Overview

The VAT summary lists the VAT on every invoice you issued in a period, line by line. Use it to check the VAT you collected and to give your accountant the detail behind it.

📌 Note

Looking for the Charges Report? It's a different report: the Excel export of VAT charges, under Compliance, with one row per charge, per day, invoiced or not. See How to understand the numbers in the Charges Report.

Before you start

The report counts issued invoices only, by the date they were issued. Pro forma invoices, estimates and charges you haven't invoiced yet are not included.
Credit notes are not included. When you cancel an invoice with a credit note, that invoice leaves the report, also for past periods.

Step by step

Click Reports in the main menu.
Under All reports by category, find Compliance and click VAT summary. You can also type its name in Search reports.
Set the Period. The report includes the invoices issued between those dates.
To keep a copy, click Export and choose Export to Excel, or click Email to send it. See How to download or email your reports.

What's in the report

On screen, the report opens with three totals for the period: VAT collected, Base (excl. VAT) and Total (incl. VAT).

Below them, the table has one row per invoice line, with Invoice, Date, Category (room, extra or the extra's category), VAT rate, Base (excl. VAT), VAT amount and Total (incl. VAT).

The Excel file is shorter: for each invoice line it gives the invoice number, the date, the VAT rate and the VAT amount. Use the screen for the base and the totals.

Before you send it to your accountant

There is one total for the period, not one per VAT rate. To see the VAT for each rate, filter the Excel file by its VAT rate column.
A past period can change. If you cancel an invoice after you have sent a period to your accountant, that invoice leaves the report and the totals for that period go down. Export the report when you close each month and keep the file.
Credit notes are not listed. Tell your accountant about any invoice you cancelled in the period. See how to cancel an invoice and log a refund or voucher.
For the month-end reconciliation of invoices and payments, use the Daybook.

FAQs

Can I send the VAT summary to my accountant every month automatically?

Yes. Open the report, click Schedule, choose a monthly schedule and add your accountant's email address. Each email covers the previous month, as an Excel file. See how to schedule automatic reports.

Why doesn't the VAT summary match the VAT charges report?

They count different things. The VAT summary counts the invoices you issued in the period. The VAT charges report counts the booking charges that fall in the period, grouped by VAT rate, whether they have been invoiced or not. See how to understand the numbers in the VAT charges report.

Why did the total for a past month change?

An invoice issued that month has been cancelled since. A cancelled invoice leaves the report, so the month's totals go down. Compare with the file you exported when you closed the month.

Why is an invoice missing from the report?

Check that it was issued within the period you set, and that it hasn't been cancelled. Pro forma invoices and estimates never appear in the report.

How to understand the numbers in the VAT summary