XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks
Country Restriction: South Africa only
Risk Type: Tax Risk
Business Function: Sales
Overview
The Large VAT Activity for Contact Without VAT Number XBert finds contacts in your accounting software that have a high level of VAT activity but no VAT number recorded against them. Capturing the VAT number for these contacts helps keep your VAT return accurate and protects you from claiming or charging VAT against a contact you can't properly identify.
What it does
XBert reviews the VAT recorded against your contacts over the past reporting year. It looks at both VAT collected on income and VAT paid on expenses, adds up the total VAT activity for each contact, and highlights the busiest contacts that still have no VAT number on file. This gives you the information you need to confirm a contact's VAT status and avoid problems with your VAT return.
How it works
XBert adds up the total VAT activity for each contact across the past reporting year - that is, from the first day of the same month one year ago through to the end of last month. It looks at cash-based VAT on both income and expenses and uses the total amount of VAT activity, not the net figure, so a busy contact is correctly recognised as busy.
XBert then ranks your contacts and keeps only the busiest 20% by VAT activity. From that group, it raises an alert for up to the three contacts with the highest VAT activity that have no VAT number recorded, and only when a contact's total VAT activity is more than R100.
XBert deliberately ignores contacts that already have a VAT or registration number on file, contacts you have marked to be excluded, and bank-type entries. These guards mean you only hear about the contacts that matter most, without being overwhelmed by minor or low-value items.
Example / Use Case
Maxine runs a mechanic shop and regularly buys tyres from Auto Express. Auto Express is a valid VAT-registered business, but Maxine never recorded their VAT number in her accounting software. As a result, all of the VAT on these purchases is being claimed against a contact with no VAT number on file.
Over the past year Auto Express has built up more than R8,000 of VAT activity, making it one of the busiest contacts in Maxine's books. XBert flags it so Maxine can capture the missing VAT number. Without this, Maxine risks SARS rejecting her VAT claims or asking her to repay them if she is audited.
Accounting software
Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks
Which countries it supports
South Africa only.
Processes
This XBert relates to Sales, and the same check also covers VAT on your purchases. To resolve the alert:
Open the flagged contact and review their recent VAT activity.
Ask the contact for their VAT number if you don't already have it.
Confirm the number is valid using the SARS VAT Vendor Search.
Record the confirmed VAT number against the contact in your accounting software.
If the contact is genuinely not VAT registered, check that your transactions use the correct (non-VAT) tax treatment.
Once the contact is corrected, mark the XBert as resolved.
Keeping VAT numbers up to date helps you stay compliant with SARS, avoid penalties, and keep your financial records accurate.