PROBLEMS OF DOCUMENTING OPERATING ACTIVITIES UNDER CONDITIONS OF TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGES

Abstract

Contemporary transformational processes necessitate the definitional and functional reconsideration of the document as a fundamental instrument for verifying the facts of economic activity. A document is being transformed from a physical medium into a dynamic set of structured data existing within a digital environment. In turn, such trans-formations lead to practical changes in the documentation system and, accordingly, require continuous attention. This process acquires particular theoretical and practical significance in the context of operating activities, as they constitute the dominant share in the overall functioning structure of business entities. The purpose of the article is to examine the essence of the document as the principal means of confirming the facts of economic life, as well as to identify directions for improving the documentation of operating activities, taking into account recent changes in the registration and doc-umentary formalization of business transactions. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study comprises general scientific, specialized, and empirical methods of cognition, including bibliographic analysis, theoretical generalization, comparison, observation, juxtaposition, and concretization. Within the framework of the research, the interpretations of the definitions «document» and «primary document» presented in academic discourse and regulatory legal acts have been analyzed and generalized. The terminological apparatus has been modernized through the differentiation of the concepts of «primary document» and «supporting document» taking into account current trends in the development of accounting systems. Alongside the theoretical reconsideration, the study proposes approaches to optimizing the docu-mentation of operating activities through systematization, rational reduction in the number of forms, and unification of the requisites of primary documentation in order to enhance the efficiency of recording the facts of economic life.