About VAT tax dates and exchange rates

The tax date, which is stored on VAT transactions, should match either the supply of goods (for A/P) or the invoice (for A/R). If the Poland Country Pack is enabled, users can correct the tax date on invoices and vouchers as needed, although this should be a rare occurrence. This topic describes how changing the tax date affects reporting and exchange rates in different areas of the application.
Note: If Fixed Rate is selected in the Customers or Vendors form, a change to the tax date does not override the fixed rate functionality. In that case, the fixed exchange rate is carried throughout the transaction and cannot be changed.

Entering and posting A/R invoices

On the Invoices, Credit and Debit Memos form, the Tax Date field defaults to the invoice date, but can be updated before posting the invoice. In the case of foreign currency transactions, the exchange rate for the invoice is also updated, using the exchange rate that was valid on the tax date.

Changing the tax date does not affect the printed invoice that is sent to the customer. It only affects VAT reporting. VAT reports show invoices by the tax date.

Entering and posting A/P vouchers

The Tax Date for vouchers and adjustments defaults to the vendor's invoice date but can be changed on these forms:

  • When processing the voucher or adjustment by matching it with a PO receipt, use the Generate A/P Transactions form.
  • When adding vouchers or adjustments for direct cost invoices, use the A/P Vouchers and Adjustments form.

In both cases, the resulting voucher or adjustment must show a tax date, which can be updated as needed. In the case of foreign currency transactions, the voucher exchange rate is also updated, using the exchange rate that was valid on the tax date. Exchange rates for adjustments are not updated when the tax date is changed.

For A/P transactions, the exchange rate is first set when the goods are received, on the PO Receiving form. When the voucher is matched with the PO, if the exchange rate has changed (as a result of a change to the tax date), you are prompted to post the voucher. When the voucher is posted, a currency gain or loss journal entry is created to account for the difference. This is required to ensure that the voucher payable amounts match between the goods and the invoice amounts (with differing exchange rates and dates), for VAT reporting.

Updating the tax date on posted transactions (A/P or A/R)

You can update the tax date on the A/R Posted Transactions Detail or A/P Posted Transactions Detail forms.

Changing the tax date for posted transactions does not require the creation of any journals or GL transactions. The tax date change only affects the VAT reporting values, which will use the newer tax date and the exchange rate from that tax date.

Administrators might want to use the groups maintenance feature to limit which users have write and save access to the posted transactions forms.