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Sales Tax

Set up tax components and tax locations, and control how tax is applied to jobs and invoices.

Sales tax in BranchSite is built from two pieces: tax components (individually named rates, like a state rate and a county rate) and tax locations (bundles of components applied to jobs). A job's tax location decides which rates its invoices charge; each item's Taxable flag decides which lines those rates apply to.

Set up tax components

  1. Go to Settings and open Sales Tax.
  2. Under Tax Components, click New Tax Rate.
  3. Enter a Name (for example, State Tax 7.5%) and the Rate as a decimal fraction — 0.075 means 7.5%.
  4. Leave Active on and click Save.

Create one component per distinct rate you collect. You can also Export CSV and Import CSV to manage components in a spreadsheet — the file needs name, rate, and active columns, components are matched by name and updated in place, and imports never delete anything.

Bundle components into tax locations

  1. Under Tax Locations, click New Tax Location.
  2. Enter a Name (usually a city, county, or district you work in).
  3. Select the Tax Components that apply there — at least one.
  4. Click Save.

The location's rate is the sum of its components, shown in the Rate column. When rates change, edit the component once and every location that includes it follows.

Apply tax to jobs

  • Per job — the job form's invoicing settings include a Tax Location picker and a Tax Exempt toggle. Tax Exempt jobs never charge sales tax.
  • Account default — in Settings under Jobs, set a Default Tax Location; it's applied to new jobs that don't have one of their own.
  • Make it required — also under Jobs settings, turn on Require tax location on job entry so jobs can't be saved without a Tax Location (or being marked Tax Exempt). Recommended once your tax setup is live.

Warning: If a job has no tax location and there's no account default, its invoices charge $0 tax. BranchSite warns you — the estimate totals show "Totals exclude tax — no tax location set.", and invoice generation asks you to confirm with Generate anyway or jump to Configure tax locations.

Which lines get taxed

On an invoice, tax applies to lines that are billable, included, and marked Taxable — discount lines and lines the customer declined are excluded. The starting point is the item's Taxable flag in the catalog (Material items default to taxable), and estimators can toggle Taxable per line on the estimate when a specific line needs different treatment. Job estimates show the projected amount as Sales Tax (estimated) in the totals.

All-in (tax-absorbed) jobs

Some companies quote tax-inclusive prices. Turn on Allow all-in (tax-absorbed) jobs in Jobs settings, and jobs gain a Taxed all-in (absorb sales tax) option: the customer pays exactly the listed price, and the sales tax is carved out of your revenue instead of added on top. These estimates show Sales Tax (included) in the totals.