We are on VAT Accrual accounting and set up correctly (I believe)
We occasionally have late purchase invoices. Received late. Or received but lost and only found after the VAT return for that period has been received.
I appreciate we can just “frig” the system by entering late item with current date for us to claim VAT back. But this skews a “correct” accrual-concept view of the P&L. Expenditure is only recognised in the relevant VAT quarter and not in the period to which the expenditure relates. These amounts can sometimes be significant.
I can of course do things the long way round by creating a journal to put the net value in the P&L and reverse it in the period when it is “VAT-input”. But seems a less than optimum way of doing things.
Any smarter / quicker way of doing things ? Other systems allow a purchase to have receipt date (for VAT purposes) and an accrual date (e.g. Clearbooks from which we are converting). Appreciate Quickfile may not be designed this way. So just asking, not moaning.
Look forward to the wisdom and suggestions of the forum
If you have a purchase invoice received after a return has been submitted, just enter it as normal on the system. Anything that falls within a VAT period but not included in a return is automatically picked up in the next one.
For example, if you have a VAT period Jan-Mar, and you file that return, but then receive a purchase dated in Feb, it will simply be added to the Apr-Jun VAT return.
In @QFMathew’s suggestion, you would enter the receipt with a date of February, it would show in your P&L for February, but if you’ve already submitted your Jan-Mar VAT return then its value would be automatically added to the boxes on your Apr-Jun return when you submit that.
There’s no separate “accrual” date as such, rather a QuickFile VAT return will pick up all purchases dated on or before the last day of the VAT quarter in question (and on or after the “VAT start date” for your account if you’ve set one) that have not already been included in a previous return.