Customer Accounting in QuickBooks

What is Customer Accounting?

Customer Accounting is a new reporting requirement for recording GST obligations in Singapore for sales and purchases of specific goods over 10,000 SGD.

Under Customer Accounting, recognition of GST liabilities as a result of sale is accounted for by the Purchaser as opposed to the Supplier.

A Supplier charges for only of the value of the goods on their invoice, and a purchaser accounts for both input AND output tax on their GST return at the time of purchase.

How do I input Customer Accounting sales and purchases in QuickBooks?

We have created a new tax rate for recording sales of goods under Customer Accounting Rules:

• SRCA-S is used to create sales of goods via sales receipts and invoice transactions.

We have also created 2 new tax rates for recording purchases of goods under Customer Accounting Rules:

• TXCA is used to record input tax at the standard rate, used on regular expense and bill transactions
• SRCA-C is used to record the output tax associated with their purchase, input as an adjustment via a journal entry

These tax rates will be available to use in QuickBooks for any transaction dated January 1, 2019 or later, and will automatically include the required figures on your F5 GST return in QuickBooks.

We have also created alerts in QuickBooks when these tax rates are used to ensure your sales invoices include all the required information, including your customers’ GST registration number and the Customer Accounting Statement.

What are the requirements for a tax invoice under Customer Accounting?

For sales made under Customer Accounting, there are additional requirements to ensure your printed tax invoice is compliant.

These requirements include:

• Including the GST Registration No. of any Customer who is purchasing goods from your business under Customer Accounting
• A statement on your tax invoice that says 'Sale made under customer accounting. Customer to account for GST of $X' where X is the total GST owed by the purchaser.

QuickBooks will display the Customer Accounting Statement within the footer of Invoices, Sales Receipts, and Refund Receipts when the SRCA-S tax rate is used, and will automatically calculate the GST amount within the statement based on your invoice.

How do I set up my tax invoice to display my customers’ GST Registration number?

To display your customers’ GST Registration number on your tax invoice, you must first enable this field within your invoice template.

To enable GST Registration No. for your invoices:

1. Select the Gear Icon.
2. Select Custom Form Styles.
3. Select your invoice template, then select the Content tab.
4. Select the ‘Header’ area of your invoice on the right hand side. This enables content options on the left hand side of the page.
5. Scroll down to the Display section on the left, and select the GST Registration No. field.
6. Select Done.

Once this field is enabled on your template, you then need to ensure you have saved the GST registration number of your customer in QuickBooks.

To check for your customers’ GST Registration number in QuickBooks:

1. Go to Sales then select Customers (Take me there).
2. Select name of your customer.  If your customer is yet added to QuickBooks, select New customer.
3. In the customer record, select the Customer Details tab.

If you see a GST registration number on the bottom right, you are good to go.

If the GST registration number is blank for your customer:

1. Select Edit.
2. Select the Tax info tab.
3. Enter your customer's GST registration number under the GST Reg. No. field.
4. Select Save.

QuickBooks will only display your customer’s GST registration number on your invoices IF it is saved in your customer record.

How do I know if Customer Accounting applies to my business?

There are some pretty specific rules that govern customer accounting, so please consult your Accounting advisor for advice on this query.

Where can I go to learn more about Customer Accounting?

Please visit the IRAS website for Customer Accounting for more information, or speak with your Accounting advisor.