VAT/Tax Report

10-15 minutes

Tutorial 9.8: VAT/Tax Report

Introduction

The VAT/Tax Report helps you track all tax collected on completed transactions, broken down by day, month, or quarter. The report automatically uses your salon's tax label (VAT, GST, Sales Tax, etc.) based on your regional settings, making it essential for accurate tax returns regardless of your location.

Who this is for: Salon owners and administrators responsible for tax compliance and reporting.

What you'll learn:

Navigating to the VAT/Tax Report
Understanding the summary cards
Filtering by date range
Choosing grouping options (daily, monthly, quarterly)
Reading the tax breakdown table
How refunds and account transactions are handled
Exporting data for your accountant or tax return

Time to complete: 10-15 minutes

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

A Luminate account with Owner, Admin, or Manager role
At least some completed transactions in your salon
For exporting: Owner or Admin role (Managers can view but not export)
Tax settings configured in Salon Settings (tax rate and tax label)

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Navigate to the Reports Section

Log in to Luminate
Click Reports in the sidebar menu
You'll see the Reports index page with categories: Financial Reports, Customer Reports, Staff Reports, and Messaging Reports

Step 2: Open the VAT/Tax Report

In the Financial Reports category, find VAT Report
Click on it to open the report
The report loads showing tax data for the current period

Note: The report title and labels throughout will reflect your salon's tax label. If you've configured "GST" as your tax label, you'll see "GST Report" instead of "VAT Report". The same applies to other tax labels like "Sales Tax".

Step 3: Understanding the Summary Cards

At the top of the report, you'll see four summary cards:

Card	What It Shows
Total [Tax Label] Collected	Sum of all tax collected on completed transactions
Net Sales (Taxable)	Total sales excluding tax
Gross Sales (Inc. Tax)	Total sales including tax
Transactions	Total number of completed transactions

These cards give you a quick overview of your tax position for the selected date range.

Understanding the Relationship:

Net Sales is what you sold before tax
Tax Collected is the tax you need to remit to the tax authority
Gross Sales = Net Sales + Tax Collected

Quick check: Gross Sales should equal Net Sales + Tax Collected. If it doesn't match, contact support.

Step 4: Using the Date Range Filter

The date filter appears below the header with preset buttons and a custom date picker.

Using the Date Picker:

Click the date range picker field
Select your start date
Select your end date
Click the Apply button to update the report
Click the reset button (circular arrow icon) to clear filters and return to defaults

Quick Preset Buttons: Below the date picker, you'll find preset buttons for common date ranges:

Today - Current day only
This week - Monday to Sunday of current week
Last week - Previous full week (Monday to Sunday)
Last 7 days - Rolling 7-day period
Last 30 days - Rolling 30-day period
Last 90 days - Rolling 90-day period (useful for quarterly tax returns)
This month - Current calendar month
Last month - Previous calendar month
This year - Year to date
Last year - Previous calendar year

Clicking any preset button automatically applies that date range and updates the report.

Tip: For quarterly tax returns, use "Last 90 days" or set custom dates matching your tax quarter (e.g., 1 April to 30 June for UK Q1).

Step 5: Choosing Your Grouping Option

To the right of the date filter, you'll see a Group by dropdown with three options:

Grouping	What It Shows	Best For
Daily	Each day's tax totals	Detailed daily analysis, reconciliation
Monthly	Each month's tax totals	Monthly VAT schemes, GST returns
Quarterly	Each quarter's tax totals (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4)	Standard quarterly VAT returns

To change grouping:

Click the Group by dropdown
Select Daily, Monthly, or Quarterly
The report updates automatically

The table title will change to reflect your selection (e.g., "Daily VAT Breakdown", "Monthly VAT Breakdown", or "Quarterly VAT Breakdown").

Period Labels:

Daily: Shows formatted dates (e.g., "15 Jan 2025")
Monthly: Shows month and year (e.g., "January 2025")
Quarterly: Shows quarter notation (e.g., "Q1 2025")

Step 6: Reading the Tax Breakdown Table

The main table shows your tax data grouped by the selected period:

Column	Description
Period	The time period (date, month, or quarter)
Transactions	Number of completed transactions in that period
Net Sales	Revenue before tax
[Tax Label]	Tax amount collected (dynamic based on your salon settings)
Gross Sales	Total revenue including tax

Sorting: Click any column header to sort the table by that column. Click again to reverse the sort order. An arrow indicator shows the current sort direction.

Pagination: If you have many periods, use the pagination controls at the bottom. The label adjusts based on grouping:

Daily grouping: "Showing 1-30 of 90 days"
Monthly grouping: "Showing 1-12 of 24 months"
Quarterly grouping: "Showing 1-4 of 8 quarters"

Colour Coding:

Tax amounts appear in green when positive (tax collected)
Tax amounts appear in red when negative (refunds where tax was returned)

Step 7: Understanding Which Transactions Are Included

The VAT report follows invoice accounting (the standard method for UK VAT and most tax systems). This means:

Transaction Status	Payment Status	Included in Report?
Completed	Paid	Yes
Completed	Unpaid (on account)	Yes
Completed	Partial payment	Yes
Pending	Any	No
Cancelled	Any	No
Refunded	N/A	Yes (as negative)

Key point: Tax is reported when the transaction is completed, not when payment is received. This is standard invoice accounting.

What this means:

If a customer pays later (account sale), the tax is still reported on the completion date
Transactions saved as "pending" or "draft" don't appear until completed
Refunds appear as negative amounts and reduce your tax liability

Step 8: Handling Refunds

Refunds appear as negative amounts in the tax report:

Negative values in the tax column reduce your total tax liability
The refund appears on the date the refund transaction was completed
Net and gross sales also show as negative for refunds

Example: A sale of £120 (£100 + £20 VAT) refunded later shows as:

Net Sales: -£100
VAT: -£20
Gross Sales: -£120

This ensures your tax report accurately reflects the tax you actually owe after accounting for returns.

Step 9: Exporting Tax Data

To export your tax report for your accountant or tax return:

Set your desired date range using the filter
Choose your preferred grouping (Monthly or Quarterly is common for tax returns)
In the breakdown table card, click the Export button (top right)
A dropdown menu appears with options:
- Export as CSV - For spreadsheet applications (Excel, Numbers, Google Sheets)
- Export as PDF - For printing, archiving, or sending to your accountant
Click your preferred format
The file downloads to your computer

Export filename format: [tax-label]-report-[grouping]-[start-date]-to-[end-date].[csv/pdf]

For example: vat-report-monthly-2025-01-01-to-2025-12-31.csv

The export includes:

Period breakdown with all columns
All data for the selected date range and grouping
Suitable for importing into accounting software

Note: Only Owners and Admins can export reports. Managers can view reports but the Export button won't appear for them.

Step 10: Verifying Your Tax Figures

Before submitting your tax return, verify the report:

Cross-check with your accounting software - The total tax should match your sales ledger
Check for missing periods - Ensure no days/months show unexpected zeros
Review refunds - Confirm negative amounts are legitimate refunds
Compare to previous periods - Significant variances may need investigation
Verify the math - Gross Sales should equal Net Sales + Tax Collected

Common Pitfalls

"My tax total seems too low"

Check that all transactions are marked as "completed". Pending transactions don't appear in the tax report. Also verify your salon's tax rate is correctly set in Salon Settings.

"I see a customer paid but it's not in the report"

The tax report is based on completion date, not payment date. If the transaction was completed in a previous period but paid in this period, the tax appears in the earlier period.

"There are negative amounts I don't recognise"

These are refunds. Switch to daily grouping and check the specific date to see which refund transactions created the negative amounts.

"The report shows zero for some periods"

Days or periods with no completed transactions will show zero across all columns. This is expected if your salon was closed or had no sales during that time.

"My tax figures don't match my accounting software"

Ensure the date ranges match exactly
Check if your accounting software includes pending transactions (Luminate only includes completed ones)
Verify timezone settings - transactions are grouped by your salon's timezone

"The report shows 'VAT' but I use 'GST' (or vice versa)"

Your tax label is configurable in Salon Settings:

Go to Salon Settings (click the gear icon)
Navigate to the Tax Settings section
Update the Tax Label field to match your region (VAT, GST, Sales Tax, etc.)
The report will immediately use your new label

"The export button is missing"

Only Owners and Admins can export reports. If you're logged in as a Manager, you can view reports but won't see the export option. Contact your salon owner if you need exported data.

"A sale was made on account but I haven't been paid yet"

Under invoice accounting, tax is due when the sale is completed, regardless of payment. The sale correctly appears in the tax report on its completion date.

Tips and Best Practices

Run this report before tax deadlines - Export your data at least a week before your VAT/GST return is due to allow time for review
Use consistent periods for tax returns - Match your report dates exactly to your tax return periods (e.g., quarterly for VAT, monthly for GST)
Quarterly grouping for tax returns - When preparing VAT or GST returns, quarterly grouping provides clear period totals matching most tax return formats
Export and archive - Keep PDF copies of each tax period for your records, especially before making changes to tax rates
Reconcile monthly - Don't wait until the tax deadline; check monthly to catch discrepancies early
Check your tax rate - Verify your tax rate is correctly set in Salon Settings. An incorrect rate will affect all new transactions.
Note payment method differences - Cash accounting users should consult their accountant as this report uses invoice accounting

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change the tax label from VAT to GST (or other labels)?

Yes. Go to Salon Settings > Tax Settings and update the Tax Label field. This changes the label throughout Luminate, including on this report, receipts, and invoices. Common labels include VAT, GST, Sales Tax, and HST.

What's the difference between invoice accounting and cash accounting?

Invoice accounting (used by this report) records tax when the sale is made. Cash accounting records tax when payment is received. Most UK businesses use invoice accounting. Consult your accountant if you use cash accounting.

Can I use this report for my tax return?

Yes. Export the data for your tax period (usually quarterly for VAT). The totals can be transferred to your tax return. Always verify figures with your accountant.

Does the report include refunded transactions?

Yes, refunds are included as negative amounts. This ensures the total tax shown is what you actually owe after accounting for any returns.

Why doesn't the report show tips?

Tips are not subject to VAT/GST (they're discretionary payments to staff), so they're excluded from this report. See the Daily Revenue Report (Tutorial 9.2) for tip totals.

What's the difference between this and the Daily Revenue report?

The Daily Revenue report shows overall financial performance (subtotals, discounts, tips, net revenue). The VAT/Tax Report specifically focuses on tax collected for compliance purposes, with grouping options suited to tax return periods.

Are deposits included in the tax figures?

Tax on deposits is recorded when the deposit transaction is completed. When the full service is paid, tax is calculated on the remaining balance only, avoiding double-counting.

How do I change my salon's tax rate?

Go to Salon Settings > Tax Settings and update the Tax Rate field. This only affects future transactions; historical transactions keep their original tax amounts.

Do discounts affect the tax calculation?

Yes. Tax is calculated on the discounted amount, not the original price. This is reflected correctly in the Net Sales and Tax figures.

How far back can I run this report?

Luminate stores your complete transaction history. You can select any date range from when you started using the system. There's no limit on historical data access.

Which transactions are included?

Only completed transactions are included. This means:

Pending transactions are excluded
Cancelled transactions are excluded
Refunded transactions are included (as negative amounts)

Can I see a breakdown by service or product category?

The VAT/Tax Report shows aggregate totals by period only. For category breakdowns, export the data and cross-reference with your transaction records, or use the Revenue Report which shows more detail.

What if my tax rate changed mid-year?

The report shows tax as it was recorded on each transaction. If your rate changed, transactions before the change show the old rate, and transactions after show the new rate. The totals will be correct for what you actually collected.

Is this report suitable for my accountant?

Yes. The PDF export includes your salon name, date range, and all the figures your accountant needs. The CSV export is ideal if they want to import the data into accounting software.

Last Updated: January 2026