Troubleshooting Sales Tax Amounts and Calculations

How to Fix Sales Tax Issues in Accounting

This KB article talks about how to troubleshoot and fix the following  sales tax related issues:

1. Sales tax amounts or calculations that seem incorrect.
2. Sales tax does not match my hand calculations.
3. Sales tax by line item vs. Sales tax by subtotal.
4. Tips and Other Things to Check
5. Links to Other Resources

Introduction

Total Office Manager is designed with the ability to calculate sales tax by the line item.  Each line on the financial document can be assigned a sales tax item.  This allows the ability to tax each line of the transaction at different rates or not at all.  Sales Tax is then calculated, rounded to a currency value (two decimal places) and written individually to the General Journal.  Since rounding is completed on the calculation on each line a variance can occur, with certain values, when compared to calculating the sales tax on the subtotal.

Options

When this occurs you can correct this variance with the following two options:

Option #1 – No Sales Tax Groups

1. When entering the Invoice Items, do not select a Tax Item for each line entry.
2. For all lines that are taxable, select a taxable Tax Code.
3. After all Invoice Items are entered, select a Subtotal item.
4. On the line after the Subtotal, select the Sales Tax Item that you would normally select in the Tax Item column. This will calculate the Sales Tax on the subtotal just as the technician did in the field.
5. Please note, non-taxable items will need to be grouped together and subtotaled in order to calculate the Sales Tax strictly on the taxable items. For the non-taxable entries, you would select the appropriate Tax Item in the column just as you normally would.

Option #2 – With/Without Sales Tax Groups:

1. Create an Invoice Item that is an Other Charge type. This item will be used strictly for Sales Tax rounding discrepancies. It is recommended that the account you select in the Income Account field is one that is solely for the purpose of tracking these types of transactions.
2. Enter your invoice information just as you normally would, selecting the appropriate Tax Item in the column.
3. After all Invoice Items are entered, select an Other Charge item that is referenced in Option #2 Step #1.

When using Option #2, you may need to make adjustments to your Sales Tax Liability before a payment is created. In order to determine the amount to adjust, you will need to do the following:

1. Run the Transaction Details by Account report for the account that is selected in the Income Account of the Invoice Item that was created under Option #2.
2. If the amount that appears in the account details does not equal zero, an adjustment should be made.
3. A Sales Tax Adjustment will need to be made to either increase or decrease the amount of liability prior to making your Sales Tax payment. In the example below, the TDBA indicates that there is an adjustment -$0.01 that is outstanding in the Sales Tax Adj account.
4. To create a Sales Tax Liability Adjustment, navigate to Customers | Sales Tax | Sales Tax Liability Adjustment.
5. Enter the date the adjustment is effective. This date should coincide with the dates of the Sales Tax Liability you are paying.
6. Enter a unique Entry No, if desired
7. Select the Vendor you are adjusting the liability for.
8. Select the Sales Tax item you are making the adjustment for.
9. Select the account that is selected in the Income Account of the Invoice Item that was created under Option #2 as the Adjustment Account.
10. 10.Select to Increase or Decrease the amount based on the value that appears in the TDBA report.
11. Enter a detailed memo to indicate why this adjustment is being made.
12. After entering the adjustment, proceed with paying your Sales Tax Liability as normal.

Tips and Other Things to Check

1. Remember that sales tax items can be added to each row of a sales/invoice. Each invoice item can have its own Tax Item or Sales Tax Group Item.
2. Sales tax codes help you track taxable and non-taxable sales and/or customers. Setting up and assigning the correct sales tax code allows you to run a report that divides the total taxable and non-taxable sales.
3. The Sales Tax Code can turn on and off the sales tax calculation. In other words, if you add a Tax Code that is set to “Non-Taxable”, that invoice line item will not be taxed, regardless of the Sales Tax Item associated with it.
4. Individual invoice items can have their own default Tax Codes and be set to “Non-Taxable”. Verify that your items are using this feature correctly. Pay attention to Discounts item types. Some users will set them to Non-Taxable when they should not have. If you need to check or fix transactions with a Discount Item, go to that item’s history form. From there, you will have quick easy access to every transaction that used it.
5. Take a close look at your invoices and make sure that the Sales Tax Item and Sales Tax Code selections are correct for each line item. Look to see how Tax Codes are being used.
6. If a Sales Tax Item’s rate is changed and an old invoice (with that Sales Tax Item) is opened and resaved, the sales tax can be recalculated. This might result in an incorrect sales tax amount. Please see Changing Sales Tax Rates.
7. Never use the Write Checks form to pay sales tax. Always use the Pay Sales Tax utility to create the check. Writing a regular check will cause your sales tax liabilities to be over stated.
8. When running sales tax related reports, you have the option of using Cash Accounting or Accrual Accounting. Please keep this in mind when checking or comparing sales tax amounts.
9. Traditional sales tax is never recorded as income. It is money you collect from a customer to pass along to the sales tax authorities. When collected, sales tax is an asset (in the form of cash) and a liability (in the form of an accounts payable). When you pay the sales tax A/P, cash is reduced (credited) and the A/P account is reduced (debited).

Related Topics

Changing Sales Tax Rates

Adjusting Your Sales Tax Liability

Paying Your Sales Tax Liability