Company Document Templates: Developed According to DSTU 4163:2020 Requirements
A template is the business card of a company. The correct placement of details on the template according to the requirements of the National Standard of Ukraine DSTU 4163:2020 “State Unified Documentation System. Unified System of Organizational and Administrative Documentation. Requirements for Document Formatting” (hereinafter referred to as DSTU 4163:2020) indicates the level of document management culture of the respective company, the competence of its specialists, and accordingly affects the increase in the level of trust of business partners. In addition, the template can serve as effective advertising, as it contains the image of the emblem or trademark (sign for goods and services), the address of the official website, and other reference data about the company.
Templates are manufactured and used in the company for the preparation of various types of documents regardless of the implemented document management system – traditional paper or modern electronic.
Definition and Types of Templates
A service document template is a unified form of a service document in the form of a standard sheet of paper or its electronic template with printed permanent information and a place for recording variable information (p. 4.1.6 of the National Standard of Ukraine DSTU 2732:2023 “Document Management and Archival Affairs. Terms and Definitions”).
DSTU 4163:2020 established the following main types of document templates:
– general template of a legal entity for creating various types of documents (without specifying the type of document in the template, except for a letter);
– letter template;
– template of a specific type of document (with the type of document specified in the template, except for a letter).
The decision to manufacture templates of specific types of documents – orders, protocols, certificates, applications, service notes, etc., is made by the company’s management at its discretion. At the same time, DSTU 4163:2020 recommends manufacturing such templates if the number of documents of a specific type exceeds 2 thousand units per year.
In addition, based on the general template of a legal entity, templates of structural subdivisions and/or templates of officials can be developed if the heads of structural subdivisions or relevant officials have the right to sign documents within their powers. At the same time, according to the requirement of the Rules for Organizing Document Management and Archival Storage of Documents in State Bodies, Local Self-Government Bodies, Enterprises, Institutions, and Organizations, approved by the order of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine dated June 18, 2015, No. 1000/5 (rada.gov.ua) (hereinafter referred to as Rules No. 1000/5), the image of the emblem or trademark (sign for goods and services) on the template of a structural subdivision that is not a legal entity and on the template of an official is not reproduced.
According to DSTU 4163:2020, for the manufacture of organizational and administrative document templates, sheets of paper of format A4 (210 mm × 297 mm) and A5 (210 mm × 148 mm) should be used. It is also permissible to use templates of format A3 (297 mm × 420 mm) for the preparation of documents in the form of tables (for example, staffing schedules, planning and reporting documentation, etc.).
Templates should have the following fields in millimeters:
30 – left;
10 – right;
20 – top and bottom.
Paper document templates are manufactured exclusively on high-quality white paper with saturated color inks.
It is permissible to manufacture templates using computer technology.
For the manufacture of various types of document templates, the company can use two options for placing details:
– corner, when permanent details are placed in the upper left corner of the sheet (so-called corner template);
– longitudinal, when permanent details are placed along the upper part of the sheet (so-called longitudinal template).
On the corner template, details should be placed in a flag manner (when each line of the detail starts from the edge of the left field of the template and does not exceed 73 mm (28 printed characters)), and on the longitudinal template – in a centered manner (when the beginning and end of each line of the detail are equally distant from the edges of the left and right fields of the template).
Thus, templates of each type of document of a legal entity (at its choice) can be either corner or longitudinal.
Composition and Placement of Details on the General Template of the Company
According to DSTU 4163:2020, the general template of a legal entity can contain the following details (bold font highlights mandatory details for this type of template):
– image of the emblem of the legal entity or trademark (sign for goods and services);
– name of the higher-level legal entity;
– name of the legal entity;
– place of document preparation.
In addition, it is permissible to place restrictive marks for details on the general template:
– date of the document;
– registration index of the document;
– control mark;
– heading to the text of the document.
The image of the emblem of the legal entity or trademark (sign for goods and services) according to p. 5.2 DSTU 4163:2020 is placed on the template of the document on the left side of the name of the legal entity or partially or completely on the area allocated for placing the details “Name of the higher-level legal entity”, “Name of the legal entity”, and “Name of the structural subdivision of the legal entity”.
In addition, on the templates of companies that do not have the right to use the image of the small State Emblem of Ukraine (trident) on templates, seals, and signs, it is allowed to place the image of the emblem of the legal entity or trademark (sign for goods and services) on the upper field of the document template.
The name of the higher-level legal entity on the template is placed above the name of the company – the author of the document, predominantly abbreviated (for example, NAC “Naftogaz of Ukraine”, SE “Forests of Ukraine”, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, etc.).
The name of the legal entity – the author of the document – must correspond to the full name specified in the charter of this legal entity. Below the full name (in a separate line in the center), the abbreviated name of the legal entity is placed if it is officially recorded in the charter. The abbreviated name is indicated in parentheses or without them.
The place of document preparation is placed on the longitudinal template at the level, and on the corner template – below the details “Date of the document” and “Registration index of the document”.
The place of document preparation must correspond to the name of the settlement at the place of registration of the company (for example: Kharkiv, Makaryv settlement of Kyiv region, Buzova village of Bucha district of Kyiv region).
In case of indicating the capital “Kyiv” in this detail, the abbreviation “m.” is not used.
Header of the General Template of the Company with Longitudinal Placement of Details
Image of the Company Emblem
NAME OF THE HIGHER-LEVEL LEGAL ENTITY
NAME OF THE COMPANY
Company Code according to EDRPOU
(place for the name of the document type)
Date Place of preparation №________
[ Heading to the text ]
Composition and Features of Formatting Details on the Letter Template
The letter template of a legal entity according to DSTU 4163:2020 can contain the following details:
– image of the emblem of the legal entity or trademark (sign for goods and services);
– name of the higher-level legal entity;
– name of the legal entity;
– name of the structural subdivision of the legal entity;
– reference data about the legal entity;
– code of the legal entity according to EDRPOU.
Additionally, it is recommended to place restrictive marks for details on the letter template:
– date of the document;
– registration index of the document;
– reference to the registration index and date of the document to which the response is given;
– addressee;
– resolution;
– control mark;
– heading to the text of the document;
– text of the document.
Special attention should be paid to the formatting of the detail “Reference Data about the Legal Entity,” which is only present on the letter template.
Reference data should contain: postal address and other information (phone numbers, fax numbers, email address, official website address, etc.). These data are placed on the letter template under the name of the company.
Elements of the postal address are indicated in the following sequence:
– street name;
– house number;
– building or office number (if necessary);
– name of the settlement, district, region;
– postal code.
If the location of the company differs from the address of the actual activity or office location, it is permissible to indicate two addresses in the reference data: legal (specified in EDRPOU) and actual (for correspondence).
Phone numbers are indicated according to the national format in the following sequence: long-distance prefix, settlement code (in parentheses), phone number, which is separated from the code and divided by spaces.
Composition of Details on the Template of a Specific Type of Document
The template of a specific type of document, except for a letter, can contain the following details:
– image of the emblem of the legal entity or trademark (sign for goods and services);
– name of the higher-level legal entity;
– name of the legal entity;
– name of the structural subdivision of the legal entity;
– code of the legal entity according to EDRPOU;
– name of the document type;
– place of document preparation.
Additionally, restrictive marks for details:
– date of the document;
– registration index of the document;
– control mark;
– heading to the text of the document.
The most common template of a specific type of document is the order template.
Bilingual Template
On the templates of companies – subjects of Ukraine, which according to the legislation have the right to use the languages of national minorities along with the Ukrainian language, the details “Name of the Higher-Level Legal Entity,” “Name of the Legal Entity,” “Name of the Structural Subdivision of the Legal Entity,” “Reference Data about the Legal Entity” are printed in Ukrainian and the language of the national minority at the same level of the longitudinal template.
Companies that correspond with permanent foreign correspondents can manufacture templates with details indicated in two languages: on the left – in Ukrainian, on the right – in a foreign language. The image of the emblem of the legal entity or trademark (sign for goods and services) on such templates is placed in the center of the upper field.
Templates containing details in a foreign language are not recommended for use within Ukraine.
Accounting, Storage, and Destruction of Templates
Company templates can be accounted for. According to the requirements of Rules No. 1000/5, numbered templates are subject to mandatory accounting. Serial numbers are placed using a numbering machine, printing, or other methods on the lower field of the reverse side of the template or the left field of the front side of the template.
Each type of numbered template is accounted for in the document template registration journal, the form of which is established by Rules No. 1000/5, or another registration form, and templates are stored in cabinets or safes that are securely closed and sealed.
Destruction of damaged templates is carried out in the prescribed manner by an act with a mark in the accounting-registration form.
Persons responsible for accounting, storage, and use of templates are determined by the company’s management, for which an order is issued.
The types of templates used in the company for the preparation of various types of documents, as well as the procedure for their accounting and storage, must be defined in the company’s Document Management Instructions.