Module 8 · Advanced · 9 min read

Receivables, payables and VAT reports

You will be able to: Choose the right report to chase an overdue invoice; Read Receivables Health measures; Use the VAT reports to check a month against the VAT return.

  • Read not done yet
  • Self-check: not taken not done yet
  • Lesson complete not done yet

Money owed and VAT are the two places where report numbers must tie out exactly, so these reports matter beyond reading.

Chasing money

  • Aging (module 7) shows each party's unpaid invoices by how late they are. It does not list invoices.
  • Outstanding - Customer (bill-wise): one row per invoice with a balance, with due date, days overdue and aging bucket. Fully settled invoices, drafts, cancelled invoices and cash sales with no customer do not appear. It is the collection worklist.
  • Most Overdue Invoices: the open invoices past due, worst first, up to the number you choose in Show top. Choose Receivables for customers or Payables for supplier bills you should have paid.
  • Receivables Health (a fuller view, listed under Management on the Reports home): the age of money owed, DSO, DPO, Collection effectiveness, the top five customers' share, customers over their credit limit and customers whose payment behaviour is changing.
The Aging report for customers by bucket.

Aging: money owed to you by age.

Aging: money owed to you by age.
The Outstanding report listing each party with a balance, last invoice, last payment and overdue amount.

Outstanding: every party with a balance.

Outstanding: every party with a balance.
Is it a problem?Receivables are AED 200,000 and AED 70,000 is overdue: 35%. Receivables Health shows the Overdue receivables tile in red from 30 percent. Open Most Overdue Invoices, call the oldest, and ask for a payment date. Receivables quality is one of the five parts of the health score in lesson 7.

DSO is days sales outstanding: how many days of billing are tied up in receivables. DPO is the same for what you owe suppliers. A rising DSO means customers take longer to pay. Collection effectiveness is the share of what was collectable in the period that you collected.

VAT reports

  • VAT Return (VAT 201): one calendar month by box. OUTPUT VAT (sales), Total output VAT, INPUT VAT (purchases), Total input VAT and NET PAYABLE, which reads NET PAYABLE - FILED after the month is filed. Returns are already taken off inside each box. A row marked unmapped holds entries whose tax code has no box on that side, such as Out of Scope.
  • VAT Ledger: one row per VAT entry, with date, document, party, TRN, direction, box, tax code, taxable value, VAT and a Return column that says OPEN or FILED. Returns and reversals are negative. Use the Doc / Party / TRN box to follow one party.
  • VAT Box Summary by Party: for each box, each customer or supplier with documents, taxable value and VAT. A subtotal should match the same box in VAT Return (VAT 201) for a whole calendar month. Check the TRN column for parties with none.
The VAT 201 report with box values for the period.

Reports, VAT 201.

Reports, VAT 201.
Tying out a monthVAT Return (VAT 201) for the month shows Box 1 taxable 125,000 and VAT 6,250, and Box 9 taxable 82,000 and VAT 4,100. NET PAYABLE = 6,250 - 4,100 = AED 2,150. VAT Box Summary by Party for Output shows a Box 1 subtotal of 6,250. If it shows less, check that the period is the whole calendar month and that your user is not limited to some branches.
Watch outA document line with no VAT code is in no box. The VAT Return screen warns about it, but the VAT 201 report gives no warning. The report reads a calendar month, so a quarterly filer reads three months or uses the Return Worksheet. VAT Ledger and VAT Box Summary by Party show only your branches if your user account is limited; VAT Return (VAT 201) covers the whole company.

Rules change; always check the FTA website.

Try it in the demo

  1. Open Outstanding - Customer (bill-wise) and find the invoice with the most days overdue.
  2. Open Most Overdue Invoices with Side on Receivables and Show top 10.
  3. Open VAT Return (VAT 201) for a month with activity. Write down Total output VAT, Total input VAT and NET PAYABLE.
  4. Open VAT Box Summary by Party for the same month and compare the Box 1 subtotal.
Open the live demo

Public demo company, sign in as admin / demoAdmin123. Data refreshes nightly.

Key takeaways
  • Outstanding (bill-wise) is the invoice-level collection worklist; Aging shows buckets per party.
  • Receivables Health adds DSO, DPO, collection effectiveness and payment behaviour.
  • VAT Return (VAT 201) reports a calendar month; VAT Ledger and Box Summary give the detail behind each box.
  • Lines with no VAT code appear in no box and the report does not warn you.

Check yourself

4 questions on this lesson. Not timed, not the exam, and you can try again. Score 60% or more, and read the lesson, to complete it.

1. Which report is the invoice-by-invoice collection worklist?

2. In VAT Return (VAT 201), what does the NET PAYABLE row equal?

3. The VAT Return (VAT 201) report warns you about document lines that have no VAT code.

4. Box 1 VAT is AED 8,000 in VAT Return (VAT 201) but AED 7,200 in the VAT Box Summary by Party (Output). What is the most likely explanation from this module?

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Practice questions for this module · Printable study sheet