Is there a way to automatically make billable expenses taxable to the customer when the expense is added to an invoice?

Thank you for this reply, although I should have clarified - We are entering the transactions from the downloaded transactions on the Banking screen. We would like to avoid opening each transaction to check off this box. I don't see a way to check off whether it's taxable from the banking screen.  (See screenshot). Just like the markup is automatic when checking it off as billable and selecting a client, I'd like the sales tax to also be automatic. 

Hi @Kymley,

Currently, there isn't an option to automatically mark an online banking transaction as taxable sales when adding it to your customer's invoice.

In the meantime, you can continue selecting the Tax field or putting a check mark on the Tax column on the invoices of your customers to mark as taxable sales.

I suggest sending the same message to our product engineers through feedback. This way, they'll know how to improve your experience in QuickBooks. Just go to the Gear icon then choose Feedback.

Please know that you can always get back to us here in the Community if you have any other concerns.

Note: I have QuickBooks Desktop Premier 2018

I'm having the same issue. We are a truck-trailer repair company. We regularly have to purchase parts from outside vendors and apply this purchase to a customer invoice. For example, when I enter a "bill" for a bearing from a vendor, I select the customer and check the "billable" checkbox. Then when entering an "invoice" to a customer, I click the "Add Time/Cost" button and open the "Expenses" tab. I then check the billable expense item and add to the invoice. On a "taxable" customer invoice, it always automatically adds tax to the "inventory" items, but not these "billable" purchased items.

Thanks for joining this conversation, BNC.

When creating an invoice from a billable expense, the reason why it becomes a non-taxable is that QuickBooks will detect billable expense as services, which are mostly non-taxable. The option to automatically set them up as taxable is currently unavailable. You need to manually change it as a workaround.

I'll make it my priority that your feedback reaches our Product Developers. They're always looking for ideas from users on how to improve QuickBooks.

I suggest visiting our Blog site. This is where we share recent happenings and future developments, such as updates to newly added features. Here's the link: Product Updates.

Just in case, I'm also adding these articles for future reference:

• Enter bills.
• Create an invoice in QuickBooks Desktop.

I want to make sure everything is taken care of for you, so let me know if you have any other issues or concerns. I'll be here to help. Have a good one!

We use 2019 Premier and have the same issue.

We are repair facility and use billable expense for custom and miscellaneous parts that are not part of our inventory list. For us it would be much easier to have billable expenses marked as taxable, since it would make them non taxable anyway for those customers who are set up as tax exempt.

Thanks for taking the time posting your concern here in the Community, @alex706.

I understand how the option to automatically set up the billable expense as taxable would be beneficial to your business. Finding new ways to adapt to our customers’ needs is how QuickBooks gets even better. 

Your feedback helps our Product Development team decide which feature will be implemented on the next future update. I'll make sure to take note of this and will inform you once we receive product enhancement update about the availability of this option.

In the meantime, you can manually change the billable expense as taxable as a workaround. 

Please know that you're always welcome to post again if you have any other concerns related to QuickBooks. The Community will always here to help you out. Have a good day ahead.