Accounting in Russia for foreign companies: RAS standards, 1C software, mandatory reporting to FTS and Rosstat, IFRS reconciliation.
Every Russian legal entity — including a company with 100% foreign ownership — must maintain accounting records under Russian Accounting Standards (РСБУ, referred to here as RAS) and submit a mandatory set of reports to the Federal Tax Service and Rosstat. This is entirely separate from any IFRS reporting the company may produce for its foreign parent. Understanding what RAS requires, how it differs from IFRS, and what the reporting deadlines are is essential for any foreign-owned company operating in Russia.
Russian Accounting Standards (Российские стандарты бухгалтерского учёта, РСБУ) are set by the Ministry of Finance and are mandatory for all Russian legal entities. The core obligations:
Double-entry bookkeeping on the unified chart of accounts (План счетов, approved by Ministry of Finance Order No. 94n) — every transaction is recorded as a debit and credit entry.
All accounting records in Russian — primary documents must be in Russian or accompanied by a Russian translation. Foreign-language invoices from foreign counterparties typically need an informal translation for accounting purposes.
Primary documents (первичные документы) for every business transaction — invoices, acts, waybills, payslips. Without a correctly formatted primary document, an expense is not accepted for accounting or tax purposes.
Annual financial statements submitted to the FTS and to Rosstat (the statistical authority).
Tax registers maintained separately — Russian CIT is calculated using tax accounting rules that differ from RAS accounting rules on a number of points.
Foreign parent companies typically consolidate using IFRS or local GAAP. The differences from RAS affect reporting, planning and cash extraction:
The most practical consequence: dividends from a Russian LLC can only be declared from RAS distributable profit — not from IFRS profit. A company may show a healthy IFRS profit while having zero or even negative RAS profit (due to differences in lease accounting, provisions, or revaluation), making dividend distribution impossible until RAS profit is generated. See our guide to IFRS-RAS reconciliation.
A foreign-owned Russian LLC on the standard tax regime submits the following reports in 2026:
From 2026, companies whose sole director receives no salary must still file РСВ — a new requirement introduced by the pension reform. Even a dormant LLC with no turnover is not exempt from this obligation.
Russian law requires a statutory audit (обязательный аудит) for LLC entities that meet any of the following thresholds:
Revenue exceeds RUB 800 million in the preceding year; or
Balance sheet assets exceed RUB 400 million at year-end; or
The company is in a sector subject to mandatory audit by law (banks, insurance companies, certain types of fund).
For foreign-owned companies below these thresholds, a statutory audit is not legally required — though foreign parents often require one as a matter of group policy. The audit conclusion is submitted to the FTS as part of the annual financial statements package.
Russian accounting practice is almost entirely built around 1C:Бухгалтерия — accounting software that is deeply integrated with FTS filing systems and generates the required report formats automatically. Virtually all Russian accountants and accounting firms use 1C. Foreign companies attempting to maintain Russian accounting in their parent company's ERP (SAP, Oracle, etc.) typically require a parallel 1C installation for regulatory filings, or rely entirely on an outsourced accounting provider who maintains 1C. See our guide to accounting outsourcing in Russia.
Ensure all primary documents are in Russian or translated — without proper первичка, expenses cannot be recognised
Maintain RAS and tax accounting in 1C or a compatible system from day one — reconstructing records retroactively is costly
Track both RAS profit and IFRS profit separately if dividend planning is relevant — they can diverge significantly
Budget time for the annual financial statements cycle (January–March) — this is the highest-workload period
Check Rosstat individually for your company's required statistical forms — they vary by sector, turnover and employee count
If using an outsourced provider, confirm they file via a certified electronic channel (ТКС) and provide you with filing confirmations for all submissions
Practical support for international business in Russia.