🧾 What Is an Unpresented Item?

At Year End, one common area of confusion is how to deal with unpresented items - those receipts or payments your council has approved and paid, but which haven’t yet cleared the bank by 31 March.

This guide explains everything you need to know about handling these correctly in Scribe Accounts, whether you're working on a Receipts & Payments or Income & Expenditure basis - and how to handle them for VAT purposes.

💡 What Is an Unpresented Item?

An unpresented item is a receipt or payment that has been:

Approved and processed (paid or received) by your council, but
Has not yet appeared on your bank statement as of 31 March.

Common examples include:

🐌 Cheques sent but not yet cashed
🏦 Direct Debits or Standing Orders processed on 31 March but cleared on 1 April
💻 Online payments or bank transfers with “send delay syndrome”
💰 Receipts from customers not yet received into the bank

These may still be included in your year-end reconciliation - but only if they’ve been properly approved and processed.

🧮 Receipts & Payments Basis

Under the Receipts & Payments accounting basis, it’s all about cash flow. If the receipt or payment hasn't been made it doesn’t get recorded.

Key points:

Include unpresented receipts or payments in the March cashbook if they have been paid/received in March (or earlier) but have not cleared the bank.
Even if approved in March or related to March (or earlier), if it’s paid or received in April - it’s an April transaction.

🔍 AGAR Tip:

Box 8 (Cash and bank balances) should reflect your bank statement total, plus/minus any approved unpresented items.

📘 Income & Expenditure Basis

Under the Income & Expenditure basis, the focus is on matching receipts and payments to the correct financial year - even if the bank transaction occurs later.

What to do:

Unpresented items are dealt with the same way as above - if receipts have been received or payments have been made then they should be recorded in the cashbook. If they do not appear on the bank statement by the 31st March then they should remain uncashed. This will update Box 8 accordingly.

In addition:

If there are items that should appear in the year, e.g. invoices received for goods and services provided up until the end of March that were not paid by the Year End (creditors) or amounts owing from customers for goods and services provided up until the end of March that were not received by the Year End (debtors) etc. then these can be adjusted for:

1. Add a Year-End Adjustment dated 31 March in Scribe → Year End → Adjustments to bring it into the correct financial year.
2. Record the actual receipt or payment when it takes place.

Example: Invoice received from a supplier for services provided in March. The invoice is paid in April.

Method: Enter a creditor adjustment in the financial year being completed. This will include the net amount in the AGAR figures. Enter the actual payment made to the supplier in the new financial year dated April.

Adjustments are automatically reversed in the next year by Scribe, keeping your future reports accurate.

💷 VAT Handling for Unpresented Receipts and Payments

If the unpresented item has been entered correctly, e.g. dated when it was paid or received and was uncashed at the end of the year then the VAT treatment will be correct. It will be included on the VAT claim or return up to 31st March and included in the calculated closing VAT position which will be copied forward when the year is closed.

How do I deal with Unpresented Receipts or Payments that are incorrect?

If you have uncashed transactions at the Year End that are not correct to be there (e.g. were not paid or received at this point) then you must remove them. Unpresented items will update your Box 8 figure on the AGAR so must be dealt with correctly. Here's how to fix:

Receipts and Payments users:

Amend the transaction to 0.00 (add a note of explanation).
Run Reconcile All Banks to check the bank reconciliation is correct.
If the transaction took place in the following year, enter it in the new year dated when it was paid or received.
See section below regarding VAT (if VAT was included on any of the unpresented transactions that have been zeroed)

Income and Expenditure users:

Amend the transaction to 0.00 (add a note of explanation).
Run Reconcile All Banks to check the bank reconciliation is correct.
Consider whether a Year End adjustment is required instead - if so enter it in the year being completed.
If the transaction took place in the following year, enter it in the new year dated when it was paid or received.
See section below regarding VAT (if VAT was included on any of the unpresented transactions that have been zeroed)

VAT Considerations

Was VAT included on any of the incorrectly unpresented transactions that you have zeroed to correct?
- If No, no further action is required
- If Yes, see next point

Have you submitted a VAT reclaim (unregistered - Form 126) or VAT return (VAT registered) that includes these transactions?
- If No, no further action is required (you can go ahead and make a claim/submit the return to 31st March if you still need to)
- If Yes, see next steps:

VAT Form 126 (not VAT registered): You must make an adjustment to the next claim:
- If the transaction was re-entered in the new financial year remove it from the next Form 126 claim (as it was claimed in the previous year)
- If the transaction was zeroed but not re-entered enter a negative amount on the next Form 126 claim to reverse the amount claimed (as it was claimed in error in the previous year)
VAT Registered:
- Q1 will need to be adjusted for the amount that was claimed in Q4 but has since been re-entered in Q1. Please contact us for advice on how to do this.

✅ Summary

If a receipt or payment has been paid or received but hasn't cleared the bank by 31 March it is correct to be shown as an unpresented item.
If not, it should appear in April (or beyond) when it actually takes place. If you are in I&E then you can enter an adjustment instead.
Remember that unpresented items will affect your Box 8 figure on the AGAR so they must be removed if incorrect. When doing so consider the VAT implications.

Still unsure how to record a specific unpresented item? 📩 Contact Scribe Support — we’re always happy to help!