The journal entry maintenance transaction allows you to create and update journal entries.

If the journal transaction should be included in a VAT return you must specify whether it is an input or output transaction for VAT purposes.

Completion of the VAT rate memo and VAT amount memo fields against the income/expense account does not trigger creation of a posting to the VAT control account as on other transactions. A line item must be posted to the VAT Control account if the transaction has a VAT impact. The amount of any posting to the VAT Control account should be the same as the total of the VAT amount memo column for VAT input/output journals.

The reference to be associated with the transaction.

If appropriate you can use this drop down list to associate a journal with an employee, company/LLP member, or a tax authority.

To associate a journal with a customer or supplier simply apply the debit/credit to the trade debtor or trade creditor account as appropriate.

Some system generated journals will populate the value automatically e.g. share issue journals or wage payments recorded using the template wage payment journal.

If a journal has a VAT reporting impact and needs to be included in a VAT100 return it must be defined as either an input or an output for VAT purposes.

The account drop down list is used to associate the line item of a transaction with an account from the chart of accounts.

If appropriate to the form in use, when a transaction is first created, Liberty Accounts uses a filter mechanism to try and make it easy to select an account from what might otherwise be a very long list of accounts.

For the main purchase transactions the account drop down initially presents a list of expense accounts only.

For other non-purchase transactions the account drop down initially contains a list of account types. Select the account type from which you want to select an account e.g. Current Liabilities. You will then be presented with a filtered list of accounts appropriate to the selected account type. Simply select the required account.

If you wish to choose an account that is of a different account type simply select "Clear Filter..." and start again.

When editing existing transactions you will be presented with a list that contains all of the accounts, separated using highlighted headings for each account type.

Enter the debit amount for this item. Please be aware that the total of the debit amounts must equal the total of the credit amount for the transaction to balance.

Enter the credit amount for this item. Please be aware that the total of the credit amounts must equal the total of the debit amount for the transaction to balance.

The appropriate VAT rate for the account must be selected. Default VAT rates can be associated with an account via the Account Maintenance screen which is available from the chart of accounts view.

If the business is on the HMRC Flat Rate VAT Scheme, as defined on the VAT details tab of the Business Profile, the VAT rate will default to "Out of Scope" for all purchase transactions. This can be changed if necessary. Exceptions may apply for purchases of capital assets of significant value, please consult your professional advisor.

17.5%, 5% & Zero, used for normal UK VAT transactions.

Used when a transaction is an exempt supply; such as the purchase of insurance. See the VAT Guide (Notice 700) for more details or visit the Revenue and Customs site at www.hmrc.gov.uk

Used when you purchase goods from a VAT registered supplier in an EU member state. Make sure that the VAT code is set to EU Acquisition, and that the VAT amount shows the VAT which would have applied if the purchase had taken place in the UK. The correct country must be set on the supplier record to ensure correct reporting of the transaction.

Only used if you have you have incurred VAT in an EU member state, (i.e. local VAT). This CANNOT be recovered as input tax for UK VAT. You may make a claim for refund from the member state. A scheme exists to do this known as "Refunds of VAT in the European Community for EC and non-EC businesses" The details are in notice 723, refer to the Revenue and Customs site at www.hmrc.gov.uk Use of this VAT code is described more fully in the "VAT and Liberty Accounts" user guide.

Used when a transaction is not in the VAT system at all. For example payments into a money purchase pension scheme are out of scope because they are equivalent to savings. Recording a payment of VAT to HMRC is a common example where Out of Scope should be used, as are salary payments and repayments of director loans. Using this code will result in no VAT reporting impact.

This code is used where there is no VAT on a purchase transaction, typically from a supplier who is not vat registered. This is not the same as zero rated, exempt or out of scope. The impact is that the value of the purchase is included in box 7 of the VAT 100 return.

This code can be used where there the transaction is recording an aggregation of mixed VAT codes in a single entry with the VAT amount manually set as required.

Typically this is required for a purchase from a non-EU country where no VAT has been paid. It simply provides a means of accounting for the VAT that would have been paid if the good or service was purchased in the UK. Applying a reverse charge VAT process will have no impact on your VAT liability.

To use this feature simply set the VAT on the item(s) to the appropriate VAT rate(s) that would apply had the item been purchased in the UK and submit the transaction with the Reverse Charge VAT checkbox ticked (Located in the "Analysis" tab of the voucher in the top half of the screen).

If you subsequently view the item you will notice that the VAT rate has been set by the system to "Out of Scope". This is correct. If you need to make changes to the transaction you must reset the VAT codes to the appropriate code so that the Reverse Charge can be created again using the correct VAT amounts.

The amount of VAT charged on this item is automatically calculated based on the vat code selected but can be changed.

When recording purchases, if you have a gross amount and want liberty to calculate the net amount and vat amount simply enter the gross amount in the net amount field, select the appropriate VAT code, and type "g" in the VAT amount field.

Select an entry from the external entity list to associate the item with an external entity, such as a customer or supplier.

Use the checkbox to define the transaction as a reversing journal.

A reversing journal requires a reversal date. This is normally the first day of your next accounting period.

If your charging schedule is defined as annual in your business profile the reversal date will default to the first day of your next financial year (NB if you change your year end, reversal dates will not change automatically). If your charging schedule is defined as monthly or manual the reversal date will default to the first day of the next month.

In either case you may override the date if required. This can be done manually (e.g 19/12/2002) or by clicking on the calendar icon to select date from the calendar.