Sales Tax on the invoice level

[sabpham]

Hi! I use Square to send invoices for a business that deliveries a service to clients. Due to that, California requires us to tax based on where the delivery will take place.

Currently, I have to create a tax rate for that city under "Sales taxes." However, when I create an invoice, I have to manually toggle it to the correct city for every single item. I want to know if there is an option to change the tax rate for the whole invoice, rather than for every item. Or if anyone has found a work around.

I know that with Square Online you can set up an online store so customers can order through there. And it automatically calculates the sales tax rate depending on where the order will be sent to, but our business services don't work like that. 

I really like using square, but this is getting to the point where I've been considering a new invoicing platform. Thank you!

[Stacelyn24 · Accepted solution]

Hi there!

I understand how frustrating it can be to manually adjust tax rates for each item on your invoices, especially when California's tax rules require you to apply rates based on the delivery location. Unfortunately, as of now, Square does not have a built-in feature to change the tax rate for the entire invoice at once.

However, here are a couple of potential workarounds you might consider:

1. Create a Service Item for Each Location:

   • One option is to create a separate service item for each delivery location, each with the corresponding tax rate already applied. This way, when you create an invoice, you can select the appropriate item, and the correct tax rate will be automatically applied without the need to adjust it for each individual item.

2. Use Custom Fields:

   • You can also utilize custom fields on invoices to note the delivery location and applicable tax rate. While this won’t automatically change the tax rates, it can help you keep track of which rates need to be applied and ensure consistency.

3. Explore Third-Party Integration:

   • If the manual adjustments become too cumbersome, you might consider looking into third-party invoicing platforms that integrate with Square. Some platforms may offer more robust tax management features that can automatically calculate and apply taxes based on delivery locations.

4. Feedback to Square:

   • I recommend sharing your feedback with Square’s support team. User feedback is important, and if many users express the same need, it might influence future updates to the invoicing feature.

I hope these suggestions help streamline your invoicing process! If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, feel free to ask.

---

[graphicscat]

I am in the same boat and it is incredibly time consuming and infuriating when you have several items you have uncheck 30 different counties for every line item.  Makes no sense that an automatic tax rate would be applied to where the customer is located instead of thousands of line items.

[sabpham]

It looks like this has been a common complaint for the past few years, but Square doesn’t appear to prioritize addressing it. I ended up switching to a new invoicing system.

[kkirk]

What did you switch to? My problem is that I still need it to communicate with square to adjust the inventory.

[sabpham]

I ended up moving to Goodshuffle Pro for my business. It handles my inventory, invoices, CRM, and logistics.