VAT Numbers are formatted differently according to their country of issue. For example, Belgian VAT Numbers start with "BE" and contain six digits followed by a dash, then two more digits, two alpha characters and finally a "9". This setting is used to ensure all VAT Numbers entered to Hansa are formatted correctly.

For each Country with which your business trades, use a separate row to enter the appropriate format (VAT Mask). Where a Country has more than one possible format, these should each be entered on a separate row, with a appropriate identifying Comment. 'Paste Special' can be used from the Country field to bring up a list of Countries, to ensure the correct code is entered.

The format of the VAT Number is defined in the Mask field. For example, the Belgian format will be entered as "BE######-##??9", where # means any number and ? means any character, number or alpha. # is obtained by pressing Option-3 on the Macintosh. Note that the validation check is case sensitive, so be sure to enter upper- or lower-case letters as appropriate.

When entering the VAT Number of a Customer or Supplier ('Company' card), Hansa will check the VAT Number Masks setting that the appropriate format has been used, determined by the Country of that Customer or Supplier (also on the 'Company' card). If the Country is blank, the Country from the Company Info setting will be used. If that is blank, no validation check will be made. The validation check is also carried out if a VAT Number is entered directly to an Invoice.

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