We are excited to announce the arrival of Automated VAT for weekly Budgets and Forecasts. Previously, this was available for monthly budgets and forecasts but now weekly has joined the table. This update is designed to streamline your financial planning by automatically calculating VAT/GST based on your existing accounting data, while still offering the flexibility to make granular adjustments when needed.
Here is everything you need to know about this new functionality.
How automated VAT/GST works 🧐
If you use Xero or Sage as your underlying accounting provider, manual VAT/GST calculations for future periods are now a thing of the past. The new version of this is simple:
Syft uses the VAT/GST settings already established per account within your accounting provider
It applies these rules directly to each account value during population
And automatically calculates the VAT/GST for your Budget or Forecast period
As simple as that!
Note 📝: Currently, this full automation is only available for monthly and weekly Budgets and Forecasts.
Key features 🤩
Let's dive into the details. When setting up your Budget or Forecast, you'll be able to enable Automatic VAT/GST. You will need to select the VAT/GST payable account as part of default account selection.
In great news - you can manage VAT/GST on an event-by-event basis. This means that when you raise a sale or expense using “Add Events”, it will automatically populate with the default VAT/GST settings for that respective account. For example, if a specific account could have 15% VAT/GST on sales assigned to it, Syft will automatically assign 15% because of this.
However, you now have complete control here and can override this if you want. You can apply specific VAT/GST/Sales Tax rates to individual events, ensuring your forecast reflects reality accurately.
Flexible adjustments 🥳
Real-world cash flow doesn't always match standard VAT/GST logic. While you can apply standard payment logic to your Budget or Forecast in terms of VAT/GST, you also have the power to adjust these manually.
If you know you cannot settle the entire VAT/GST payable account in one specific period, you can manually adjust the forecast or budget to settle it over a longer timeframe (e.g., spreading the payment over the next three months). In this way, Forecasts and Budgets maintain the malleability they need to suit your specific needs.
Closing thoughts ☁️
With automated VAT/GST in Budgets and Forecasts, you have the ability to plan for sales tax without batting an eyelid - and to manually make adjustments as needed. This feature is aimed at further streamlining processes to help you act proactively in your business.