This process is carried out once per VAT number and does not need to be repeated for 18 months
On an MTD enabled spreadsheet the top of the screen has a box into which you type the VAT number:
Having type in the VAT number you click the select new button and that will bring up the following box where you fill in the details relevant to the VRN. HMRC want the detail recorded but in fact the ONLY relevant piece of information is the VAT number itself – we just store the rest and do nothing else with it:
Note that the “Use the Test Sandbox” should be unticked and, for you, I believe the “Acting as Agent” should be unticked as well.
When you click “Save” you will find the prompt on the MTD form has changed:
If you click “Authorise it will take you to the relevant HMRC site for authenticating:
Clicking “Continue” takes you to the page where you enter your Gateway ID and password for the VRN (I have moved to our test gateway to demonstrate this, hence the references to test credentials):
Once successfully signed in you click the “Grant Authority” button:
HMRC will generate an authorisation code and pass you back to a screen where we display the code:
If you click the “Copy to Clipboard” button that memorises your code for entry in the MTD form, if you right click in the token input box you will get the context menu that will allow you to paste the code, equally you can type Ctrl and “V” together to paste directly:
With the code entered into the box you can then click the “Validate” button which completes the authentication by communicating the code back to HMRC:
On successful completion of the authentication process the screen will show:
At this point you can save the spreadsheet and complete the actual submission at a later date.
This process needs to be repeated for each VRN. It is allowed to happen before the registration process is complete.