If a bill has a partial HST, how do I change it without changing the total amount?

Hello Glamorlk,

Welcome to the QuickBooks Community. It's important you get the help you need so you can continue to manage your work with peace of mind. Don't worry, I'll be happy to steer you along the right path so you can continue to do the things you enjoy. 

It's important to note that changing the HST amount on a bill will change the total amount. Are you working with a custom tax code that requires a specific rate? If so, have you looked into setting up and using a custom tax code? Feel free to share any other valuable information that can help me get a better visual of what you're looking to accomplish. You're more than welcome to send screenshots as long you cover any personal information that may appear on the screenshot. 

I look forward to hearing back from you in the comments below.

If your bill has partial HST charged on it you can edit/overwrite the HST amount that is calculated. 

Click in the HST box/field (below the Subtotal) and enter the actual HST charged.  When you SAVE this entry the HST will be saved with the amount you entered.  NOTE: if you make any edits to the entry it is possible that QBO will recalculate the HST and it will be out of balance with your original entry... 

Except when that doesn't work.  In one set of books, every time I overwrite the tax # to balance to the invoice, the programme adds a line to the Expenses for uncategorized income and changes the HST back to what IT wants, with the difference in that new line.  I have looked in all the settings but can't find a way to disable this.

I took this set of books over from another person so didn't set them up myself, but everything looks like it should in the settings

Joining this conversation to share some insights on how tax calculations are applied to transactions, eas924.

When you manually create transactions and edit the calculated tax, the adjustment will automatically update the amount due without adding a new line item or category. 

However, if the invoices are imported from third-party applications, these transactions can behave differently, depending on how the data is formatted and integrated.

Since you already checked your settings, I recommend contacting our live support team. Our team has the tools and resources to assist you further.

You can reach them by following these steps:

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If you have any follow-up questions, please leave a comment below.