Your VAT, settled.Demo figuresTicked tiles stack up, the VAT figure £4,789.51 lands and is stamped settled.
Standard Scheme VAT on expenses, reclaimed automatically
Record an expense with its VAT and the supplier's VAT number. The return adds up the VAT on your expenses and reclaims it in Box 4: there is no separate reclaim to enter. A Standard return runs on invoice accounting or cash accounting, where an expense counts once a bank payment is matched to it.
Nothing is reclaimed on a blocked category, such as entertaining, or on a purchase with no supplier VAT number. A larger purchase also needs its VAT invoice attached.
Larch BotanicsVAT return. Standard Scheme, invoice accounting.
Standard Scheme
Box 1VAT due on your sales
From your invoices
Box 4VAT you can reclaim on purchases
From your expenses
Every return names the scheme and method behind its figures.
Demo company, demo figures
Flat Rate Scheme Worked out on each invoice
The return works Flat Rate VAT out on each invoice paid in the quarter, rounds each result half up to the penny, and adds them up. The invoices are listed under the figure, so anyone can check it.
Each company chooses the cash basis or the invoice basis for turnover. The Flat Rate Scheme starts on the cash basis, and Settledge never assumes the invoice basis for you.
After every bank line was sorted
Tarnwick Systems LtdVAT return, quarter to 30 September 2026. Flat Rate Scheme, cash basis.
All sorted
Invoice
Paid
Paid in, VAT included
Flat Rate VAT
INV-0019Ostrel Analytics Ltd
14 Jul 2026
£5,400.00
£837.00
INV-0020Calderbeck Freight plc
28 Jul 2026
£6,615.00
£1,025.33
INV-0021Ostrel Analytics Ltd
14 Aug 2026
£5,400.00
£837.00
INV-0022Calderbeck Freight plc
27 Aug 2026
£2,940.00
£455.70
INV-0023Ostrel Analytics Ltd
14 Sep 2026
£5,400.00
£837.00
INV-0024Calderbeck Freight plc
26 Sep 2026
£5,145.00
£797.48
Box 1, VAT due on your sales£4,789.51
Demo company, demo figures
Flat Rate Scheme A range until every bank line is sorted
While a bank line has no category, the return shows a lowest and a highest figure for the quarter. Sort the line and the range closes to one figure. A suggested category changes no figure until you confirm it.
Finalise a quarter and its figures are locked. If a record changes later, an updated version is kept beside the original, so both can be checked.
Before the last bank line was sorted
Tarnwick Systems LtdVAT return, quarter to 30 September 2026
To classify: 1
Net VAT to payAt least £4,785.79, up to £4,789.51
Kettleby Supplies24 September 2026, no category yet
−£23.99
Its category decides where in this range the figure lands. Lines waiting to be confirmed are left out of this range.
Demo company, demo figures
Flat Rate Scheme Input VAT recorded, not reclaimed
Settledge records the VAT on every expense. Under the Flat Rate Scheme it is recorded but not reclaimed. The exception is a single capital asset of £2,000 or more including VAT, which is reported separately.
Wrenfold & AshExpense, 24 September 2026
Flat Rate Scheme
Total paidVAT included
£360.00
VATRecorded, not reclaimed
£60.00
Capital assetOne invoice of £2,000 or more, VAT included
No
Demo company, demo figures
Flat Rate Scheme The limited cost test, on every return
On the Flat Rate Scheme your rate depends on how much the company spends on goods. Settledge works the limited cost test out on every Flat Rate return and shows the goods spend, the turnover and the threshold. Goods spend counts only the categories you have ticked as goods. It does not change your rate for you: if the result differs from the rate you recorded, you change it in Settings.
Limited cost testQuarter to 30 September 2026
Limited cost? Yes
Goods spendVAT included
£23.99
TurnoverBox 6
£30,900.00
ThresholdGoods spend below this means limited cost
£618.00
Demo company, demo figures
What it does not do
Not included
It does not file or submit returns; it prepares figures your accountant can file from. It does not give tax advice, so settle your scheme and method with your accountant. A quarter with unsorted bank lines shows a range, not a figure, until they are sorted.
