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VT Transaction+

Navigation: Basics

Quick start

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Install the software

Enter your license key

Set up company/business details

Set the financial year

Set up accounts, including customers and suppliers

Customer and supplier accounts

Other accounts

Enter transactions

Transaction entry methods

Opening balances

Bank, cash, and credit card transactions

Customer and supplier transactions

Non-routine transactions

Reconcile bank accounts

Issue statements to customers

Submit a VAT return

Run reports

Year-end procedures

Other common topics

 

Install the software

Download the installation file for the package you have subscribed to:

VT Transaction+ only

VT Final Accounts and VT Transaction+

A pop-up for the installation file then appears in the corner of your screen; click on this (or select Run or Open depending on your web browser).

If you do not see the pop-up, go to the Downloads folder on your PC and click on the file from there.

Accept the prompts that come on screen to install the software.

If you experience any issue when installing see Installation.

Enter your license key

Start the software by clicking on the VT Transaction+ shortcut VT icon on your desktop.

In the VT Transaction+ menu select Help>Register Software. For more details, see Enter your license key.

(If you are on the free trial you will not need to enter a license key until the trial period has expired.)

Set up company/business details

Create a new company/business data file by choosing the New Company command from the File menu at the top of the screen:

new company
(An existing file can be opened by choosing Open Company from the File menu.)

In the New Company/Business dialog:

oenter the name of the business

otick the VAT registered box if you are registered for VAT, and if you are on the VAT cash accounting scheme, tick this box also

oselect a chart of accounts template from the list

New company dialog

If you wish to create your own chart of accounts template, select File>Templates>New, then choose an existing template from which to base your new template on. You can then modify the accounts in the new template as you wish.

Click on OK to save the file to your PC. The default location to save the file to is the Documents folder, but you can choose a different folder. This file will contain all data entered for the particular company, therefore it is important to back up this file regularly by selecting Backup to any drive from the File menu - for further details see Backing up data files. Note: when backing up a file, it is best to name each backup with a different name so you don't overwrite the same file.

Set the financial year

Set the dates of the current financial year by clicking on the caption at the bottom of the screen that says [year not set] and then entering the dates:

application_status2

Set up accounts, including customers and suppliers

Customer and supplier accounts

The need to set up customer and supplier accounts depends on how you account for sales and purchases - see Customer and supplier transactions for more information.

To set up customers and suppliers, click on the CU Customer button and SU supplier button buttons on the main toolbar then select Set up a new account - for further details see Creating customers and suppliers.

toolbar2

 The main toolbar in VT Transaction+

Other accounts

The default chart of accounts should be adequate for most transactions. However, if you need to set up new accounts, click on the A button Account buttond on the main toolbar then click on the ledger you want the account to be in, and select Set up a new account. To modify an existing account, select the account and select Change the name or other details of this account. For further details see Accounts and ledgers.

Enter transactions

Transaction entry methods

Transactions can be entered by clicking on the transaction buttons on the main toolbar (P+R, PAY, CHQ, REC, TRF, SIN, SCR, SIN, SCR, PIN, PCR, CTX, JRN, RJN) - for further details see Transaction entry methods.

You can categorise transactions by department or any category by selecting Set Up > Currencies, departments and lists > Departments (or Lists to create your own category) - for further details see Departmental costing.

Transactions can also imported in bulk by clicking on the Universal Input Sheet button UIS_button - for further details see Importing.

Opening balances

If you have not been using VT Transaction+ since your business started, you will have some opening account balances to enter - for further details see Opening balances.

Bank, cash, and credit card transactions

Bank or cash transactions can be entered by clicking on the PAY (payment out), CHQ (cheque payment), REC (payment received) and TRF (transfer between bank accounts) buttons on the main toolbar.

You can also enter bank or cash transactions in a batch by using the P+R button - for further details see The Payments And Receipts entry method.

Alternatively, you can import bank transactions from a bank statement file by clicking on the Universal Input Sheet button UIS_button - for further details see Importing from a bank statement.

Credit card transactions can be entered in the same way as bank transactions - see Credit card transactions.

Customer and supplier transactions

The customers ledger is normally used if you make sales on credit to customers - i.e. you issue an invoice to a customer and give them a period of time to pay. This requires two separate transactions: the sales invoice (SIN/SIN), and the payment received from the customer (REC). The analysis account for the REC transaction is the customer account.

If you make non-credit sales, i.e. the customer pays at the time of the sale, the customers ledger is not usually used. Instead, one transaction can be entered: a bank receipt (REC) which accounts for the sale and the payment received within the same transaction. The analysis account for the REC transaction in this case is the income account.

Purchases go by the same principles, i.e. the purchase invoice (PIN) and payment (PAY) transactions are normally used for purchases made on credit, and (PAY) is normally used for non-credit purchases.

Customers

Generate a sales invoice

Click on the SIN button SIN button on the main toolbar - for further details see Raising a sales invoice.

A sales credit note is raised in the same way, by selecting the SCR button

Enter a sales invoice (generated outside of VT Transaction+)

Click on the SIN button SIN entry button on the main toolbar and complete the required fields.

A sales credit note is entered in the same way, by selecting the SCR button.

Enter a payment received from a customer

Enter an REC transaction as part of your bank transactions as described in Bank, cash, and credit card transactions

Manually allocate the REC to the sales invoice(s) (SIN/SIN) as follows:

oclick on the CU Customer button button on the main toolbar

oselect Open Entries then click on the REC and associated SIN/SIN lines so they are highlighted in blue

oclick on the Contra button contra which then appears directly above (Note: If the SIN/SIN(s) and REC do not net to zero, the contra button does not appear.)

For further details, see Customer and supplier payments

Or

Enter an REC directly against the SIN/SIN(s) as follows:

oclick on the CU Customer button button on the main toolbar

oclick on the SIN/SIN line(s) in the Open Entries tab so it is highlighted in blue

oclick on the special REC button which appears directly above (not the one on the main toolbar).  This creates a REC entry automatically allocated to the selected SIN/SIN(s)

For further details, see Customer and supplier payments.

Suppliers

Enter a purchase invoice

Click on the PIN button PIN button on the main toolbar.

A purchase credit note is entered in the same way, by selecting the PCR button.

Enter a payment to a supplier

Enter a PAY transaction as part of your bank transactions as described in Bank, cash, and credit card transactions

Manually allocate the PAY to the purchase invoice(s) (PIN) as follows:

oclick on the SU supplier button button on the main toolbar

oselect Open Entries then click on the PAY and associated PIN lines so they are highlighted in blue

oclick on the Contra button contra which then appears directly above (Note: If the PIN(s) and PAY do not net to zero, the contra button does not appear.)

For further details - see Customer and supplier payments

Or

Enter an PAY directly against the PIN(s) as follows:

oclick on the SU supplier button button on the main toolbar

oclick on the PIN line(s) in the Open Entries tab so it is highlighted in blue

oclick on the special PAY button which appears directly above (not the one on the main toolbar).  This creates a PAY entry automatically allocated to the selected PIN(s)

For further details see Customer and supplier payments.

Non-routine transactions

Non-routine transactions are normally recorded by journal entry (JRN). If you require the journal to automatically reverse in the next period (commonly done for accruals), use RJN (reversing journal entry):

Examples of non-routine transactions are:

Wages and salaries journals

Fixed assets depreciation

Accruals and prepayments

Writing off bad debts

Corporation tax

Dividends paid

Reconcile bank accounts

To perform a bank reconciliation, click on R button Reconcile_button on the main toolbar - for further details see Bank reconciliation.

Issue statements to customers

To issue statements to customers, click on the CU button Customer button on the main toolbar, select the customer, then click on Statement - for further details see Customer statements.

Submit a VAT return

To set up MTD (Making Tax Digital) for VAT, see Setting up MTD: businesses, or Setting up MTD: agents if you are an agent submitting VAT returns through an agent services account.

To generate a VAT return, click on the VAT button VAT button on the main toolbar and select New VAT return - for further details see VAT - quick start.

To submit a VAT return, click on the VAT button VAT button on the main toolbar and select Submit VAT return to HMRC - for further details see VAT - quick start.

Run reports

To generate reports such as profit and loss, balance sheet, trial balance and transaction reports, select them from the Display menu - a full list of reports is given in the Report windows topic.

To copy and paste any open report to a spreadsheet, click on the Copy button Copy , then in your spreadsheet, right-click and select Paste.

Year-end procedures

The financial year can be changed to the next year by clicking on the financial year caption at the bottom of the screen and selecting Next:

year-end

This automatically transfers the balances in income and expenditure accounts to the accumulated profit and loss account (called Profit and Loss account in VT Transaction+) in the balance sheet at the year-end date. This is done through an automatic journal called a Year-End Transfer (YET) journal. See also Year-end procedures.

Other common topics

Bookkeeping basics

Moving VT Transaction+ to another PC

Using VT Transaction+ on multiple PCs

Access a VT Transaction+ file on different PCs using a cloud storage service

Emailing a data file

Multi-currency accounting

Deduction of fees from sales

Recurring transactions

Domestic reverse charge VAT for construction services

Correcting mistakes

Correcting mistakes on VAT returns

Flat rate scheme

Archiving old transactions