How to manage VAT on Springly?

🌍 This feature is only available in the following countries: 🇫🇷 France, 🇺🇸 United States.

In France, if your nonprofit is subject to VAT (value-added tax), Springly allows you to enter bookkeeping entries with a VAT portion, display VAT on issued invoices, and track collected and deductible VAT. This article covers the following questions:

• How do I enable the VAT feature?
• How do I enter bookkeeping entries with a VAT portion?
• How do I track VAT on Springly?
• Which special cases should be handled in advanced entry mode?

For more details on applicable tax rules, check out our blog article VAT and nonprofits: the basics you need to know.

How do I enable the VAT feature?

Overview

The VAT module lets you enter bookkeeping entries with a VAT portion (2.1%, 5.5%, 10%, or 20%), and then display that VAT on invoices issued during a transaction.

The VAT rates supported in Springly are as follows:

• 20%: most sales of goods and services;
• 10%: mainly agricultural products;
• 5.5%: food products, ticketing;
• 2.1%: pharmaceutical products, etc.

Other VAT rates (such as 8.5% or 21%, which apply to specific territories) are not supported by the software. You can submit a suggestion on this topic.

Enabling the feature

To enable VAT, go to Settings > Accounting, then turn on the VAT option under advanced settings. VAT fields will now appear in your bookkeeping entry forms.

Configuring your invoices with your information

To learn how to configure your invoices and include the required information (SIREN number, intra-community VAT number, and city of RCS registration), please refer to our article on issuing invoices.

How do I enter bookkeeping entries with a VAT portion?

Revenue

Enter the usual information: label, date, account, payment method, etc. Then enter the pre-tax amount — €100 in our example — and specify the VAT portion in the dedicated field.

In our example, the VAT rate is 20%. We therefore enter €20 (100 × 20%) in the appropriate field. This €20 represents the VAT collected on behalf of the government.

Expenditures

Now let's enter an expenditure entry for an equipment purchase. Fill in the usual information, then enter the pre-tax amount of the purchase: €100.

Next, enter the VAT portion. The VAT rate is again 20%, which comes to €20 — enter this in the appropriate field. In this case, it is deductible VAT.

Keep your invoices: you must be able to justify all VAT-subject transactions in order to deduct it.

In ticketing and forms

To apply VAT to sales from your ticketing or forms, go to the Rates/Options section and click Add VAT.

You can then select a VAT rate:

This rate will apply to all rates in the form/ticketing. It is not possible to set different VAT rates per item: in that case, you will need to create separate forms.

Advanced entry

You can also enter transactions with a VAT portion using Advanced entry mode. In this case, you create a line for VAT by selecting a VAT-related account. You can then:

• Enter your sales via the expenditure/revenue module or in a ticketing/form;
• Make a corrective entry in advanced entry mode at the end of the period to include the VAT portion.

See this article for more information on advanced bookkeeping entry.

How do you track VAT in Springly?

In accounting documents

Once you have entered transactions with a VAT portion, they feed directly into your accounting documents. For example, you can find the VAT account in the statement of financial position.

Calculating collected or deductible VAT

To track the VAT collected by your nonprofit, the VAT you can deduct, and what you owe to (or are owed by) the tax authority, go to Accounting > Bookkeeping > VAT.

Here you can view totals for a given date range, including:

• Deductible VAT;
• Collected VAT.

When you click Validate VAT, entries are generated automatically:

• The VAT accounts linked to expenditures and revenues are cleared (445710 and 445720);
• If deductible VAT > collected VAT, account 445670 is debited;
• If collected VAT > deductible VAT, account 445510 is credited.

You can then record a payment sent or received with respect to the tax authority:

Which special cases require advanced bookkeeping?

Applicable scenarios

Intra-community VAT (transactions carried out within the European Union) is both collected and deductible at the same time. This means that multiple VAT accounts must be affected within a single entry. The expenditure/revenue and ticketing/form modules do not support this — use advanced bookkeeping entry instead, which lets you freely select the accounts to affect.

You can also add VAT accounts that are not included in your default chart of accounts. In that case as well, advanced bookkeeping entry is required.

Recommended method

Intra-community VAT and VAT accounts added to the chart of accounts require multiple accounts to be affected within a single entry. Entering the VAT associated with an expenditure or revenue must therefore be done using advanced bookkeeping entry.

Advanced bookkeeping entry is also required for accounting entries created from bank transactions in the bank reconciliation module.

VAT balances — collected and/or deductible — must be calculated manually, as they cannot be obtained through the VAT entry page. You can refer to the balances displayed in your accounting documents (General Ledger).

Once you have the balances, use advanced bookkeeping entry to post the entries needed to settle the collected/deductible VAT.

If you're unsure which accounts to impact, we recommend contacting a certified public accountant.