I am new to Sage and have to do VAT. Volunteer Accountant has left me to sort out VAT inputs and Outputs. Have I got this right in Sage - PI and BP would be inputs and BR and SI are outputs? I just cannot get my head around it. Am I missing any??? Your help would be much appreciated.
Thanks - I had noted that you could do a VAT return in Sage but Accountant wants me to do it the way that he does it. He does not sit down and explain anything - you just have to fathom it out for yourself. He puts everything into CSV file and then sorts the spreadsheet. He has gone away for a few days and I want to get it right before he comes back.
You need to run the VAT return from Sage and also the Trial Balance at the VAT return date and check that the figures on the VAT output and VAT input boxes on the VAT return can be reconciled with the Trial Balance at that date. Any discrepancies should be investigated.
If this is not the first VAT return you are running then before you run the VAT return in Sage you should "clear" out the VAT output and input control accounts by journalling the balances on them to the VAT liability account.
I would not recommend exporting the data into Excel to do the VAT return when Sage has the funcionality to do it....and do it right!
In Excel you are in danger of manipulating the data incorrectly which could ultimately lead to inaccurate results and a lot of time reconciling the figures in Excel back to the source i.e Sage
I agree with the comments made above. You really should use Sage 50's Vat return, as it is so simple to use and does all the hard work for you. There are however checks that you should make, to ensure that the data on the VAT return is accurate.
I have prepared a VAT routine checklist which you can find on my blog www.sagemadesimple.co.uk. You can find the checklist by clicking on the resource page. Anyone is free to look at it. I hope it proves useful to you. It is specifically designed with Sage users in mind, and I have used it on many occasions when teaching people how to do a VAT return.
I hope it helps you.
Jane
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Author of Sage 50 Accounts For Dummies, Sage One for Dummies and Bookkeeping for Dummies
