Still sounds like you can get the numbers you need for the tax forms by running reports. If you get a summarized total, you only need to double-click on any number to see the detailed breakdown of that total. You can also modify reports to filter for only the specific information you need. Good luck with streamlining your system.

I guess what I’m saying is that even though QB correctly figures the tax I owe, I still have to fill out the actual form to file with the information neccessary by state, county or city. I can’t just write down the total amount of tax owed on the form, they want total sales minus all tax witheld (state and local) as well as the contractor deduction figured on the form. QB doesn’t do this for me on each agency’s level.

Does that make sense? Even though QB figures it out for me, I still have to figure it and send it in with the totals broken down.

Yes, there is a MUCH easier way than what you describe! Use the Sales Tax Liability summary report, which will break out your numbers by tax groupings. As far as partial payments, as long as your report is on a cash basis, QB will do the calculations for you (this is assuming all coding and preferences have been followed consistently). That being said, if you do have a complicated sales tax situation, you may want to use add-on services that are designed for that purpose, such as avalara.com , since QB does have its limitations and is not designed for intricate sales tax situations.

Each state and local sales tax agency uses different forms for filing, but they generally require the same information more or less. (I’m assuming that the Form E-500 is a state sales tax return?) You will find the information you need from the sales tax reports. You can get to them from the reports menu, but the easiest way to find them is by using the “Manage Sales Tax” icon from the home screen. In the Pay Sales Tax area, click on the link for the Sales Tax Liability report, and specify the time period being covered. You will also want to confirm that the report is on the correct basis (accrual or cash). Generally you need total sales and total sales subject to sales tax. Usually sales made for resale are considered exempt from sales tax, assuming the customers have a resale certificate.

Writing the check is easy with QB, however, I still need to fill out the form to mail in or efile with the correct gross, deductions etc and I have tax groupings set up for state, county and city. Is there an easier way to do this than what I’m doing now? (Currently, I go into each invoice for the period I’m filing for and manually write down how much tax was collected for the deduction). Also, I’ve had a problem in the past with figuring tax on invoices that aren’t paid in full for the taxable period. There has to be an easy way to see how much tax I collected for the partial payment but I can’t seem to find it.

Thanks for your comments and question. Sales tax can get real tricky, especially in a situation where you are dealing with multiple rates. Generally, a simple setup in a retail situation is to use the Sales Receipt form to capture your daily sales, and you would set up your items to separate the types of sales. For example, you would have an item for food sales and make that taxable for the sales tax rate that applies to food items, and then if you have retail products you sell as well, that would be included with a different item, coded as taxable at that appropriate sales rate. Much of how you design your sales capture system for your business depends on how much detail you need to track for your management and reporting purposes. It can get complicated very quickly. If that happens, you may want to consider looking into QuickBooks Point of Sale (not cheap) to integrate with your cash register for cleaner reporting.

Glad the video was helpful. Regarding your questions….

1. Yes, you are correct, QB is expecting % to calculate taxes (Ug, Simple Start – upgrade to Pro as soon as you can. There are so many limitations in Simple Start). You cannot manually adjust sales tax on invoices, but when paying the sales tax, you can make an adjustment. If you must adjust at the invoice level, you may need to create a special item to make the bottom line come out right, and then use the account that item is tied to to make it balance when making the sales tax adjustment.
2. I am not aware of a “bug” on invoices regarding taxable and non-taxable items. Remember, you mark the customer coded as exempt (if they are) AND each item. The bottom of the invoice is based on the customer default, whereas the line items are based on the items chosen. But you should be able to adjust on each invoice as well. Again, I’ve not seen this problem, but if you spot it you can make the adjustment in the Manage Sales Tax area.
3. By now, you probably realize the answer to #3 is yes. And yes, you will tie the adjustment to the appropriate expense/income account.

As you can see, sales tax can get quite complicated, depending on your state laws.