Welcome to the 123 Sheets setting up guide
Please follow the instructions below to get the most out of using 123 sheets.
Any problems, please contact us at support.team@123sheets.co.uk.
Step 1
Register For VAT
You can register for VAT here: https://www.gov.uk/register-for-vat/how-register-for-vat
If you are already registered for VAT and have your VAT Registration Number from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), please go to step 2.
VAT Numbers are nine digits only. If you do not have a VAT Number yet, you need to get that from HMRC in order to use VAT software such as 123 Sheets: either apply using the link above; await HMRC to send it to you if you have already applied, or else contact HMRC if you have registered but have waited six weeks and still haven’t heard anything. The HMRC VAT helpline is: 0300 200 3700 (or outside the UK: +44 2920 501 261).
Step 2
Add VAT As A Service To Your Government Gateway Account
You may already have a Government Gateway Account with VAT added as a service. You can see if you do by logging into your Government Gateway account: check if your VAT Number is in there. If it is, you can skip this step and move to step 3.
If you have never added VAT as a service on to any government gateway account before, you can do that by logging into your government gateway account and adding VAT as a Service. Please ensure that you are using a government gateway account that is in the name of the VAT registered entity. For example, if it is for a limited company, ensure you are not logged into your own personal government gateway account, it must be the company one. If its a partnership that is to be VAT Registered, log in to the partnership government gateway account and not your own personal one etc. You can log into your government gateway account to do that here: https://www.access.service.gov.uk/login/signin/creds
Please be aware, many people have multiple government gateway accounts, so if VAT is not on one, it might be on another one you set up and have forgotten about. Please note that VAT can only be added as a service for a VAT Number to one government gateway account, once. If you apply to put VAT on a government gateway account and it is already on another government gateway account, perhaps an old or lost one, HMRC will not move your VAT on to the new government gateway account, instead you need to find the details of the lost government gateway account, which you can do using the “Problems signing in” section of the government gateway login page: https://www.access.service.gov.uk/login/signin/creds
Step 3
Completing Software Set Up
If you have not entered your VAT Number into our software yet, you will need to do that now. To do that, go to the “Settings” menu, choosing “Taxpayer Details”. There, you will find a white “Edit” button on that page, which when clicked on allows you to add your VAT Number. Once added, click the green “Save Changes” button. If you entered your VAT Number in at the time of setting up this account, you do not need to do anything.
Now purchase a licence, so you can access your HMRC VAT account on our website. You can do this from the top of the “Settings”, “Taxpayer Details” page.
If you have multiple VAT registered entities, you can add more VAT Numbers by going to the “Taxpayers” page, and clicking on the “Add Taxpayer” button to add in further VAT registered entities and their VAT Numbers. These extra pages are only available if you have purchased at least a 10 taxpayer licence.
Step 4
Authorising 123 Sheets To Provide VAT Services
Still logged in, click on the 'Home' (or 'Taxpayers') menu page. A message will be shown by HM Revenue & Customs if you have not already authorised the software on our website. Please click on the green 'Continue' button. You will then be prompted to log into your HMRC Gateway account.
Please only log into the Government Gateway account for which VAT is added as a service, otherwise the authorisation will not work, even though it will look like on the HMRC website it has worked.
On the HMRC website, you will be asked to authorise 123 Sheets to provide VAT Services. Please click on the “Grant Authority” button, and you will be sent back to our website.
If you have completed that action with the correct government gateway account, you will now have access to your VAT account. If it didn’t work, there is a list of reasons given on the screen as to why it didn’t work. This is a generic list provided by us, to assist you. If you have been through that list and you are not authorised, you will need to contact HMRC, as the software authorisation process is controlled by HMRC, we cannot tell what the problem is and unfortunately, HMRC do provide reasons why they have rejected your attempt to authorise the software. All you can do is contact them to find out what the problem is. You can contact them on their VAT online helpdesk telephone number: 0300 200 3701 (or outside the UK: +44 2920 501 261).
Once the authorisation process has been successfully completed, you can now file VAT Returns and see MTD data available for your VAT Account. This data all comes live from HMRC, we do not store any specific VAT Return figures, liability or payment information.