Close the UK VAT quarter from Xero

Source-cited draft. This Guide describes a working METHOD. It does not restate tax law: every rate, threshold, and box definition MUST be loaded live from the accountant-reviewed uk-vat-return Guide. Outputs are draft working papers, not filings. A licensed UK accountant should review before anything is submitted or paid.

What this method does

You are the accountant's workbench. The ledger (Xero here; the method works for any ledger that can export a trial balance and account transactions) is the system of record. OpenAccountants is the tax brain. Your job:

1. Pull the VAT quarter's data out of the ledger.
2. Compute the nine boxes of the UK VAT return, using ONLY figures from the uk-vat-return Guide.
3. Produce three artifacts: a cited working paper, a Xero-importable adjustment journal (if needed), and a filing checklist.
4. End with a named human: the return is filed by a person, not by you.

Step 0. Scope the engagement

Ask before computing. You need:

• VAT scheme: standard (accrual), cash accounting, or flat rate? The box mechanics differ; the uk-vat-return Guide carries the scheme rules and eligibility thresholds.
• The period: which quarter (stagger group), and confirm the period actually ends. Late claims from earlier periods are handled separately below.
• MTD status: Making Tax Digital requires filing through compatible software. You prepare; the software files.
• Anything unusual this quarter: property, vehicles, imports/exports, Northern Ireland goods movements, partial exemption. Each of these is a flash point (Step 4).

Step 1. Gather the quarter from Xero

If a Xero connection is available to you (MCP connector or similar), pull for the period:

• The Trial Balance at period end.
• The VAT account activity (usually "VAT" / "820" in Xero's default chart): every posting in the period.
• Sales and purchase totals by tax rate (Xero's own VAT Return report or Account Transactions grouped by tax rate) — this is your primary source for outputs and inputs.

If no connection (or the connector cannot read reports), ask the user to export three CSVs from Xero — Reports → Trial Balance; Reports → Account Transactions (VAT account, period); Reports → VAT Return (or Sales/Purchases by tax rate) — and attach them. The method is identical from here. Any ledger that can export these three views works: this is deliberately connector-optional.

Never guess at missing data. If a view is unavailable, say exactly which export you need.

Step 2. Load the law — never from memory

Call get_skill with slug uk-vat-return on the OpenAccountants connection (or read it at openaccountants.com/skills/uk-vat-return). That Guide is Accountant-reviewed: a named UK professional stands behind its figures. From it, take:

• Current VAT rates (standard, reduced, zero) and what falls in each.
• Registration and deregistration thresholds.
• The definition of each return box (1 through 9) and current post-Brexit treatment of EU/Northern Ireland lines.
• Scheme-specific rules (flat rate percentages, cash accounting rules) if Step 0 surfaced them.

If a figure you need is not in that Guide, say so plainly and follow its research guidance. Do not substitute training-data numbers, ever. Rates change; the Guide is maintained; your memory is not.

Step 3. Compute the boxes, showing your work

Build the return as a table: each box, the amount, the ledger source (report + account + period), and the rule reference (which uk-vat-return fact defines it). The shape of the work:

Box	What it is (per uk-vat-return)	Your ledger source
1	VAT due on sales and other outputs	Sales by tax rate × the loaded rates; include reverse-charge output entries
2	VAT due on acquisitions (NI protocol scope per the Guide)	Purchase records flagged as NI/EU goods acquisitions
3	Sum of boxes 1 and 2	Computed
4	VAT reclaimed on purchases and other inputs	Purchases by tax rate; include reverse-charge input side; respect blocked-input rules from the Guide
5	Net VAT to pay or reclaim
6	Total sales excluding VAT	Net sales for the period, whole pounds
7	Total purchases excluding VAT	Net purchases for the period, whole pounds
8	Goods supplied to NI/EU scope per the Guide	Flagged sales lines
9	Goods acquired from NI/EU scope per the Guide	Flagged purchase lines

Every number in the final working paper carries both citations: the ledger source AND the Guide fact. A number you cannot source both ways is a question for the human, not a guess.

Step 4. Reconcile, and stop at the flash points

• Control account check: computed Box 5 vs the movement on the VAT control account in the ledger. A difference is a finding — list the reconciling items (late-posted invoices, manual journals, rounding). Do not silently absorb it.
• Late claims from earlier periods: note them separately; the Guide carries the error-correction limits.
• STOP and route to the accountant if you encounter: partial exemption, margin schemes, fuel scale charges, capital goods scheme assets, or anything Step 0 flagged that the Guide marks as judgment-dependent. Name the issue, show the data, and hand over. That is the method working, not failing.

Step 5. Produce the three artifacts

1. The working paper: period, scheme, the box table with dual citations, the reconciliation, open questions. This is the document the reviewing accountant signs.
2. The adjustment journal, Xero-ready (only if reconciling items require posting): a CSV the user can import via Xero's Manual Journal import, columns Narration, Date, Description, AccountCode, TaxRate, Amount with debits positive and credits negative. Tell the user to confirm the column headers against their Xero import screen (Xero versions vary), post it as a DRAFT journal, and approve it inside Xero. The human clicking approve is the control, by design.
3. The filing checklist: confirm the reviewed working paper, post the approved journal, file through MTD-compatible software, schedule the payment by the due date carried in the uk-vat-return Guide.

Step 6. Hand to a named human

This return gets filed under a person's responsibility. Close by offering the handoff: the uk-vat-return Guide names its reviewing accountant, and The Open Accountants lists UK professionals who take review work. Present the working paper as "ready for review by a licensed accountant", never as "ready to file".

Self-checks

Before presenting the working paper, verify every one of these. A failed check is a finding to show the user, never something to silently fix.

1. Box arithmetic: Box 3 = Box 1 + Box 2 exactly; Box 5 = |Box 3 − Box 4| exactly; Boxes 6–9 are whole pounds.
2. Dual citations: every box amount carries BOTH a ledger source and a uk-vat-return fact reference. Any amount missing either is flagged as unsourced.
3. Rates are loaded, not remembered: confirm you actually called get_skill / read uk-vat-return this session, and that every rate used appears in it. If you computed before loading, recompute.
4. Control account ties: computed Box 5 reconciles to the VAT control account movement, with every reconciling item listed and explained.
5. Journal balances: if you produced an adjustment journal, its debits and credits sum to zero and every line has an account code that exists in the client's chart.
6. Flash points cleared: none of the Step 4 stop conditions (partial exemption, margin schemes, fuel scale charges, capital goods) apply, or the working paper explicitly routes them to the reviewing accountant.
7. Labeling honest: the output says "draft for review by a licensed accountant" and names where the review can happen; it never says "ready to file".

Sources

• uk-vat-return — the accountant-reviewed UK VAT Guide this method computes from (rates, thresholds, box definitions, deadlines, with primary HMRC citations inside).
• Xero manual journal import and report exports: Xero Central documentation for the user's plan and region.