This article explains the functions of VAT Cash Accounting Utility in Unity® Practice Management. 

General Information

• VAT Cash Accounting is classed as an optional extra and therefore may not be present within your system.
• This utility displays a list of receipts for a selected VAT quarter.
• It allows you to allocate receipts to unpaid bills.
• It allows you to enter an adjustment record, e.g. in case a cheque bounces.
• It optionally displays any non cash accounting items for easy reconciliation against the cashbook reports.
• It allows you to export the information into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
• It allows you to produce a VAT Cash Accounting report based on the information held within the utility.

How to Access this Utility

1. Open the Accounts program.

2. Click the Utilities icon.

3. Double click the VAT Cash Accounting option.

How to Allocate a Receipt to an Unpaid Bill

1. Locate the required record:
   • By default any unallocated records will be highlighted in blue.
   • By default the information will be ordered firstly by Bank and Month number.
   • Click a Transaction heading (e.g. Date, Ref, Narrative) to reorder the Transactions according to the results in that particular column. An arrow will appear to show which heading is currently selected. 

   • Click a Heading twice to display the Transactions in reverse order.

2. Click anywhere inside the Bill Ref field.
3. Click the three dots and a new pop up window will display. This window will display a list of any Unpaid Bills for the selected Matter.
4. Click a record to select it. A pointer in the left hand column indicates which record is currently selected.
5. Click OK to confirm your selection.
6. The system performs an even split, i.e. it splits the total amount evenly, making appropriate entries into the VAT, Profit Costs and Disbursement fields.
   • Almost all the fields within this Utility can be manually edited. If you are unhappy with the split, simply locate the required field and re-enter the new information.

How to Perform an Even Split

The system can perform an Even Split on any allocated record, i.e. it will split the total amount evenly, making appropriate entries into the VAT, Profit Costs and Disbursement fields. To perform an Even Split do the following:

1. Select the required record by clicking any of its fields.
2. Click Payment on the top toolbar to enable a dropdown menu.
3. Select Even Split.

How to Enter an Adjustment Record

Occasionally you may need to enter an Adjustment record because a cheque bounces.

To enter an Adjustment record follow the steps below: 

1. Click Payment on the top toolbar to enable a dropdown menu.
2. Select New Adjustment Record and a new blank record will appear in the main window below.
3. Enter the Adjustment information into the blank fields.

How To Export The Information Into A Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet

1. Click File on the top toolbar to enable a dropdown menu.

2. Select Export To Excel File (xls).

How to Access the Report

1. Click Report on the top toolbar to enable a dropdown menu.

2. Select whether to either Preview or Print the report.

Miscellaneous Options

There are 4 options available within the Options toolbar:

1. Select which VAT Quarter to display information for.
2. Select whether or not to display Non-cash Accounting Payments.
3. Select whether or not to display the Client or Nominal name. 
4. Select whether or not to allow searching within the main window. 

If this checkbox is ticked the system will allow you to type a matter code via the keyboard. It will then jump straight to the appropriate record. Please note this only works if a matter field is highlighted at the time.