What is the workflow in the organization

Any firm should reflect the processes occurring in it in the documents. It is necessary for the internal organization, it is required for drawing up of reports in various supervising bodies. And all used papers and information are constantly updated: some appear, others become obsolete. Well, finally, there is an exchange between units, departments, just specialists. This entire process is the document flow in the organization.

The document itself is a material object on which information is recorded in the form of text, sound recording or video image. The last two categories were not considered as documents of legal entities for some time. However, now, when the organization of electronic document management is developing at unprecedented rates, such formulations surprise nobody. A document is intended for storing and transferring this information to other persons, and methods of protection against unauthorized use are provided.

How to start a workflow for small businesses

Naturally, there are certain principles that must be respected when the document circulation in the organization is formed. Let's characterize them for the newly created legal entity.

The first thing that needs to be done is to create at least a brief register of documents needed in the activity. There is no such law, where they would have been thoroughly documented. But there is a practice.

There must be a statute, certificates of registration, etc. All documentation begins with them, which at first will fit in one file.

But then primary documents will also accumulate , which, by the way, should be kept for at least five years. This includes invoices, invoices, payment documents - anything that can confirm the legality of the transactions. This is considered the most important category.

In addition, the document flow in the organization should provide for the accumulation of contracts with partners and counterparts - those agreements that accompany the businessman throughout his activity. Here you can use the experience of predecessors. When drawing up a contract for renting a room, by signing a contract with a foreign company, you can use sample samples. They combine mandatory provisions with those where you can take the initiative.

Finally, there are internal documents created in the departments and permanently left in the bowels of office cabinets. This includes various kinds of regulations, instructions, orders, reports and so on. A separate line can be called only the documentation on labor remuneration of employees. There are very strict legislative requirements in terms of compilation, and in terms of storage terms in the archive.

What to take as a basis?

As a result, in order to create a more or less satisfactory workflow in the organization, it will be necessary to review a lot of instructions and laws. But you can advise and another: to take as a sample a similar legal entity with a similar taxation regime and with a history of activity. And if there was already a tax audit, then you can get a good quality consultation.

As a result, the document circulation of an organization ranked as a small business is not very difficult to organize. It is necessary only to show some scrupulousness.

It is more difficult in large companies, where this is a whole system, where the circulation of the document goes through a complete cycle: creation, registration, forwarding to the addressee or transfer to the performer, familiarization and, finally, execution. They even provide for workflow charts - schemes that reflect the procedure for the movement of documents, from the moment they are created to the transfer to storage. Naturally, unification is impossible here because of the difference in the structure of enterprises. Therefore, each organization develops these charts independently.