Sales tax is a setting, not a guess. You choose who works it out, and every copy of an invoice — the PDF, the client's page, Stripe, QuickBooks, Xero — carries the same tax to the cent.
Who works out sales tax?#
System → Finance Settings → Who works out sales tax?
- AspirePro (the default) — you set a tax rate on each invoice, and it applies to the lines marked taxable.
- QuickBooks — offered when QuickBooks is connected and has US sales tax switched on. QuickBooks works out the tax from your customer's and products' tax settings there.
- Xero — offered when Xero is connected and you've chosen the Xero tax rate for taxable lines (on the Xero page).
The choice applies to new invoices only. Each invoice remembers who worked out its tax, so changing the setting never re-taxes paper already out. Disconnecting QuickBooks or Xero while it works out tax switches the setting back to AspirePro, and asks you to confirm it.
QuickBooks can't work out tax while Stripe's own QuickBooks connector puts Stripe invoices into QuickBooks: QuickBooks only sees those invoices after they've gone out. Choose one or the other.
When AspirePro works it out#
The tax goes to QuickBooks or Xero as its own line, for the exact amount, booked to the liability account you choose on that integration's page — never to revenue. Every other line goes as not taxable, so the accounting system can't add a second tax. Invoices with tax can't be pushed until that account is chosen.
When QuickBooks or Xero works it out#
- Lines go across marked taxable or not taxable, and the tax the accounting system comes back with is written onto the invoice.
- The invoice can't be emailed, sent through Stripe or paid online until that tax is back for its current lines. If the system can't be reached, the send stops and says so; nothing goes out without its tax.
- Edit the lines of a sent invoice and its tax is worked out again before it's sent again. Until then it keeps the last tax, and it's never marked paid in full.
- If no tax came back even though some lines are taxable, the invoice says so. That's often right (an out-of-state client), but worth a look at the client's tax settings there.
- Work out the tax here instead on any draft switches that one invoice to AspirePro — for when the accounting system is gone or can't do it.
Tax-exempt clients#
On a company's Finance tab, mark the client tax exempt and say why (a reseller certificate, a nonprofit). Their invoices and quotes then carry no tax, however they're made — typed, duplicated or converted from a quote — and QuickBooks and Xero get every line as not taxable. The PDF shows Tax exempt.
The exemption is recorded on each invoice when it's made. Becoming exempt takes tax off the client's drafts; invoices already sent keep the tax they went out with.
Accepted quotes#
An invoice made from an accepted quote keeps the tax the client accepted. It isn't worked out again by QuickBooks or Xero into a different total.
If QuickBooks or Xero ever shows a different total from AspirePro, it's listed on Finance → Sync and clears itself once a later push matches.