Glossary

Accounting automation and Cyprus VAT glossary

The accounting automation and Cyprus VAT terms accountants and bookkeepers search for, each defined in one to three sentences: from bank reconciliation and line-item extraction to reverse charge, VIES and the VAT registration threshold.

Updated September 30, 2026

Each entry says what the term means and, where Pileform touches it, what Pileform does and where to read more. Tax figures are the ones our guides state and source; Cyprus VAT runs at 19 / 9 / 5 / 3 / 0 per cent.

A

Accounting automation

Λογιστική αυτοματοποίηση

Software taking over the repetitive steps of bookkeeping: reading source documents, entering them, categorising them and posting them to the ledger, with a person reviewing what the software could not settle.

Pileform automates the pile-to-ledger part for Cyprus practices, with VAT checked per line: see accounting automation in Cyprus.

Accounts payable (AP)

Υποχρεώσεις προς προμηθευτές

The money a business owes its suppliers for goods and services received but not yet paid for, and the process of recording and settling those invoices.

Pileform posts supplier invoices as bills into Xero and QuickBooks Online and checks for duplicates across uploads and postings: see accounts payable automation.

Audit trail

Ίχνος ελέγχου

The chain of evidence from a figure in the books back to the source document and the decisions behind it: what was done, when, by whom and on what basis.

Pileform embeds the source image inside the Excel file next to its rows and keeps a posting history of what suggested each entry: see audit trail.

B

Bank reconciliation

Τραπεζική συμφωνία

Matching the transactions on a bank statement against the entries in the books, so the ledger's bank balance agrees with the bank's and every difference is explained.

Pileform reads statements into transactions, proposes a posting for each and matches payments to invoices: see bank reconciliation software.

Bank statement automation

Αυτοματοποίηση τραπεζικών καταστάσεων

Turning a bank statement, usually a PDF, into structured transactions that can be categorised and posted, instead of copying each line into a spreadsheet.

Pileform extracts each line with its date, amount, direction and running balance and proposes a double-entry posting for it: see bank statement automation.

Bill (Xero, QuickBooks)

Bill (τιμολόγιο αγοράς στο Xero)

In Xero and QuickBooks Online, a supplier invoice recorded as an amount payable, marked paid once the payment is matched.

Pileform posts supplier invoices into Xero as bills or manual journals: see Xero in Cyprus.

Bookkeeping automation

Αυτοματοποίηση τήρησης βιβλίων

Automating the day-to-day recording of transactions (purchases, sales, bank lines) so the books stay current without keying every document by hand.

In Pileform every proposed entry goes to a review queue, and anything uncertain is flagged for a person rather than guessed: see bookkeeping automation.

C

Cash rounding

Στρογγυλοποίηση μετρητών

Cyprus rounds cash payments at the till to 5 cents, so net plus VAT can miss the printed total by a cent or two.

Pileform shows the gap in its own Adjustment column instead of bending the VAT figure: see retail VAT in Cyprus.

Categorisation (coding)

Κατηγοριοποίηση (κωδικοποίηση)

Assigning each transaction or document line to an account in the chart of accounts, so it lands in the right place in the books and the VAT return.

Pileform applies your rules first (description, SKU and supplier defaults), then its own suggestion, and adjusts from your corrections: see transaction categorisation.

Chart of accounts

Λογιστικό σχέδιο

The list of accounts a business posts to, grouped into assets, liabilities, equity, income and expenses. Every journal line uses one of its codes.

Pileform seeds a Cyprus default chart or syncs yours from Xero or QuickBooks, per company: see categorisation against your chart of accounts.

Credit note

Πιστωτικό σημείωμα

A document that reduces or cancels an earlier invoice, for a return, a discount or a correction. Its VAT runs the other way from the invoice's.

Pileform recognises credit notes as their own document type, separate from invoices and receipts: see what capture recognises.

Cyprus VAT rates

Συντελεστές ΦΠΑ Κύπρου

Cyprus has five VAT rates, 19 / 9 / 5 / 3 / 0 per cent: the standard rate, two reduced rates, the super-reduced rate introduced in July 2023 and the zero rate.

Pileform applies the rate per line, not per receipt, so a till slip that mixes rates still reconciles: see Cyprus VAT rates.

D

Data entry automation

Αυτοματοποίηση καταχώρισης δεδομένων

Replacing the manual keying of invoices, receipts and statements into accounting software with extraction that produces the same fields automatically.

Pileform reads each page into structured rows, and every amount and VAT figure is computed by deterministic code, never guessed: see accounting data entry automation.

Data location

Τοποθεσία δεδομένων

Where a service stores and processes your data, which decides which data-protection law applies to it and to any transfer.

Pileform hosts and processes documents in the EU (Frankfurt): see security.

Double entry

Διπλογραφική μέθοδος

The bookkeeping rule that every transaction is recorded as at least one debit and one credit of equal total, so the books always balance.

Every journal Pileform proposes is built by code that asserts debits equal credits before it goes anywhere: see posting to your ledger.

DPA (Data Processing Agreement)

Συμφωνία Επεξεργασίας Δεδομένων (DPA)

The contract GDPR Article 28 requires between a controller and a processor, setting out what the processor may do with the personal data and how it is protected.

Read Pileform's Data Processing Agreement.

E

E-invoicing

Ηλεκτρονική τιμολόγηση

Issuing invoices in a structured electronic format through an approved channel. Greece makes B2B e-invoicing mandatory from 2 March 2026 for large businesses and from 1 October 2026 for everyone else established there.

Pileform does not issue or transmit e-invoices; it reads the documents that still arrive as PDF and paper: see myDATA and e-invoicing.

ECB reference rate

Ισοτιμία αναφοράς της ΕΚΤ

The euro exchange rates the European Central Bank publishes daily, widely used as a documented, checkable conversion rate.

Convert at the ECB's daily reference rates with the free currency converter.

Expense automation

Αυτοματοποίηση εξόδων

Capturing receipts and small purchase documents and turning them into categorised expense entries, without a person transcribing each one.

Pileform reads receipts from scans, PDFs and phone photos, splits the VAT per line and groups them per supplier: see expense automation in Cyprus.

G

I

Input VAT

ΦΠΑ εισροών

The VAT a business pays on its purchases and reclaims on its VAT return where it is entitled to. On the Cyprus return it goes in Box 4.

Pileform prepares the VAT return draft from the posted books, for you to check and submit: see VAT return automation.

Intra-community acquisition

Ενδοκοινοτική απόκτηση

Goods bought from a VAT-registered supplier in another EU member state: the seller zero-rates the sale and the Cyprus buyer self-accounts for acquisition VAT, with figures that must agree with VIES.

Check the treatment of a cross-border supply with the free reverse-charge checker.

Invoice automation

Αυτοματοποίηση τιμολογίων

Processing supplier invoices without retyping them: capturing the document, extracting supplier, dates, lines and VAT, checking the arithmetic and sending the result to the ledger.

Pileform reads supplier invoices, checks VAT per line and posts them to your accounting software: see invoice automation in Cyprus.

J

Journal entry

Λογιστική εγγραφή

A dated record of a transaction as its debit and credit lines, with a description. It is the unit in which the ledger is written.

Pileform proposes a journal entry for each document and each bank line, for you to confirm, edit or reject before it posts: see posting and integrations.

L

Line-item extraction

Εξαγωγή γραμμών ειδών

Reading every line of an invoice or receipt (description, quantity, unit price, VAT rate and amount) rather than only the header totals.

Pileform extracts each line, keeps its description in the source language and applies the VAT rate per line: see invoice OCR and line-item extraction.

M

Manual journal (Xero)

Manual journal (χειροκίνητη εγγραφή στο Xero)

Xero's name for a journal entered directly as debit and credit lines, rather than through a bill, a sales invoice or a bank transaction.

Manual journals are one of the two shapes Pileform posts into Xero, beside bills: see posting to Xero.

Month-end close

Κλείσιμο μήνα

The routine at the end of each month that makes the books complete and correct: every document in, the bank reconciled, accruals and corrections posted, then the month reviewed.

Pileform runs the month-end and quarter-end close, from requesting the missing documents to posting reviewed entries: see month-end close automation.

Multi-currency

Πολλαπλά νομίσματα

Books that record transactions in more than one currency, each converted to the currency the books are kept in at a documented rate.

Pileform reads each document's currency and handles piles that mix currencies: see multi-currency receipts.

myDATA

Πλατφόρμα myDATA

The Greek tax authority's (AADE) platform for reporting transaction data, in force since 2021/2022 for businesses keeping books under Greek Accounting Standards.

What myDATA and the e-invoicing mandate mean for a practice: see the myDATA e-invoicing guide.

O

OCR (optical character recognition)

OCR (οπτική αναγνώριση χαρακτήρων)

Technology that turns an image of printed or written text into machine-readable text. On its own it transcribes; it does not check that the figures add up.

In Pileform, OCR is the transcription step only; every amount is then parsed and reconciled by code: see invoice OCR.

OSS (One-Stop Shop)

OSS (Μονοαπευθυντική Θυρίδα)

The EU scheme, successor to MOSS, that lets a business registered in one member state declare VAT on cross-border sales to consumers through one quarterly return at home. It applies above the EU-wide distance-selling threshold.

How the OSS return sits beside the domestic one: see e-commerce VAT in Cyprus.

Output VAT

ΦΠΑ εκροών

The VAT a business charges on its sales, plus the VAT it self-accounts for under the reverse charge. On the Cyprus return it goes in Box 1.

Output and input VAT both come from the same posted books in Pileform's return draft: see VAT return automation.

P

Period close

Κλείσιμο περιόδου

Signing off an accounting period (a month, a quarter or a year) so its entries no longer change except by a recorded correction.

For a Cyprus VAT quarter, Pileform turns the quarter's whole pile into one checked Excel file: see quarter-end PDF to Excel.

Proforma invoice

Προτιμολόγιο (proforma)

A quotation laid out like an invoice, issued before a sale is final. Posting it as a purchase double-counts the real invoice that follows.

Pileform recognises proforma invoices as their own document type: see what capture recognises.

R

Record retention

Διατήρηση αρχείων

How long accounting and VAT records must be kept. In Cyprus, VAT records are kept for at least 6 years; several EU jurisdictions require 10.

Pileform's retention is configurable and country-aware: see data location and retention.

Reverse charge

Αντίστροφη χρέωση

The buyer, not the supplier, accounts for the VAT: the invoice carries none, and the buyer declares the output VAT and, if entitled, reclaims the same amount as input VAT. In Cyprus it covers services from abroad (Article 11) and domestic sectors such as construction (Article 11B).

Pileform flags reverse-charge candidates instead of booking them as ordinary purchases; the boxes and the penalty are in the reverse charge guide.

Review queue

Ουρά ελέγχου

In Pileform, the list of proposed journal entries waiting for a person to confirm, edit or reject, with each flagged row marked and its reason shown.

How a row is flagged and how you clear it: see how review flags work.

S

Supplier statement

Κατάσταση λογαριασμού προμηθευτή

A supplier's periodic list of the invoices, credit notes and payments on your account, with the balance it says you owe. Reconciling it to your records finds missing and duplicated invoices.

Per-supplier schedules reconciled to supplier statements are part of a defensible VAT file: see VAT working papers.

T

TFA (Tax For All)

Πύλη TFA (Tax For All)

The Cyprus Tax Department's portal. VAT registration and returns, VIES declarations and PAYE filings are on TFA; income tax returns are still on TAXISnet.

What goes where, and the return box by box: see filing a VAT return on TFA.

TIN (Tax Identification Number)

ΑΦΤ (Αριθμός Φορολογικής Ταυτότητας)

The identifier under which a person or business is recorded in the Cyprus Tax Department's Tax Registry. To use TFA, it is linked to a CY Login profile.

The Tax Registry, CY Login and agent authorisation: see the VAT registration guide.

U

Unmatched items (reconciliation remainder)

Μη αντιστοιχισμένες κινήσεις

What is left after a reconciliation: a bank payment with no document behind it, or a document with no payment. Each is a missing document, an accrual, a dispute or a duplicate until shown otherwise.

A statement line that no rule or known counterparty explains falls through to manual review in Pileform instead of being forced into an account: see bank reconciliation.

V

VAT number

Αριθμός μητρώου ΦΠΑ

The identifier a VAT-registered business quotes on its invoices, prefixed with its country code. A valid EU VAT number is what allows a cross-border B2B supply to be zero-rated or reverse-charged.

Pileform reads the supplier's VAT number with its country prefix preserved: see Cyprus VAT receipt extraction.

VAT registration threshold

Όριο εγγραφής στον ΦΠΑ

In Cyprus, VAT registration is compulsory once taxable turnover exceeds €15,600 in any rolling 12-month period, or is expected to exceed it in the next 30 days alone. Exempt supplies do not count; reverse-charge services received from abroad do.

Test a business against both limbs with the free VAT registration threshold checker.

VAT return

Δήλωση ΦΠΑ

The periodic declaration of output VAT, input VAT and the net amount payable or reclaimable. In Cyprus it is normally quarterly, filed on TFA, and due by the 10th day of the second month after the period ends.

Pileform prepares VAT return drafts from the posted books; it never files or submits them: see VAT return automation in Cyprus.

VAT-inclusive and VAT-exclusive pricing

Τιμές με και χωρίς ΦΠΑ

An inclusive price already contains the VAT; an exclusive (net) price has VAT added on top. Taking the rate off an inclusive total overstates the VAT: the net is the gross divided by one plus the rate.

Pileform detects inclusive and exclusive wording on the document and keeps the phrase for audit; work a figure through with the Cyprus VAT calculator.

VIES (VAT Information Exchange System)

VIES (Σύστημα Ανταλλαγής Πληροφοριών ΦΠΑ)

The EU system that validates VAT numbers across member states. Businesses also file VIES declarations of their intra-community supplies, which must agree with the VAT return for the same period.

Pileform generates the VIES declaration from the posted intra-community supplies, as a file for you to check and submit: see compliance.

W

Working papers

Φύλλα εργασίας

The schedules and evidence behind a return or a set of accounts, showing how every figure was reached, so any figure can be traced to its document.

What a VAT file an inspector can follow contains: see VAT working papers.

Z

Zero-rated and exempt supplies

Μηδενικός συντελεστής και απαλλασσόμενες παραδόσεις

Neither carries VAT on the sale, but they differ: a zero-rated supply is taxable at 0% and its input VAT is deductible; an exempt supply is outside the charge and its input VAT is not. Exempt supplies also do not count toward the registration threshold.

The rates, the zero-rated basket and the exemptions: see Cyprus VAT rates.

General guidance, not tax advice

These definitions are general guidance for accountants and bookkeepers, not tax or legal advice. Rates, thresholds and deadlines change; confirm them with the Cyprus Tax Department before relying on them for a client.