Loss of expense business lack of association. Ways to reduce unaccounted for water consumption in public water supply systems

Oleg Primin,
Professor, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Deputy General Director of OAO MosvodokanalNIIproekt

Water leaks in water supply networks entail resource overruns, significant repair costs, interruptions in the supply of water to consumers and deterioration in its quality. For a comprehensive solution of these problems, JSC "MosvodokanalNIIproekt" has developed a "Strategy for reducing water losses in the public water supply system."

At the present stage of development of public water supply in Russian cities, the issues of assessing and managing water losses are of particular relevance for reducing water consumption and eliminating unproductive costs, since they have a significant impact on the cost of services of water supply enterprises. The production of drinking water always exceeds the size of the total rational need. This is due to a number of technical reasons, as well as useless consumption and unaccounted for water costs. Drinking water is a valuable natural and industrial resource, which must be managed with great responsibility. The main reasons for dealing with water leaks from the water supply network, as well as with other types of water losses, are:
deficit water resources, both existing and potential;
danger of secondary contamination of drinking water in the event of a decrease in pressure at the place of leakage;
financial and economic aspects;
the need to attract new water sources and, consequently, additional facilities and capital investments.

It is important to note that one of the main indicators that allow an objective assessment of the activities of a water supply and sewerage enterprise (WSS) is the amount of losses and unaccounted for water consumption.

Basic concepts
In Russian regulatory documents in the field of water supply, the following basic concepts are adopted:
unaccounted for water consumption - the difference between the volumes of water supplied to the water supply network and consumed (received) by subscribers;
loss of water in the water supply system - the volume of water lost during transportation, storage, distribution;
water leaks - spontaneous outflow of water from capacitive structures and various elements of the water supply network in case of violation of their tightness and accidents;
hidden water leaks - leaks that are not detected during an external inspection of the water supply network and capacitive structures.

Unaccounted for water costs are structurally divided into the following groups: useful, technologically necessary costs; losses from the water supply network and capacitive structures; unregistered (organizational and accounting). Useful, technologically necessary water costs include:
1. water consumption for own needs of a water supply company, preventive maintenance of the water transport system:
water supply network: flushing dead-end sections of pipelines (emptying, flushing, disinfection); flushing of existing sections of pipelines (emptying, flushing, disinfection), networks with low speeds; flushing of new sections of pipelines (emptying, flushing, disinfection); checking fire hydrants;
drainage network: technological needs for the operation of pipelines of drainage networks (flushing of pipelines, elimination of blockages);
capacitive structures: preventive cleaning of drinking water tanks (emptying, washing, disinfection); natural loss of water;
2. water consumption during work related to the elimination of accidents and damage to the water supply network (emptying, flushing pipelines, disinfection);
3. expenses for firefighting needs;
4. water consumption for the needs of the municipal economy - watering green spaces, streets.
Water losses include: water consumption in case of accidents and damage to the water supply network before their localization; water consumption in case of leakage through water columns; hidden water leaks from the water supply network and capacitive structures; water consumption not recorded by the water supply company, not paid by consumers in case of unauthorized use of public water supply systems (unauthorized water use). Unrecorded water costs include: costs not taken into account due to the error of measuring instruments for water supply to the city; expenses not taken into account due to the error of subscribers' water meters. Standards for unaccounted water consumption are indicators that reflect the technically real (justified) structure and size of unaccounted water consumption for a particular WSS organization. These indicators should be included in the composition of costs when calculating the cost and setting tariffs for water supply services, as well as when developing measures to save and rationally use water, calculate water intake limits from water sources, and adjust the water consumption standard for subscribers. The structure of the standardized unaccounted water consumption to be calculated should include only those that are technically inevitable and technologically necessary, without which the normal operation of public water supply systems and the fulfillment of contracts for the provision of services to subscribers is impossible. These include: water consumption for the technological needs of water treatment plants (washing, preparation of reagent solutions, preventive cleaning of tanks and structures, needs of laboratories, etc.), preventive maintenance of the water supply network (emptying, washing, disinfection), washing and cleaning the sewer network, checking fire hydrants. These costs can be normalized for a particular city WSS enterprise in accordance with the features of the design and operation of the water supply system and the current regulatory documents. These costs are included in the "Regulations technical operation municipal water supply system of the city”, the implementation of which is controlled by the bodies of Rospotrebnadzor and local authorities.

Water losses in public water supply systems
There are water losses in all public water supply systems, only their volume varies. In different cities of the world, the values ​​of water losses in water supply systems differ significantly depending on the level of equipment of these systems with water metering devices, as well as on the material of pipelines and their service life, the availability of modern equipment for diagnosing the condition of pipelines, etc. (Table 1). Only in the most efficiently managed water supply systems in Europe and North America the size of water losses is 4–6%, and the average value for developed countries is within 15%. The level of water losses in the public water supply in Russia is quite high. According to available data, only in the housing stock, the amount of water loss on average in the country is 18–27% of total water consumption, and in some cities it reaches 40%. There are a number of temporary factors that determine the high level of water losses in the public water supply systems of most Russian cities. These factors include: wear and tear of the network; the use of steel pipes that are not protected from corrosion; increased pressure; a large amplitude of their fluctuations during the day; hydraulic shocks; insufficient volume of tanks; lack of flow control tools; unsatisfactory provision of resources for repair and maintenance needs; lack of reliable instruments for timely detection of water leaks. AT last years abroad, on the recommendation of the International Water Supply Association (IWA), to assess water losses, the amount of water loss related to the specific length of the network is more often used as an estimated indicator. This indicator, according to experts, is more universal, because it allows, to a certain extent, to establish indicative allowable leakage rates depending on the state of the network, the values ​​of other influencing factors with properly adjusted network operation. For comparison, in Fig. 1 shows the values ​​of water leakage in pipelines of various water supply systems (m3/day per 1 km). Low values water losses in Germany (less than 8%, for some utilities about 3%) are the result of significant financial allocations to utilities, as well as the fact that the German tariff system allows full recovery of structural maintenance costs, without any significant collection problems. In addition, in Germany, 56% of the total length of the network is made of cast iron pipes, 26% of plastic pipes, 10% of asbestos-cement pipes and only 6% of steel pipes with internal lining.

Unrecorded expenses
A one-time determination of all types of unaccounted for water consumption, including water leaks from the network, directly on water pipes is impossible, given the continuous cycle of production and consumption of water. In addition, this approach does not allow obtaining reliable data on their further level, since with such a definition, random, uncharacteristic values ​​have a high probability. In this regard, the amount of unaccounted for water costs and losses is subject to assessment based on the collection, systematization, appropriate processing and analysis of initial operational information, as well as by applying calculation methods based on probabilistic-statistical approaches, which are based on data accumulated over a certain observation period on actual water consumption. The main source of information on the assessment of unaccounted costs and losses of water should be the information provided by the operational services of the WSS enterprise. It is noted in the scientific and technical literature that neither real nor fictitious losses can be completely eliminated. Significant efforts and costs are required to reduce losses. Often, not just reducing losses, but the absence of their growth is considered as success. For most effective Russian organizations WSS, especially private, is considered unacceptable level of losses above 15%, but in our conditions it is quite difficult to achieve such an indicator. Water losses are the basis for compiling the water balance, which serves to assess the effectiveness of water supply management. It is determined by estimating or taking into account the produced, consumed and lost water - the calculations should lead to a balance. To assess water losses and calculate the water balance, OAO MosvodokanalNIIProekt developed an appropriate methodology and computer program “Water balance”, the algorithm of which is based on the “Methodology for estimating unaccounted costs and losses of water in the Moscow water pipeline” and recommendations of the International Water Association (IWA) . The main menu of the program is shown in Fig. 2. Authorized water consumption is divided into paid and unpaid. Paid authorized consumption, or sale of water (total water consumption, measured by meter readings) is the volume of "profitable" water.

Water Loss Reduction Strategy
The analysis of existing works on the problem of reducing water losses and the studies carried out at JSC MosvodokanalNIIproekt made it possible to develop a "Strategy for reducing water losses in the public water supply system" with the development of a list of organizational and technical measures. This document is a system of managed organizational and technical measures to influence the main elements of the water supply system in order to deliver drinking water to the consumer with minimal losses. The strategy is implemented and managed by a combination of four primary components to control and reduce real water losses (Figure 3), including:
pressure control, optimization of the water transport system;
speed and quality of repairs, intensification of emergency recovery and scheduled preventive work;
active search and control of leaks;
infrastructure management - modernization and reconstruction of the network.
Real water losses (sometimes called physical losses) is the annual volume of water lost through all types of leaks (visible and hidden) due to damage and accidents of drinking water pipelines (up to the subscriber's house water meter) and fittings, as well as leaks in tanks clean water. Real losses cannot be completely eliminated.

In general, the number of new leaks occurring each year is primarily affected by the long-term management of pipeline upgrades and refurbishments. Pressure management can affect the rate of new leaks, as well as the flow of water for all leaks and pipe damage. The average duration of water losses is limited by the speed and quality of repairs, and an active leak control strategy dictates the duration of unreported losses before they are contained. The minimum technically achievable annual real loss in a well maintained and well managed system is the unavoidable annual real loss represented by the small box in Fig. 3. The difference between the inevitable annual real losses (small rectangle) and the current annual real losses is represented by potentially avoidable real losses, which include:
water consumption in case of accidents on the water supply network until the localization of damage;
water consumption in case of leakage through water columns;
hidden leaks.
The ratio between current annual real losses and unavoidable annual real losses is the ILI infrastructure loss indicator, as the International Water Association defines it. The Infrastructure Loss Index (ILI) determines how efficiently the activities shown in Figure 2 are performed within the existing infrastructure at the current operating pressure. 3: speed and quality of repairs, active control of leaks, infrastructure management - modernization and reconstruction of the network. International experience shows that ILI values ​​close to 1.0 correspond to almost perfect technical control of real water losses at the current operating pressure. For each of the four activities, there is some economic level of investment that is calculated or estimated and depends on the maximum amount allocated for real losses. Along with reducing real water losses, reducing commercial losses is a very effective first step towards a water loss management strategy. This step does not require a large investment and can lead to a quick payback. Business losses include:
water consumption for own needs of a water supply company;
firefighting needs (fire extinguishing) not presented for payment;
water consumption for the needs of the municipal economy, not presented for payment;
unaccounted for water consumption due to the error of measuring instruments for water supply to the city;
unaccounted for water consumption due to the error of subscribers' water meters;
unauthorized water use.
To illustrate the strategy for reducing commercial water losses, Fig. Figure 4 provides a diagram of the four basic principles for managing commercial water losses. The use of all four components will help reduce the annual amount of commercial water loss to a reasonable level. Assessment of water losses and their reduction in internal water supply systems at subscribers (housing stock, public utilities and industrial enterprises) are not included in the objectives of this strategy and should be implemented by separate programs.

Program events
In table. Table 2 shows the content of the program activities of the strategy to reduce water losses in the public water supply system.

Strategy effectiveness
The implementation of the “Strategy for reducing water losses in the public water supply system” should ensure an increase in the reliability and environmental safety of the water supply system, reduce water losses, reduce resource consumption, and increase energy efficiency. The effectiveness of the strategy as a whole should be evaluated to determine its potential attractiveness to potential investors and to find sources of funding. The effectiveness of the strategy implementation includes:
public (socio-economic) efficiency of the project;
commercial viability of the project.
A certain indicator of the economic effect of the implementation of the strategy is the indicator of the annual, compared to the current level, reduction in the cost of eliminating accidents by reducing their number per 1 km of the pipeline. Other positive effects from the implementation of the strategy are the following factors:
1. Increasing the reliability of water supply. As a result of increased wear and corrosion activity of the environment, sections of the water supply network are subject to destruction with water pouring into the ground. Accordingly, for the period of repair work, the supply of water to consumers is stopped or limited. In the part of consumers equipped with water consumption metering systems, this is the reason for the decrease in sales proceeds, and, consequently, leads to a lack of financing of the semi-fixed costs of the water supply enterprise. For consumers who pay for water according to the norms for the consumption of this resource, cases of water supply disruption also entail a decrease in sales revenue. This is probabilistic in nature - the consumer has the right to demand recalculation of payments for underdelivered volumes of water. However, against the background of rising tariffs for water supply services, consumers are increasingly using this right.
2. Improving the quality of the supplied water. As a result of damage to pipelines, untreated industrial and domestic effluents and other contaminants may enter the water supply network before they are detected and eliminated in places where fistulas form. The latter cause a deterioration in the quality of tap water up to a state that makes it unsuitable for use by the consumer. Such incidents can lead not only to direct damage to the health of consumers, but also to financial claims for compensation for the damage caused to them.
3. Reducing the volume of emergency water spouts. As a result of accidents and damage to pipelines, until they are detected and eliminated, water outflows occur in the places of formation of fistulas and leaks, which are direct losses of the water supply company. In addition, during the repair work, water is consumed for flushing and disinfection of the pipeline section where the repair is being carried out.
4. Reducing capital costs by reducing the volume of repair and restoration work.
5. Reduced operating costs. An increase in the hydraulic resistance of sections of water pipes as a result of corrosion entails a decrease in the operating pressure in the network, which includes this section. This leads to an excessive consumption of electricity for water transportation, an increase in the physical wear of the pipeline, and an increase in operating costs arising from deviations of the operating pressure from the calculated value.
6. Improving the business reputation of the water supply company. This factor, among other things, can have an impact at the stage of setting tariffs: consumers and the regulator will adequately perceive the increase in tariffs for paying for services of adequate quality. This will contribute to the introduction of new technologies and the development of the public water supply system as a whole.

conclusions
One of the main indicators that make it possible to objectively assess the activities of a WSS enterprise is the amount of losses and unaccounted for water consumption. Leaks from the water supply network and structures adversely affect the reliability and strength of buildings, engineering communications (primarily water-bearing), worsen the state of the environment, lead to flooding of territories, that is, significant material, social and environmental damage. There are a number of temporary factors that determine the high level of water losses in the water supply network of most Russian cities. These are the wear of the network, the operation of steel and cast iron pipes that are not protected from corrosion, increased pressure, a large amplitude of their fluctuations during the day, water hammer, and the lack of reliable instruments for the timely detection of water leaks. To assess water losses and determine "non-revenue water", a "Methodology for estimating unaccounted expenses and water losses of the Moscow water pipeline" was developed. The standard approach adopted by the International Water Association is used to calculate the water balance. For the automated calculation of the water balance, a computer program "Water balance" has been developed, which can be applied to any city in the Russian Federation. "The strategy for reducing water losses in the public water supply system" is a set of managed organizational and technical measures to influence the main elements of this system in order to deliver drinking water to the consumer with minimal losses. The implementation of this strategy will improve the reliability, environmental safety and energy efficiency of the system, as well as reduce water losses and reduce resource consumption.

In modern economic conditions, it is important to reduce losses and unproductive expenses at enterprises and associations by identifying shortcomings in the organization of the production process and product sales.

Non-productive expenses are unscheduled (forced) actual material costs of an enterprise arising from violations in its economic mechanism, committed both by the enterprise itself and by other economic bodies, negatively affecting the final results of activities. The main causes of violations in the economic mechanism:

on-farm - consist of shortcomings in the organization of production and the labor process, ensuring the release of high-quality products, logistics of production, conditions and procedures for fulfilling their own contractual obligations, organizing shipment and sale finished products(goods) to consumers, work to bring to justice those responsible for allowing unproductive expenses by the enterprise;

external - consist of illegal actions of suppliers, transport organizations and other counterparties, expressed in non-fulfillment or improper fulfillment of contractual obligations assumed for the material and technical support of the enterprise or the sale (shipment) of finished products (goods).

Unproductive expenses and losses include:

Marriage loss.

Losses attributable to non-operating expenses:

Unproductive costs attributable to production costs:

losses from downtime due to internal production reasons;

losses from underutilization of parts, assemblies and technological equipment;

losses from writing off shortages and damage to inventory items in the absence of guilty persons or the recovery of which was refused by the court.

Other non-productive expenses:

payments to employees released from the enterprise in connection with its reorganization or liquidation, as well as in connection with a reduction in the number of employees and staff.

One of the main tasks of accounting for production costs is the modern and reliable identification and determination of unproductive costs and losses incurred from marriage, downtime, shortages and damage to material assets. Accounting information also allows you to establish the causes and responsible for the irrational use of enterprise funds.

1. Accounting for marriage.

Marriage is an unproductive cost of production resources. It reduces the output of suitable products and increases its cost.

Marriage in production is considered to be products (products), semi-finished products, assemblies, parts and structures that do not meet the established standards or specifications in terms of quality and cannot be used for their intended purpose or are used only after additional costs to eliminate existing defects.

The requirements for product quality are increasing, therefore, the technical control departments and other services of the enterprise are faced with the task of timely detection, analysis and prevention of defects. In particular, work is being done to prevent defects through the introduction of an integrated system of product quality management and effective use resources.

In business effective fight With marriage, a properly organized accounting of losses, establishing the causes and perpetrators is of great importance. An important role is given to its operational accounting at the places of occurrence, which is carried out by the service of the technical control department of the enterprise.

In all other cases, the marriage revealed in the production must be documented. When a marriage is detected, the employees of the technical control department make appropriate marks in the primary documents for accounting for production (work orders, reports, route sheets).

The most common document for registering a marriage is an act (notice of marriage), in which the employees of the technical control service indicate the name of the rejected product, its technical number, the number of the operation on which the marriage was detected; codes of the type and reason for marriage; perpetrators of the marriage; the cost of marriage; amounts to be recovered from the perpetrators; mark of the receiving workshop or warehouse on the acceptance of rejected products.

In the act of marriage, a special section is allocated for calculating marriage according to direct cost items. The act is issued in duplicate and signed by the controller of the technical control department, the foreman and the head of the section or workshop. One copy, together with defective products, is sent to the reject storeroom, the other to the dispatching office (production department), and then to the accounting department. The act is approved by the head of the enterprise, who decides on the procedure for writing off losses from marriage - at the expense of the perpetrators or at the expense of production.

Of great importance in organizing the accounting of marriage and determining the losses from it according to the places of occurrence, causes and perpetrators is its classification.

According to the nature of the identified defects, the marriage is divided into correctable and irreparable (final). Repairable defects include parts, assemblies, products that can meet the requirements of standards or specifications after the correction of defects, if such correction is technically possible and economically feasible. If it is impossible to correct the defect or the costs of correction will exceed the losses from marriage, these parts, assemblies, products, works are classified as final marriage.

According to the place of detection, they distinguish between internal defects found at any production site before being sent to the consumer, and external defects detected at the consumer (buyer) in the process of acceptance or use.

In addition, marriage is classified according to the types, causes and perpetrators of its occurrence.

All marriage transactions are accounted for on a synthetic active calculation account 28 "Marriage in production". The debit of this account reflects: for an irreparable marriage - expenses, the cost of rejected products, and for a correctable one - the costs associated with its correction. The credit of the account reflects amounts that partially reduce losses from marriage: deductions from the perpetrators of the marriage (employees of the enterprise, suppliers of raw materials and materials, etc.) and the cost of returnable waste at the price of possible use, as well as the cost of an irreparable marriage, attributable to the costs of the main production.

The difference between debit and credit turnover, i.e. preliminary balance on account 28, represents losses from marriage at the end of the month included in the cost of production under the costing item of the same name. Thus, account 28 is closed by transferring the balance (the amount of losses from marriage) to the cost of production.

Analytical accounting on account 28 is carried out for individual workshops, types of products, items of expenditure and perpetrators in statement 14 "Losses from marriage" when using the journal-order form of accounting.

Statement 14 is designed to account for the identified losses:

from the shortage of work in progress minus its surplus;

from write-off from production of parts and assemblies due to the modernization of manufactured products;

from defects in production, including losses associated with damage to semi-finished products during equipment setup.

The cost of marriage and losses from it are reflected in the statement 12 "Costs for the shops" and the journal-warrant 10, and the compensation for losses is in the journal-warrant 10/1 when using the journal-order form of accounting.

Statement 12, opened for a month, takes into account the costs of production by workshops, to reflect the costs for individual workshops, loose sheets provided for the statement are used. Accounting for the costs of the main production shops is carried out in separate statements separately from the costs of the auxiliary production shops. With a significant number of shops, statements can be opened for separate groups.

In accounting, losses from marriage reflect:

Table 78

Account correspondence

2. Accounting for losses from downtime

As a result of technological and organizational problems, downtime of workers, machines and mechanisms occurs. They represent the unproductive loss of funds and labor due to the underutilization of equipment and labor and the products that were not received for this reason. Downtime increases the cost of production, reduces profits, and damages the enterprise. Therefore, accounting for downtime, analysis of their causes and originators is of great importance for identifying reserves for increasing labor productivity and increasing output.

Downtime losses are non-productive costs of raw materials, materials, fuel, payroll and related costs as a result of unplanned shutdowns of individual machines, workshops or the entire production.

Downtime at enterprises is divided into full-day and intra-shift and occurs for external and internal reasons. External downtime includes downtime caused by a delay in the supply of electricity by energy supply organizations, water, steam, as well as raw materials, materials, fuel and spare parts by suppliers. Internal downtime occurs due to the fault of the enterprise itself due to various production and organizational problems: inconsistency, violations of production and technological discipline (lack of technical documentation, untimely issuance of tasks, lack or malfunction of tools and devices). Downtime culprits include: suppliers; departments and services of the enterprise; workshops of enterprises; administration; workers.

The enterprise should develop a nomenclature of the causes and perpetrators of downtime. In all cases of downtime of workers for more than 15 minutes, a simple sheet is issued, which indicates not only the names and personnel numbers of workers, types and numbers of idle machines, the beginning, end and duration of downtime, but also the codes of its causes and perpetrators in accordance with the nomenclature developed at the enterprises .

When a workshop, site, individual production or enterprise as a whole is stopped, an act is drawn up in which the reason is justified in detail, all costs and losses caused by downtime are listed.

Downtime losses include:

wages with deductions for production workers during downtime;

additional payment to workers used in other jobs;

the cost of raw materials, materials, fuel, energy unproductively spent during the period of downtime;

share of expenses for the maintenance and operation of machinery and equipment.

Such losses, formed for external reasons, should be taken into account as part of general business expenses, and internal - in general production expenses under the item "Losses from downtime".

Depending on the duration, downtime is divided into intra-shift and whole-shift. Intra-shift ones are drawn up with a sheet of idle time, and are additionally reflected in the time sheet with the letter B. Integral downtime, most often occurs for external reasons and covers workers of the entire section, workshop. These downtimes in the timesheet are marked with the letter P and are drawn up by an extract of the act with a list of workers participating in the downtime.

Downtime can be used, i.e. for this period, workers receive new tasks, are assigned to another job. The work is issued by issuing orders in accordance with the order of payment at piece rates or with the preservation of average earnings. The sheet of downtime indicates the number of the order and the hours worked.

In accounting, the accounting for downtime is reflected:

Table 79

Account correspondence

3. Accounting for losses from damage to the shortage of inventory items.

In accordance with the current legislation, shortages and losses from damage, theft of material resources, including work in progress and finished products, due to the fault of financially responsible and officials are subject to compensation. There may be cases when the perpetrators are absent or the recovery from the perpetrators is denied by the court. Then shortages and losses from damage to material assets and work in progress are classified as unproductive expenses.

The presence of losses from damage and shortages is the result of the irrational use of inventory, inefficient organization of supply and storage, the lack of weighing instruments and measuring containers and is determined by conducting an inventory.

Table 80

Account correspondence

Other unproductive expenses.

The level of production costs is significantly affected, along with losses from marriage, downtime, shortages and damage to valuables, and other unproductive costs:

benefits paid on the basis of court decisions as a result of disability due to work-related injuries;

payments to employees released from the enterprise in connection with its reorganization and liquidation, as well as in connection with the reduction of employees and staff.

The liquidation of an enterprise is carried out by decision of the owner or a body authorized by him, or by a court decision in the following cases:

declaring him bankrupt;

systematic implementation of activities that are contrary to the goals of the enterprise, or without proper permission (license) or prohibited by law;

if the acts on the establishment of the enterprise are declared invalid.

A reduction in the number or staff of employees can be both with an actual reduction in work, and with the implementation of various technical and organizational measures (introduction of new equipment), which make it possible to reduce the number of employees, although the amount of work remains unchanged or even increases.

In connection with a reduction in the number of employees, they usually dismiss workers, and with a reduction in staff, those employees whose positions are included in the staff lists.

Upon termination of the employment contract in connection with the liquidation of the enterprise, the implementation of measures to reduce the number (staff) of employees, a severance pay is paid in the amount of at least three times the average monthly salary. The amount of the allowance increases depending on the length of service with this employer in the manner and on the terms provided for by the collective agreement (agreement).

Severance pay is paid regardless of the fact that the employee was warned about the upcoming dismissal.

Employers bear, in accordance with the law, financial liability for damage caused to employees by injury or other damage to health associated with the use of their labor duties.

Evidence of the employer's guilt can be an act of an accident at work, a sentence or a court decision, a decision of a prosecutor, a body of inquiry or preliminary investigation, a decision to impose an administrative or disciplinary penalty on the perpetrators and other documents.

Compensation for damage consists in the payment to the victim of monetary amounts in the amount of earnings (or part of it) that he lost due to disability or its decrease, minus the disability pension due to work injury, as well as in compensation for additional expenses caused by damage to health.

The amount of compensation for damage associated with the loss of the victim's previous earnings or its reduction in connection with a labor injury is determined as a percentage of this earnings, corresponding to the degree of loss of their ability to work.

If a labor injury has occurred not only through the fault of the employer, but also through the gross negligence of the employee himself, then the amount of compensation for damage must be reduced depending on the degree of fault of the victim, or compensation for harm must be denied. Severance pay amounts are not subject to taxation and are not subject to debt recovery.

Table 81

Account correspondence

In addition to unproductive expenses and losses that negatively affect the cost of production, one can also distinguish losses that reduce the balance sheet profit of the enterprise, non-operating losses.

Accounting for other losses.

In the process of economic activity of an enterprise, along with profit, it may also have unforeseen losses from operations not related to the production and sale of products (works, services), fixed assets, inventory items, intangible and other assets. These losses are taken into account directly on the synthetic account 90 "Incomes and expenses on current activities" or account 91 "Other income and expenses" in correspondence with different accounts.

These losses include:

losses not compensated by the perpetrators from downtime due to external reasons;

awarded or recognized fines, penalties, forfeits and other types of sanctions for violation of the terms of business contracts, as well as expenses for compensation for losses;

losses from writing off receivables for which the limitation period has expired;

uncompensated losses from natural disasters.

The reasons for the formation of overdue receivables are: the lack of funds from the payer, the return of payment requests by the bank without payment due to financial control, refusal to accept payment requests.

Debtors and creditors include organizations for operations of a non-commercial nature: transport organizations that conduct settlements related to the use of passing vehicles for the carriage of goods; depositors, organizations and persons in favor of which deductions are made on the basis of executive documents; tenants of apartments and persons living in hostels; tenants of non-residential premises; parents of children admitted to children's institutions. Uncollectible receivables are written off by decision of the managers either to the losses of the enterprise, or at the expense of net profit or a reserve for doubtful debts.

Doubtful debt is the company's receivables, which are not repaid on time and are not secured by appropriate guarantees. The formation of this reserve is made after the inventory of accounts receivable.

A significant part of unproductive expenses are penalties, the need to pay which is caused by failure to fulfill obligations under contracts for the supply of finished products.

Fines, penalties, forfeits can be received:

for failure to fulfill delivery obligations;

for late payment of delivered products;

for the supply of incomplete and low-quality products.

Table 82

Account correspondence

When identifying losses and unproductive expenses, it is necessary to establish the causes and specific perpetrators in a timely manner in order to compensate the enterprise for damage and prevent such losses in the future.

In connection with the deterioration of the financial and economic situation at enterprises, aggravated due to the manifestation of the effects of the negative trends of the global financial crisis, which has already passed into the category of an economic crisis, many companies are starting to panic reduce their costs. The management of companies sees one of the main recipes for survival in times of crisis in reducing costs. Therefore, in the pursuit of savings, even entire cost items began to be “cut off” indiscriminately. Decisions, of course, need to be made in such situations very quickly, practically, instantly. And decisions regarding costs and expenses are some of the easiest decisions that management will have to make, as they relate to what the company actually owns, cash, as opposed to making, for example, strategic, marketing, innovative decisions, making which, due to the growth of uncertainty, has become even more complex. Therefore, it is clear that the easiest way is to “tighten the belts” and “tighten the nuts”. However, an ill-considered reduction in spending, "tightening the belts" can lead to negative strategic consequences and tactical losses. In making hasty decisions to reduce costs, the categories of “good” or highly productive costs that bring a company a huge multiplier economic effect are also often overlooked. Therefore, the application of folk wisdom is fair here: “Measure seven times and cut once”!

This article does not pretend to review all solutions for optimizing costs and expenses of all kinds, but only aims to draw the attention of company management to the fact that expenses should be treated in a balanced, wise manner, and not “indiscriminately”, deleting entire articles.

It is necessary to fight for reducing not all, but only unproductive, inefficient, irrational costs. You need to ask yourself the following questions:

• How can you intensify, increase the return and efficiency of costs that the company is going to reduce.
• How will the reduction of this or that item of expenditure affect the enterprise in a year, two, three, five and ten years?
• What risks are associated with certain costs, how will cost reduction affect the likelihood of these risks?
• Does the volume of a certain cost item have a “critical weight”, what are the tasks and functions assigned to these costs?
• What are the alternative solutions? How can cost reductions be compensated?

Reducing the cost of training at seminars, courses, trainings, attending conferences and forums

Attendance by employees and managers of training programs (seminars, trainings, courses, internships), business and professional events (conferences, forums, round tables, symposia), with the correct organization of the work of an organization representative, gives the company a huge direct and indirect effect, many times overlapping the costs incurred.

• New technological, business, sectoral, professional knowledge is acquired that is important for the development of the enterprise.
• There is an exchange of information and experience with colleagues from other enterprises and industries.
• The participant receives a strong energy impulse, allowing him to significantly increase his productivity, efficiency and initiative.

• Try to reduce the cost of participation in the event. When properly approached by the course or conference organizers, 9 out of 10 times the business will be presented with a substantial discount or given the opportunity to attend the event for two employees with only one participant registering.
• Take an active and proactive position during the event, trying to get the maximum benefit for the enterprise from attending a seminar or forum.
• Take a voice recorder with you to the event to be able to listen to the most valuable moments again, and then share useful information with other employees.
• Based on the results of attending each event, oblige each employee to present all the applied points discussed at the conference or seminar in the form of clear proposals for implementation in the enterprise. At the same time, the employee should not limit himself only to the work of his unit.

These are just examples of some of the recommendations for increasing the effectiveness of attending business and professional forums. And one cannot but agree that training programs and business events are an effective source of ideas, knowledge, experience, connections, innovative aspirations that are so necessary to overcome crisis situations.

Reducing communication and Internet costs

Many large industrial enterprises are reducing the limits on long-distance and international telephone calls. On the one hand, this may be correct in relation to cost overruns in departments whose competence does not include external communications. But with regard to the limits of telephone conversations for marketing, sales, supply departments, the effectiveness of which largely depends on the intensity of international communications, the situation should be exactly the opposite. But in this case, in order to increase efficiency and return on these costs, the enterprise should develop a standard or regulation on international telephone conversations that provides employees with a clear and practical tool for effective work.

Reducing the cost of the Internet, to reduce the bandwidth of the Internet connection is also not entirely reasonable. When restoring infrastructure destroyed by natural disasters in New Orleans and other affected regions of the United States, the authorities first restored high-speed wireless Internet. And the internet is free. This contributes to the growth and development of the economy. The most progressive countries have long understood that the Internet is as necessary an infrastructure as roads or broadcasting and as effective a catalyst for development as business incubators or high-tech parks. In our country, unfortunately, the cost of Internet services is one of the most expensive in the world, despite the technological simplicity of providing these services. And by the way, the World Wide Web is today an indispensable source of information resources, a provider of interactive services that allow solving many business issues, developing business processes, which is especially important during a crisis.

• This is a source of commercial, marketing, technical information, contact, management data.
• It is an effective means of communication (e-mail, ICQ, Skype, forums, blogs, networks, chats, and so on), which is an effective alternative to all traditional means of communication.
• This is a strong promotion channel (distribution of commercial and business offers, negotiations on the Internet, placement of information about the company on numerous Internet media, promotion of the company's website).

Another point is again the increase in the efficiency of using Internet traffic in order to develop the enterprise. Here we can absolutely safely say the following: our domestic manufacturing enterprises practically do not use the many opportunities provided today by the global information space. The intensity of use is out of the question, our companies still need to master the Internet in extensive ways, to try at least half of those Internet tools, carriers of unlimited possibilities that are provided to us today. Once again, the learning factor is on the agenda. Companies and employees are often simply not aware of the unlimited possibilities of working on the Internet, not to mention the fact that enterprises do not have systems, for example, Internet marketing.

The same applies to the costs of developing and creating an enterprise website. A company simply cannot do without a website. Today there is an axiom: "No on the Internet - no business"! But it is possible to develop a web resource of the same efficiency for 5000-7000 and 500-700 conventional units. Hosting is a whole order of magnitude cheaper if you order it abroad and pay with an international card or electronic money. So you have an extra ruble freed up to invest it in development and promotion. And such an order of numbers is present in the economy at every step today, the only task is to be aware and look for new solutions!

Reducing the cost of long-distance and foreign business trips

Any commercial director will confirm that it is possible to write many letters for a long time, corresponding with potential partners, spend hours on the phone, and in just a few minutes resolve the issue face-to-face in person. Negotiations during business trips are one of the most effective tools for promoting the company's products and establishing business relationships with partners. Therefore, especially in the event of a crisis, the company is recommended to intensify work with business trips, send more managers to distant lands and for a longer time. As the author's experience has shown, issues related to the sale of products can be effectively solved on business trips not only by managers of marketing and sales departments, but also by heads of financial, economic and production services, thus strengthening the company's marketing vector. Therefore, it is necessary not to reduce the cost of business trips for managers, as many enterprises are doing now, but to boldly increase the number of "forays" to foreign markets of our marketing landing force. And speaking about the effectiveness of these events, I would like to draw an analogy with the military theme. Who are they throwing behind enemy lines? That's right, the most trained, trained and experienced commandos. The seconded managers should also become such "aces", who must fulfill special tasks, on which the fate of many people today depends.

• Employees who can effectively organize their work should be sent on expensive business trips (visiting the maximum number of companies per day with the achievement of set goals during negotiations).
• The stage of serious preparation for the trip is important (calling, planning visits, preliminary, but flexible appointment of meetings).
• There should be full and clear reporting on the results of all meetings, business negotiations stimulating the rational use of the employee's time and enterprise funds during a business trip.
• Significantly helps employees in preparing for a business trip, the internal standard or regulations of the enterprise on this issue.
• Be sure to try to quickly put into practice all the developments, the results of business trips upon their completion. It often happens that the travel manager must, after long trip come to your senses, relax. At this time, no one deals with topical issues, and a week later, completely different tasks are set.

Reducing the cost of attracting external consultants and independent experts

Looking at the problem from the outside always allows you to get much more objective, independent information needed to solve this problem. The involvement of consultants and independent experts always gives a huge external impetus to business development. This is especially true at critical moments when it is necessary to act both quickly and smartly.

Is the enterprise ready to independently develop a development program. Quickly assess the situation, weigh all the strengths and weaknesses, threats and opportunities, develop a strategy, develop an effective action plan? It is clear that not every company is able to do this. And those companies that can do this will never interfere with the “infusion” of new ideas, fresh thoughts, and intersectoral progressive experience. Thinking leaders pay a lot of money for this and are sure that these costs pay off many times over. As Chinese strategist Sunn Zi said, a leader who does not seek to buy information, a leader who is indecisive will never succeed. However, for all the advantages of the company's work with external consultants, the question of the effectiveness of this work again arises. Consulting companies promptly, the very first prepared their anti-crisis proposals, and each of them offers its own anti-crisis product. Of all the variety of anti-crisis proposals, it is even more difficult to choose than before the crisis. It is clear that each consultant will at the same time maximize, actualize the importance for the enterprise of the problem in which he specializes, that is, he has the greatest professional competencies. Therefore, in the proposals of consultants, you should try not to miss those moments that sometimes they try to impose on the company in order to sell their services. And if an enterprise has been working for a long time with an independent expert who takes an unbiased position, does not lobby the enterprise for other types of additional costs in which he himself may be directly or indirectly interested, which accompanies the activities and development of this company, then the costs of this work cannot be reduced. in no case. Good consultants are now becoming worth their weight in gold, and many Moscow consulting companies, instead of reducing staff, which is common today everywhere, are not coping with the work, on the contrary, they are expanding their staff. Therefore, having a company with a time-tested, open-minded external consultant with systems thinking and progressive business development tools is a great advantage, especially during a crisis. And in no case should such an advantage be lost in difficult moments for the enterprise.

If before the beginning of the crisis the company did not have time to decide on consultants, you need to do it now and quickly. Efficiency on the example of legal consulting: the cost of a comprehensive audit of the legal system of an enterprise will cost 500-1000 dollars, but what kind of costs can it help to avoid in the future.

Reducing inventory costs

The reduction of this item of expenditure increases the logistical and production risks, which in times of crisis increase by themselves. This period is associated with the suspension of work and even the closure of many manufacturing companies. If such problems are also found in the suppliers of the enterprise, failures may also occur in carriers.

Advertising expenses

Reducing advertising costs will not lead to tactical and strategic losses only if the company finds other, cheaper and shareware methods of advertising, promotion, informing buyers, consumers, partners about their business proposals. These can be methods of "guerrilla marketing", "advertising without advertising" and so on. The lack of financial resources must necessarily be replaced by ingenuity, non-standard creative solutions, serious creative work of the entire team of the enterprise. In no case should you refuse to spend on advertising that “works well”, on those proven channels of communication with consumers that have proven to be effective. Advertising and marketing expenses, in this case, need to be redistributed in favor of these effective tools.

Reducing the cost of maintenance, repairs

Reducing this item of expenditure also increases production risks, calling into question the production processes themselves over time. How much a business can lose from line downtime or more costly equipment repairs, saving little in terms of maintenance costs. You can save a penny and lose a ruble! In addition, equipment operating without repairs and “wearing out” during a crisis may turn out to be at the beginning of an economic recovery, which will certainly sooner or later replace the crisis period, already inoperable. When the economy begins to grow, the company will not be able to take advantage and opportunities of economic growth.

Reduced quality control costs

From some experts, such recommendations and advice were made: reduce the cost of products by reducing quality. And how high is the quality of goods produced at domestic enterprises? Is there a way to lower it? Is it possible to compete effectively with such quality in the world markets? Or will these products go to the domestic market protected from foreign competitors? There is nowhere to reduce the quality, it only needs to be increased or not to “translate” natural resources. Primitivization is not allowed!

Reducing staffing costs

Personnel costs should be reduced primarily in those sectors in which, during the economic boom preceding the crisis, there was an unreasonable hyper-growth of wages, not supported by an increase in labor productivity and an increase in production efficiency. The decrease in these costs is primarily due to a decrease in bonuses and allowances. However, if other alternatives are not provided in material incentives, a sharp drop in already low labor productivity may occur: employees will only “go to work”. Alternatives to salaries that incentivize key employees could be ownership of the company, rewards for innovations, bonuses for special achievements, intangible measures, and so on.

With regard to downsizing, the economists of the future would be more likely to react to such a decision as modern physicians today regard the "bleeding" practiced "successfully" by doctors of the Middle Ages. Here we will not touch on the macroeconomic consequences of mass layoffs, unemployment, falling consumer demand and the processes leading to an aggravation of the crisis. Today there are numerous examples of big cuts, for example, in the IT business. How much money did it take to find and hire even the most ordinary programmer? How much money is invested in his education? How much effort and money is directed by the company for team building, motivation, development of corporate culture, professional development? And now, together with the employees, investments in human personnel are leaving the company, know-how is leaving, information is leaving. And all this with the advent of the era information technologies becomes the main factor of competitiveness, a source of innovation. There is a second point here: what happens to the employees who remain in the company? People understand that they may be next, they cease to trust management, the level of loyalty rushes to zero. Will they believe at the next corporate meeting the fiery speeches of top management about a friendly and cohesive team? And what then are statements about the social responsibility of business worth?

Similar to "bleeding" during staff cuts, firstly, the company loses valuable resources, and secondly, the enterprise "weakens its body." E. W. Deming, the author of the Japanese miracle, proved that the efficiency, productivity, and effectiveness of both the entire business and the individual employee depend only on the management, the management system built in the company, and not on the employees themselves. Any employee, the most lagging behind, can be “put” in such a system where he will demonstrate the highest results. Staff needs to be trained! And as the proverb says: "There are no bad students, there are bad teachers"! Of course, all this is not easy. To preserve the team, you need to think in intensive, fundamental, deep, systemic categories and principles, and during the period of the economic boom that preceded the crisis, we got used to only superficial, extensive thinking. And to think, and take the initiative, and look for ways out of the crisis, it is necessary not only for management, but also for the staff themselves. It must be taken into account that many people have forgotten how to think, strain their brains, fight for efficiency, and work hard in the Stakhanov way. In many industries, people are accustomed to quick, easy, big money, without measuring their own contribution to getting this money, creating real value for the client and for society. In the near future, many workers will have to come down to earth again in terms of their financial and material needs and work much more and for much less money than before.

One of the most effective recommendations: to maximize and intensively use the (often) dormant intellectual and creative potential of the staff, to stimulate entrepreneurship, rationalization, and innovation at all levels of the organization.

It should also be remembered that the cost of maintaining personnel is not limited to the payment of wages and related social and tax payments. Calculate, for example, how much it costs to rent a workspace and the lost profits from renting out that space. There is a good solution: the transfer of at least part of the office staff to "virtual" or "home", which has already found wide application in the West, and which many have already managed to use. Thanks to the development of modern information technologies, it is possible to organize the work of knowledge workers in such a way that all staff work at home, and management and communications are carried out using the Internet. This type of work organization has a lot of advantages, both for employees and for the company. Among the obvious shortcomings: discipline. However, if the employee is not disciplined and not organized, does he work efficiently in the company's office itself?

Costs to be reduced

"Universal" expenses that can be safely reduced without any significant losses in the long and short term.

• Elimination of losses in production: saving fuel, electricity, raw materials, materials. The introduction of “lean manufacturing” technologies is a very loud word for many enterprises with our still Soviet culture. However, we need to strive for this, the crisis is pushing us towards this.
• Reducing the cost of "maintaining high status". It could also be moving to a less prestigious and less expensive office. "Consolidation" of services, divisions, personnel in the occupied premises, the rejection of excess space and their leasing, subleasing, and so on. It can also be a reduction in the cost of company vehicles, if it is equipped with expensive and wasteful business class cars (fuel consumption, maintenance costs), due to the transition to "small cars", a reduction in company vehicles
• Refusal to pay dividends to founders and shareholders in favor of strengthening financial positions, creating a stabilization fund for the enterprise, for the company's survival in a crisis period. This also includes the rejection of "indiscriminate" payments of bonuses and allowances. However, the funds saved through these measures should be invested in development, and not “squandered”.
• A whole section of so-called "hidden or implicit costs" that everyone forgets about. This is the cost of lost or lost profits. These costs are not reflected in any reports, so no one fights with them. At the same time, if we go to any large industrial enterprise, will we see that every square meter of space and every machine is used efficiently and rationally? And if you rent out the unnecessary or organize production groups, cooperatives, brigades from the “extra” people at the enterprise and help them master new areas of work, then you can not only save money, but also earn money.
• Stationery, office expenses - the article is not big, but, as they say: "A penny saves a ruble"! Our people are used to saving paper by printing on drafts, saving cartridges by switching printers to economical printing modes, which everyone did 10 years ago. This also includes elementary frugality in relation to electricity, water, heat, and so on.
• Expenses for purchased components, materials. The generally accepted mechanism throughout the civilized world is considered to be a gradual systematic decrease in the cost of the mechanisms of nodes, and components of long-produced samples. All Japanese companies agree with their suppliers on price reduction schedules and quality improvement plans for purchased products. Therefore, our enterprises can also conclude with suppliers not only contracts and supply agreements, but also long-term agreements on the quality of supplied goods (control and development) and schedules for a gradual reduction in the purchase cost of components.
• Of course, this also includes spending on areas that appeared on the wave of the previous economic boom and hyper-growth of the B2B sector industry. Today, probably, not a single director will have a question: “Should I pay tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars to a creative agency for the logo and slogan of a subsidiary, or work on this task on my own”?

Expenses that the company will have to increase

Costs that a business would be better off incurring in order to minimize risks and reduce costs that the firm might otherwise incur in the future.

• Costs associated with economic security enterprises. It is necessary to carry out a set of preventive measures to eliminate many risks, the likelihood of which increases during periods of crisis. It is recommended to strengthen the enterprise's risk management system, legal system, security system, anti-crisis PR system, and so on. Carry out due diligence procedures for all aspects of the company's activities. Conduct an anti-crisis audit of the information security system.
• Spending or investing in human resources. These are costs primarily for maintaining morale (corporate ideology, internal anti-crisis PR), since no matter how much an enterprise cuts costs, the crisis cannot be overcome without support and brilliance in the eyes of employees. And the crisis provides excellent opportunities for team building. This also includes the costs of retraining and retraining of personnel, which is also indispensable. Many European companies that sent their employees on unpaid vacations for 1-2 months organized corporate staff training programs for this period, retraining, retraining and retraining for other areas and areas of activity to prepare people to perform other work, solve other problems.
• Expenses for marketing, conducting marketing and scientific research, for developing new products, designing and introducing new types of products into production, expenses for forming our own commodity distribution network independent of external credit injections. All this is critically necessary for companies intending to work both during and after the crisis, and not to wind down business in the near future.
• Expenses for the development of the enterprise in the form of remuneration and payments for rationalization proposals, for the introduction of new less resource-intensive and resource-saving technologies, for the optimization of business processes that allow increasing the efficiency of production and the company's business.
• The costs required for the reorganization and renewal of the business, the introduction of innovations and the development of enterprises. The economy and business after the crisis will not remain the same as they were before the “collapse”. The business world will change dramatically, as it always does, there will again be a redistribution of resources: financial, industrial, intellectual, there will be changes in the alignment of forces in the market and in politics. Almost all business analysts and top managers of large companies are trying to find new way and even a new business paradigm. Therefore, each enterprise will have to go through its own path of changes in the organizational structure, corporate culture, building relationships in many areas, and this, in turn, will require investments.
• Expenses for business integration, organization and financing of business and industry unions, associations, clubs. Even large and very strong companies will find themselves in a difficult situation in the near future, in which it is easier to solve many issues in cooperation with their former competitors, coordinating the entire industry. Many things can now be solved much more effectively if we act together, together, thinking about the effect for the entire sectoral, regional and general economic system. Coordination of actions, common interests, joint solution of complex issues in the bodies government controlled, association for joint purchases of raw materials and supplies, supply, production, marketing cooperation and economies of scale will give companies a number of additional advantages during this period. However, this is impossible without the full and active work of the apparatus, the coordinating body of such a union or association, which needs an appropriate budget.

Cost management at an enterprise during a crisis should not be budgetary or automatic, when articles are allocated and limits are brought, but “manual”, when the feasibility of each payment is studied, the effectiveness of all costs separately. Cost management must balance tactical needs and strategic objectives, finding a happy medium between them.

The crisis, the reduction of expenses at the enterprise give employees and managers of departments a good opportunity to explain their omissions and not achieve their goals. To prevent this from happening, you can use the approach practiced in many Japanese enterprises in management: this is work with pairs of opposites. When setting goals, dual, sometimes even mutually exclusive goals should be set: reduce cost and improve quality, reduce weight and increase sustainability, and so on. This will not give people the opportunity to write off all their shortcomings as cost reduction. And, besides, it also helps the Japanese to find fundamentally new solutions that lie outside of these pairs of opposites that limit the mental field.

It is important to find wise solutions, characterized as a "golden mean". As Henry Ford said 100 years ago, spending management should be neither greedy nor extravagant. Both of these extremes lead to cost overruns, causing new problems immediately or after some time and even greater costs to solve them.

I would also like to warn managers and warn that “tightening the screws” and “tightening the belts” is not enough for the company to get out of the crisis. This is just one of the directions in which we should move today. For the survival of the enterprise, a whole system of measures is needed:

• Reducing costs, reducing wasteful costs, that is, in fact, "tightening the screws".
• Increasing economic efficiency and return on all costs, resources and investments.
• Increasing the profitable component of the business, intensifying marketing activities.
• Search for alternative solutions to replace cost-intensive solutions with "cost-free" and "low-cost" options.
• Development of business systems (production, marketing, logistics, HR, R&D, etc.), rationalization activities, optimization of business processes.
• Search and adoption of fundamentally new fundamental decisions of organization and management economic activity to the point of changing the business paradigm.

Currently, at the global, national, regional, sectoral, corporate levels, attempts are being made to neutralize the negative consequences of the global financial crisis. However, at all these levels, measures are used and decisions are taken that are the causes of the current situation, that is, which gradually led to the crisis. And if the emphasis on supporting the banking system and stimulating consumption can give a positive result in the short term (for individual elements of the system, and not for the entire system), then this is not for long. As Albert Einstein said: “It is impossible to solve a problem at the same level at which it arose. You need to rise above this problem by rising to the next level.” And if fundamentally new solutions are not found that will radically change the economic model and economic management systems, then the crisis will grow from the category of the world economic into the category of the global crisis of civilization. In addition, crises of this magnitude and depth always lead to the discovery of new technical solutions, new technologies, new energy sources, new labor organization systems, and renewal in many areas, sectors and sectors of the economy. And even if we do not come up with fundamentally new approaches to work ourselves, then at least we should not miss a change in the business paradigm and not again be beyond the boundaries of opportunities and prospects.

The period we have entered is not easy, but as a result, imagine how we will learn to manage the costs and efficiency of our companies! How many progressive solutions will be found during this time, which we would not even be looking for if not for the crisis! And we will look at the past periods as a time of inefficient business and missed opportunities and ask ourselves why we thought so little about efficiency and development before.

Annotation: The article discusses the causes of 7 types of losses in production, analyzes the possible consequences, which makes it possible not only to avoid losses, but also to control the further development of the situation with limited resources, thereby optimizing management. An easy-to-use table for determining and eliminating / minimizing losses has been developed.

Keyword List:, loss reduction, loss detection, optimization of production processes.

Identification and reduction of losses is a priority task of any modern enterprise. Because it is the basis of successful activity.

First introduced (1912-1990) by Toyota CEO - being the most ardent loss fighter, he established seven types of muda. - this is one of the Japanese words, meaning waste, waste, that is, any activity that consumes resources but does not create value. These are the mistakes that need to be corrected. This is the performance of actions, without which it is quite possible to do.

In the literature, first of all, the assessment of loss is considered as a fact of what has already happened and as a method of elimination. Which is certainly important, but does not give an answer to what causes and consequences accompany the 7 types of losses.

The goal of lean manufacturing is to prevent . It is necessary not only to eliminate, but also to prevent further occurrence and / or development of losses.

The task of management is to optimize the process. Considering the consequences of losses, management, with limited resources, can decide where to focus efforts in the first place.

Types of losses, causes and consequences

Overproduction- the most dangerous of losses, as it entails other types of losses. But to exclude and identify this type is the easiest way, it is enough to follow the motto: “Do not produce too much!”. It is necessary to produce only what is ordered.

The reasons for overproduction can be large batches - which in turn can be a consequence of the impossibility of quick changeovers. Also, pre-emptive production can also be the cause of overproduction. Excessive equipment, unstable quality are also reasons for overproduction.

The consequences arising from overproduction are the premature consumption of raw materials, and as a result, the purchase of materials, which leads to excess stocks, and loss of quality.

The amount of unclaimed products and blanks in warehouses and intermediate operations is the cost of the "Overproduction" loss. Determined during the month, quarter, year.

The pull supply system helps to avoid overproduction, as well as leveling the load of production lines.

Cause excess inventory is a long readjustment, which in turn is associated with the release of products in large batches. As well as the imperfection of the system for planning production and supply of materials.

For warehousing stocks, we need additional space, warehouses, additional labor. Also, these reserves will need to be subsequently sought, which means again spending time and effort. All these efforts are unnecessary costs, and the reserves themselves are the frozen capital of the enterprise.

As in the case of overproduction, improving the planning system helps to reduce inventory. Production flows should be based on a pull system with as small batches as possible, which is facilitated by the leveling of production.

The next type of loss is transportation - is a consequence of the irrational placement of equipment, a large distance between production sites. The inefficiency of the organization of the production flow helps to identify the map of the value stream. Displaying material flows and their direction, we see the distance that the workpiece or material overcomes before it becomes a finished product. An increase in transportation costs leads to an increase in the cost of products.

Optimizing the layout of equipment, storage facilities, and the direction of material flows in general helps to reduce the number of shipments.

The loss " Movements» associated with the movement of workers during the work shift. It contributes to a decrease in labor productivity, an increase in staff fatigue and an increase in injuries. To reveal this hidden loss, the timing of the movements of the worker - the Spaghetti diagram - helps. But it is also important to understand the personal role of the worker himself in optimizing his working day and his actions. To eliminate unnecessary movements of the worker, it is first of all necessary to improve his qualifications. Together with him to optimize the production process, and effectively organize jobs. The personal engagement of the staff can be increased by implementing the Kaizen movement - small improvements in-house.

Of all types of losses, comparatively less damage brings " Expectation". This is the time that equipment or personnel spends inactive, that is, without creating value. When optimizing production flows, it is necessary, if not to exclude all other losses, then at least strive to transfer them into waiting. The timing of the work of personnel and equipment allows you to determine the waiting time. The total number of downtimes per shift, month and year will give us the waiting time. To reduce the amount of waiting time for personnel - during downtime, it is recommended to send for cleaning, implementation of 5S, TPM, SMED, Kaizen systems.

Optimizing the layout of equipment, reducing changeover times can reduce waiting times.

It can also increase production costs over-processing. It arises, as a result of the lack of a standard for the worker, the imperfection of technology. Before fulfilling an order, you need to clearly understand what properties of the product are important to the consumer. This understanding should be reflected in the standard for the worker. For example, in a standard operating chart, where all the steps and actions of the operator will be clearly spelled out.

Defects in manufacturing entail additional costs for revision, for control, for organizing a place to eliminate defects. Arise as a result of a violation of technology, low qualification of an employee, inappropriate tools, equipment, material. The cost of defects is determined by the cost of defective products, and the cost of rework. The implementation of quality loops and TPM systems help to reduce waste. Also important here is the personal interest of employees to produce quality products.

To analyze losses in production, it will be useful to consider the table (Table 1. Causes and consequences of 7 types of losses in production), which will simultaneously present the causes and consequences of all types of losses, as well as ways to identify, calculate and eliminate them. The importance of this table lies in the fact that it helps to determine the priorities of management actions in the fight against hidden production losses. Having a list of problems, it is important for management to correctly understand the direction and sequence of actions. Only by building a clear program, you can achieve sustainable results.

Table 1. Causes and consequences of 7 types of production losses

Causes of deficiency Money can be divided into two groups: internal and external. Internal causes include those that originated in the enterprise itself and are determined by its specifics. External causes of cash shortages do not depend on the enterprise. To overcome the shortage of funds, there are two main ways that it is desirable to implement in a complex: an increase in inflow and a decrease in the outflow of funds.

The consequences of a shortage of funds can be very unpleasant for the enterprise, and in some cases - deplorable. Some of them are listed below.

• Delays in the payment of wages to employees of the enterprise.
• Growth of accounts payable to contractors (in particular, to suppliers and contractors), banks and other financial and credit organizations.
• Growth of accounts payable on payments to the budget and off-budget funds, as well as on other obligatory payments.
• A noticeable decrease in the liquidity of the company's assets.
• An increase in the production cycle due to untimely delivery of raw materials, materials and components due to non-payments (or late payments) to suppliers and contractors.

The causes of the shortage of funds can be divided into two groups: internal and external.

Internal causes include those that originated in the enterprise itself and are determined by its specifics. The most common of them are:

• Loss of one or several large buyers of products (works, services), hence a noticeable decrease in sales volumes.
• Weaknesses in the planning and management of the enterprise's product range, which can also cause a drop in sales.
• Weak implementation of financial planning in the enterprise or lack of financial planning.
• Lack of an optimal organizational structure of the financial services of the enterprise.
• Lack of management accounting. Currently, only accounting is clearly not enough for effective enterprise management.
• Loss of control over enterprise costs.
• Irrational use of profit remaining at the disposal of the enterprise.
• Low qualification of the personnel of the enterprise, in the first place - specialists in accounting, financial and management accounting.

External causes of cash shortages do not depend on the enterprise. Among them may be the following:

• Tough competition from other manufacturers of similar goods (works, services).
• The emergence of a non-payment crisis.
• Distribution of non-monetary forms of payment (barter transactions, offsets of mutual claims, etc.).
• Shortage or significant increase in energy prices.
• Losses from exports of products caused by the depreciation of the exchange rate.
• Inconsistency of tax legislation, pressure from the tax authorities.
• High cost of credit and other borrowed funds.
• Inflation.

To overcome the shortage of funds, there are two main ways that it is desirable to implement in a complex: an increase in inflow and a decrease in the outflow of funds.

How to increase cash flow

One of the most common ways to increase cash flow to a business is to sell or lease non-current assets. At the same time, the sale provides a momentary and single cash inflow (except for cases when non-current assets are sold in installments), and the lease provides a constant flow of money during the entire lease period.

A fairly effective way to increase cash flow is to optimize and rationalize the range of products. This looks quite logical: why produce goods (perform work, provide services) that are not in demand on the market or are in limited demand? It is necessary to reorient production to a more relevant assortment.

In conditions of non-payments or excessive distribution of non-monetary forms of settlements, the mechanism of full or partial prepayment can be used to increase the inflow of funds. In this case, a strict condition is put forward for buyers and customers: the company's products will be delivered only after the prepayment is received to the current account or to the company's cash desk.

Prepayment can be used in combination with another effective way to increase cash flow - the development and implementation of a system of discounts for buyers and customers (the larger the prepayment, the greater the discount). It is better not to release anything without an advance payment or to release it with an additional margin.

To solve urgent financial problems, you can use the mechanism of short-term financing in a bank or other financial and credit institution. In many cases, it is more convenient not to take out a loan, but to open a line of credit. When a loan is granted to an enterprise, all the money under the agreement is transferred to the current account. After a certain period of time, the company must return this amount to the bank, paying interest.

As for the credit line, in this case, funds are not transferred to the company's current account. If necessary, the company has the opportunity at any time to take the required amount and transfer it to its destination. The amount of the credit line can be depleted by one or more payments. In this case, interest is calculated for the actual use of funds.

A credit line, like a loan, is provided for a certain period of time, for example, for a year. This means that during the year the company can, as necessary, make payments from borrowed funds within the amount of the credit line. For example, an enterprise needs to urgently pay a supplier 300,000 rubles (assume that a bank has a line of credit in the amount of 1,000,000 rubles). The company pays this amount through a credit line; a few days later, when the financial situation stabilizes (for example, a buyer of products paid a large amount), the company returns these 300,000 rubles to the bank. If this amount was returned, for example, after 5 days, then the company will have to pay interest only for these 5 days.

If the company has its own shares (bonds), then it is possible to improve the financial situation by additional emission of these valuable papers. However, the systematic use of this method can lead to their depreciation.

Another way to increase the cash flow to the enterprise is to search for a potential investor, which can be a legal entity or an individual who wants to invest in the enterprise in order to receive dividends from its activities in the future.

Also quite common is such a method of raising funds as the sale of receivables of the enterprise. Suppose that a buyer (or several buyers) has a large debt to the enterprise for the received inventory items (work performed, services rendered), but is not able to pay for these values. In order to get at least some of its money, the company can sell its receivables to someone who agrees to purchase them (of course, with a significant discount, which in some difficult cases reaches 50%).

How to reduce spending money

One of the most popular ways to reduce cash spending is to defer payments on current liabilities. In some cases, such a delay is provided by creditors, but it is not uncommon for an enterprise experiencing financial difficulties to delay payments without the consent of suppliers.

It is also possible to reduce the outflow of cash by revising the cost structure of the enterprise and optimizing it. This applies not only to production, but also to general business, commercial and other expenses.

To save money, an enterprise should use various discount systems provided by suppliers, for example: a discount can be set for early payment or for the purchase of a large consignment of goods.

If an enterprise carries out investment activities, then in order to optimize expenditure cash flows, its program can be revised. Obviously, in the event of serious financial difficulties, it is advisable to abandon investments or other financial investments in favor of solving urgent problems.

To reduce the expenditure of funds, you can switch with certain suppliers to non-monetary forms of payment: barter, offsetting, bills of exchange, etc. For example, when conducting a barter operation, money is saved at the same time and at the same time the sale of inventory items . The main advantages of barter transactions (from the point of view of the company that repays the debt).

• A significant reduction in spending money while maintaining the same production volumes.
• Debt repayment without spending money.
• Possibility of settlement with counterparties in the case when the company's accounts are frozen (for example, at the request of the tax authorities).
• Possibility even in a difficult financial situation to refuse to attract borrowed funds to maintain a continuous production cycle.
• In some cases, the cost of barter contracts is lower than ordinary, monetary ones. This is due to the fact that when carrying out barter transactions, it is sometimes possible to reduce the amount of taxes paid.

It should be noted that barter transactions have their drawbacks, which are largely due to the advantages listed above and in some way represent their mirror image. For example, instead of real money, the debtor enterprise receives inventory items that still need to be sold to someone. At the same time, there are extra costs associated with the storage and sale of the received values. For the debtor, the cost of a barter contract may turn out to be higher than the cost of a regular one due to some increase in the amount of taxes that are paid in cash. Therefore, it is far from always possible to persuade a creditor to a barter deal with an initial agreement on the monetary form of payment: usually this option is possible only when the debt is bad.

Another effective method saving money manufacturing enterprise- transition to work with raw materials(taken from another company for processing). This saves the organization from having to pay cash for raw materials.