Hi Folks,
I run a cafe and previously was on flat rate VAT . Recently I have been put on standard rate @20%
My problem is Quick file and my till do not agree on the VAT payable .
EG. Day A total taken = £1856.90
Quickfile calculates Vat as £309.48 @20%
Till calculates Vat as £243.19
The Till will be correct as it’s calc will disregard non VAT items. Quick file is just calculating 20% of the total amount.
How do I get around this ?
Hello @Keepitsimple
The if you have vatable and none vatable sales you need to record your invoices to reflect this as outlined in the article below.
https://support.quickfile.co.uk/t/accounting-for-daily-takings/8911
Thanks Steve looks like I’m in a bit of a pickle. I didn’t set my till reports to report non Vatable item sales as I did not think this would be necessary info.
I have been using quick file for filing flat rate returns which are very simple and so i basically have been keying in my sales and quick file generated my return. I haven’t really used any other functionality I.E. invoices , purchases etc as I was exempt from that on flat rate in MTD terms. Standard rate is more complicated it seems 
I know how much I owe but have to get quickfile to send correct info. Return is due by December 7th , oh dear
Hello @Keepitsimple
Flat rate vat was introduced to simplify the process (e.g. you pay vat at a set rate of your gross sales)
Standard rate you are recording what is vatable and what is not.
The invoices need to have multiple lines to show this as per the example in the article I sent you
Simplified example
£220 received (£100 none vatable, £120 vatable)
The vat return would pick up the correct net/vat split and show them in the relevant boxes for you.
Yes I understand apart from the tagging. Trouble is i cannot do this retrospectively without info on till receipt. I could do it manually for each daily takings but thats a whole lot of hassle + a little crash course in the workings of quick file 
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, I’ll see what I can work out and maybe speak to the VAT helpline and see what they say.
Incidentally box 7 is this a total of purchases that I can claim VAT back on ? Please tell me it’s not all invoices 
So your till knows the correct VAT rate for each item and is calculating the right VAT on each sale and adding them up? In that case the till records are the source of truth, and when you input the sales into QuickFile you can just use the cash register tool and override the calculated value for total VAT for each Z reading to match what your till is telling you. You don’t have to necessarily use the cash register tool for this, it’s just the most convenient method - on any invoice you can override the calculated VAT column to a value less than 20%, provided you’ve got evidence (like the till records) to back this up.
Box 7 will be the net total of all your purchases whatever the VAT rate (whether 20%, 5% or 0%). Box 4 will be the corresponding amount of VAT you are reclaiming. This is all taken from the purchase records you have entered in QuickFile, you don’t calculate the VAT you’re claiming back as a percentage of what you spent, you simply record how much VAT you were actually charged by your suppliers.
Thanks Ian that’s a great help , maybe I can put some of the hair I have pulled out back on my head 
RE box 7 what I meant was do I have enter the total for all supplier invoices or as would be more logical just the ones I can claim VAT back on ?
Now you’re on standard VAT you should record all your supplier invoices as purchases in QuickFile, with the VAT amounts as given to you by the supplier (override the QuickFile calculation with the actual VAT from the supplier if they disagree - the supplier’s VAT invoice is the definitive document when it comes to purchases) and QuickFile will automatically fill in boxes 4 and 7 for you.
Box 7 is supposed to be “the total value of purchases and all other inputs excluding any VAT” and while it’s not explicit in the HMRC guidance every accountant opinion I’ve seen is that this includes any zero-rated and exempt ones.
(For sales they do explicitly state that you must include zero rated and exempt supplies, exports, overseas supplies of services, etc.; for purchases zero-rated and exempt aren’t singled out in the same way but it does definitely say “total value of purchases”, not “total value of taxable purchases”. And even if it did then the definition of “taxable” includes zero rated - that’s the essence of the difference between zero-rated and exempt)
Hi Ian, you are a fount of knowledge and yes I concur from what I’ve been reading. I am aware that the purchases should have gone into quick file (will add later) but rather got caught on the hop (so much going on and just keeping the business going has ben a challenge) .
I can of course get to the figure by downloading my bank statement for the period and filtering out all the items not to be included. This would be quicker than trying enter it all now. I believe I can edit box 7 and enter manually.
I also believe from what I’m reading that HMRC seem to give different advice when asked and an accountant forum stated that all HMRC want the info for is to do a quick check that input VAT is not exceeding 20% of output VAT ?
Thanks again, I’m sure it was you who was a great help when I was getting started with quick file (I haven’t progressed much ! ) I haven’t had to but I exceeded the threshold for Flat rate. I initially was going to plead exceptional year (which it was) but thought lets go for it and then inflation went through the roof and don’t get me chatting about staff , I hardly have any ! Hence less opening less profit Oh and I was halfway through putting a V8 engine into my land rover defender !
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