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This guide can be utilized in VAT rate change situations in Netvisor, such as the new general VAT rate of 25.5% effective from 1.9.2024 or the new reduced VAT rate of 13.5% effective from 1.1.2026.

NOTE! The latest reduced VAT rate of 13.5% will be added to Netvisor during December. Once the VAT rate is added, you can utilize mass tools.

Application instructions

Always check the Tax Administration's guidance in change situations. In this guide, the Tax Administration addresses the application of the new reduced VAT rate of 13.5%: The government proposes reducing the 14 percent VAT rate to 13.5 percent starting from 2026

You can also find our blog post VAT rate decreases from 14% → 13.5% at the beginning of 2026 – how the change affects companies

Settings

In Netvisor, it has been possible to add new decimal VAT rates yourself, and these have been used in situations where the company has been liable for VAT abroad.

We will add the new VAT rate of 13.5% for our customers during December and update the guide once this addition is made.

New tax rates can be added directly if needed. This can be done in Financial Management > Settings > Accounting settings > Accounting and obligations settings > Tax rate management.

Once the new VAT rate has been added to the accounting settings, it can then be selected in various Netvisor functions.

It is possible to update the VAT rate for multiple accounting rules simultaneously. This can be done from the accounting rules management when we have added the new VAT rate to Netvisor for all our customers. Select the desired accounting rules from the view and at the bottom of the page "Change selected tax rate x% -> x%".

Products

Updating the VAT rate for products can be done in Netvisor in bulk or alternatively, the VAT rate can be updated for individual product cards. Note that the VAT rate change for the TEMP product cannot be done with the bulk function, but it must be changed directly on the product card. The product's VAT rate update takes effect immediately when the change is made and automatically applies, for example, to newly created sales invoices. Since the transition period between two VAT rates can be very long, we recommend checking the invoices for the correct VAT rate if the default VAT rate in the product information is not applied.

The VAT rate can be updated for individual products directly from the product card. This can be done on the product card's basic information editing tab, and in the VAT rate section, select the new VAT percentage. Our guide: Product card.

We recommend using the product listing for bulk updating VAT rates.

List the desired products in the product listing and select them from the checkbox on the left side, then a button "Add selected to process basket" is activated at the bottom left of the page, but do not add products to the basket, instead click the smaller button on the right side of the button (white triangle) to open the bulk actions menu and select "Change selected products' tax rate".

Note! When updating products with a VAT rate of 14%, it should be set as the starting value in the "From VAT" section, and in the "To VAT" section, select the new tax rate of 13.5%. When the starting value is given, only those products with a VAT rate of 14% will be updated from the selected products.

The system will notify the result of the update separately:

Our guide: Product listing

Although large quantities of products can be updated at once using bulk tools, we recommend dividing large registries to be updated into parts, e.g., a few product groups at a time. Alternatively, the product listing can be organized by the used VAT rate without product grouping and divided into batches of 5000 products at a time for updating. This especially helps in tracking the VAT rate update, as the bulk tool reports numbers if the VAT rate of some products could not be updated. It is also expected that many of our customers will make changes simultaneously, so this can speed up the use of bulk tools. We recommend making all VAT change bulk updates in batches of about 5000 to ensure smooth and faster changes to the settings.

Accounts receivable

Sales orders and invoices are formed with the VAT rate defined for the product. Since during the transition period, both old and new VAT rates need to be handled simultaneously, it is necessary to change the VAT rate on the order and invoice if a VAT rate different from the product information is applied. If possible, we recommend avoiding creating large numbers of sales orders and invoices in advance in the ledger if their VAT % needs to be modified after the order or invoice is created to avoid manual work.

The VAT % of a sales order can be modified on the order lines as long as the order is not invoiced. Invoiced order lines can no longer be modified. Similarly, the VAT % of sales invoice lines can be modified until the invoice is sent and an accounting voucher is created for it. 

If a situation arises where a sales invoice has been sent to the customer with an incorrect VAT %, it is advisable to credit the incorrect charge invoice using the function "Sales invoice actions > Create credit note". In this case, the credit note will copy the original invoice details, and finally, a new charge invoice can be created with the correct VAT % details.

From Sales > Reports > Invoice line report, the VAT % column can be displayed, allowing the VAT % used on invoice lines to be checked. 

Our guide: Invoice line report

When there is a voucher on the sales invoice, the check for the used VAT rates can be done from accounting reports, such as the general ledger, or alternatively, the desired time range can be set on the VAT calculation to examine accounting entries under different tax rates. The search criteria for accounting reports can be filtered from the report search field in the "VAT rate" section.

Contractual invoicing

The VAT % for contractual invoicing is directly derived from the product information, so the VAT % on the sales invoice line is the product's VAT % at the time of formation. 

Contractual invoicing has a bulk function that allows you to update the fixed gross price of service baskets to a fixed net price so that the VAT rate change is reflected in the product's taxable price. You can find the bulk tool as follows: Sales > Billing > Contractual invoicing. Select the desired service baskets by clicking the checkbox in front of the service basket name, after which the button "Update net price for basket products" is activated at the bottom of the screen. If fixed gross prices are used and the products are not updated to a fixed net price, the VAT rate change will only affect the product's tax-free price. If the products' VAT rate has already been changed to the new VAT rate, follow the instructions below. 

If the product has been set to the new VAT rate and the product has been in the contractual invoicing service basket as a gross-priced product, the VAT rate change has affected the tax-free price, and the price may be incorrect in these cases. To correct the situation, the product's VAT rate should first be updated back to the old VAT rate. Then, the net price should be updated for the desired basket using this bulk tool.


Once this is done, change the product's VAT rate back to the correct new VAT rate. After the change, the price will update correctly, and the increase will be reflected in the product's gross price. 

If invoices have been created with the wrong price and have not yet been sent to customers, the invoices can be deleted. After deletion, the invoices move to the deleted material of the service basket. Deleted materials can be accessed from Sales > Billing > Contractual invoicing > click the desired service basket > Invoice creation > Deleted material.  Once the VAT change instructed above has been made, the deleted materials are recreated, and the correct price is updated for the product. 

Contractual invoicing

If automatic sending is used for sales invoices, we recommend paying special attention to ensure that the applicable VAT % is checked and modified on the invoice before sending. Our guide: Automatic sending of sales invoices.

Handling of advance payments

According to the Tax Administration's guidance, the handling of advance payments during the transition period differs from the performance-based nature of goods or services. According to the guidance, the applicable VAT rate is determined by when the money from the advance payment has been received by the seller. Especially when the customer pays for goods or services partially in advance, two VAT rates may need to be used. In this case, the seller may need to divide the order lines into their own VAT rates according to what portion is an advance payment and what portion is billed upon delivery. When handling advance payments in accounting, the amounts are divided into their own VAT rates if necessary to report the VAT entries for advance payments in the target month. Our guide: Handling of advance payments.

Accounts payable

Purchase invoice automations

We recommend checking the company's purchase invoice automations during the transition period. If a model invoice has been used for accounting in the automation rules, the model invoice should be updated to one that uses the new VAT rate.

Vendors

The default VAT % for a vendor can be modified on the vendor card. The VAT % can be updated for multiple vendors in bulk through the vendor listing. First, go to Purchases > Vendors > Vendor listing. Select the desired vendors from the listing using the checkbox on the left and Actions > Update tax rate.


Select the fields From "old VAT rate" and To "new VAT rate" and finally the Update button:


Bookkeeping and obligations

In Netvisor, the VAT identifier processed on the account is selected in the specification of accounts settings, so the change of VAT rate during the transition period does not require changes to the specification of accounts. If, for example, the VAT identifier KOMY is selected in the accounting account settings and domestic sales is used as the tax treatment, the accounting entries are reported and the VAT account entries are calculated correctly on the VAT calculation according to the used VAT rate.

According to the Tax Administration's guidance, special attention should be paid to temporal allocation. The basic rule in temporal allocation is performance-based, i.e., to allocate VAT from sales to the calendar month during which the goods are delivered or the service is performed, and correspondingly for deductions, when the goods or service is received. In certain situations, cash-based or invoice-based allocation can also be used. The obligation to pay tax does not determine the tax period for which VAT is reported. Temporal allocation works well in Netvisor during the transition period, so ensure the correct VAT rate is used on sales invoices considering the performance basis.

The Tax Administration has instructed that both old and new VAT rate events are reported technically in the same section on the VAT return. The new VAT rate is reported from Netvisor in the same way as before.

During the transition period, we recommend checking the VAT calculation with special care to ensure the correct VAT rates are selected for events according to application. If it is necessary to modify a previously reported VAT return, a corrective VAT return can be sent from Netvisor: Sending a corrective VAT return.

Integrations

Netvisor also supports decimal VAT rates in terms of the interface.

When importing material through the interface, the VAT percentage comes from another system, so the connected system must be able to produce a decimal VAT percentage for the material.

To import material with a decimal VAT percentage through the interface to Netvisor, the VAT rate must be established in Netvisor. If you want to import material with the new VAT rate before the VAT rate is added to Netvisor, the VAT rate must be established in Netvisor. (see section Settings).

Rackbeat stock management

If your company has open orders during the change, you must ensure that they have the correct VAT rate.

In Rackbeat, the VAT rate is managed through product groups. You can update the product groups' tax rates either manually or using an Excel file.

Instructions for different situations:

  • Order/Invoice is a draft: When you have updated the system with the new VAT rate, it does not automatically update on the draft. You need to retrieve the product again on the order or invoice line, which will update the new tax rate.

  • Order is confirmed: The tax rate of a once confirmed order line cannot be changed directly. If you need to change the VAT rate, reopen the order for editing. Then remove the old line completely and add a new line in its place.

  • Order is delivered but not invoiced: If the order is made with the old tax rate and the products have already been delivered, the system's tax rate change no longer affects the invoice. The invoice is created with the original order line details, i.e., the old tax rate.

Payroll and travel

During the transition period, we recommend paying special attention when creating travel expense reports to ensure the correct VAT % is used on the travel expense lines according to the receipt. By default, the lines show the "Current Finnish VAT rates" selected in the accounting settings:

Next to the field is a small green arrow button, from which all the company's VAT rates can be selected:

In the company-specific salary type settings, a default VAT percentage may be set for the salary type, which should be updated to the correct one during the transition period if necessary. Our guide: Company-specific salary types





This article has been translated using an AI-based translation tool. The contents or wording of these instructions may differ from those in other instructions or in the software.


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