How and on what resources can I check information about counterparties?

The concept of “average headcount”

As the name suggests, the average headcount (ASH) is the average number of employees of a company for a certain period.

The calculation period for this statistical indicator can be a month, a quarter or a year. For accounting and tax purposes, the annual value of the indicator is used.

The obligation to provide the average headcount is assigned to all legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, except for entrepreneurs who did not have hired personnel in the reporting period. This provision is contained in Article 80 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

In accordance with the requirements of the current legislation, if a company has more than 100 people in the previous calendar year, then in the current year reports to the Federal Tax Service must be submitted exclusively in electronic form.

Newly created companies are required to provide information on the average number of employees twice: the first time after creation, the second time at the end of the year. This requirement does not apply to individual entrepreneurs.

From 2022, Federal Law No. 5-FZ of January 28, 2022 abolishes the independent report on the social insurance premium; now information on the number of employees will be transferred to the Federal Tax Service as part of the calculation of insurance premiums.

The average headcount (ASH) includes only those employees for whom the company is the main place of work. Therefore, external part-time workers and employees under civil contracts are excluded from it.

For late submission of information about the SSC, a fine of 200 rubles is provided, while the manager or chief accountant may be additionally fined; the amount of penalties for them is provided in the range from 300 to 500 rubles. However, payment of the fine does not relieve the obligation to provide information.

Which reports use the average number of employees?

The average number of employees is included in the following reports:

• Calculation of insurance premiums - submitted quarterly to the Federal Tax Service at the place of registration;
• 4-FSS - submitted once a quarter to the FSS office at the place of registration.

Before reporting for 2022, an independent report was submitted, Information on the average headcount . The report form was approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service dated March 29, 2007 N MM-3-25/ [email protected] , recommendations on the filling procedure - see Letter of the Federal Tax Service dated April 26, 2007 N ChD-6-25/ [email protected]

Starting with reporting for 2022, information on the average headcount is no longer submitted as a separate report. In the DAM for 2022, a separate field has appeared for indicating the MSS. From this moment on, the Federal Tax Service takes data on the average number of employees from the Calculation of Social Security Contributions .

Summary information on the average number of employees

On the “ Summary ” tab in the registration data block in the company card, there is information about the average headcount, which is located immediately below the name of the legal entity.

Average headcount indicator for 1 year

Average headcount indicator for 2 years

If the system has information for two years, then the average headcount indicators will be displayed over time.

If there is a sharp decrease in the number of personnel, this may indicate financial difficulties of the company, which had to reduce staff in order to save money. At the same time, stable indicators or their growth positively characterize a potential counterparty, because they can indicate an increase in production capacity and the effectiveness of management decisions.

In the Kontur.Focus system, the user is recommended to additionally become familiar with the following features: extract from the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs, scheduled and unscheduled inspections, trademarks and marks, inspection of buildings.

Features of calculating the average headcount

Not included in the average headcount:

• women who were on maternity leave , persons who were on leave in connection with the adoption of a newborn child directly from a maternity hospital, as well as on additional leave to care for a child ;
• employees studying in educational institutions and on additional leave without pay , as well as those entering educational institutions who were on leave without pay to take entrance exams , in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation

Persons who worked part-time when determining the average number of employees are taken into account in proportion to the time worked .

Calculation of the average number of employees in 1C:8

1C: ZUP 2.5 : The average headcount is calculated fully automatically based on personnel records data

• Registration of absences in the personnel records subsystem is mandatory:
• Maternity leave – document “Absences and illnesses of organizations”
• Parental leave – document “Parental leave”
• Study unpaid leave – document “Leaves of Organizations”

1C 8.3 ZUP The average number of employees is calculated fully automatically

• With the recommended transfer only from the start date of accounting in ZUP 3

1C: Accounting 8 : The payroll average is calculated automatically based on personnel records data; in some cases, manual calculation and adjustment may be required. For example, if the following vacations took place during the reporting period:

• Maternity leave
• Holiday to care for the child
• Study unpaid leave

Why and when is it necessary?

Many people do not understand why they need to know the employees of the organization? After all, you need to start from yourself, and not look at other companies. However, this approach is fundamentally wrong. If you don't analyze competitors in your industry, you can lose customers, lose profits, and be relegated to secondary roles in your business.

What does the presence of staff indicate:

• Full-fledged economic and business activities;
• Long-term presence on the market and stability of work;
• Registration with the Federal Tax Service and other authorities.

If there are suspicious people in the company without a hint of professionalism, there is a risk of running into scammers.

When you still need to know how many employees are in the company:

Competitor analysis

It is not enough just to know about counterparties. It is necessary to analyze their activities, take into account their successes, look for features and innovations. If you are conducting an in-depth analysis of a competitor, find out the company's staff. This will allow you to create an objective and as complete picture as possible. The lack of information about the organization’s employees is a big omission. What if there are valuable personnel or foreign specialists there?

Poaching personnel

Headhunting literally translates as “headhunting.” This is the process of luring employees from other companies. It concerns primarily sought-after specialists of a narrow profile or highly qualified.

For example, if you have increased your turnover and want to make a breakthrough, it is better to go through your competitors and find out the names of valuable personnel, and then lure the best to your organization. Or the task is to “cut the ground” from under the feet of a competitor in the industry. Poaching its valuable personnel will weaken the counterparty’s position and improve your performance.

Studying processes in an organization

If you are entering the market from scratch, you need to evaluate the internal processes in a successful counterparty company, say, in the cargo transportation industry. A report on the number of drivers, logisticians, call center operators, technical staff and management staff will provide an objective picture. Based on it, you can draw conclusions about the future team of your organization. For example, how many people to involve, with what qualifications, what personnel are missing right now, etc.

How to use the calculator

Instructions for using the calculator for calculating the average number of employees

1. Select the accounting year and enter the number of employees on specific days of specific months. To simplify entry, use selecting a period and entering the number of employees specifically for this period, for example, if the number of employees did not change during this period.
2. Click "CALCULATE". The result will be presented for months, quarters, half-years and a year, both in exact and rounded terms.

Reports on the average number of employees for a calendar year are an integral part of the reporting activities of enterprises and organizations, subject to subsequent transfer to the tax authorities and Rosstat. The average payroll activity calculator will become a reliable assistant to accountants and managers of business entities, especially in conditions of high staff turnover or in conditions of attracting workers to perform seasonal work.

Legal ways to find out and what you need for this - TOP 3

It is unlikely that you will be able to find out the information directly. Therefore, there are several legal ways to find information about a company's staff. They can be used absolutely legally, since they do not violate anyone’s rights and freedoms.

Method 1

The first thing you need to do is contact the Tax Office. But not directly to the inspectors, but online using the Transparent Business service. It allows you to find data on the average number of employees of a company, which is not a tax secret - due to paragraphs. 9 clause 1 art. 102 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Information is freely available.

How to find out the number of employees of an organization:

1. Go to the official website of the service from the Federal Tax Service “Transparent Business” https://pb.nalog.ru.
2. Select the “Organizations” tab.
3. A search form will open where you need to enter your TIN, OGRN or company name.
4. Next, if known, select “Type of activity” from the list (for example, rent and leasing).
5. O – active/discontinued.
6. Indicate “Subject of the Russian Federation” (for example, Moscow).
7. Indicate whether the company is included in the SME register.
8. Click the “Find” button.

The Transparent Business system opens data about the enterprise. We are interested in the staff, so we need to go down to the item “Average number of employees of the organization” - where it is indicated how many people work in the company. If you expand the menu item, you can find out the number of employees working in the company over the previous year.

It happens that the information on the site is incorrect. In this case, you can report the error to the Federal Tax Service using the feedback form.

Method 2

For the second method, you will have to personally visit the organization. If you want to find out how many people work in an office, you can go there and count the employees. If you're lucky, you'll recognize the employees' names by the badges on their chests (not everyone may have them, or may even be absent altogether). Yes, unfortunately, this is the maximum that can be found out. If you are lucky, there will be a “chatterbox” among the employees who will tell you about the staff - but this is a great success. You are unlikely to find out the rest of the important information (name, salary and qualifications).

And the search is limited to one or two offices. If a company has several branches, and even in different cities of Russia, the second method is irrational.

Method 3

The third method is more complicated. You’ll have to be patient and look for your competitor’s employees on the Internet. Social networks are suitable for this: VKontakte, Instagram, Facebook and others. Also go to thematic forums and job search sites, for example – Avito or HeadHunter (hh). If a company employee regularly updates his resume, it means he is looking for better conditions. You can respond and send him an offer for an interview. In any case, on such sites you can find out the full name, phone number and other contacts of employees.

The downside is that it will not be possible to find out the list of the company’s personnel. But you can contact candidates of interest.