Getting Intrastat reporting right in Business Central depends on a few key setups you make before you ever run a report. If you define country/region codes correctly, maintain tariff numbers and net weight on your items, and make sure transaction types are filled in on sales and purchase documents, the reporting itself becomes much simpler.
The most common Intrastat error is reporting trade to your own country. You avoid this by removing the Intrastat code from your own country/region in the country/region table.
You should set the tariff number and net weight on the item card so the values flow automatically and you don’t have to enter them on every journal line.
You should require your salespeople and purchasers to choose the correct transaction type on every sales and purchase document, so the information is already in place when you report.
Remove the Intrastat code from your own country/region
The first setup is a one-time job and easy to handle. Go to the country/region table and check the Intrastat Code column. Make sure your own country/region is not set up with an Intrastat code.
If your own country has an Intrastat code, you will end up reporting Intrastat for trade within your own country, which you should not do. Delete the Intrastat code from your own country/region, and that part is taken care of.
Set tariff number and net weight on the item card
Next, go to your items. On each item card you need to define a tariff number and a net weight to make the reporting run smoothly.
You find the net weight on the inventory tab. If you show all the fields, you can enter the net weight there, and you should do this for all items.
The tariff number sits on the costs & posting tab. Set it up for all items as well.
The benefit of maintaining these two values on the item card is that you won’t have to set them up on every line in the journal later. This is an important setup if you are going to report Intrastat.
Enter the transaction type on sales and purchase documents
The final piece is to make sure the transaction type is filled in on your trade documents. Your salespeople need to enter the transaction type on all sales documents, and your purchasers need to do the same on the purchase documents. This covers both the inbound and outbound side.
You find the transaction type on the invoice details tab of the document. For example, on a sales order to a customer, open the invoice details and select the transaction type.
If you use the standard setup we provide, you get a list of all the basic transaction types that are used, and you just pick the correct one.
The key is to make your salespeople choose the transaction type correctly, or have your inventory people do it when they ship the item. When the transaction type is already on the document, you won’t have to fill it in during the Intrastat reporting, and that saves you a lot of work.
Q&A
Why should I remove the Intrastat code from my own country/region?
If your own country/region has an Intrastat code in the country/region table, Business Central will report Intrastat for trade within your own country, which you should not do. Delete the Intrastat code from your own country/region to avoid this.
Where do I set the tariff number and net weight for Intrastat?
Set them on the item card. The net weight is on the inventory tab (show all fields), and the tariff number is on the costs & posting tab. Maintaining them on the item card means you don’t have to enter them on every journal line.
Where do I enter the transaction type for Intrastat?
On the invoice details tab of each sales and purchase document. Your salespeople and purchasers should select the correct transaction type when creating the document, so it is already in place when you run the Intrastat reporting.
How do I know which transaction type to choose?
If you use the standard setup provided, you get a list of all the basic transaction types in use, and you select the correct one from that list.