When you set up your sales taxes, whether collected or paid, they will automatically be recorded in the Payable account, Dio. Below are some detailed explanations to help you understand this process.
Once you set up automated sales tax in a province that has Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), you'll see both GST/HST Payable and GST/HST Suspense listed in your Chart of Accounts and Trial Balance for clarity and tax compliance.
- GST/HST Payable tracks the HST you’ve collected and owe to the tax agency.
- GST/HST Suspense is when you mark a tax return as filed in QuickBooks. At that point, the filed amount is moved from the control account into the suspense account. The amount will remain in suspense until you submit your payment to the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency).
This setup means you don’t need to combine collected and paid amounts into a single account for reporting, as the software helps you monitor your tax obligations.
Since these accounts appear separately in your Chart of Accounts, they will also be displayed as such in the Trial Balance report in QuickBooks.
If you want a simpler way to view your tax situation, consider exporting the Trial Balance report to Excel and summarizing both collected and paid HST amounts. However, it is recommended that you do this under your accountant's guidance to avoid any potential complications.
Additionally, if you want to submit your sales tax return online with CRA, please refer to this article: File sales tax in QuickBooks Online.
Let me know if you have additional questions or need clarification about managing your sales taxes in QuickBooks Online. Just revisit this thread, and I'll be happy to help.
