Sales tax group rounding

bspeed · ‎January 14, 2019

So our sales tax =9.2% if I plug in the city tax 2.9% and county of 6.3% =9.2% for the sales tax group

some invoice amounts the sales tax will round up or down a penny.

But if I make a sales tax item of the 9.2% it is perfect.

Is there any way to fix this?

Will it mess up my TPT when filing each month because we collect a few more pennies than we should?

Thanks!

Anonymous · ‎January 14, 2019

Good day @bspeed.

Let me help share some information about the sales tax calculation in QuickBooks.

There are times that a sales tax amount will automatically round up or down when calculated based on the amount of the invoice or sales receipt. If there are a few more pennies collected, you can process a sales tax adjustment to make sure you keep an accurate record of these taxes.

For the detailed steps on how, please refer to this helpful article: Process sales tax adjustment.

This article will lead you on the right track. If you need assistance with the steps, feel free to contact our Desktop Care Support. They can access your account in a secure environment and help you navigate easily using their screen share tool.

Go to: https://help.quickbooks.intuit.com/en_US/contact.
Choose your QuickBooks Product.
Select your QuickBooks Version.
On the Contact Us page, click a topic.
Click on the Get Phone Number button to see the support number.

I'll be on the lookout for your reply if you have other questions about sales tax. :)

Rustler · ‎January 14, 2019

@bspeed wrote:

So our sales tax =9.2% if I plug in the city tax 2.9% and county of 6.3% =9.2% for the sales tax group

some invoice amounts the sales tax will round up or down a penny.

But if I make a sales tax item of the 9.2% it is perfect.

Is there any way to fix this?

Will it mess up my TPT when filing each month because we collect a few more pennies than we should?

Thanks!

This BUG has been in QB since 2006 when I started

intuit knows about it, I posted with a developer how to fix it in 2008, helped him do the code

intuit just does not care IMO since the fix was never implemented.

intuits solution is adjust sales tax payable, and as far as the present sale is concerned, they are not concerned.

Their "fix" is to use a non inventory item set to non taxable to adjust the invoice total up or down.

Anonymous · ‎January 08, 2020

So they expect us to figure up sales tax on every invoice to make sure it's right, then keep track of it with a separate item? I've been dealing with this for years and just send the excess collections to the state. It's bull because why does it round up when you have whole numbers. Not to mentions I collection different amounts of sales tax in NC where counties have different rates. I don't have time to do THEIR job. I pay for accounting software to work. Otherwise, I mind as well just keep a ledger.

This is a pain because I'm using two different systems and they don't balance which makes me have to create another line item to offset the difference. What a bunch of crap! Typical Quickbooks BS.

Charies_M · ‎January 08, 2020

Thanks for joining this thread, Matt K.

I appreciate you for sharing your thoughts about the rounding off behavior of sales tax to some invoice amounts. In the meantime, you can process sales tax adjustment to correct the tax amounts.

While our engineers continue to develop a concrete resolution, I encourage you to visit this link: https://www.firmofthefuture.com/product-industry-news/product-updates/. I want you to be updated with the most recent happenings and future developments of QuickBooks Desktop.

You can always get back to me for any questions. I'm always delighted to help. Wishing you well.

Anonymous · ‎January 08, 2020

Yes. I've already looked over that and I do Adjust the sales tax when something doesn't equal out correctly. However, on a current invoice this becomes an issue. I'm a designer, not a book keeper. Spending more time in my books, keeps me from doing what I'm in business to do. Having to calculate each invoice to recheck QB calculations is ridiculous. I use memorized transactions as well AND have to collect sales tax for multiple counties that have varying percentages. I don't have time to do this and then have to issue credit memos for each one. As the guy stayed this has been an issue since 2006. How many years do you need to fix something like this. 14 years I believe is plenty of time.

Anna S · ‎January 08, 2020

Hey there, @Anonymous.

I'm here to provide some insight into adjusting sales tax.

With the calculations provided above, 6.3% plus 2.9% equals a total of 9.2%. When QuickBooks does the math, the amount ends up being off by a few decimal points. Meaning it rounds up or down to the nearest cent. Allow me to provide an example:

Take the number 6589.67 and multiply it by the two percentages 6.3 and 2.9:

6589.67 X 0.029 = 191.10043
6589.67 X 0.063 = 415.14921

Then add them together:

191.10043 + 415.14921 = 606.24964 or 606.25 (rounded to the nearest hundredth)

If we take the same amount and multiply it by 9.2%, it is the same amount:

6589.67 X 0.092 = 606.24964 or 606.25 (rounded to the nearest hundredth)

The amount is the same in both situations, yet the way that the numbers round can be different. Depending on your invoice amounts, the numbers can differ, causing that penny difference. The taxes will then balance themselves out by rounding the opposite way each tax period. Meaning you don't have to recalculate the tax difference for every invoice you make.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please drop a comment below.Best wishes!

Anonymous · ‎January 09, 2020

That may be true for your example as it is a random number. However, I have an invoice total of $650.00 with a combined sales tax of (4.75% + 2.25%) equalling 7%. I am using Dubsado online platform which calculates the total with tax to $45.50. But QB 2020 Desktop (and all versions prior) calculate the tax to be $45.51. Making the final total to be $348.01 instead of an even $348.00.

Also, you mentioned that QB balances out for each quarter. But that isn't so, as I've been collecting excess tax (and remitting it) for years now. So no, it doesn't balance out. What it does is cause me to have recalculate my sales tax because when I put my total in form NC-500 it gives me the non-rounded up (actual) tax, which means I have to double check my numbers because the sales tax that QB is showing that I have collected is over what the NCDOR says I owe. As you know even pennies make a difference in a balance sheet.

Yes, I would rather owe the money and have collected it, instead of vice versa, but this make it a pain when trying to keep two sets of books. Something that online software has made a really difficult to manage.

bbjacks2000 · ‎January 09, 2020

The problem with the solutions offered so far, is that I sell to cities and states that have to have the invoice received from me, match their PO EXACTLY. So when the sales tax does it "rounding" quirk, they can't pay the invoice and when I try and adjust it by subtracting a penny from the product total, it swings 2 cents in the opposite direction. I am dealing with this right now on an invoice that is over 60 days. My back shop software always figures the sales tax correctly, so I know it can be fixed. It the Quick Books software that can't seem to get it right.

Jen_D · ‎January 09, 2020

Thanks for sharing your insights and feedback, @bbjacks2000,

Having the automatic rounding turned off in QuickBooks is definitely a handy feature when added in the program. This would save time so you won't manually adjust any taxes derived from the invoices.

Our product developers take utmost effort to bring useful enhancements and updates based on what our customer needs. I'm personally sending this request to our engineering team and your vote for this one.

In the meantime, you can follow the suggestion to adjust the taxes manually to ensure accurate tracking on your quarterly returns. Check out the links below based on the program you're using:

QuickBooks Desktop: Process sales tax adjustment.

QuickBooks Online: Create or delete a sales tax adjustment.

If you have any other questions, let me know and I'll be happy to help. Thanks again for checking out our forums and have an awesome Thursday!

LBTPS · ‎June 19, 2020

This rounding problem on tax inclusive invoices have been around for years and despite of numerous feedback, there is no sign of improvement. We import thousands of Invoices using transaction pro into Quickbooks online and have to manually edit the sales tax after importing.

JTK148 · ‎September 07, 2021

Hi everyone, very new to QuickBooks and use SOS Inventory for our stock control etc.

I have noticed this issue too where the total on some invoice on SOS Inventory is out by a penny compared to Quickbooks, however, as we aren't a brand new business and have been running for a long time, we need to make sure that the totals on invoices, purchase orders, etc are all correct.

Currently we have to as a business go onto QB Online and make sure that the amounts are the same for each and every invoice etc, which can't be the best way in going about this at all.

Has there been a fix for this since, or is this still something that is apparent?

Kristine Mae · ‎September 07, 2021

Hi there, JTK148. Thanks for choosing QuickBooks as your accounting partner. I will add a few details.

For now, we're still unable to turn off the auto-rounding feature. I know it's important to some businesses. I suggest sending feedback directly to our software engineers. They love to hear our customer's ideas and take note of it. Here's how:

Click the Gear icon.
Select Feedback.

The more request it has, the more likely it'll be added to the next update.

In the meantime, you can continue creating a sales tax adjustment as a workaround.

Feel free to let us know if you have other sales tax concerns. We're available 24/7 to assist you. Keep safe!

Olivia M · ‎October 01, 2021

I'm having the same issue as well with sales tax collection for NC and counties our company services. I spent half the day today trying to pay sales tax online with the state of NC with no luck. I'll start again next week with this frustration. On the state portal I have to type in my total sales for the month. Next I have to break that total amount into 2 County categories; 2% and 2.25%. Once that's done, I have to take the 2% County amount and separate the amount amongst the counties that we performed a service in. The amounts are not the same as the state's portal and I can't change the tax amount in the state portal. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

JessT · ‎October 01, 2021

Hi Olivia,

Thank you for joining in on the thread. I understand that you're concerned about tax amounts that are being rounded off when using a group tax, and I know you know how to make sales tax adjustments. It's just that you don't want to do it forever. We've established that thought.

While this is something that can't be changed at the moment, I would recommend contacting our QuickBooks Desktop Support team. That way, they can get more information from your company file records for further actions. You can reach them through chat or by calling the phone number in this article: Contact QuickBooks Desktop support.

If you have other concerns, please don't hesitate to go back to this thread. The Community team is always here to answer your questions about QuickBooks. Take good care always!

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