Kailing industry experts interpret the Electronic Accounting Archives Management Specification: electronic accounting archives management

The Specifications for Electronic Accounting Archives Management (DA/T94▪2022) is an archives industry standard of the People's Republic of China, issued on April 7, 2022 and implemented on July 1. This standard sets out the requirements for the formation, collection, arrangement and archiving of electronic accounting materials, as well as the preservation, statistics, utilization, appraisal and disposal of electronic accounting archives, and applies to government agencies, organizations, enterprises, public institutions and other organizations carrying out electronic accounting archives management activities.

The Specification has 17 chapters in total. Chapters 1 to 3 cover scope, normative references, and terms and definitions, which are standard fixed content. Chapter 4 covers management principles, clarifying the overall requirements, responsibilities, workflow and metadata requirements for electronic accounting archives management. Chapters 5 to 16 are the main body. Chapter 5 first designs the process model for electronic accounting archives management, so as to grasp the overall picture of the electronic accounting archives management process. Chapters 6 to 13 set out one by one, in accordance with the electronic accounting archives management process, the requirements for the formation, collection, organization and archiving of electronic accounting materials and for the custody, statistics, utilization, appraisal and disposal of electronic accounting archives. Given the importance of metadata and system construction in electronic accounting archives management, Chapter 14 describes in detail the capture nodes, metadata items and capture methods of electronic accounting archives metadata. Electronic accounting archives management involves accounting systems and electronic accounting archives management systems, and Chapter 15 focuses on requirements for the construction of accounting systems and electronic accounting archives management systems. Because many small and medium-sized enterprises still have not implemented accounting systems or electronic archives management information systems, and these units have many questions about how to properly manage electronic invoice archives or electronic accounting archives, Chapter 16 of the Specification focuses on regulating the preservation methods of electronic accounting archives for units that have not implemented electronic accounting archives management information systems, and proposes two methods for preserving electronic accounting materials. The official release of the Specification marks that electronic accounting archives work has entered a new stage.

Kailing Technology authoritative interpretation:

With the widespread application of information technology in the accounting field, the management of electronic accounting archives is becoming increasingly important. DA/T94 ▪ The release of the 2022 standard provides comprehensive and systematic specifications for electronic accounting archives management and is of great significance for improving the scientificity, standardization, and security of accounting archives management.

I. Standard scope of application and importance

This standard applies to various agencies, organizations, enterprises, public institutions, and other organizations, covering the full lifecycle management of electronic accounting archives from creation to disposal. It clarifies various requirements for electronic accounting archive management, helping ensure the authenticity, integrity, usability, and security of accounting information and meeting the needs of internal management and external supervision.

II. Analysis of Core Concepts

1. Definition of electronic accounting materials and archives

   ▪ Electronic accounting materials are various records formed through electronic devices during the accounting process, while electronic accounting archives are electronic accounting materials that have evidentiary, reference, and preservation value and have been archived. This distinction clarifies the objects and focus of management; only electronic accounting materials meeting specific conditions can become archives for long-term management.

2. Role of related systems

   ▪ The accounting system is the core of accounting business processing. The accounting vouchers, books, and reports it generates are important sources of electronic accounting materials.

   ▪ Business systems such as reimbursement systems and contract management systems also generate electronic accounting vouchers, and together with accounting systems they constitute the environment in which electronic accounting materials are generated.

   ▪ The electronic accounting archive management information system is a key platform for collecting, organizing, and archiving electronic accounting materials, as well as for preserving, counting, utilizing, appraising, and disposing of archives.

III. Key points of management principles and requirements

1. System development and responsibility implementation

   ▪ Entities must establish sound management systems and bring electronic accounting archive management onto a standardized track. This includes clarifying operational norms and responsible parties at each stage, such as the accounting institution being responsible for collection and organization, the archive institution being responsible for custody and utilization, and the information technology institution providing technical support. By incorporating management work into job responsibilities and performance assessments, the sense of responsibility of relevant personnel is strengthened, ensuring effective implementation of the systems.

2. Security and Confidentiality

   ▪ In an electronic environment, security and confidentiality are core requirements for electronic accounting archives management. Units must adopt reliable security protection technologies and measures, including special management of classified archives and ensuring the security of eligible electronic accounting materials when archived in electronic form. This involves technical and management measures in multiple aspects such as data encryption, access control, and backup and recovery.

IV. Detailed analysis of the management process

1. Formation and output of electronic accounting materials

   ▪ Electronically formed internal accounting materials must undergo strict review and signature procedures to ensure the integrity of content and metadata. When outputting for archiving, it should be done according to the prescribed time and format based on different types of accounting materials (such as vouchers, ledgers, reports, etc.). For example, vouchers should be output promptly after processing is completed, ledgers can be output periodically, and reports should be output by accounting period. At the same time, the OFD format is recommended, reflecting consideration for long-term preservation and compatibility.

2. Collection and Inspection

   ▪ Determining a reasonable archiving scope is the foundation of collection work. Materials and their metadata are transmitted from relevant systems to the management information system through interfaces, a process that emphasizes security and controllability. During collection, authenticity, integrity, usability, and security testing must be conducted; only materials that pass testing may enter the management information system, and retention periods must be assigned according to relevant standards, reflecting strict control over archive quality.

3. Organizing and classifying

   ▪ Organizing work should be carried out promptly, following the natural formation patterns and inherent characteristics of electronic accounting materials. Classification methods are diverse, such as classification by accounting material form, accounting year, and retention period, suitable for units of different types and sizes. Through classification, electronic accounting materials can be better organized and managed, facilitating preservation and utilization. During the processes of component assembly, volume formation, and arrangement, the organic connections between accounting materials should be maintained, and reasonable archive numbers should be compiled to facilitate subsequent archive management.

4. Archiving and preservation

   ▪ After the end of the accounting year, the arranged materials are temporarily kept and transferred in accordance with regulations. The inspection upon receipt by the archive management institution and the handling of handover procedures ensure archive quality and clear responsibilities. During custody, regularly assessing readability and conducting migration assessments are key. The combination of online and offline storage, the selection and management of offline storage carriers, and their regular inspection are all intended to ensure the long-term preservation and readability of archives.

5. Statistics, utilization, and appraisal and disposal

   ▪ Statistical work meets the information needs of the state and the unit itself for electronic accounting archives management. During utilization, strict permission rules must be established to ensure archives are not tampered with, while recording utilization process information as metadata for preservation. Appraisal and disposal work must be carried out regularly, with the joint participation of personnel from multiple departments, to reasonably handle expired archives, including redefining retention periods or destroying them, as well as separately handling archives under special circumstances, reflecting dynamic evaluation and reasonable management of archive value.

V. The importance and methods of metadata management

Metadata plays a vital role in electronic accounting archive management. It can describe the subject content and formal characteristics of archives, providing support for archive retrieval, use, and management. During management, metadata must be captured, archived, and managed at the same time. Capture nodes and capture methods must be planned and clarified from the system development stage, and metadata must be continuously improved to ensure its accuracy and standardization while protecting some key metadata from modification.

Six, Requirements and alignment for related system construction

1. Construction of accounting systems and business systems

   ▪ During implementation, both systems must fully consider the archiving requirements for electronic accounting materials. This includes selecting appropriate storage formats to facilitate subsequent conversion into archival storage formats; planning metadata capture nodes and elements to ensure complete metadata for the materials; and determining reasonable output methods and data package formats to safeguard the smooth archiving of the materials.

2. Functions and Interfaces of the Electronic Accounting Archive Management Information System

   ▪ The functions of this system must comply with the provisions of Appendix E of the standard, covering aspects such as collection, archiving, storage, custody, and utilization. In terms of system connection, it is necessary to achieve smooth data transmission and functional collaboration among accounting systems, business systems, and management information systems, ensuring smooth full-process management of electronic accounting materials from generation to archiving to utilization.

Seven, Countermeasures for units that have not implemented management information systems

For units that have not implemented an electronic accounting archives management information system, the standard also provides corresponding archive preservation methods. Whether units conduct accounting through an accounting system or not, they must operate according to prescribed steps, including downloading or receiving materials, testing, componentization, determining retention periods, arrangement, filling in registration forms, and preparing explanatory documents, and finally transfer the archives to archive personnel and adopt measures such as multiple backups to ensure the security and integrity of the archives.

The Specifications for Electronic Accounting Archives Management provides detailed and comprehensive specifications and guidance for electronic accounting archives management. Units should deeply understand and implement this standard, continuously improve electronic accounting archives management, and raise the quality and level of accounting information management to meet the new requirements for accounting archives management in the informatization era. The Kailing Technology electronic accounting archives management system improves the quality and efficiency of archives work and provides strong support for the sustainable development of enterprises, making it an advanced choice for enterprise archives management. Click the link to view details and contact us for a trial: https://www.kailingteck.com/h-col-110.html .

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