How to settle the VAT for the period

What is it for?

At the end of each VAT period, the settlement brings together the balances of deductible VAT (2432), output VAT (2433) and adjustments (2434), deducts the recoverable VAT carried over from the previous period and transfers the result to the State account: VAT payable (IVA - A pagar, 2436) or VAT recoverable (IVA - A recuperar, 2437). This entry is what then lets you record the payment of the periodic VAT return.

When to use it?

• At the end of each month (monthly scheme) or quarter (quarterly scheme), with the period's documents posted.
• Before recording the payment of the periodic VAT return: without a settlement, the payment is refused.
• Again, after reversing the settlement, when a document of the period was posted, cancelled or changed after settling (see “The settlement does not update itself”).

Where to find it?

Accounting › Close › VAT settlement (in the Month accounting group). It opens the VAT settlements list, with one settlement per period.

Before you start

• Your profile is Accountant or Certified accountant (the Administrative profile does not have the Accounting app). Only the Certified accountant profile and the administrator can reverse a settlement.
• The period's documents are posted. The settlement only counts posted journal entries: a draft dated in the period is left out.
• The VAT period is not closed: in a closed period the settlement is refused (see “Common problems”).

How to use it

1. In the VAT settlements list, click Settle a VAT period.

2. In Period start and Period end, enter the two dates of the period. The window opens with the previous month; below, Period shows the name, for example “outubro de 2026”.

   If the previous month has already been settled, the window still opens with it and shows amounts that no longer count. In the demo, with September 2026 already settled, it showed empty balances, an Excess from the previous period of €78.92 (August's credit, which the September settlement had already used) and “To recover from the State: €78.92”. Those amounts do not count: Post the settlement is refused (“overlaps the settlement…”, see “Common problems”). Enter the dates of the period you want to settle.

   Careful: the Period end does not change when you change the start. If you only change the Period start, for example to 01/12/2026, the end stays at 30/09/2026: the window gives no warning, Period shows “01/12/2026 – 30/09/2026”, the balances are empty with “Balanced: nothing to pay and nothing to recover”, and only when you click Post the settlement does “Choose a company and a period whose start is not after its end.” appear. Check the Period before posting.

3. Check the Balances of the period and the In plain words text. In the example: Deductible VAT (2432) €23.00, Liquidated VAT (2433) -€1,605.39, Result -€1,582.39, “VAT charged on sales: €1,605.39” and “To pay to the State: €1,582.39”. Journal can be left empty: fiscaldoo uses the miscellaneous operations journal.

   If the previous period ended with VAT to recover, Excess from the previous period also appears: it is that credit (field 61 of the return, in account 2437), and the window adds it to the Result. Pending validation by a certified accountant: correspondence of the excess with field 61. In that month, the Result is not the sum of the first three lines. In June 2026, for example: €642.85 − €2,012.21 + €959.30 = −€410.06, “To pay to the State: €410.06”. Check that the excess is what was left to recover in the previous period: in the VAT settlements list, May 2026 has “To recover from the State: €959.30”.

4. Click Post the settlement. The period's settlement opens, for example VAT settlement — outubro de 2026.

Expected result

• The settlement appears in the VAT settlements list with the state Settled and the result in plain words (“To pay to the State: €1,582.39”).
• On the settlement record, Settlement entry shows the journal entry created (in the example MISC/2026/00109) and Result account the State account (2436 IVA - A pagar).
• In the entry, each balance goes through account 2435 IVA - Apuramento. In the example: 2433 IVA - Liquidado debited €1,605.39 and 2432 IVA - Dedutível credited €23.00, each with the opposite line on 2435, and the difference, €1,582.39, goes from 2435 to 2436 IVA - A pagar, as a credit. In a period with VAT to recover, the difference is debited to 2437 IVA - A recuperar. With an Excess from the previous period in a period with VAT to pay, the entry first uses that credit, credited to 2437, and only the rest goes to 2436: in June, €959.30 and €410.06.
• You can now record the payment of the period's return (see How to prepare and submit the periodic VAT return, “After submitting”).

Demo video

The video shows steps 1 to 4 with the October 2026 example, after September has been settled. The window opens on September, the previous month, already settled (see step 2), and the video enters the October dates. October has no Excess from the previous period: €23.00 of deductible VAT, €1,605.39 of output VAT and €1,582.39 to pay to the State.

No telemóvel, rode-o para a horizontal e veja o vídeo em ecrã inteiro: o texto do ecrã fica legível.

Settle the VAT for the period · 27 s · sem som, com legendas · legendas (WebVTT)

Transcrição

Important notes

The settlement does not update itself

The settlement keeps the balances from the moment it was posted. If you then post, cancel or change a document dated in the period, the settlement becomes outdated: the VAT in the State account no longer matches the period's return. In the demo, after the October settlement, the supplier invoice FTF/2026/00048 was posted, with €23.00 of VAT; when settling October again, the window showed only what was left to settle (“To recover from the State: €23.00”) and Post the settlement was refused (see “Common problems”).

To redo it, reverse it and settle again:

1. Open the period's settlement and click Reverse.
2. In the Reverse the VAT settlement window, enter the Reason, for example “Fatura de fornecedor FTF/2026/00048 lançada depois do apuramento”, and click Reverse the settlement. The settlement changes to Reversed and its entry is cancelled by a reversal entry.
3. Repeat the steps in “How to use it” for the same period.

The reversed settlement stays in the list, with the reason. Settlements are reversed from the most recent to the oldest.

Period already paid

Reversing does not touch the payments already recorded on the period's return: if the new settlement gives a different amount, the difference stays in the State account. Before reversing a period already paid, decide with the certified accountant how to deal with that difference. Pending validation by a certified accountant: difference between the VAT paid and the redone settlement.

Common problems

Post the settlement is refused: “overlaps the settlement … which is still active”

• Symptom: Invalid Operation window with “The period 01/10/2026 – 31/10/2026 overlaps the settlement of 31/10/2026 (MISC/2026/00105 (VAT settlement 01/10/2026 – 31/10/2026)), which is still active. How to fix it: reverse that settlement first, with a reason, if it has to be redone.”
• Cause: the period already has a settlement.
• What to do: if the period's data changed after that settlement, reverse it and settle again (see “The settlement does not update itself”). If it has not changed, there is nothing to do.

Reverse is refused: “is more recent and still active”

• Symptom: “The settlement of 31/10/2026 is more recent and still active. How to fix it: reverse the more recent settlements first.”
• Cause: you tried to reverse an earlier period (in the example, September) while a more recent settlement is active.
• What to do: reverse the more recent settlements first, from the latest to the oldest, and settle them again in the reverse order.

Reverse gives “No access”

• Symptom: “You do not have access to “Reverse a VAT settlement”. Who does this: Fiscal officer, Fiscal administration, Administrator. …”
• Cause: the Accountant profile sees the Reverse button, but cannot reverse.
• What to do: ask the Certified accountant (“Fiscal officer” is the name of the access that profile carries).

“There is nothing to settle”

• Symptom: “There is nothing to settle in 01/11/2026 – 30/11/2026: accounts 2432, 2433 and 2434 have no movement in the period.”
• Cause: the period has no VAT posted (or the dates are wrong).
• What to do: check the period's dates and whether the period's documents are posted.

The period is locked

• Symptom: “The VAT period ending on 31/01/2026 is locked (until 31/01/2026): the settlement cannot be posted in a closed period. How to fix it: the lock date can only be changed by someone who can reopen the period.”
• Cause: the VAT period was closed (on the return, Close VAT period).
• What to do: settle each period before closing it. If you really need to settle a period already closed, talk to someone who can reopen the period, as the message says.