We pay VAT quarterly and we always compare the figures in Manager to what has been registered in the system of the local revenue authority system.
From Summary I look at Tax payable and go to the last day of the quarter to be paid, in this case 31 of May 2019. The quarter goes from 1st March 2019 to 31st of May 2019.
At the same time I create a Tax transaction report for the same period where we can check the list of all transactions with VAT and compare them to the transactions in the revenue authority system.
In my opinion, the total amount of VAT to be paid as shown in the Tax payable from Summary should be exactly the same as in the Tax transaction report. Am I correct? Instead there is a small difference .
If you drill down on the amount in the Tax Payable on the summary you will get the list of transaction which make up the total. You can check this against the printed report to find the difference
Yes I drilled down and got to the last day of the reference period, i.e. 31st of May 2019. There I can see the total to be paid based on all the transactions.
And I checked that amount against the Tax transations report. That’s where I found out the small difference.
The issue is to understand why there is a difference as the transactions and the period of reference are the same, hence the total amounts should be the same.
No. The Summary shows the running balance of the Tax payable account, which might include transactions outside the period. This could be affected by whether you are using accrual or cash basis accounting, paid or received your full amounts due during the period, etc.
The Tax Transactions report includes only transactions during the period. Again, this is affected by your accrual/cash basis decision.
I am not saying I have identified the source of your discrepancy. I am only saying the two methods of analyzing tax payable can differ because of choices you have made or actions you have taken.