The concept of small and medium-sized enterprises is legislatively established, which, in accordance with Article 4 of the Federal Law of July 24, 2007 No. 209-FZ “On the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Russian Federation” includes:

• citizens registered in the prescribed manner (as individual entrepreneurs (IP) or as heads of peasant (farm) farms (peasant farms);
• duly registered consumer cooperatives and commercial organizations (except for state and municipal unitary enterprises).

Small and medium-sized businesses must meet three criteria.

Criterion 1. Participation in capital for legal entities.

1) The total share of the Russian Federation, constituent entities of the Russian Federation, municipalities, public and religious organizations (associations), charitable and other funds should not exceed 25% in the authorized (share) capital (share fund) of legal entities.

The exception is the assets of joint-stock investment funds, closed-end mutual funds and investment partnerships.

2) The share of participation in the capital of foreign legal entities, one or more legal entities that are not small and medium-sized businesses, should not exceed 49% each.

The exception is business companies (business partnerships), whose activities consist of the practical application (implementation) of the results of intellectual activity 1, the exclusive rights to which belong to the following types of founders:

• budgetary, autonomous scientific institutions;
• budgetary institutions, autonomous institutions, educational organizations of higher education;
• legal entities whose founders (participants) are legal entities included in the list of legal entities approved by the Government of the Russian Federation that provide state support for innovation activities 2, subject to compliance with certain criteria.

An exception is also made for legal entities that have received the status of a project participant in accordance with the Federal Law of September 28, 2010 No. 244-FZ “On the Skolkovo Innovation Center”.

Criterion 2. Based on the average number of employees.

The average number of employees for the previous calendar year should not exceed:

a) from 101 to 250 people inclusive for medium-sized enterprises;

b) up to 100 people inclusive for small enterprises, including up to 15 people for micro-enterprises;

The average number of employees of a micro-enterprise, small enterprise or medium-sized enterprise for a calendar year is determined taking into account all its employees, including employees working under civil contracts or part-time, taking into account the actual time worked, employees of representative offices, branches and other separate divisions.

Criterion 3. Based on revenue from the sale of goods (works, services).

Revenue from the sale of goods (work, services) excluding VAT or the book value of assets (residual value of fixed assets and intangible assets) for the previous calendar year should not exceed:

• for microenterprises – 120 million rubles;
• for small enterprises – 800 million rubles;
• for medium-sized enterprises – 2000 million rubles.

The indicated values ​​may be revised by the Government of the Russian Federation.

The category of a small or medium-sized business entity is determined in accordance with the highest value of the conditions established by criterion 2 and criterion 3. For example, if an individual entrepreneur, a peasant (farm) enterprise, a legal entity (OJSC, CJSC, etc.) that meets the criterion 1, have an average number of employees of 15 people, and sales revenue or book value of assets is 500 million rubles, then such an economic entity falls into the category of “medium-sized enterprise”.
Or, conversely, if the sales revenue or book value of assets of an economic entity is less than 60 million rubles, and the average number of employees is over 250 people, then such an entity does not fall under the concept of even a medium-sized enterprise, that is, it is a large enterprise.

Detailed information about the statuses of small and medium-sized businesses in Moscow can be obtained on the Small Business of Moscow portal.

1 Programs for electronic computers, databases, inventions, utility models, industrial designs, breeding achievements, topologies of integrated circuits, production secrets (know-how).
2 In the forms established by the Federal Law of August 23, 1996 No. 127-FZ “On Science and State Scientific and Technical Policy.”

The Federal Law of 2015 and the amendments made to it established that small and medium-sized businesses are any business company, partnership, production or consumer cooperative, individual or private farm registered in the register. In order to classify any of these types as a business entity, certain conditions must be met.

According to the Constitution

The constitutional principle underlying the economic sphere is freedom of economic activity, where small and medium-sized businesses are the right of every citizen, unless this economic activity is prohibited.

It must be independent and is usually aimed at making a profit from the sale of goods, use of property, provision of services or performance of work. Small and medium-sized businesses are an active factor in market competition, where the main principle is to find a need and satisfy it.

Amount of workers

The criterion for classifying a certain enterprise as a small or medium-sized enterprise is the number of staff, both full-time and contracted. Thus, small businesses include commercial enterprises in which the share of participation in the authorized capital of charitable or other foundations, religious and public organizations, constituent entities of the Russian Federation and the Russian Federation as a whole does not exceed a quarter, that is, twenty-five percent, and in which the number of employees is precisely determined.

Thus, in transport, in construction and in industry, small and medium-sized businesses are the number of employees not exceeding one hundred people, in the scientific and technical field and in agriculture - no more than sixty, in wholesale trade - fifty, in retail - up to thirty people, the same in consumer services. In other industries, the number of employees should not exceed fifty people. Small and medium-sized businesses are individuals who most often engage in entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity.

Taxes

If an enterprise employs less than fifteen people, many benefits apply. Small and medium-sized businesses are taxed according to a simplified system of taxation, reporting and accounting. There are no criteria for this based on the type of activity being carried out; in any case, this enterprise will be considered small.

But the amount of income greatly influences the possibility of classifying this type of business as small or medium. Classification into this type may be provided that the proceeds from work performed, sales of goods or services in the last reporting year (four quarters) did not exceed the amount of a thousand times the minimum wage.

Support

The development of small and medium-sized businesses is stimulated by various tax incentives, the provision of equipment through leasing, and preferential lending. There are several areas of such support in the Russian Federation.

1. Infrastructure is being formed, as well as a register of small and medium-sized businesses, uniform for everyone.

2. Preferential conditions are created for the use by such entities of state material, technical, financial, information resources, technologies and scientific developments.

3. A simplified procedure for registration in the register of small and medium-sized businesses is being established for beginning businessmen.

4. Support for external economic activities is organized, including the development of their scientific, technical, trade, information, and production relations with foreign countries.

5. Professional development, training, and retraining of personnel for medium and small businesses are organized.

6. State and municipal support programs for entrepreneurs are developed and applied, and these programs are implemented annually using budget funds - both the local budget and the budgets of the Russian Federation and its constituent entities.

From the history

The existence of small businesses in the country began in 1988, and small state-owned enterprises, where the number of permanently employed workers did not exceed one hundred people, were also included in this category.

In 1990, the Council of Ministers of the USSR decided that small enterprises should be considered those that have a team of no more than: retail trade - fifteen people, non-production sphere - twenty-five people, production non-industrial sphere - fifty people, scientific and technical services - one hundred people , industry - two hundred people.

The volume of economic turnover was also taken into account, although its value never had time to establish itself. And today, the classification of enterprises into the type of business based on the number of employees has been preserved (Federal Law “On Small and Medium Enterprises”).

Law

In 2007, Federal Law No. 209 was issued, which determined which entities belong to these types of businesses. A state unified register of small and medium-sized businesses was created. This included all commercial organizations and consumer cooperatives, except for municipal and state enterprises, legal entities and individuals who are individual entrepreneurs, as well as private farms.

The conditions were as follows: legal entities must have a total share of participation of the Russian Federation and its constituent entities, foreign citizens and legal entities of other states, public organizations, municipalities, charitable foundations or others in the joint authorized capital or mutual fund not exceeding twenty-five percent, that is quarters of the total capital. This did not apply to the assets of investment joint-stock funds, as well as mutual closed-end investment funds. In this case, the enterprise had the right to be included in the unified register of small and medium-sized businesses.

Other conditions

There have also been changes in the number of enterprise employees. During the reporting period (calendar year), the number of employees on average should not have gone beyond the maximum values ​​in each of the categories: for medium-sized enterprises - from one hundred to two hundred and fifty people inclusive; and for small enterprises - up to one hundred people, in microenterprises - up to fifteen people.

For revenue from the sale of services, work or goods, not taking into account value added tax, that is, the book (residual) value of tangible assets and fixed assets for the same period should not exceed the limits established by the Government of the Russian Federation according to the categories. Limit values ​​are set once every five years, taking into account data from constant monitoring of the activities of enterprises by statistics (Federal Law “On the Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises”). Significant amendments and changes were made to this law in 2016 (222-FZ).

Categories

All subjects are divided into categories according to the meanings of the conditions set out above. New enterprises or organizations, newly registered individual entrepreneurs or farms are classified as small or medium-sized businesses if the indicators in the period from the moment of registration of the enterprise do not exceed the maximum values.

In a small or micro enterprise, the number of employees on average for a calendar year is calculated, taking into account those who work under a contract or part-time, as well as workers in branches, representative offices or other separate divisions of the enterprise. Revenue after the sale of services, work or goods is determined for the calendar year in the manner that complies with the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The book value of assets (residual - fixed assets and intangible assets) is determined in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation on accounting. The Federal Tax Service (Federal Tax Service) maintains records of the Unified Register of Small and Medium Businesses.

Documentation

Information about individual entrepreneurs and legal entities is entered into the Unified Register if they meet the above conditions, and are also excluded from this register if circumstances have changed during the control period and, according to the conditions, the enterprise does not correspond to this category. The following documents are needed to add or remove an enterprise from the register.

1. Information already in the Unified State Register.

2. Information presented in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation on taxes and fees, on the number of employees on the average list for the previous calendar year, information on income received after carrying out activities for the same period, information on the application of individual tax regimes.

3. Information about suppliers (clause 2, article 6 No. 408-FZ of 2015).

4. Information on inclusion in the Unified Register of Small and Medium Businesses.

Deadlines

Filling out the Unified Register is carried out for the purpose of providing relevant information by suppliers to the Federal Tax Service. This information is provided within a certain period strictly before the fifth of July annually and reflects the situation for the reporting period until the first of July of the current year. These documents must be submitted in electronic form, signed with a qualified enhanced electronic signature, with the obligatory use of the website of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation, officially operating on the Internet. There is a special electronic service for transmitting information by suppliers.

The entire list of joint stock companies, formed in a certain order, which is established by the government of the Russian Federation, is provided by exchanges if the shares are traded on the securities market, as well as if they belong to shares of the innovative high-tech sector of the economy.

Support programs

Since 2005, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation has been implementing a special program to provide subsidies to provide state support to medium and small businesses in the regions. Finance comes from the federal budget. In 2014, a corresponding decree of the Russian government was adopted regarding this program, and orders of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation are issued annually in this regard. Farms are also covered by this program.

Further, in the regions, the received targeted funds are distributed through a competition for the implementation of those activities that are provided for by regional programs. The condition is that the regions must additionally finance these projects. This approach attracts financial resources and stimulates more active policies to support the activities of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs.

Participation

Absolutely all regions of the country participate in this program. All possible measures are provided to support the development of small and medium-sized businesses. This especially applies to budding businessmen and youth entrepreneurship.

The infrastructure of advisory and information support for enterprises engaged in the production of services, works, and goods is being developed; special attention is also paid to industrial production, development and implementation of innovations. The area of ​​folk art, handicrafts, ecological and rural tourism does not stand aside either.

Recently, quite a lot of attention has been paid to small and medium-sized businesses in our country. and belonging to these business categories may enjoy some benefits, including:

• the possibility of using special tax regimes, reduced tax rates and other tax benefits;
• the right to apply simplified procedures and forms of accounting and static reporting;
• the opportunity to participate in state support projects for small businesses and receive subsidies from the state budget.

Recently, the fact that a subject is classified as a small business has become of great importance in the field of government procurement: such participants in announced requests for proposals, other things being equal, are given priority over competitors. Some competitions are initially held with the condition that only small / medium-sized businesses can apply for participation in them, and their status must be confirmed.

How to determine which category of entrepreneurs you belong to? The criteria that allow an individual entrepreneur or legal entity to be classified into any of the categories are specified in Federal Law No. 209-FZ of July 24, 2007, aimed at the development of small forms of entrepreneurship in the country.

In 2015, the revenue criterion was doubled, and in 2016 another change was made to the law, which came into force in August. Now, instead of proceeds from sales, you should take all income from business activities.

Important! Income from business activities is calculated according to the rules of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. That is, you simply take its value from the declaration for / UTII / income tax, depending on the regime.

Let's combine the criteria into one table:

Legal entities use all three criteria, individual entrepreneurs use only two: number of employees and income.

The number must take into account all employees, including those who work under the GPA, holding multiple positions. Employees of branches/representative offices/separate divisions of legal entities must also be counted.

The income limit was changed back in July 2015; the Government of the Russian Federation doubled the previous limits: previously they were 60, 400 and 1,000 million rubles, respectively.

Separately, we note that in order to obtain the status of a small business, an individual entrepreneur or legal entity must meet the specified criteria for three years (this period has also been increased by the latest Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation, previously it was two years). A similar situation arises when a small enterprise loses its status and moves to the next business category. That is, if you are now a small business, then even if you exceed the limit on numbers or revenue next year, you will still be a small business. To move to the medium-sized business group, the limits must be violated for three years.

Due to recent changes, there is now no need to confirm the status of a small business - it is automatically assigned based on the data of your tax returns. In this case, income from the declaration for the previous year is taken for analysis.

From the latest news, it is also worth noting that since August 2016, the Federal Tax Service has been creating a register of small businesses, where it includes everyone who belongs to it. This, again, will simplify work for small businesses, since in order to receive the benefits they are entitled to, they will not have to provide additional documents: the presence of a company in the register already confirms that it belongs to a small business.

The register is available on the website Nalog.ru.

Here you can use the “Register Search” service to view data on yourself or your counterparties. To do this, in the search field you need to enter the TIN or OGRN or OGRNIP or the name of the legal entity or full name of the individual entrepreneur.

Not many people know the difference between small, medium and large businesses. Especially a novice entrepreneur should understand the differences between these concepts. In the case of identifying a business idea and writing a business plan, you should have ideas about your future occupation.

What it is

Small business is the most common form of entrepreneurship, chosen by most aspiring businessmen.

Medium business̶ this is a form of entrepreneurial activity that, compared to a small business, has a more impressive annual income and more extensive and varied resources for commercial activities.

Big business is a form of entrepreneurship that includes popular companies that cover an entire country or more than 2 countries of the world, and also have great demand among consumers.

Main characteristics of entrepreneurship

Each form of commercial activity - SME or large business - has its own characteristics, which is why they differ from each other.

Features of a small

Small businesses are not only individual entrepreneurs, but also companies whose average annual number of employees is at least 50 people.

The territorial activities of these companies are small, and the list of their areas of activity may include:

• the shops;
• firms with small production that produce small volumes of goods;
• companies with tourism activities;
• medical offices (dental, etc.);
• various training courses, etc.

For small businesses, the period for conducting inspections has been reduced and annually is no more than 50 hours.

Until December 31, 2018, these businesses have been granted a two-year supervisory holiday, during which no supervision will be carried out. There will be no risk of visits from the Sanitary and Epidemiological Inspectorate and the fire inspectorate, and the activity license will not be checked.

According to Part 2 of Article 10 of the Federal Law “On the protection of the rights of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs in the exercise of state control (supervision) and municipal control”, when complaints are received from consumers regarding violations of the law, an audit will be carried out.

In 2018, entrepreneurs who:

• register for the first time;
• carry out production, social or scientific activities;
• provide services to the population.

Small businesses do not need status confirmation. You only need to adhere to the above limits (income, number of employees and share in the authorized capital). If the limits were exceeded within 1 or 2 years, this is not grounds for loss of status. In this case, it will be retained for 3 calendar years.

Signs of average

Compared to a small enterprise, medium-sized businesses include entire networks of enterprises working for a large consumer audience. This entrepreneurial form can carry out its activities not only within the whole city, even within the region.

Compared to small businesses, where a larger role is assigned to personnel, on average - the quality of the product (service) is put in the foreground. Since a medium-sized enterprise is small in size, it will not be difficult for it to adapt to changing market conditions.

Big or big business

Large businesses can spend money on advertising commercials for their products on the most popular television channels. In different cities and countries, this form of business has its own branches and representative bodies employing hundreds of thousands of employees.

Large business entities are large companies that:

• engaged in the production of equipment: Apple, Bosch, Samsung, Lenovo, etc.;
• produce food products: MC.Donald, Nestle, Coca Cola, etc.;
• produce vehicles of automobile brands: Ferrari, Bogati, Alfa Romeo, BMW, etc.

The criteria are simple. In order to be a major entrepreneur you must meet the following:

• have at least 251 employees:
• receive an income of at least 2 billion rubles;
• Conduct timely inventory and revaluation of fixed assets.

Since 2016, a unified register of SMEs has been in operation, which contains enterprises that have received SME status.

These forms of entrepreneurship acquire the status of SMEs if they meet the criteria below:

• have a certain amount of income;
• have a certain number of employees;
• have a certain share of participation of other companies in the authorized capital.

According to Article 4 of the Federal Law “On the development of small and medium-sized businesses in the Russian Federation”, these limits do not apply:

• persons holding shares in the economic high-tech sector;
• persons participating in the Skolkovo project;
• companies that practically apply the latest technologies developed by their owners - budgetary and scientific institutions;
• companies whose founders are included in the government list of persons who provide state support for innovation activities.

If an individual entrepreneur does not have employees, then its status is determined by the criterion of their annual income. If individual entrepreneurs and LLCs were included in the unified register of SMEs for the first time, then their status should be determined by the criterion of the number of employees.

If an enterprise receives the status of an SME, it is provided with certain benefits, namely:

• you are given the right to keep as much money in the cash register as you want and no fine will be imposed for this.
• the ability to conduct simplified accounting. This does not apply to individual entrepreneurs, since they are not responsible for accounting. And companies are required to charge depreciation annually, and not once a month.
• are given an advantage in the purchase of state and municipal real estate, etc.

List of enterprises that meet the specified criteria, annually formed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation. This list is submitted to the Federal Tax Service of Russia, after which the tax authorities enter certain information in the register.

We bring to your attention a video that explains why big business wins.

Main advantages

Both SMEs and large companies have their advantages and disadvantages.

The list of advantages of small business is as follows::

• the presence of a small need for initial capital;
• relatively low expenses during business activities;
• the ability to quickly respond to changes in the market;
• the presence of a relatively fast turnover of equity capital;
• there is a tendency for vacancies to increase, which has a beneficial effect on the increase in population employment.

The main advantages of medium-sized businesses include:

• creation of new employment opportunities;
• high productivity of capital investments;
• relatively high profitability;
• high ability to compete and mobility.

Large business is also endowed with positive qualities, namely:

• the ability to ensure economic stability in the country;
• ability to change the external business environment;
• the opportunity to save on production costs;
• introduction of modern technologies into business, etc.

Cons and risks

In order to start building your business, an entrepreneur must become familiar with the main disadvantages of various enterprises. For example, a small business has the following negative aspects:

• relatively high level of risk;
• dependence on big business;
• the presence of a low professional level of managers;
• difficulties in obtaining loans and subsidies.

The size of the initial capital also matters. For example, if this size is large, then the company will be able to survive during the crisis period.

Medium-sized businesses also have certain disadvantages, namely:

• the presence of fierce competition and the threat of being swallowed up by large companies;
• the presence of barriers and difficulties in obtaining licenses and patents;
• frequent shortage of working capital;
• difficulties in obtaining loans due to mistrust of banks.

Big business is also not without problems. The main disadvantages of this business are the availability:

• excessive economic concentration;
• localization of economic relations;
• blocking horizontal commercial ties that do not extend beyond the boundaries of a particular company.

Differences between each other

For a clear example of the differences between small medium and large businesses, the following table can be given.

The basis of success

Despite the dependence on the external environment, small businesses can also be successful. Only the best employees in their field work here. The success of this business is determined by having a strategic plan for the development of the enterprise.

Medium-sized businesses can easily adapt to changing market conditions. Success also depends on having effective management.

The main success of a large enterprise is the presence of effective business models that are built in such a way that even after 10 years they continue to work, surviving crisis situations and generating huge income.

Regulatory regulation

Questions regarding the implementation of business activities of SMEs and large companies, are regulated by a number of legislative acts, namely:

1. Federal Law “On the protection of the rights of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs in the exercise of state control (supervision) and municipal control” dated December 26, 2008 No. 294-FZ.
2. Federal Law “On the development of small and medium-sized businesses in the Russian Federation” dated July 24, 2007 No. 209-FZ.