I am trying to calculate a VAT return for my last trading quarter 01/02/17 till 30/04/17.
The total value of invoices for the quarter is £40,088.22 according to bank statements but the figure in quickfile is £75,327.60
I have even changed the date range just to calculate February and which should be £9,451.53 but it comes up as £59,675.57
I have checked my list of purchases in quickfile and it matches the £9,451.53 so I am not sure where the VAT calculation is going wrong. Please can you provide any help with this?
Cash or accrual accounting? Also QuickFile’s VAT return calculations include any invoices dated before the start of the quarter that have not already been captured by a previous return, so if you added anything late that belongs to the previous quarter that will be included here.
Your best bet when the numbers aren’t what you expected is always to “download calculations” and inspect that in Excel or similar as it lists exactly which invoice numbers have been included in the total.
As @ian_roberts mentions, using the ‘Download Calculations’ button at the bottom of the return will show you a complete breakdown of the return that QuickFile has produced.
There are a few common errors which include using the wrong scheme (e.g. if you’re on cash accounting, this will take the payment date and not the invoice date); not setting a start date if you’ve just become VAT registered; inputting older invoices not included in previous returns.
Of course, if you need further help - please feel free to reply here, or you’re welcome to send me a private message (click my name and then ‘Message’)