Prepare periodic reports

Every periodic report (VAT, income tax advances, deductions, National Insurance) goes through the same four stages: Preparing, Client approval, Filed and Done. The stage follows what actually happened: sent to the client, approved, filed, paid. You never change a status by hand.

Where to see the reports

• Reports in the main menu: every report of the office. Tiles at the top show what needs doing now: Preparing, To send for approval, Waiting for the client, Declined by the client, To file, To confirm payment and Done. Click a tile to filter the list.
• My Reports: only the reports assigned to you.
• On a client’s page, under Reports > Filings > Periodic reports: this client’s reports, period after period. Clients whose bookkeeping is not in the app get here too.

At the end of the filter row, choose a view:

• List: one row per report, with the client, report, period, Stage, Next step, Amount, Due and assignees. A report past its due date shows Due date passed; one close to it shows how many days are left.
• By client: one row per client and period with a column per report type, to see at a glance where each client stands.
• Board: a column per stage. Nothing is dragged: a report moves when something happens to it.

Clicking a row opens the report in a side panel. Open the report page at the top opens it as a full page under the client. Both show the same content.

Select rows to set the Primary assignee or Deputy assignee for all of them, or choose Send for approval to send to several clients in a row (see Client approval). Export to Excel downloads the rows shown now, including the stage and next step.

What a report shows

1. The header: the client, the due date, assignee and deputy, Frequency (monthly or bimonthly), and the Approves reports before filing switch. VAT reports also have Detailed report (PCN874).
2. The stages, and below them the next step: one sentence saying what to do now and whose turn it is, with a button for it. You can add a Manual step to a stage, such as “ask for bank statements”; it shows as the next step until you mark it done.
3. What we report: the main amounts (to pay or refund) and where they came from: Calculated from the books, Entered by hand, From an imported sheet and so on. The full form opens every line of the report for editing.
4. Client approval, Filing and What happened: everything that happened to the report, with its messages and notes.

Where the amounts come from

VAT and advances of a client whose bookkeeping is in the app are calculated from the books when the report opens. Recalculate from the books updates them after the books change. Below the amounts you may see notes worth checking, such as expenses not recorded yet or journal entries without a document. These notes never block: fix and recalculate, or carry on as is. Only something the report cannot do without stops the work, such as a client with no advance rate.

On the client’s books pages (VAT and advances under Books reports), the The period’s report button leads to the report for the same dates.

Deductions and National Insurance are entered by hand.

Amounts are saved once sent

When the report is sent to the client, its amounts are saved as they are. If the books change afterwards, The books changed since the report was sent appears with the amount sent and the amount in the books now. Update the report recalculates, cancels what the client was asked to approve, and sends the report back to sending.

A report not filed this period

From More actions, choose Not filed this period (for example when there was no activity). The report leaves this period’s work and can be brought back. Remove from the period deletes it from the list, and is only possible while it has not been filed.

Create a period and import reporting obligations

At the top of Reports are New period, Import reporting obligations, Sync clients and Add client. Import reporting obligations, Sync clients and Add client are available when one period is selected in the filters.

Upload a CSV or Excel file of reporting obligations in the New period window or through Import reporting obligations. In the sheet table, choose a sheet and header row and map the columns, including Primary assignee and Deputy assignee. After mapping, Match employee names confirms the names from the file. Companies not in the app are listed separately, and Create clients and period creates them together with the reports. Invalid tax IDs are marked and can be fixed in place.

Next: Client approval and Filing.