Once VAT/GST is enabled for your forecast, Cash Flow Frog applies tax rates to your projections and uses them to calculate projected VAT payments. This article covers how to set your default rates, configure accrual-basis invoice dates, and adjust VAT behavior on individual projections.
In this article:
Default tax rates for projections
The VAT on projections row in the VAT settings contains two side-by-side dropdowns - one for income projections and one for expenses. The available options reflect the tax rates you have set up in your accounting system.
These defaults apply to every new projection automatically. You can override the rate on any individual projection - see VAT settings on a projection below. Projections with no explicit rate set will pick up any change you make here.
Mixed-rate businesses. If your income includes both standard-rated and zero-rated sales (or exempt items), set the default to your most common rate and adjust the others individually on each projection.
Invoice date offsets
⚠ Accrual basis only
When your report basis is set to Accrual, two additional fields appear. These tell Cash Flow Frog how many days before each projection's payment date to treat as the invoice date for VAT/GST period assignment.
For example: if your income invoices are typically issued 14 days before you expect payment, enter 14 in the cash-in field. A projection dated March 31 will then be assigned to the VAT period covering March 17.
Setting | What it does |
Invoice days before cash-in projection | he global default offset for income projections. Enter the typical number of days between invoice issue and payment receipt. Leave empty or enter 0 to use the payment date as the invoice date. |
Invoice days before cash-out projection | The same default for expense projections — how many days before you pay a supplier's invoice you expect to have received it. Leave empty or enter 0 to use the payment date as the invoice date. |
VAT settings on a projection
When you open the form to add or edit a projection, a VAT settings section appears below the amount input. It is collapsed by default - click it to expand.
Include in VAT
This switch controls whether the projection contributes to your VAT calculation. It is on by default for all projections when VAT is enabled.
Turn it off for projections that should not be included in VAT. For example:
Salary or payroll payments
Loan repayments or drawdowns
Rent in jurisdictions where it is VAT-exempt
Inter-company transfers
When turned off, the projection's amount is excluded from all VAT period calculations.
Entering a net amount
⚡ Non-rule-based projections only
By default, the amount you enter is treated as the gross amount - the total including VAT. Cash Flow Frog extracts the VAT component from it automatically.
If you know the net (VAT-exclusive) figure instead, enable the Enter net switch. Cash Flow Frog will calculate the gross and show it as a read-only field. The stored amount is always gross, regardless of which mode you use - switching modes does not change any saved data.
When a VAT rate applies, two read-only fields are shown alongside your input:
Field | What it shows |
VAT amount | The portion of the gross amount that is VAT, calculated as: |
Net / Gross (read-only) | Shows the gross when you're entering net, or the net when you're entering gross. This field cannot be edited directly. |
Rule-based projections always use the gross amount as configured by the rule. The Enter net switch and breakdown fields are not shown for rule-based projections.
Overriding the invoice date offset
⚠ Accrual basis only
If your forecast uses accrual basis, an Invoice date offset (days) field appears in the VAT settings section of the projection form.
This field lets you override the global invoice date offset for this specific projection. Use it when a particular projection has a different lead time than your typical transactions. For example, a large contract where payment is expected 60 days after invoicing, while your global default is 14.
Value | Effect |
Empty (no override) | Uses the global default from VAT settings — the income or expense offset depending on the sign of the projection amount. |
0 | Invoice date is the same as the payment date, regardless of the global default. |
Any positive integer | Invoice date is set that many days before the payment date. A projection dated June 30 with an offset of 10 is assigned to the VAT period covering June 20. |
The placeholder text in this field shows the current global default. If the placeholder reads 14, entering nothing means 14 days will be used. Enter 0 explicitly only if you want to override the global default to the payment date for this projection.