VAT returns without the scramble: a quarterly checklist
The VAT return is due one month and seven days after the quarter ends, and for too many businesses the final week is a scramble through incomplete records. A quarterly checklist, run calmly through the period, turns the return into routine. Here is the one we recommend. Through the quarter: keep it current Bank feeds connected and reconciled weekly, sales invoices raised in the software, purchase invoices captured at source, and expenses coded to the right VAT treatment as they happen. The return is only as good as the quarter's bookkeeping; there is no clever shortcut around that. Week one after quarter end: close the books Final bank reconciliation to the quarter-end date, all purchase invoices in or accrued, review of the VAT control account for odd balances, and a check that every sales invoice for the period is raised. Post any corrections now, while the quarter is still fresh. Week two: review before you submit Run the VAT calculation and sense-check it: does the liab...