Collect Government-mandated Fees

Use Non-Inventory Items | Sales Overview | Sales Tax Overview

If you are required to collect government-mandated fees on the sale of certain items, such as for recycling or hazardous materials disposal, we recommend using a non-inventory item, which gives you the ability to track and report on these fees in a variety of ways.

The following is one example for handling this. Adjust this procedure to meet the specific requirements in your area.

Example: Waste Recycling Fee

You sell electronics and are required to collect a waste recycling fee on the sale of each TV you sell. This fee must be applied separately from sales tax and is not itself subject to sales tax. You need reporting capabilities that allow you to track and pay these fees to a government agency periodically.

1. Set up a vendor, with the name of the agency to which you pay the fees collected. (Point of Sale Free users, skip this step.)

2. In inventory, add a non-inventory item:

If the fee varies by TV size or model, you can set up a separate non-inventory item for each or set up one fee item and edit it to enter the fee amount as adding to a sale receipt.

3. Enter information in the item fields. In our example:

Vendor The vendor set up in Step 1.

Department Use the TV department or set up and use a "Fee" department, depending on how you want to track and report the fees collected.

Description "Waste Recycling Fee" or similar.

Attribute/Size (optional) If the fee varies and you are setting up a separate fee item for each, use these fields to identify the specifics of the item to which this fee applies, such as 20, 25, 32, 42, etc. for TV sizes.

Price The fee amount.

Average Unit cost Typically $0. (Point of Sale Free users, skip this step.)

Tax Code Any of your non-taxable codes, such as Exempt.

QuickBooks Information If you want this fee to be recorded in QuickBooks financial software to accounts other than the default for non-inventory items, select the accounts from the drop-down lists.

4. Save the item.

To charge the fee on sales:

1. List both the TV being sold and the non-inventory fee item on the receipt.

2. Edit the fee description or amount, if necessary.

3. Take payment for the full amount due and save/print the receipt.

The printed sales receipt will list the fee and the fee amount.

To report on fees collected:

1. Run a sales report for the reporting period; e.g. monthly, quarterly, yearly.

Tip: Use the General Sales - Vendor Summary or General Sales - Department Summary report, depending on how configured.

2. Modify the report to:

- Change the title (on Header & Footer tab) to something like "Waste Recycling Fees Collected."

- Filter to include only the vendor or department you set up for the fee item(s).

- Include the columns of data you wish to see.

Notes:

- To quickly run this report in the future, without having to re-enter title and filter information, memorize it.

- If you do not want the fees collected to show up in your regular merchandise sales reports, filter the reports to exclude the department or vendor set up for the fee item(s).

- Depending on how you set up the item and your account mappings to QuickBooks, you may be able to run reports in your financial software for these fees.