---
title: What to check before approving your VAT return
description: What to check before approving your VAT return
---

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1. [Accounting Service](https://help.1stformations.co.uk/accounting-service?hsLang=en-gb)
2. [VAT Registration and Submissions](https://help.1stformations.co.uk/accounting-service/vat-registration-and-submissions?hsLang=en-gb)
3. [Submitting VAT Returns](https://help.1stformations.co.uk/accounting-service/vat-registration-and-submissions?hsLang=en-gb#submitting-vat-returns)

# What to check before approving your VAT return

## Some tips to successfully check your VAT return before approving it

Before approving your VAT return, spend some time comparing the key figures to your own knowledge of the quarter. This catches most errors before filing.

### What to check

- Box 6 (total sales net): does this roughly match what you invoiced in the quarter?
- Box 1 (output VAT): is this approximately 20% of Box 6?
- Box 7 (total purchases net): does this match the bills and costs you incurred?
- Box 4 (input VAT): is this approximately 20% of the purchases that carried VAT?

### Red flags

If Box 1 is much lower than 20% of Box 6, some sales may have the wrong VAT code. If Box 4 seems high relative to purchases, there may be input VAT claimed without a valid invoice. If Box 6 looks too low, some invoices may still be in Draft rather than Approved. Where your plan includes VAT Returns, we will carry out a review of the information, but as the business owner you might spot something that doesn’t align with your understanding, it is important that you flag any concern to us before we submit your VAT return to HMRC.

💡 **Good to know:** It is much easier to correct an error before a return is submitted to HMRC than after. A five-minute review before approval takes less time than the correction process after filing.

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