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Preparing the VAT Return Utility for Creating Your First VAT Return Payable

If you have no transactions in e-automate that precede your first VAT period, you do not need to use this topic; you can proceed to the Processing VAT Returns topic.

If you have any transactions in e-automate from previous periods that have not been part of a VAT return, then you must create a queue for all transactions prior to that first VAT period, adjust the amount of each transitional VAT invoice in the queue to zero, and then create a payable for any transitional invoices in the queue. This process will allow the VAT Return Utility to mark those transactions from previous periods as "processed" so that they will not be included when processing the VAT Return Utility for subsequent periods.

Before you begin using the VAT Return Utility, it is important that your taxes have been paid through a specified period of your choosing, so that you are using the VAT Return Utility at the beginning of a new period. This applies whether you are using an accrual-based tax payment system or a cash-based tax payment system. If you are using an accrual-based tax payment system, you will need to flag all of the details associated with an accounts payable invoice; and if you are using a cash-based tax reporting and payments, you will also need to go in and ensure all taxes are paid for the paid invoices through the period you specified.

Create a queue for transactions prior to your first periodCreate a queue for transactions prior to your first period

If you have been using e-automate for longer than a year, creating the queue could take quite a lot of time, depending on the length of time and number of users on the system. During testing we found that a 10-user system that had been on e-automate for about 10 years took about 8 minutes to populate the tax details queue. Be prepared to take the necessary time to complete the following steps.

To create the queue, do the following:

From the Tools menu, select VAT Return Utility (or the alternate name you assigned to this utility) to open the VAT Return Utility window.

Click [Options] to open the Options window.

Verify you have set VAT accounting method to "Accrual based" or "Cash based" as explained in the Setting VAT Return Utility Configuration Options topic.

Click [OK] to close the Options window.
Note: If you made any changes, e-automate displays an Attention window, indicating that all users must restart e-automate in order for these changes to take effect. Do the following:

Click the [OK] button to acknowledge the message.

Restart e-automate so that these changes will take effect.

If you are running e-agent, restart e-agent as well.

Click [Create queue] to open the Create Queue window.
Note: If the system displays the message, "Vendor is missing on at least one VAT authority...", you will not be able to create a queue until you have assigned a vendor to each VAT authority listed in Lists and Codes.

In the Queue cut-off based on region, do the following:

If you have set VAT accounting method to "Accrual based", enter in the VAT periods ending on or before field the date through which you have paid taxes on transactions from previous periods.
Note: This is the last period you used to pay taxes outside of the VAT Return Utility (e.g., if the first VAT period for which you want to use the VAT Return Utility begins 1 Jan 2016, enter 31 Dec 2015).

If you have set VAT accounting method to "Cash based", do one of the following:

To create the queue using a cutoff date, do the following:

Select the Date radio button.

In the Date field, enter the date through which you have paid taxes on transactions prior to using the VAT Return Utility the first time.

To create the queue using a cutoff period, do the following:

Select the Period radio button.

In the Period fields, enter the period through which you have paid taxes on transactions from previous periods.
Note: This is the last period you used to pay taxes outside of the VAT Return Utility (e.g., if the first VAT period for which you want to use the VAT Return Utility begins 1 Jan 2016, enter 31 Dec 2015).

In the Vendor invoice field, make no change to use the default value displayed from the Options window or enter the invoice number you want the system to assign to each transitional VAT invoice added to the queue by this process.

In the Description field, make no change to use the default value displayed from the Options window or enter a brief description to further identify each transitional VAT invoice added to the queue by this process.

In the VAT authorities filter region, do ONE of the following:

To include all VAT authorities at one time in the queue creation process, do the following:

Leave the Use filter box unchecked.

Click [OK] to create the transitional VAT invoice queue.
Note: This step can take a long time depending on how long you have been using e-automate and how many invoices and tax details you have in your database.

To limit the number of VAT authorities to include at one time in the queue creation process, do the following:

Check the Use filter box.

Click [Edit filter...] to display the list of VAT authorities.

Use the QuickSearch to filter for the VAT authorities you want to include in the queue creation process. For information on using the QuickSearch functionality, see the Using the QuickSearch topic.

Click [Go] to apply the filter.

Click [OK] to create and display on the VAT Return Utility window the appropriate transitional VAT invoice(s) for the VAT authority/authorities you included in the process.

Repeat Steps a - e until you have included ALL your VAT authorities in the queue creation process.
Note: It is important to include each of your VAT authorities in this process to prevent being taxed again in a future period on tax details from a prior period.

Set to zero the transitional invoice(s) in the queue for transactions prior to your first periodSet to zero the transitional invoice(s) in the queue for transactions prior to your first period

After creating a queue containing one or more transitional invoices for transactions prior to the first VAT period for which you plan to use the VAT Return Utility, you need to adjust off the amount of each transitional invoice in the queue as follows:

Select an invoice from the list on the VAT Return Utility window.

Click [Edit] to open the Edit Voucher window.

In the Adj. amount field, enter a negative value offsetting the value in the Amount field. For example, if the Amount field is $407,578.23, enter a negative $-407,578.23 in the Adj. amount field. The Total field should calculate to zero.
Note: You will only use the Adj. amount field to adjust off amounts on invoices in the queue for transactions created prior to the first VAT period for which you plan to use the VAT Return Utility. When you use the VAT Return Utility to create a queue for transactions that fall within a current VAT period, you will not need to zero out the accounts payable queued invoice amounts for batches you want to pay.

Click [OK] to save your changes and close the Edit Voucher window.

You are now ready to create a payable for any zero-dollar transitional invoices for transactions that occurred prior to using the VAT Return Utility to process returns for a current VAT period.

Create a payable to clear the transitional invoice(s) in the queue prior to your first periodCreate a payable to clear the transitional invoice(s) in the queue prior to your first period

Once you have set to zero any transitional invoices for transactions that occurred prior to using the VAT Return Utility to process returns for a current VAT period, you are ready to create a payable for those transactions. To create a payable for those transactions, do the following:

On the VAT Return Utility window, click [Create payable] to open the Create Payable window.

Click [Edit] to open the Edit Voucher window.

In the Date field, enter the date before the start date of your first VAT period (e.g., if your first VAT period starts 1 Jan 2014, enter 31 Dec 2013).

In the Batch field, enter a number to identify this batch process or make no change to use the number displayed (by default, YYYYMMDD-n, where n is a system-incremented number to identify unique batches created on the same day).

Select the Due date radio button.

In the Due date field, enter the date before the start date of your first VAT period.

If you want to print a VAT summary by transaction type and/or VAT summary by rate report, check the Print box.

Click [OK] to create the zero-dollar payable.
Note: If you checked the Print box, the system displays a Print Reports window. If the system displays this window, do the following:

Check the box to the left of any report you want to print.

Click [OK] to print the report(s).

This process creates the zero-dollar payable for the transitional invoices and clears the display on the VAT Return Utility window. You are now ready to begin using the VAT Return Utility for your current period. For more information, see the Processing VAT Returns topic.