We provide a standard spreadsheet template for HMRC returns. This template is in .ods format which should readable by an standard spreadsheet software include Excel and OpenOffice.

Once the document is opened, you will see some fields that should be entered for your records, namely:

• Company name
• Period start
• Period end

After this, please work down the fields in Column H to provide each of figures required for your VAT Return. Some of the cell (H11 and H13) are auto-calculated from the other fields, so these will be populated automatically. There are a couple of points to note when filling in column H:

• The Totals (H14 -> H19) should be pounds only, no pence. You will receive and error if you provide pence here.
• Do not move around or reformat the spreadsheet in any way. Again, if you do this you will receive an error.

After the spreadsheet has been completed, first save it as a normal spreadsheet in the format of your choice, .xls or .ods are the most common. After that save the file as a CSV (comma separated values). This is normally done by:

• Select 'Save as'
• Choose format of CSV (.csv) from dropdown list
• Click Save
• If prompted, choose 'Comma' as the delimiter (not tab or anything else)

This will now be saved as (say) q3_2019.csv. This file is now ready to be imported.