E-commerce · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
A VAT return typed in by hand, four channels deep
Making Tax Digital requires an unbroken digital link. This seller's return was assembled in a spreadsheet and keyed in.
UK e-commerce seller, 4 sales channels, VAT-registered. Client identity withheld — we publish names only with written permission, so this engagement is described by its shape rather than by who it was.
4
Channels reconciled
100%
Digital link restored
2 days
VAT prep, down from 5
The situation
- The business sold across a marketplace, its own store, a wholesale channel and a subscription line, each with its own payout schedule.
- The VAT return was assembled by exporting each channel to a spreadsheet and typing the total into HMRC.
What we found
- The manual re-keying broke the MTD digital-link requirement.
- Marketplace payouts recorded net, so both revenue and fees were understated and the VAT base was wrong.
- Zero-rated and exempt items conflated, affecting the input recovery position.
What we did
- Connected every channel so transactions flow into the ledger rather than being exported.
- Rebuilt payouts gross with fees separated and correct VAT treatment per line.
- Corrected the zero-rated and exempt classification and restated the affected periods.
The outcome
- The return is now generated from the ledger with an unbroken digital link, and VAT preparation dropped from five days to two.
- Restating payouts gross materially changed the reported revenue figure the owner had been using.
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