In the VAT Recovery section, under the Manage Expenses tab, you can select specific invoices you'd like to work with. Use the filters to narrow down your search results to the exact batch you need, and then click the Batch Actions button. 

This feature offers a range of useful tools, allowing you to perform specific actions on the selected batch of invoices in one go. 

Below, you’ll find an explanation of each tool and what it allows you to do.

Update vendor

You can easily change the vendor information for all filtered expenses. By default, any new vendor data entered during this batch action will overwrite the existing values. However, if you prefer to update only specific vendor details, you can select the option to do so. When you check the box for Update only specific vendor details, only the fields with actual data will be modified.

Please note that once these changes are made, this action cannot be undone, so be sure to review your updates carefully before proceeding.

Update Status

You can easily change the status of your filtered expenses. To begin, please select the status group you wish to update. You can choose from Correction status, Refund status, or Compliance status.

Once you’ve made your selection, the system will display the relevant statuses available for updating. Choose the appropriate status to proceed with the update for your filtered expenses. 

Update Optional Fields

The optional fields allow you to add metadata to your expenses, enabling you to store additional information about your invoices for future reference. While these fields are not directly related to VAT recovery, they can enhance your record-keeping.

To activate an optional field, simply check the box to the left of the field name. After that, navigate to the right section, where you’ll find various options available in a dropdown menu for each line.

Change Expense Category

You can easily batch-change the expense category for a selected Country of Refund. Please note that this option is available for only one Country of Refund at a time. To proceed, follow these steps:

• Filter your Expenses table to display only one Country of Refund.
• Select the category you wish to change and choose the new category to which you want to switch.

Change the Country of Refund

You can batch change the Country of Refund for multiple expenses, but this feature is only available for expenses in the INCOMPLETE, READY, or EXCLUDED statuses. To change the Country of Refund for several expenses, follow these steps:

• Filter your expenses based on the current Country of Refund.
• Use the change feature to transfer expenses from one country to another.

Note: Changing the country will recalculate the VAT amount and potential cashback based on the rules applicable to the newly selected country, using the total gross amount of the entries.

Change Expense Province

This feature is specific to Canada and allows you to batch-change the province for your expenses. Please note that this option is only available for expenses in the INCOMPLETE, READY, or EXCLUDED statuses, and you can only change the province for one Country of Refund at a time. 

To batch change the expense province for a selected Country of Refund, follow these steps:

• Filter the Expenses table to display only one Country of Refund.
• Select the new province for your expenses.

Move to Another Entity

If you’ve imported data to child entities and need to file a claim for your entire group, you can easily move expenses between entities. Please note that this batch change of the entity is only available for one entity at a time and applies only to editable expenses in the INCOMPLETE, READY, or EXCLUDED statuses.

Keep in mind that changing the entity will trigger a recalculation of the VAT amount and potential cashback based on the rules associated with the newly selected entity. The calculation will be based on the total (gross) amount of the lines.

To move expenses between entities, follow these steps:

• Select the expenses you want to transfer.
• Choose the destination entity for your claim.
• Proceed to move the selected expenses.

Change Expense Type

You can batch change the expense type to either Simplified or Regular expense. Please note that this change will impact how the expense is reported to the tax administration during the claim process. It’s important to understand the implications of choosing Simplified or Regular invoices for the country where you are claiming.

When changing the expense type, keep the following in mind:

• Changing the expense type affects how the expense is reported to the tax administration during the claim process.
• You can only change the expense type for expenses with INCOMPLETE or READY statuses.

Make sure to review your choices carefully to ensure compliance with VAT regulations.

Split Expense Document

This action is ideal for expenses that were imported into the system and have documents consisting of multiple pages, where each page represents a new expense. By splitting these documents, each page will become a separate expense, with all optional and custom fields replicated. Additionally, all data from the parent expense—such as expense date, country of refund, currency, and vendor—will be copied to the newly created expenses.

When dealing with multi-page invoices or travel reports combined into one PDF, you can easily split these documents into individual expenses. Here’s how:

• Select the multi-page invoice you wish to split.
• Use the split feature to create individual expenses, assigning one page to each expense.

Run Duplicates Check

Filtered expenses will be analyzed for potential duplicates. Once the process is complete, a duplication key and duplication percentage will be assigned to each potential duplicate group. You can use these parameters to filter expenses from the Manage Expenses table.

To help ensure you don't have duplicate entries, utilize the duplicates check feature, which works by:

• Comparing the country of refund and vendor details.
• Checking for matching invoice numbers and amounts.
• Clustering the results based on the likelihood of duplication (100% match, 70%, 50%, and 10%).

This feature streamlines the identification of duplicate entries, allowing you to maintain accurate and organized expense records.

How to Use the Feature

1. Go to Manage Expenses.
2. Select Your Data Scope: Choose the parameters for the data you want to analyze (e.g., entity, invoice date period).
3. Apply Filters: Once the data has loaded, use the filters to select the invoices you want to check for duplicates.
4. Run the Duplicates Check: Click on "Batch actions" and then select "Run duplicates check." The batch edit window will display the number of invoices scanned and the number of potential duplicates, along with a probability score indicating the likelihood of duplication:

• 100%: Entity, VAT amount, invoice date, vendor name, and invoice number are identical.
• 70%: Entity, VAT amount, invoice date, and vendor name are identical.
• 50%: Entity, VAT amount, invoice date, and invoice number are identical.
• 10%: Entity, VAT amount, and invoice date are identical.
• 0%: No signs of duplicate features.

5. Update and Close the Batch Edit Window: After reviewing the results, click "Update" to save any changes and close the batch edit window.

You can now see all potential duplicates. The "Duplication key" acts as an identifier, showing which invoices are duplicates of each other; invoices sharing the same duplication key indicate they are duplicates.

Further Analysis

To analyze duplicates more effectively, filter by 100%, 70%, and 50% duplication first. Additionally, you can sort the results (ascending/descending) by duplication key. Click on the ID number of an invoice (ensure the ID filter is activated) to view the transaction image and compare it with other duplicates. From there, you can decide which invoice to keep and which to exclude.

Useful Tips

• You can run duplicate checks at any time while processing your data.
• We recommend setting a default view to check for duplicates, so you don't have to adjust visible/hidden fields each time. For example, selecting fields like invoice number, vendor name, VAT number, and invoice date can provide a clearer overview of your duplicates without needing to open each invoice image individually.

Requesting Invoice Correction

In certain situations, such as when receiving simplified invoices from restaurants in Spain, you may need to request an invoice correction. Here’s how to do it:

• Identify the invoices that require correction.
• Contact the third-party company that helps with issuing full invoices.

This process helps ensure compliance and accuracy in your invoicing, so please follow these steps carefully. 

The invoice correction service incurs an additional cost, which will be charged to you. Please ensure that you have an agreement in place with VAT4U regarding this service before proceeding.

Create a Claim

Creating a claim using batch actions gives you the flexibility to select only the expenses you want to include. VAT4U will automatically preselect the Claimant, Country of Refund, and Period for the claim based on the filtered expenses. It's important that the filtered expenses pertain to a single entity and a single country of refund.

When starting a claim, you'll need to choose the type you want to create:

• Claim to TAX Authorities: This claim type can only include expenses that are in Refund status READY.
• Claim to Vendor (Incorrectly Charged VAT): This claim type can include expenses that are in Refund status READY or CLAIMED TO VENDOR.

To begin the claim process, ensure you filter the expenses for a single Applicant and Country of Refund. This will help streamline your claim submission and ensure all necessary criteria are met.

Summarize Expense Items

If you have an invoice with multiple lines of the same item within the same category, you can leverage this batch action to streamline the invoice by reducing these multiple lines into a single line with the total amount. 

How Summarization Works

• Combining multiple expense items reduces the total number of items on the invoice by grouping similar items and summing their amounts.
• Grouping is performed at the invoice level and primarily based on the expense item category.
• Additional fields like Item TAX Key, ERP GL Account Number, and VAT Exempt/Reverse Charge types are also taken into account if they are enabled.
• For fields like PO Number and PO Line, values from different items are merged using a "|" separator when multiple values are present.
• Only expenses with a status of INCOMPLETE, READY, or EXCLUDED can be summarized.

How to Use the Feature

• Open the "Manage Expenses" table and filter expenses to include only those where you want to summarize items.
• Click on Batch Actions and choose Summarize Expense Items.
• Validate the Summarization: The system will display the number of items identified in the expense, as well as the number of items that will remain after summarization. This allows you to validate the scope of the filtered data.
• Confirm and Apply the Action: Once validated, click Update to confirm. This action will summarize the items.
• The total number of items for Each expense will be reduced by summing up the amounts and reducing number of items, while the Total Net, VAT, potential Cashback, and Gross Amount   of the entire expense will remain unchanged.
• Refresh the Expense to verify. After applying the summarization, you can open the expense to see the updated structure. You will now have only one line item for all the grouped items within the same category.

This batch action significantly reduces the number of line items you need to manage and helps streamline your workflow. Depending on the number of invoices and items within your scope, the summarization process may take some time, so the results may not be immediately available.