I'm posting this on behalf of a colleague, so apologies for any incorrect Quickbooks terminology! We have a new client who has been using Quickbooks online, and has reconciled the most recent VAT return, but none of the previous ones. Is it possible to remedy this? It seems to me that we'll keep getting the older transactions turning up on all future VAT returns unless we can mark them as having been included on a VAT return.
I'm guessing that either they didn't do direct online returns from QB or they have ported from a desktop system in the last three months!
Either way they will need to reconcile off the previous returns to 'clear the decks'.
Does your colleague have access to copies of the previous returns? If so, run a report setting the dates for the each quarter starting at the earliest and try and match the return shown to the paperwork. Can be long-winded but gives the most accurate 'conversion' records. Rinse and repeat as needed, working a quarter at a time. Best done like this rather than one massive clear down as you can print off reports as you go (invest in a spare ream of paper and some cartridges for the printer - or save as pdf's) and any errors should in theory be small, traceable and explainable should there be an inspection down the line.
There will be discrepancies - amounts that were recorded late, etc... just try and make each return as accurate as possible. Hopefully as the work progresses towards the most recent return all the slog will fall into line giving an accurate return for the most recent quarter.
