XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks
Country Restriction: South Africa only
Risk Type: Tax Risk
Business Function: Purchases
Overview
This XBert finds bills over R5,000 (excluding VAT) that carry VAT but have no supporting document attached. SARS requires a valid tax invoice before a business can claim input VAT on an expense. Keeping that invoice attached to the bill means it is always on hand for a VAT claim or an audit.
What it does
XBert scans your bills (accounts payable) from roughly the past 12 months. It looks for bills where the amount before VAT is over R5,000, VAT has been charged, and no document is attached. It then groups these bills by the month they were dated so you can see how many are outstanding and their total value.
How it works
A bill is flagged only when all of the following are true:
The bill amount before VAT is more than R5,000.
The bill includes VAT (the tax amount is greater than zero).
No document is attached to the bill.
The bill is dated within roughly the last 12 months.
XBert deliberately ignores bills that are in draft, voided or deleted, so only live, posted bills are raised. Bills under R5,000, bills with no VAT, and bills that already have an attachment are left alone.
Example/Use Case
Thabo from Thabo's Appliances bought equipment for R5,560 (excluding VAT) from ACME Suppliers eleven months ago. The bill was entered with VAT but the tax invoice was never attached. During a SARS review, his accountant asked for the invoice to support the input VAT claim. Thabo could not find it in his paper files and had to ask ACME for a duplicate. Had the invoice been attached to the bill, it would have been one click away and the claim fully supported.
Accounting software
This XBert works with the South African versions of Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks Online.
Which countries it supports
South Africa only.
Processes
This alert falls under the Purchases (accounts payable) area and helps keep your VAT records audit-ready.
To resolve this XBert:
Open each flagged bill in your accounting software.
Find the supplier's tax invoice and attach it to the bill.
If a bill should not have VAT or is no longer valid, correct or void it so it is no longer claimed.
Going forward, attach the tax invoice at the time you enter each bill so your records stay complete.
Once the bills are sorted, mark the XBert as resolved.
Keeping a tax invoice attached to every VAT bill supports accurate VAT reporting and reduces the risk of a disallowed input VAT claim.