How to show VAT on an FF&E schedule (UK)

Short answer: keep every price on your schedule ex VAT, add one VAT column at 20%, and show the inc VAT total only where your client needs to see it. Note the date you captured each price, so you know which figures to recheck before you send the schedule.

Why VAT trips up UK schedules

Most UK trade suppliers quote prices ex VAT. Retail sites usually show prices inc VAT. If your schedule mixes the two, your totals are wrong, and your client notices before you do.

A sofa at £2,400 ex VAT costs your client £2,880 once VAT is added. On a forty-line schedule, a few retail prices treated as trade can put your totals out by thousands of pounds.

A simple column layout

Give every line on your schedule the same columns, in the same order:

1. Item and room
2. Supplier and product link
3. Unit price ex VAT
4. Quantity
5. Line total ex VAT
6. VAT rate (20% for most furniture and lighting)
7. VAT amount
8. Line total inc VAT
9. Price captured on (date)

Keep the rate in its own column rather than baking it into a formula. Most items sit at 20%, but a visible rate helps you spot a line that needs checking.

Ex VAT or inc VAT for your client?

It depends on your client.

• Residential clients usually can't reclaim VAT, so they care about the inc VAT figure. Show it clearly.
• Commercial clients who are VAT registered often think in ex VAT numbers because they reclaim the VAT. Lead with ex VAT and show the VAT as a separate line.

If you're VAT registered, how you charge VAT on products and on your fee can depend on how you buy and resell. Check this with your accountant. This page covers layout, not tax advice.

Are you VAT registered?

You have to register for VAT once your taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in a 12-month period (GOV.UK). Plenty of smaller studios sit below that line. If you're not registered, you don't charge VAT on your own fee, but the products you buy still carry VAT from the supplier. Your schedule should still show it, because your client is paying it.

Keep your prices current before you send

VAT errors are easy to fix. Old prices are harder. A supplier can change a price between the day you saved a product and the day your client signs off.

That's why the "price captured on" column matters. Before you send a schedule, recheck anything captured more than a few weeks ago.

Doing this in Aalto

Aalto can add the VAT columns for you. In Settings, set your workspace tax region to United Kingdom and check the default rate is 20%. Then choose whether you enter prices ex VAT or inc VAT, to match how your suppliers quote.

Your project table then shows the price and line total, both ex and inc VAT. The VAT rate and VAT amount are optional columns. The footer shows the subtotal ex VAT, the VAT and the total inc VAT. If one item needs different treatment, set it to a custom rate, zero-rated or exempt. If a client is VAT exempt, mark it in that project's VAT settings. Items priced in another currency, such as euros, don't get UK VAT unless you give them a custom rate.

When you save a product from a supplier site with the Aalto extension, it captures the name, brand, price, image and supplier link in one click, and keeps the spec sheet when the page links one. It takes the price shown on the page at the moment you save, so note whether that supplier shows prices ex VAT or inc VAT.

When you need a current figure, refresh the price on demand before you send the schedule.

Every product you save goes into one library that spans all your projects. Add a sofa once and reuse it on the next job, with no hunting for the link.

When the schedule is ready, export it. CSV and Excel files include every VAT column unless you hide VAT. The PDF Lookbook shows the prices you pick: ex VAT, inc VAT or both. See how to export an FF&E schedule for the steps.