer: The "Work Specification" has a total of six chapters and 50 articles, and compared with the original specification, the main revisions are as follows: First, the scope of application has been expanded. The scope of application has been expanded from enterprises to state organs, social organizations, companies, enterprises, institutions and other organizations (hereinafter referred to as units), and a comprehensive coverage of the accounting informatization work of various types of units has been realized. Second, it systematically standardizes the content of the unit's accounting informatization construction. From the aspects of clarifying the construction objectives and resource investment, formulating the overall planning and construction direction, building the management mechanism and standard system, building the information system and realizing the interconnection of internal and external systems, etc., the construction content is standardized, and the system guides the unit to carry out the construction of accounting informatization. The third is to clarify the requirements for the processing of accounting data and the legal effect of electronic accounting materials. It is required that the accounting information system of the unit shall adapt to the accounting data standards of electronic vouchers, and at the same time stipulate that the electronic accounting data with reliable sources, standardized procedures and compliant elements shall have the same legal effect as the paper accounting data. Fourth, it has strengthened the security of accounting informatization. Units are comprehensively required to consider the system security, network security, secret-related security, and cross-border security of accounting informatization as a whole, and strengthen the security risk prevention of accounting data in the generation, transmission, and storage. Fifth, we have strengthened the supervision of accounting informatization. It clarifies the supervision and inspection of the financial department on the unit's accounting informatization work, the supervision and inspection of accounting software and related services provided by accounting software service providers, the punishment for non-compliance with the requirements of the specification, and the investigation of the responsibility of the financial department and its staff for illegal acts.
Compared with the original specification, the main revisions of the "Software Specification" are as follows: First, the concept of terms related to accounting informatization is clarified. According to the latest development of accounting informatization, the terms "accounting software services" and "electronic accounting documents" are clearly defined. The second is to strengthen the adaptability of accounting software and services in the new environment. The new accounting software complies with accounting data standards and requirements for openness, scalability, flexibility, reliability, security and modern information technology applications. Third, it strengthens the multi-dimensional guarantee of accounting data by accounting software and services. Accounting software is required to ensure the authenticity, completeness and secure transmission of accounting data; Be able to receive and read electronic vouchers completely, and check the legitimacy and authenticity of electronic vouchers through signature verification; It should meet the requirements of data confidentiality, support the encrypted storage and transmission of important and sensitive data, and ensure that accounting data is not tampered with. Fourth, further emphasize the importance of accounting software services. New requirements for the development of personalized requirements for accounting software functions, basic requirements for accounting software cloud services, and customer training requirements; The terms of software deployment and maintenance requirements are revised, and the fault problem is refined according to the actual situation.
Q: How do the two specifications reflect the results of the pilot work of the accounting data standard for electronic vouchers?
A: Since 2022, the Ministry of Finance, together with the State Administration of Taxation, the People's Bank of China, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the State Archives Administration, the National Standards Committee, the Office of the Inter-ministerial Joint Conference on Electronic Document Management, the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the China Railway Group and other departments (units), has selected 9 types of electronic vouchers, including VAT electronic invoices with high frequency of use, large reimbursement quantities and wide social concern, fully digitized electronic invoices (including railway e-tickets and air transport e-ticket itinerary receipts), bank electronic receipts, etc. Formulate accounting data standards for electronic vouchers and carry out pilot work nationwide, use unified accounting data standards to open up the "last mile" of paperless processing of electronic vouchers in the whole process, and achieve a win-win pilot effect of social, environmental and economic benefits.
In the revision of the two specifications, we have added relevant provisions on accounting data processing and application in the "Work Specification" based on the results of the pilot work of electronic voucher accounting data standards in the past two years, clarified the channels and methods of obtaining accounting data, put forward requirements for accounting data verification, and standardized the whole process of accounting data processing; In the "Software Specification", the input, processing, and output of accounting software are adapted to the accounting data standards of electronic vouchers. Through the revision of the two specifications, the results of the pilot of the electronic voucher accounting data standard have been solidified, providing institutional guarantee for the next comprehensive promotion of the electronic voucher accounting data standard.
Q: How to do a good job in the implementation of the two norms?
Answer: After the issuance of the two norms, the Ministry of Finance will do a good job in policy interpretation, training and guidance, and answering questions. The first is to organize the drafting of two normative interpretations, and interpret the clauses in detail to facilitate the understanding and application of the unit. The second is to organize and carry out training, explain the key contents of the two specifications, and guide the unit to promote the application of accounting informatization. The third is to continue to pay attention to the implementation of the two norms, actively respond to social concerns, and improve the implementation effect.
Local financial departments at all levels should strengthen the publicity of the two norms, organize and promote the implementation of the two norms in the region according to local conditions, strengthen the supervision and inspection of the accounting informatization work of all units in the region, the accounting software and related services provided by accounting software service providers, and further promote the construction of accounting informatization in the region.
All departments and units should strengthen the study of the two norms, use modern information technology to carry out accounting informatization work in accordance with the law, promote the construction of accounting informatization in their own departments and units in strict accordance with the two norms, support the expansion of accounting functions, and unswervingly promote the digital transformation of accounting work.
Source: Ministry of Finance website
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