Using Report Transformations.
In addition to the default Tax and Payroll reports in Manager, you may build specialist Tax and Payroll reports using Report Transformations and Reporting Categories.
Reporting Categories help in pulling data from Manager, while Report Transformations help in constructing reports using that data.
Because they can only mine data from variables and ledgers linked to Tax and Payslip transactions, Reporting Categories and Report Transformations can currently only generate reports from Tax and Payslip transactions. There will be upgrades to allow for the generation of reports from other types of records in the future.
If Ghana is selected in the Business Creation Screen, Ghanaian tax codes and VAT reports are created automatically. This guide is thus aimed toward users who were already using Manager prior to the deployment of the default tax codes and reports, as well as those who want to add new codes and reports or create their own localization reports from scratch.
VAT Report Illustration.
A company wants to create a report using Report Transformations to summarise the taxable (Sales Tax or Value Added Tax) activities for giving periods to help ascertain the tax position of the business. The report is to show the following information:
- Tax base/Taxable amount for the levying of Sales tax.
- Tax base/Taxable amount for the levying of Purchase tax.
- Tax amount charged on Sales.
- Tax amount charged on purchases.
- Tax liability or Credit for the period (Tax on Sales minus tax on Purchases).
- Headings/Labels.
Step 1
Create Reporting Categories and Labels (headings) and link the reporting categories and labels to the Tax Code.
Go to Settings and click on Reporting Categories.
Next, click on Labels and click on New Reporting Category.
Note
Labels are used to name columns in the report.
In our illustration, we created two labels
Step 2
Return to Reporting Categories and click on Tax Codes.
There are three items to choose from to create a report.
- Net Amounts
- Tax Amounts
- Reverse Charged ( Read More on Reverse Charge VAT)
Net Amounts (Tax Base/ Taxable Amounts) enable you to include amounts in your report to which a tax rate is applied.
Create Purchases and Sales net amounts.
In Ghana, there should be separate tax codes for sales and purchase transactions for simplicity, as the accounting treatment of VAT Code components differs. For example, the Get Fund Levy is non-refundable on purchases.
Next, go back and click on Tax Amounts.
Tax Amounts enable you to add amounts imposed as tax to your report.
Create Purchases and Sales Tax amounts.
Step 3
Link the Reporting Categories to the Tax Code (Tax Codes under Settings).
For Sales Tax Code
For Purchases Tax Code
Notice where we placed the Reporting categories.
Enter the name you wish to appear on invoices and other official documents for the tax code in the Label field.
If the tax law has multiple rates, as it does in Ghana, then the names of the components will display as the labels for each component.
See the example below:
Step 4
Create a report using the Labels and Reporting Categories you have already created.
Go to Report Transformations.
Enter a name for the report.
Choose the number of columns for the report (in this example, we selected three columns, one for the details column, one for the tax base, and another for the tax amount charged).
Populate the fields by selecting the Reporting Categories and Labels you created. The fields in the first column accept text.
Next, select the default accounting method (Accrual or Cash basis).
Enter your instructions and tick the “Published” tick box to add the report to your default Reports.
Result
Note.
The report shows Purchase and Sales amounts as positive and negative amounts.
The rules for adding positive and negative numbers apply. This is how we generated the Tax Payable/Credit amount on the report.
To get totals, subtotals, or balances, you must select all relevant items in the field.
If you want negative figures reported without the negative sign, click the specific field, and select “Reverse Signs”.
An example of a VAT report built with Report Transformation.
Payroll Report Illustration.
Report Transformations can generate detailed or summarized Employee Payroll reports. The report is like payslips, with the exception that you can specify the period for the report.
A company wants to generate a Payroll report that shows the following payslip items for a Specified Period:
Earning Items:
Basic Salary
Deduction Items:
PAYE (Pay as You Earn Tax)
Employee Social Security Fund (SSF)contribution.
Employee Provident fund Contribution
Employer Pension Contributions Items:
Employer Provident fund Contribution
Employee Social Security Fund (SSF) contribution.
Step 1
Create Reporting Categories for every Payslip Item and link them.
Go to Reporting Categories.
Click on “Payslip Items”
Next, click on “Payslip Earnings Items” and create the Basic Salary reporting Category item.
Next, link the Reporting Category item to the payslip item.
Do this for all other Payslip Items, taking care to classify them correctly (Contributions, Deductions, and Earning Items).
You should have something like the screenshot below:
Note
Multiple Payslip Items can be linked to the same Reporting category. For instance, you may want your report to only display the total sum of all deduction items. In that case, create a reporting category and link all deduction items to it. Selecting all deduction Reporting Categories items in one field will also display the total deduction.
Step 2
Design the report. Remember that to get subtotals, you must select all relevant Reporting Categories items in the subtotal field. See the “Net Salary” field.
Report
As stated earlier, there will be improvements to Report Transformations to enable the automatic calculation of Tax Liabilities (VAT/Sales Tax).