How do I clear a VAT exceptions report?

Thanks for visiting the Community, sales.

Let me address your VAT query.

You get a VAT Exception report when there are changes to any transactions included on the previous filing. Let's check if the report's details are correct. 

To unfile your VAT return, you have to contact QuickBooks Online Customer Care (UK) for a phone agent to assist you. They have the specific tool to help you unfile the VAT return.

Let me know if you have any other concerns. I'm here anytime you need assistance with QuickBooks Online.

I have the same issue

My previous VAT Return is 100% accurate (I only had 2 invoices on the Flat Rate Scheme) but still I get these stupid "Exceptions" 

I don't want them

They serve no purpose for me whatsoever

I cant get rid of them

HELP!!!

Hello ChitSt,

Exceptions are created when transactions included in a previous filing at edited or deleted. This is to ensure that no VAT collected (or credits earned) are missed or duplicated.

What is the total amount of the exceptions?

Thanks,

Talia

Hi,

the exceptions are only £1,089

the errors might be because I had invoices with paid vs deposited status which I’ve recently corrected

i had no invoice income last quarter, so the VAT Return should be zero...

(PS i have great difficulty in using QuickBooks as nothing appears to be logical and lots happens behind the screens so you’ve no idea what accounting entries happen on a simple bank ac debit & credit - my business is extremely simple a couple of invoices, and a salary & dividend with a bit of depreciation & expenses thrown in!)

grateful for guidance

thanks

Hello,

If the exceptions are not genuine and you need these to be removed, you can request our engineers to do this by getting in touch with our support line (08082345337). You could also adjust the return by selecting Prepare return and then Adjust. We do advise to speak to an accountant before you do this.

Thanks,

Talia

How long should I expect to wait for the QB Tech Team to resolve the issue?

Its been a week now :(

Still unable to file a correct VAT Return

Hi ChitST

Have you contacted our customer telephone support  line, 08082345337?

Yes

I'm still waiting for response to a 'level 2 Tech escalation' :(

Thanks for joining us here in the Community, @7315066590.

I have some additional insights to share about clearing the VAT exceptions report in QuickBooks Online.

If the information appears incorrect on your VAT exceptions report, you may reach out to our Customer Care Team. They have the tools to help you with the correction while the Community is a public space. 

However, if you wish to clear out the adjustments that you've created, this option isn't available in QuickBooks Online. When editing, saving a transaction, even if the line item in question was not changed is normal and should not affect the balance of your filing.

To give you more insights on how the VAT exceptions report works, you may read through these articles below:

• VAT exceptions and reports
• VAT Summary Report

• Submit a VAT return in QuickBooks

Lastly, our engineers are uncovering ways to provide you the best customer service by adding new features that would be beneficial to your business. I'd encourage you to visit our QuickBooks Online Blog to be updated with our news and product improvements.

I'll be around to help if you have any other questions about this. Just let me know by leaving a reply below. Take care!

HI Chris, I'm experiencing the same issue as you. Were you ever able to get this resolved? If so, do you know how?

Me too.
My latest VAT return wants to include an "Exceptions" figure that would make my VAT return 5 times what it should be, by it sweeping up figures from previous periods for which I have already paid the VAT.
I'm on the flat rate VAT scheme.
All this when my VAT return is due today or tomorrow and tomorrow is Saturday :(

Hell there, Rhauri.

As much as I wanted to help you with this, it would be better to contact our specialist directly. I can see that we'll need to figure out why it happened as soon as possible. Please consider getting in touch with them to help you fix it.

1. Click the Help icon at the upper-right corner. 
2. Click Contact us button at the bottom part of the Help window.
3. Enter a short description of your concern. Let's say VAT Return. Then, click Let's Talk button.
4. I would recommend selecting the Start messaging button. 

Get back to the Community if you need other help. I'll be here to back you up in case you need one. Take care!

This is not acceptable because large transactions that are edited can take the exception report well over £10k which requires an explanation sending to hmrc.

Unbelievable!

have QB still not fixed this??!! They told me they were working on it, and as MTD VAT Returns had only just come in, it would be a week or so before a fix would be deployed...

in the end I had to give up because no one at QB help desk or Level 2 support could provide any meaningful assistance. I got my Accountant to create a separate zero VAT return for me.

im now super super careful with entering VAT elements and never ever edit one, which means my VAT Returns work fine.

I've yet to speak to a technical support advisor who knows anything about this software. Absolute nightmare and massive thumbs down to Quickbooks. I've been using accounts software for 25 years and Quickbooks is a disgrace,

Hi Carolann_c :waving_hand:, We thank you for your feedback on the support you've received and the product itself. We'd like to look into this further for you. What in particular in QuickBooks Online were you finding difficulty in getting advice from the customer service team about? We expect all agents to know about the software though there are more complex areas so we are always updating our level of knowledge and we have a senior tier 2 level team which any issues can be raised with on the phone if they are not resolved at the first point of contact. We can raise this with the agent's manager and make sure training is in place. Do you have the name of the person(s) you spoke to or any case number? Thanks

I wouldn't give the name of the person I've just contacted because her inability to address my problem is not her fault - it's the fault of Quickbooks. How can you expect someone with zero accounts knowledge to recognise and understand any issues we might have? Not only that, this is roughly the sixth time I've had to contact technical support in the six months I've been working with it and not one advisor has been able to answer my query or deal with it effectively.

I needed to know why the figure on the VAT control account at the end of a reporting period doesn't match the due figure on the VAT return and she didn't understand what a balance sheet is, never mind how to resolve my problem of a reporting difference.

Total waste of time calling support. Looking for support locally now and just hope I can find someone.

Hi carolann_c, 

Thanks for getting back to us on this thread. While we're certainly not trained professionals, all of our agents undergo regular up training with the product so that we can understand the terminology and features, in order to support the best we can. 

Regarding the figures in your VAT control account, have you previously filed a return within QuickBooks or will this be your first return using the software? 

Have you entered any transactions such as a journal entry that is posting directly to the VAT control account? 

Thanks :smiling_face_with_smiling_eyes:

This wasn't my first return. It was the first return of our new financial year, however, and there was a fairly large number of exceptions where I had made adjustments in the previous year. So there are two issues: the net figure on the VAT control account didn't match the net figure recoverable on the VAT return and the exceptions figures don't appear to feed through into the control account.

And yes, I posted journals for VAT on sales.

Here we are 31st Dec 2020 and this Exception issue is still not solved. Without going into l detail I spoke to support team today and explained i had similar issues. How do I clear a VAT exceptions, I have an exception value of £3.7K added to my £0.9K VAT. This has appeared from a historical entry way back last July. Bottom line is that support team do not know how to fix this. Think this is an absolute disgrace considering the length of time this has been going on.Think I will be dumping QB's

I have now been using Quickbooks Online Plus for ten months and have contacted technical support a handful of times but have not come across anyone yet who knows what I'm talking about. It's a total waste of time. On a few occasions I've been on the phone for at least an hour trying to explain my issue to people who have no accounts knowledge never mind any clue how to sort out the problems I've encountered. I've become used to the software and have worked through these issues without support, thankfully (I've been using accounts software for many years). Quickbooks technical support is dire, to say the least. I feel sorry for people who genuinely need help because they won't find it in 'technical support' - a misnomer if I ever heard one! 

I had an issue with exceptions appearing on a VAT return I was getting ready to submit and could not understand where these had come from as the previous return was spot on.

I discovered that I had at some point gone back to some transactions that were already filed to alter the categories and for some reason when I had saved it, it had applied VAT at 20% to items that were not subject to it originally.

I went into the exceptions report and visited each one and removed the VAT from the ones that should not have it and it was sorted.

I suppose same thing would happen if you went back after filing and added VAT where there was none when filed.

Anyway, sorted mine.