The Sales Tax Payments module computes all sales tax collected from your customers by state for your approval, and lets you print a check to the vendor you have set up as an agent for paying each state's sales tax liability.
You can also review previously-issued sales tax payments from the Sales Tax Payments screen.
To calculate, approve, and issue sales tax payments:
1. Select Sales Tax Payments from the Sales menu to open the Sales Tax Payments screen.
2. (Optional) Click Recent Payments and select a payment from the drop-down list to review a previous sales tax payment.
Information about the payment, including the amount, the payee, the bank, and, for manual payments, the payment date and the check number, appears on the screen.
3. Use the From and To fields to specify the date range you want to view, and select the State for which to make a sales tax payment from the drop-down list.
By default, the drop-down list displays the primary state you set up for collecting sales tax in the Sales Tax Specifications panel of the Sales Preferences screen. The drop-down list displays all states for which you have collected sales tax from taxable customers.
4. Click Select.
The fields in the Sales Tax Details panel calculate and display sales tax information for the period and state you indicated.
§ Total Tax Collected: Displays the total of all sales tax collected on customer invoices for the specified state and period.
§ Amount Paid: Displays the total sales tax payments already made for this period for the selected state.
§ Net Balance: Displays the balance due for sales taxes for the specified date range and state.
5. Enter the amount of sales tax to pay in the Payment Amount field.
By default, the field displays the Net Balance amount, but you can enter another amount, if necessary.
6. Select a vendor designated as a sales tax agent for the selected state from the drop-down list in the Payee field.
You can designate a vendor as a sales tax agent in the Miscellaneous Information section of the Set Up Vendors screen.
7. Select the bank from which to issue the payment from the Bank field drop-down list.
8. Click Record to record a manual payment or click Approve Payment to generate and print a check.
§ If you click the Record button, the Manual Payment Information dialog appears.
§ If you click the Approve Payment button, the Check Printing screen appears, listing the payment in the Checks to Be Printed panel with the entry Sales Tax in the Source column.
9. Enter the check number and date in the Check # and Check Date fields of the Manual Payment Information dialog and click Save for a manual payment.
For a system-generated check, in the Check Printing screen, select the check box in the Print/Reprint column for the sales tax payment and click Print.
The Print Checks dialog appears, with an Adobe Acrobat Reader window displaying the check you selected as it will be printed, with a check number based on the Starting Check Number assigned, and a notation identifying the check as a Sales Tax Payment with the state and date range noted.
Note: Check numbers are not assigned until you click Print.
10. Review the check to ensure it is correct, and add the appropriate check stock to your printer, then hover your mouse over the displayed check to access the Adobe Acrobat Reader Print button, and click Print.
Alternatively, click the Print Later button to cancel printing and print the check at a later time. The check is not recorded and the check printing operation is cancelled.
11. Click Archive to save the check image to Cloud Cabinet for electronic storage.
12. Click Record Checks to automatically enter the check number used for this payment in the Check List.