Filing, evidence and corrections

What is this page about: Light doesn't keep a permanent record of a filed VAT return. This page covers what to save yourself at the moment of filing, where ongoing audit evidence lives, and how to handle a transaction that turns up after a period has been filed.

# On this page

• Why you need to capture evidence yourself
• What to save at the moment of filing
• Ongoing audit evidence
• Handle a transaction that arrives late
• Why reopening a filed period is risky
• Best practices
• Related articles

# Why you need to capture evidence yourself

Light doesn't store a filing history: there's no list of past submissions and no filed status on the entity. What the tax authority sends back at the moment of filing appears once and isn't kept in Light afterwards.

So the moment of filing is your chance to capture proof from Light's side. After that, the record lives with the tax authority.

# What to save at the moment of filing

1. Before clicking Confirm, save a screenshot or note of the box table or section breakdown in the filing drawer, and for HMRC the declaration text.

2. After filing, save what the tax authority sends back:

   • HMRC: note the confirmation number in the message that appears after submission. It appears once. This is a final submission on HMRC's side.
   • Skattestyrelsen: Light sends a draft, not a final submission. Click Open on Skat in the dialog that appears, then finalise the return on Skattestyrelsen's site and save the filing from there.

3. Export the VAT system report for the filed period as CSV from Planning & Reports > Reports, at the time of filing. The report is calculated from the current ledger each time you open it, so an export made close to filing preserves what you filed. One pulled weeks later may not.

# Ongoing audit evidence

Beyond the filing itself, evidence comes from per-report CSV exports:

1. Go to Planning & Reports > Reports.
2. Open the report you need, for example a VAT return, trial balance or transaction detail.
3. Use the report's Export action to download it as CSV.
4. Combine exports as needed for your auditor.

Individual records also keep a change history:

• Contracts, purchase orders, customer credits and sales invoices have an Activity tab and a Log tab. On contracts, the Log tab shows field-level changes: what changed, when and by whom.
• Journal entries, intercompany journal entries, bills and credit entries have a Log tab.

These show what happened to each record. They don't record VAT submissions, so keep your filing evidence separately.

# Handle a transaction that arrives late

If a bill, invoice or journal entry needs a posting date in a period that's already closed, posting fails with an "Accounting period is closed" error. To handle it:

1. Leave the closed period closed.
2. Post the transaction with a date in the current open period.
3. Include it in that period's VAT return when you file it.

This follows the usual approach for prior-period errors: correct them in the current period. Keep reopening for genuine exceptions, for example a document posted to the wrong entity entirely. A missed invoice or a wrong tax rate is handled by the current-period fix above.

# Why reopening a filed period is risky

You can reopen a closed period, but once a VAT return has gone out for it, two things matter:

• Reopening cascades. It reopens every later period, and later accounting years too, not just the one you meant to fix.
• The VAT report is live. It's calculated from the ledger every time you open it. Anything you post into a reopened period shows up in that period's boxes the next time the report runs, even though the return has already been filed. Light doesn't track which periods have been filed, so nothing warns you.

Light has no amend or refile action for a VAT return. For HMRC, the submission is final once you click Confirm. For Skattestyrelsen, the point of no return is when you finalise on Skattestyrelsen's site. Either way, reopening a filed period doesn't correct the return. It changes the numbers behind a return that has already gone out. Treat it as a last resort.

# Best practices

• Capture your own evidence at the moment of filing. Light won't have it afterwards.
• Export the VAT report to CSV when you file, not weeks later.
• Post late transactions into the current open period and let the next return pick them up.
• Reopen a filed period only for genuine exceptions, knowing it changes the books behind a return that's already been submitted.

# Related articles

• From tax codes to a VAT return
• Producing and reviewing the VAT return
• The VAT clearing journal
• Closing Periods and Month-End Close

Also searched as: VAT filing proof, VAT return confirmation number, late invoice after VAT filed, reopen a closed period VAT, amend a filed VAT return, correct a mis-filed period.