How do I amend the VAT rate on a posted cashbook journal if the bank reconciliation has been completed?

This article covers correcting the VAT rate on a posted cashbook journal that has already been matched in bank reconciliation. Because the journal is posted and matched, you can't edit it directly – the recommended approach is to reverse the original document and recreate it with the correct VAT rate.

Permission needed to reverse a cash journal

To reverse a posted cash journal, your user account needs the 'Cashbook: Reverse' permission. If you don't see 'Reverse' as an option on the document, ask an administrator to add this permission to your account.

How to correct the VAT rate on a posted cashbook journal

1. Open the cash journal, select the ellipsis menu or the more button depending on your screen, then select 'Reverse'. This 'Reverse' function reverses the cash journal itself – it's separate from unmatching an item in bank reconciliation
2. Select the period you want to reverse into. If you need to reverse into an earlier period, you may need to unlock it first. Enter a reason, then select 'Submit'
3. Once the document shows as reversed, select the dropdown next to 'Copy', then select 'Copy exact'
4. On the new document, enter the date and select a period, it needs to be an open period, ideally the same period as the reversal. Amend the VAT rate on the relevant line, then select 'Submit'
5. Match the reversal and the new corrected document together in the current bank reconciliation.

If the incorrect VAT code has already been submitted on a VAT return

The same reverse-and-recreate approach is worth considering if a document with the wrong VAT code was included in a VAT return that's already been submitted.