New VAT rules

You may be aware there are changes to the VAT rules. Here is a brief summary of what section applies to most of my clients. If you want any further clarification please contact me and I will be happy to explain what's going on.

All invoices will be required to be sequentially numbered by law. This is the only aspect of the changes that affects every VAT registered trader, and as many of you already number your invoices, there will be no change.

However, businesses which "restart" their invoicing sequence each financial year will now have to ensure that every single invoice has a unique number, and that number sequences are not repeated. Where businesses use separate sequences for different customers or product types this is acceptable, provided each sequence is identifiable and unique. Using customer prefixes is also fine, provided the sequencing is discernable. Any system under which invoice numbers are duplicated for whatever reason is unacceptable.