Acceptance certificate for completed work

Commercial relations between the parties to the transaction, whether individuals or LLC legal entities, require the signing of the relevant agreement (purchase and sale, factoring, provision of services) and other related tax and accounting documents. Unlike a contract, such additional documents are usually drawn up after the fact: when the goods are sold, services are provided and the consumer has had time to evaluate the professionalism of the contractor. Based on previously signed transfer acceptance certificates, cash documents are subsequently drawn up that are used to transfer money to the contractor or seller.

Additional papers drawn up after the contract, but before accounting orders, include the act of completed work. The act can be drawn up by hand or in printed form, modifying the form at your discretion. A sample act, as well as a sample commercial proposal, is presented in this article; below we will explain why it is needed and where you can find a document template in Word and Excel.

Why is a work completion certificate required?

Acceptance by the customer of the work result is a key point in the relationship between the parties to the contract.
Only after this event can we talk about the completion of the work, compliance with its deadline, as well as the emergence of the contractor’s right to remuneration (clause 1 of Article 702, clause 1 of Article 711 and Article 720 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). The Civil Code directly requires the drawing up of an act confirming the acceptance of work only in relation to a construction contract (clause 4 of Article 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). However, in practice, such a document is drawn up after the completion of any type of work, not just construction. After all, this is the easiest way to prove that the work was completed with high quality and on time, and the result was transferred to the customer.

However, you can confirm the delivery of the work result with other documents. For example, invoices that contain the corresponding mark of the customer (rulings of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated April 12, 2010 No. VAS-3457/10 in case No. A51-12704/2008 and dated October 23, 2009 No. VAS-13172/09 in case No. A60- 19871/2008-C3). This role can also be played by waybills confirming delivery of the result of work to the customer (determination of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated October 29, 2010 No. VAS-14674/10 in case No. A40-79160/09-63-641).

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Attention!
The acceptance of work can only be confirmed with documents. Witness testimony for these purposes will not be accepted. The fact is that on their basis it is impossible to establish the volume and cost of work, as well as their compliance with the terms of the concluded contract (ruling of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated October 21, 2020 No. 310-ES20-16076 in case No. A84-3639/2019).

The customer of the work is also interested in drawing up the acceptance certificate. Firstly, it is necessary to take into account the expenses incurred by him during taxation (clause 1 of Article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). And secondly, it serves as the basis for presenting claims to the contractor related to the quality of work and the identification of hidden defects (clause 4 of Article 720 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, Article 724 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and Article 725 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

It is important to remember that signing the act without objections does not deprive the customer of the right to make claims to the contractor regarding the fact of completion of work or provision of services, their volume and quality. Thus, if, after signing the act, circumstances are revealed indicating a violation of the terms of the contract, the customer has the right to demand a reduction in the cost of work or services (clause 12 of the Review of the practice of resolving disputes under a construction contract, attached to the information letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated January 24, 2000 No. 51 and the ruling of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 05/11/21 No. 309-ES21-4998 in case No. A71-18730/2019).

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How to fill out the act

The final documentation confirming the completion of work or provision of services is prepared by suppliers. The customer only studies the documents and signs them. There are no examples of what a work completion certificate for the supply of goods looks like. The parties register the delivery and acceptance of products with a bill of lading.

Construction or repair KS-2 is filled out according to a strictly unified form, indicating in detail the details of the parties, the name of the construction site and the address of the construction site. The tabular part of the document is filled out in strict accordance with the estimate.

Registers formed for other cases are filled out either on the letterhead of the customer organization or in the format of a regular document.

Regardless of the chosen form, the document must indicate the subject of purchase, the contract price, and the deadlines for completing the work.

Errors and corrections in the form are not allowed. If inaccuracies are found, the documentation is redone, canceling the previous version.

Reporting documents are signed by representatives of the customer and the contractor, and a seal is affixed if available at the institution. For budgetary institutions and in the case of some procurements, forms are drawn up in triplicate: one copy for each party and one copy for the regulatory authority.

Here is an example of how to correctly draw up a certificate of completion for the provision of services in 2022:

Is it necessary to draw up acts confirming the provision of services?

The Civil Code does not require this. In this regard, signing acts of acceptance and transfer of services is mandatory only if this is expressly provided for in the contract (rulings of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated 01.08.11 No. VAS-9253/11 and dated 22.02.11 No. VAS-1520/11) .

Important

The parties must strictly comply with the procedure for accepting services established by the contract. Therefore, to confirm the provision of services, only those documents that are drawn up in accordance with the contract can be accepted (resolution of the Arbitration Court of the East Siberian District dated July 18, 2018 No. F02-3133/2018 in case No. A58-7306/2017).

At the same time, based on the provisions of Articles 779 and 781 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the contractor has the right to receive payment under the contract only if the service is actually provided. Moreover, in the event of a dispute, it is the executor who claims to receive the money who must prove this fact (resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Far Eastern District dated September 19, 2018 No. F03-3927/2018 in case No. A51-19792/2017). Obviously, the easiest way to do this is to draw up a bilateral document (act) confirming the provision of the service in accordance with the terms of the contract. That is why “closing” acts under service contracts have become widespread in practice and are drawn up everywhere.

If the parties included a condition on the acceptance certificate in the contract for the provision of services, then in this part the rules on contracting are applied to the agreement. Including the right of the contractor to draw up a unilateral act if the customer evades signing it (resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Central District dated November 27, 2018 No. F10-5025/2018 in case No. A83-11406/2017).

Mandatory requirements for the work completion certificate

The Civil Code does not establish mandatory requirements for the certificate of delivery of the result of work. Obviously, this document must contain at least information about the contract under which the work was performed, information about the parties to the contract, as well as a description of the result of the work and a note about the fact of its transfer by the contractor and acceptance by the customer.

At the same time, since the acceptance certificate confirms the fact of economic activity, it should be considered as a primary accounting document (Article 9 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting”). This means that it must contain all the required “primary” details.

Let us remind you that these include:

name and date of preparation of the document;
name of the economic entity that compiled the document;
content of a fact of economic life indicating the value of natural and (or) monetary measurement and units of measurement;
the name of the position of the person (persons) who completed the transaction or operation and is responsible (responsible) for its registration, or the name of the position of the person (persons) responsible for the registration of the accomplished event, as well as the signatures of these persons indicating their full name and other details necessary for identification.

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Important

Is it necessary to describe in detail in the act what work was performed (services provided)? The Ministry of Finance believes that this is not necessary, since such detail is not a necessary requisite of the “primary” (letter dated 04/09/14 No. 02-06-10/1618). Courts, as a rule, agree with this position, although there are opposite decisions (see “The Ministry of Finance believes that it is not necessary to provide a detailed description of work or services in the acceptance certificate”). However, in practice, tax authorities require that the act contain information that allows identifying specific work (service), detailing its composition, volume and cost (see decisions of the Arbitration Court of the Ural District dated 06.06.19 No. F09-3011/19 in case No. A76- 19287/2018 and the Arbitration Court of the North Caucasus District dated July 26, 2019 No. F08-5933/2019 in case No. A53-14121/2018). Therefore, in order to avoid claims from the Federal Tax Service, it is better to include in the act a detailed description of the work performed or services provided.

The act is a bilateral document and is signed by both parties to the contract - the customer and the contractor (performer). At the same time, an act signed only by the contractor (performer) can have legal force. But provided that it states that the customer refused or evaded signing it (clause 4 of Article 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

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Rules for drawing up an acceptance certificate for completed work

The act can be signed both after completion of all work and at intermediate stages, including if such stages are not directly highlighted in the contract. The initiator can be any of the parties. But in practice, the initiative usually comes from the contractor (performer). After all, the transfer of the result of work is his main obligation under the transaction (resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Central District dated 04/02/18 No. F10-551/2018 in case No. A84-228/2017). And signing the act is the basis for receiving payment.

Important

The parties must comply with the order of delivery of work established in the contract. For example, if it is stipulated that the contractor draws up an act and sends it to the customer, then it is necessary to have evidence of fulfillment of this obligation within the time period established by the contract. Otherwise, the performer may lose the right to payment (resolution of the Arbitration Court of the East Siberian District dated July 18, 2018 No. F02-3133/2018 in case No. A58-7306/2017).

If the parties have agreed on the form of the act as an annex to the contract, then it is this that must be filled out when handing over and accepting the work. If the agreement does not contain requirements for the form of the act, either party has the right to use a form convenient for itself. Also, the parties have the right to agree on the form of the act separately, after signing the agreement. In particular, this can be done in correspondence, without drawing up an additional agreement (ruling of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated November 11, 2019 No. 306-ES19-19600 in case No. A65-24003/2018).

When is the act drawn up?

For obvious reasons, an agreement drawn up before the contractor begins to act cannot reflect the quality and completeness of the execution of the order, even if it stipulates the terms of cooperation throughout the transaction, payment, quality control of the task and the procedure for resolving conflicts in the event of improper execution of one of the tasks. parties to their obligations, both counterparties need to protect their rights. The acceptance certificate will contain a complete list of services provided, the cost (of each item and total) and a statement from the receiver that there are no claims against the contractor.

Important : like a power of attorney to receive documents, the acceptance certificate is drawn up in free form by agreement of the parties. There is no unified form: the financial accounting department of the receiving party can develop its own template, which will immediately contain the company’s details, or use templates and samples found online.

The document acquires legal force immediately after the signatures of the customer and contractor and the seals of organizations are affixed to it. When resolving a conflict pre-trial or when filing an application in court, the form in which it is compiled will not matter: the main thing is that the information contained in it can be unambiguously interpreted.

When signing the act, two options for the development of events are provided:

The customer has no claims against the contractor. Here all aspects of the case should be taken into account: whether the deadlines specified in the contract were met; how well the required actions were performed; whether the contractor has fulfilled its other obligations. Then the corresponding note is made in the contract in one or two lines, after which the counterparties (usually their representatives) put signatures and seals or stamps at the bottom of the sheet.
The customer is dissatisfied and it seems to him that the contractor did not provide services fully or later than the agreed period or is not satisfied with the amount of work performed. In this case, all claims about deficiencies are listed in the same act - immediately below the main table. After signing by representatives of the buyer and contractor and affixing seals, the paper can be used when filing an application with the court in order to obtain payment from the contractor for poor quality or untimely provision of services or to force him to fulfill his duties properly.

Important : the act is drawn up in two copies - one for the customer, the second for the contractor and is an integral annex to the contract.

If one of the parties, the customer or the contractor who performed the work, refuses to sign the act, which especially often happens in the field of construction, repair, installation, and finishing services, the document still retains legal force, but then an appropriate note about the refusal must be made in it. To completely eliminate attempts to challenge the validity of an additional document in court, an uninterested person should be involved in signing, ready to testify to the refusal of one of the parties to sign the document.

Instructions for drawing up the acceptance certificate for completed work

When drawing up a certificate of delivery of the work result, it is advisable to adhere to the following algorithm. First, study the terms of the contract that determine the procedure and timing for drawing up and sending the act, as well as agreeing on its form. As already mentioned, in the presence of such provisions, one must act strictly in accordance with the procedure established by the contract.

Secondly, make sure that the form of the act that is intended to be used contains all the necessary details of the primary document, and also describes in detail the result of the work (service).

Advice

It is recommended to draw up the act in triplicate. Two of them, after signing by the contractor, are transferred to the other party for signature, and one will remain with the contractor. It will be used to mark in case of evasion or unmotivated refusal of the customer to sign the act.

Thirdly, it is necessary to organize the transfer of the act signed by one of the parties to the other party. The easiest way to do this is using electronic document management.

Connect to the electronic document management system with counterparties

You can also use delivery by express, courier or postal services. The document should be sent to the address indicated in the contract. And if it differs from that indicated in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, it is advisable to duplicate the shipment to the legal address.

Next, it remains to verify the signing of the act by the authorized person of the counterparty, as well as the timely return of the copy signed on both sides. And in case of an unmotivated refusal or evasion of the customer from signing the act, make the appropriate mark in your copy (clause 4 of article 753 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Attention!

In order for a unilateral act to have legal force, the contractor is obliged to notify the customer of the completion of the work and call him to participate in the acceptance of the result (clause 8 of the Review of the practice of resolving disputes under a construction contract, attached to the information letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated January 24, 2000 No. 51) . Therefore, if the contractor has not sent an official notification of the completion of the work, then the unilateral acceptance certificates drawn up by him cannot confirm the fact of completion of the work (resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Central District dated April 2, 2018 No. F10-551/2018 in case No. A84-228/ 2017).

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Fill out the acceptance certificate for services provided online

In order for documents to have legal force, they must be properly executed. The easiest way to do this is online: the MyWarehouse service automatically fills in information about your company and contractors, act number, cost of services and final figures. All you have to do is check and sign.

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Fill out the certificate of services provided online!

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Next, we answered frequently asked questions about drawing up an act of services rendered and examined special cases.

Is the form of the acceptance certificate for services provided approved by law or can we draw it up in any form?

You can develop your own form, but it’s better to download our sample act of services rendered under a service agreement. It contains all the required details - you can’t go wrong.

How many copies of the certificate of services rendered should be drawn up?

The document is drawn up in two copies - one for each of the parties. Both copies must be signed by company managers, and stamps must also be affixed, if any. You can prepare the document in any convenient format, for example, in Word.

Certificate of services rendered: download sample and form in word

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Download the form you are interested in in Excel or Word format
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Why do we need a unilateral act of services rendered?

A unilateral act of services rendered is practically no different from a standard, bilateral act. There is simply no signature of the receiving party on it. The document is drawn up when the customer refuses to accept services and pay for them. The act has legal force; the court can invalidate it only if the customer has justified reasons not to accept the services.

What should I do if the price of services changes during the work?

It is necessary to draw up an adjustment report for the services provided. It is drawn up when various changes occur in the contract. After signing the act, it is the information from it that will be considered relevant.

The document does not have a unified form. Download our adjustment act for the provision of services: form and sample for 2022. They have all the necessary details.

Which form to use

As already noted, there is no mandatory form of acceptance certificate for completed work. Therefore, the parties can agree on their version of the act. This can be done both at the conclusion of the contract and later.

In practice, the unified form KS-2 is often used (approved by order of the State Statistics Committee of November 11, 1999 No. 100). This form is intended for receiving the result of construction work. When performing other types of work (providing services), some of its columns may not be filled in (fill in dashes). It is also permissible to develop and approve your own form of the act (based on KS-2 or a completely original form). The main thing is that the act contains all the necessary details of the primary accounting document.

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Sample certificate of completion of work

Act of transfer of work results No. 1

Kostroma August 27, 2022

Customer: Individual entrepreneur Petr Gennadievich Lysov (TIN 6623000000, OGRNIP 313774624800885)

Contractor: Limited Liability Company "Novodel" (TIN 7750000000, KPP 775001001, OGRN 254578963541)

№	Job title	Quantity	Unit change	price, rub.	Amount, rub.
1	Painting parts for office router Sagemon Fast 1704 RT	100	PC.	20	2 000
2	Painting parts ZTE H118N	50	PC.	10	500
3	Painting parts for office router ANT-2023	300	PC.	50	15 000
4	Logo laying on	450	PC.	40	18 000
Total:					35 500
Including VAT:					—
Total (including VAT)					35 500

In total, work was completed in the amount of: 35,500 (thirty-five thousand five hundred) rubles; VAT is not assessed on the basis of clause 2 of Art. 346.11 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The above works were completed by the Contractor in full and on time, and accepted by the Customer in full and without comments. The customer has no complaints regarding the volume, quality and timing of the work.

This Act was drawn up in accordance with clause 3.5 of Contract Agreement No. 3 dated January 26, 2021.

Customer:	Contractor:
Lysov / P.G. Lysov/	Nikiforov /O.I. Nikiforov/