Use the UStVA working paper

The working paper is a spreadsheet for one VAT return period, where you reconcile the figures and write notes before you file. It needs the VAT return to be switched on and a client with German tax data (see Set the VAT profile: small business, cash basis and return period). Owners, admins, accountants and bookkeepers can generate and edit it; the tax advisor can open it and download it but not change it; the Excel download also needs the export right (not the bookkeeper).
Open Bookings, choose Reports, then VAT return / ZM, and pick the period in Return period. The panel UStVA working paper sits below the return box table. Choose Generate working paper. Until then it says there is no working paper for this period. You get one paper per period.
The sheet holds one row per return box (Kz) with the line, the Kz, the description, the tax base and the tax, in the same figures as VAT return CSV. These cells come from the bookings and are protected: a save that changes one is refused with "return box cells come from the bookings". To fix a wrong figure, correct the booking, not the sheet. Columns F (Reconciled EUR) and G (Note) are yours: type your check amounts and notes there and choose Save; the version number counts up.
After new bookings, choose Refresh return boxes. It rewrites the return box cells from the books and keeps all your notes; if nothing changed, no new version appears. If someone else saved first, the app says your changes were not saved and offers Reload. Your unsaved edits are not in the version that is loaded: check it and enter them again if needed.
Ask the assistant opens the chat beside the sheet. The assistant proposes changes cell by cell, and nothing changes until you accept them.
Filed here means that every month of the period is closed (see Close and re-open a month); the app does not file anything with ELSTER. When the last month is closed, the paper is regenerated from the books once more and sealed: it becomes read only and shows "Sealed: the period has been filed" with its version, date and SHA-256 checksum, and a copy is archived. Sealing runs a moment after closing; until it finishes, re-opening that month is refused with "being sealed". Re-opening a month never removes the seal; Generate working paper afterwards starts a new paper for the period.
Download Excel saves the saved version as a file named after the period and version (for example UStVA 2026-Q3-v2.xlsx). The status next to it shows Ready, Generating or Failed; if it fails, choose Retry. There is no PDF. Unsaved edits in the sheet are not in the file, so choose Save first.