How do I add gratuity to specific service items in my invoices that will automatically add up with a line item total? Much like sales tax for each item..

Good afternoon, @launchlaketahoe. 

Congrats on making your first post here in the Community. Let me share some insight into this subject. 

You can add a service item for the gratuity/tip and include it on the invoice. Before doing so, let's make sure to turn on the feature, so we can select the Undistributed Tips account when you set up the item.

Here's how:

1. Go to the Gear icon. 
2. Select Account and Settings.
3. On the left panel, press Sales and click the Sales form content section to expand the options.
4. Put a check mark on the Tips (Gratuity) box, and choose which option is best for you. This will create a liabilities account for tips.
5. Confirm the template switch, then hit the Okay button.
6. Click Save and then Done.

Once done, let's add the service item by following these steps:

1. Go to the Gear icon. 
2. Hit Product and Services.
3. Click New and choose Service.
4. Enter Gratuity or Tip on the Name field.
5. Select Undistributed Tips under the Income account.
6. Press Save and close.

Then, create an invoice and add the service item from the Product/Service column.

On the other hand, a Tip field will be added on the sales receipt. You can check this article for more details: Add tips to sales receipts.

Let me know in the comments if you have more questions related to tips. I'm just a few clicks away. Take care!

Thank you for the response.  But after following the steps I am not sure it is what I need.  And all other gratuity related comments on the forum seem to be related to applying tips/gratuity to the entire bill/invoice.  

I need to apply gratuity at say 18% to specific items on the invoice.  While others items on the invoice do not get the 18% applied.  As an example, the line item for the building rental fee for an event venue does not get gratuity.  But the line item related to the food/meal does get gratuity.  I then need all of these gratuity specific items ONLY added up and then the gratuity % applied.  Right now I am adding all of the gratuity specific items together, applying the gratuity % and then manually adding it as a line item into the invoice.  The problem is every change along the way leading up to an event may or may not create a change in this gratuity line item.  Which means I am adding all of these gratuity specific numbers multiple times.

Best example for what I need is how sales tax is handled in QB invoicing.  You mark a box for each item.  Either sales tax is applied or it is not applied.  And then all of the sales tax specific items from the invoice are added up, multiplied by the sales tax % and then the total is automatically put into a specific location on the invoice. 

I am looking for this exact sales tax scenario for products/services, but for gratuity and gratuity specific items only.

I appreciate your input from every angle, @launchlaketahoe.

I can see how this feature would be useful since it provides various tasks that need to be done. Please know that you can always submit a feature request to our product developers. Sharing features and options that you would like implemented is how our engineers look for new product updates.

To send feedback, follow the below steps:

1. Go to the Gear icon at the top.
2. Select Feedback.
3. Enter your comments or product suggestions. 
4. Then select Next to submit feedback.

You may also visit our Feedback forum page. From there, you can see a list of other QuickBooks users who already suggested this feature, as well as the recent updates in QuickBooks.

In the meantime, let me share some resources that you can browse and use as a reference in managing and navigating around your QuickBooks account.

•  Video Tutorials for QuickBooks Online - You can watch videos that can help you perform the most vital features of the program. 
• Small Business Webinars and Trainings - Join our live QuickBooks webinars for more in-depth knowledge on how you can maximize the use of QuickBooks to manage your finances.

Feel free to reach out to me if you need anything else. I'll be here to help. Have a good one!