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E
Egbert Nosh
April 21, 2026
Question

'Improved' estimates and invoices

  • April 21, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 30 views

Apparently we now have 'improved' estimates and invoices, but I've just spent several hours trying to create an 'improved' invoice that I wouldn't be embarrassed to send to a customer.

On my invoices I have rows that are not a 'Product/Service' or an 'Item/Service'. They are just rows with information in the 'Description' column. This might be a general description of the invoice, or a contract period or a list of serial numbers. This was all fine and dandy under QB Desktop (a far superior product) but under the new 'improved' QBO the system now assigns a VAT rate to these rows, as well as the rows that actually need it. How can I create rows that don't have an associated VAT rate?

    1 reply

    J
    Joemar_BQuickBooks Team
    QuickBooks Team
    April 21, 2026

    I hear you Egbert. You can input text directly into the Description field without selecting a tax rate in the VAT column. This leaves the VAT entry blank for that specific row, ensuring no tax is calculated for informational text while keeping the layout consistent.

    This is how it would look like:

     

    If you have any further questions, feel free to comment below.

    E
    Egbert NoshAuthor
    April 21, 2026

    Thank you for the quick response. This was the case until today, when the 'improved' estimates and invoices were introduced. I nearly always produce invoices from estimates. Even 'description only' lines are now allocated VAT (usually at 20%) on my invoices, unless I remove the VAT column. Something has changed within the system. The upgrade also now introduces a 'Due' column in invoices, for which I can see no purpose.

      E
      ElykaJen_AQuickBooks Team
      QuickBooks Team
      April 21, 2026

      Hello there, Egbert. I totally understand your frustration when an improvement feels like it’s adding more work to your day, especially when you’re used to the streamlined control of QuickBooks Desktop. In the new layout, if you haven’t manually set a default VAT rate for individual items, the system automatically uses the VAT rate specified in the customer’s profile. When you select a customer with a default VAT rate, QuickBooks applies that rate to every line on the invoice or estimate, even description-only lines.
       

      To get your invoices back to looking the way you want, you can adjust the customer's default settings by navigating to All apps > Customer Hub > Customers & leads, select a customer, and click Edit. Under Additional info, uncheck Assign default tax code and click Save.
       

      image.png

       

      On the other hand, if you’d prefer not to display the Due column on your invoice, you can easily hide it. Go to All apps > Invoice > Action gear icon, then uncheck the box for Due date to remove that column from your invoice view.

       

      image.png

       

      If you have more questions or need additional information, don’t hesitate to reply to this post. 

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