国发（1996）16号
（April 19， 1996）
颁布日期：19960419 　实施日期：19960419 　颁布单位：国务院

During the period of the Eighth Five-Year Plan， the accounting work of the country has achieved a great deal either in the legal construction and the transformation of accounting system model or in the development of accountant undertakings. There are still， however， quite a few problems existing in the accounting work， such as forging accounting documents， charging arbitrary expenses to the cost， having “two account books”， concealing incomes， evading taxes， transferring the state's assets， setting up one's own “treasuries”， and other activities violating financial and economic disciplines. Those activities have seriously obstructed the development of the economy and the smooth progress of there form， encouraged the corruption， and so must be strictly rectified.

Accounting work is a major foundation of economic management. It is very important to put accounting activities in order， strictly implement business accounting and strengthen accounting control， for the consolidation and improvement of macro-control and the creation of favorable economic environment and economic order. The rectification of accounting activities shall be taken as a starting point of the work of putting economic activities in order and enforcing financial and economic disciplines. With a view to implementing the Accounting Law of the People's Republic of China （herein after referred to as the Accounting Law）， further strengthening the control over accounting activities and bringing the role of accounting work into full play in maintaining the economic order and developing the socialist market economy， this Circular is hereby issued with regard to several problems concerning rectifying accounting activities and further enhancing the quality of accounting work.

1. Rectifying Accounting Activities Throughout the Country

People's governments at various levels and all departments concerned shall immediately adopt measures to inspectall-sidedly the accounting work of their own regions or departments， make rectification in the light of the actual situation， supervise the units of their regions or under their departments to conduct accounting work in accordance with law， and establish a standard accounting order.

The rectification of accounting work shall be carried out under the direct leadership of people's governments at various levels， with financial departments at various levels responsible for the organization and coordination. The work of rectification shall start with the issuance of this Circular and be completed before the end of 1996. All enterprises， administrative and institutional units， and social organizations shall make their self-examination seriously and the coverage of the self-examination must be 100%. Each region and department shall， on the basis of general self-examination， transfer a group of professional key members to form an inspection group for emphasis inspection. The coverage of emphasis inspection may not be less than 20%. The role of social intermediary institutions， such as accounting firms and auditing firms， shall be brought into full play in the rectification work.

The rectification of accounting work shall， on the basis of overall inspection on the implementation of the state's laws and regulations on finance， taxation， financial affairs and accounting， etc.， lay emphasis on the following problems： （1）Fail to establish accounts which should be established according to the state's provisions， or accounts are in serious confusion； （2） Play “two account books”， or forge accounting documents， account books or accounting statements， concealing true financial situation and management performance； （3） Violate financial and accounting rules， arbitrarily cut down the cost and use the money for other purposes or charge random expenses to the cost， reimburse expenses willfully， make random understatement of profits or overstatement of losses， or arbitrarily eat up part of the state capital funds； （4） Retain or transfer the state or the unit's revenue and set up one's own “treasuries”； and （5） Other problems of which a region or a department deems necessary to make an emphasis rectification.

Activities violating financial and economic disciplines discovered in the inspection shall be seriously dealt with in accordance with relevant financial and economic laws and regulations. If the violation is caused due to the bad internal management， the unit shall be ordered to make rectification and obtain real effect within a prescribed period； if it is the unit's leader who inspires， instigates or orders the accounting personnel to fabricate or falsify accounting data， practice fraud and deception， and so jeopardize the interests of the state and society， the leader shall be dismissed from his post； if it is the local government or relevant department that instigates or forces the unit to give false accounting statement， the leader of the local government or of the department shall be investigated for responsibility or even be dismissed from his post； in cases where the accounting worker fails to report what they knows of the activities violating law and disciplines or acts fraudulently in collusion， in addition to the investigation of his responsibility， the accounting worker shall be deprived of his professional qualification. If any of the above-mentioned activities constitutes a crime， the criminal responsibility shall be investigated. Each region and department shall choose major typical cases for handling publicly.

2. Strengthening the Supervision and Inspection， Establishing and Improving the Accounting Control System

Every region， department and unit shall carry out effective supervision on accounting activities and， with the steady deepening of the reform， establish and improve an accounting control system with the state supervision， social supervision and a unit's internal supervision incorporated， and so guarantee the accounting work conducted in order under the law.

（1） Government departments shall strengthen according to law the supervision over accounting work of basic units. Financial departments and various responsible authorities shall tighten the control of accounting statements， investigate and deal strictly with the acts of fabricating or falsifying accounting statements and other acts of fraud and deception. Each responsible authorities shall make a general examination of annual accounting statements submitted by their subordinate units and， in addition， select 20% of them for emphasis examination， ensuring that the annual accounting statements tell the real financial situation and management performance of the units. Auditing organs shall strengthen the supervision over the financial revenue and expenditure of state-owned financial institutions， industrial and commercial enterprises and institutional organizations. Financial departments shall strengthen the control of invoices， progressively implement an invoice trailing and auditing system and， in accordance with law， deal strictly with the units and persons who violate the state's provisions in acquiring or filling in vouchers or in voucher reimbursement and accounting. The departments for the administration of industry and commerce shall strengthen the supervision over industrial and commercial enterprises by combining it with the registration and annual examination， ordering those enterprises who fail to have necessary accounting personnel in accordance with stipulations or， according to affirmation of the financial departments， whose accounting systems are not complete or whose accounts are not in conformity with stipulations to make correction within a prescribed period and， if no correction has been made within the period， refusing to give registration or annual examination.

（2） Strengthening the social accounting supervision and implementing according to law an audit system for enterprises' annual accounting statements. With a view to effectively prohibiting and preventing fraud and deception in accounting statements and enhancing the quality of accounting statements， the audit system shall be implemented for enterprises' annual accounting statements according to law. In the light of the actual situation of the development of China's accountant undertakings， the audit system of enterprises' annual accounting statements shall be implemented in the following stages： foreign investment enterprises and other limited liability companies and joint stock limited companies which have not implemented the audit system of enterprises' annual accounting statements must institute the system before the end of 1996； the state-owned large and medium-sized enterprises which have not implemented the audit system of enterprises' annual accounting statements must institute the system before the end of 1997； all enterprises which should implement the audit system of enterprises' annual accounting statements must institute the system by 2000.

The state's competent authorities shall strengthen the supervision over and inspection on accounting firms （auditing firms） and the quality of registered accountants' service， take a yearly selective examination on audit reports on enterprises' annual accounting statements， issued by registered accountants， deal seriously according to law with those accounting firms （auditing firms） and registered accountants who violate the Accounting Law or the audit criteria or rules by withholding the actual situation purposely or even participating in the fraud， and deprive the registered accountants of their practice qualifications； if the circumstances are serious， the department for the administration of industry and commerce shall， in accordance with law， revoke the business license of the accounting firm or auditing firm.

The implementing measures for the audit system of enterprises' annual accounting statements shall be separately formulated by the Ministry of Finance together with other relevant departments.

（3） Strengthening the internal accounting control of various units. All administrative units， enterprises， institutions and social organizations shall carry out accounting work in strict accordance with the Accounting Law. Leaders of various units shall conscientiously perform their functions and duties entrusted by the Accounting Law， urge and supervise the accounting organs to strengthen the construction of rules and regulations and the basic management， improve the internal accounting control， and make it a key part of the unit's self-disciplining mechanism. Accounting offices and accounting personnel shall perform their functions and powers according to law， make accounting seriously， enforce the accounting control， so to help strengthen the economic control and raise the economic efficiency.

All units shall， in accordance with law and relevant provisions of the state， accept the accounting supervision of the government departments. They must provide accurate accounting documents， account books， accounting statements and other accounting data， and may not refuse to provide， conceal or falsely provide accounting data.

3. Strengthening the Control and Further Enhancing the Quality of Accounting Work

（1） Strengthening the leadership on accounting work. Financial departments at various levels shall， in accordance with the need of the establishment and improvement of socialist market economic system， strengthen the control of accounting activities over the whole society. Place the accounting control on the agenda of the work of financial management， amplify necessary organs， allocate and strengthen necessary cadres. Responsible authorities at various levels shall formulate measures for strengthening the control of accounting activities， direct their subordinate units to do accounting work well.

（2） Further strengthening the accounting law. Continue to strengthen the construction of accounting law and accounting system， bring about steady improvement in the accounting law and accounting system， with the Accounting Law as the core. Further deepen the reform of enterprises' accounting system， establish an accounting criteria system with Chinese characteristics， including basic accounting criteria and specific accounting criteria， which shall be implemented for trial from 1997 in some chosen enterprises with comparatively good operating mechanisms and sound foundations. Effectively publicize the Accounting Law and other financial and accounting laws and regulations， enhance the sense of legality of leaders at various levels and the mass of financial and accounting workers.

（3） Enhancing political and professional qualities of accounting workers. In accordance with the need of strengthening the economic control， try to effectively accomplish on-the-job training of accounting workers and make their knowledge enriched and updated uninterruptedly. On-the-job training of accounting workers shall， under the general planning and control of the financial departments， be conducted in a planned and organized way. The professional training shall be combined with the education in legality， ideological and political education and education in vocational ethics， so as to promote the quality of accounting workers in an all-round way. All units shall ensure certain time every year for vocational study to their accounting personnel. The system of accounting professional qualification examinations， the system of going to post with certifications and the system of citation and rewards shall be continuously implemented， so as to arouse and give full play of the initiative of the mass of accounting workers.

（4） Strengthening the control over social accounting intermediary institutions and enhancing the quality of registered accounts' service. The social auditing control shall be standardized under the principle of “governing by law， supervision and control by the government， guidance by the market and self-disciplining within the profession”。 The state's competent authorities shall strengthen the construction of standardization of registered accountants' professional practice and the supervision system of the service quality， guarantee a steady enhancement of the social auditing level. Institute and improve the registered accountant examination system and follow-up education system， build a contingent of registered accountants having high professional quality， being fair-mined and objective， strictly abiding by the vocational ethics and service standards and having good social credit. Progressively reform the management system of accounting firms （auditing firms）， establish an operational mechanism for management by self disciplining within the profession.

All localities and departments shall conscientiously implement the preceding provisions， and submit a timely report on the planning for the rectification of accounting activities and the situation of the implementation to the State Council， with a copy of it sent to the Ministry of Finance