VAT, Checked

Only VAT that adds up

Expensicat reads the VAT as printed: the rate on each line, the taxable amount and VAT at each rate, and the net and VAT totals. Code then adds the lines up again under each common rounding method, with line prices read both with and without VAT, and one of those has to match every printed total. The VAT summary has to hold up by itself as well, so each rate's VAT must come within a cent of its taxable amount times that rate, and the rows must add up to the totals. If the figures don't add up, Expensicat stores none of them, because a missing VAT figure is better than a wrong one. On our own books, the VAT checked out on 195 of the 213 documents that print it, about nine in ten.

Who to pay, and how

From an invoice, Expensicat takes the bank account to pay and the reference to quote, and stores them only when their check digits are valid. IBANs, RF creditor references and Finnish and Estonian reference numbers all carry check digits, and a single misread digit is enough to fail them. When a receipt shows it was paid by card, Expensicat records that instead.

What it doesn't do

The inbox doesn't show the VAT or payment details yet, so for now you get them by asking Cat about a document. Expensicat doesn't file VAT returns, and it doesn't use the bank account or reference to match payments yet. Invoices paid with prepaid credits print a total of zero, so their VAT stays unchecked and isn't stored. Reading your existing documents again only fills in what's missing and never replaces anything already on a receipt or invoice. One whose amount no longer matches its document, say because you edited it, gets no VAT from it.

New3

• Inbox
  • Expensicat reads the VAT on receipts and invoices rate by rate, including the rate on each line (on receipts that use tax codes like A and B, the rate each code stands for), the VAT summary and the net and VAT totals
  • It also reads the payment details, such as the IBAN, BIC and reference to quote on an invoice, or that a receipt was paid by card
• Assistant
  • Ask Cat about any receipt or invoice and it can tell you the VAT at each rate, the account to pay and whether the figures checked out

Improvements5

• Inbox
  • Expensicat stores VAT on a receipt or invoice only after its lines and VAT summary add up to the printed totals under one of the common rounding methods, whether or not the line prices include VAT
  • Expensicat stores a bank account or payment reference only when its check digits are valid
  • Expensicat recognizes receipts that print gross sales per VAT rate, as Polish fiscal receipts do, and checks their VAT too
  • Expensicat reads your existing documents again in the background after this update and fills in VAT and payment details on receipts and invoices that have none, as long as the figures check out and the amount and currency still match the document
  • For e-invoices you receive, Expensicat stores the VAT breakdown and payment details exactly as the e-invoice states them