If you’ve landed here from one of my reminder emails, there’s probably a receipt, invoice or bookkeeping query still waiting for your attention.
And yes… if I don’t hear back from you, I can usually still move things forward, but that doesn’t mean ignoring the query has no consequences.
When I’ve asked for information and can’t get an answer, there eventually comes a point where I have to work with what I do have. In bookkeeping terms, that might mean taking a view: using the information available to decide how a transaction should be treated.
That allows me to finish the bookkeeping and, where applicable, get your VAT return submitted on time.
It’s useful as a last resort, but not a particularly good Plan A.
I can’t claim what I can’t support
One of the most obvious examples is VAT.
If a transaction appears to include VAT but I don’t have the evidence needed to support the claim, I may have to treat it conservatively and not reclaim the VAT, meaning you pay more VAT than you would have done if you’d provided the paperwork.
Similarly, if I don’t know exactly what something was for, I may have to use the information available to decide how to record it. That treatment might be perfectly reasonable, but it may not be the treatment I would have used if I’d had the full picture.
And sometimes the safest option is simply to leave something out until we have enough information.
Your answers make your bookkeeping better
There’s an important difference between professional judgement and guesswork.
I’ll always use professional judgement where it’s appropriate – that’s part of my job! But if I’ve asked you a question, it’s generally because there’s something I can’t reliably determine from the information I already have.
A 30-second answer from you might establish that something was a business expense, identify what was purchased, provide the VAT invoice I need, or completely change how a transaction should be treated.
Without that answer, I can only work with what’s in front of me.
So what happens if you don’t reply?
I won’t chase you forever.
I’ll send reminders and give you a reasonable opportunity to provide what’s needed. If I still haven’t heard from you by the deadline I’ve given you, I’ll complete the bookkeeping or VAT return using the information available to me and take a reasonable view where necessary.
This keeps things moving and avoids a missing receipt holding up an entire VAT return.
But please don’t read “I’ll take a view” as “you don’t need to bother.”
It really means:
I’ve reached the point where I need to proceed without the information that would have allowed me to give you the most accurate treatment.
And one final point that’s worth remembering: responsibility for your business records and the information submitted to HMRC ultimately remains with you. My job is to prepare the bookkeeping and returns using the records and information you provide, but I can only work with what I’m given.
Therefore, if something is missing, unclear or incorrect because the supporting information wasn’t provided, that responsibility doesn’t transfer to your bookkeeper simply because they’ve had to make a reasonable judgement and move on.
So, if you’ve arrived here because there’s an email from me sitting in your inbox asking for something, now would be a very good time to reply to it.
Your bookkeeping will thank you for it.
