How to I correct a bank balance error

I did a dumb thing - for once I did’t reconcile my bank account properly when I submitted my VAT return. Now I just realised that I had some duplicates in my bank feed, so my QuickFile bank account balance is now £122.45 less than my actual bank balance.

I can’d delete the erroneous values as they are all locked (because I submitted my VAT return).

I have “patched” this by adding in some artificial transactions in the offending period.

I was wondering if there is a more elegant / appropriate solution?

Hi @JimWAndrews

Just so I understand the situation a bit better - are you on cash or accrual accounting for VAT? Were the duplicate transactions tagged or left untagged?

Hi Matthew - thanks for your prompt response, much appreciated.

Cash accounting. The transactions are tagged, so part of my last VAT return to HMRC.

I am happy to account for them with a correction in my next VAT return, which may be the best solution for transparency in my accounting.

If you can come up with a more streamlined solution, that would be great.

I guess that the lesson is to reconcile the account before submitting my VAT return…my bad!

The options here really boil down to:

  • Rolling back the return, removing the invoices and re-submitting the return (but the figures would be different)

  • Raise a credit note for the duplicates. This would keep the entries and create more bank transactions for the refund (to cancel out with the originals), but this would at least leave a trail. This would then be reflected automatically on your next return.

  • Manually adjust your next return and make a note.

It depends on how you wish to work it, but that’s 3 options. Personally, I’d opt for the middle option as this would leave a trail on why the original invoice was raised and where the original VAT return figures came from.

As always, it may be best to query this with your accountant (I’m not one).

Hi Matthew

Thanks very much indeed for the advice. I will adopt your second option.

Regards

Jim

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