Skimmer Billing - Tax Settings

To learn how to manage tax settings for Skimmer Billing, see the video below. Or, if you prefer, scroll past the video to view our step-by-step text instructions.

Step-by-step instructions . . .

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If you need to collect taxes when you bill a customer, Skimmer’s here to help. With Skimmer Billing, you can create settings that will help you collect the right taxes for each customer every time. Here’s how to do it. On the website, go to Settings and then Taxes. Right away, you’ll see we have two boxes – Tax Rates and Tax Groups. 

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Let’s start with Tax Rates. Skimmer gives you the ability to create and label unique tax rates. If you live in an area where certain taxes are applied over and over again, this is great because you only have to create that tax rate once, and then you can apply it to any customer invoice. You can also create tax rates for taxes that are applied on a more limited basis. For instance, maybe in your service area there’s one specific county that charges a certain tax, and only your customers from that county need to pay it. Here, you can create a tax rate specifically for what that county requires. Whatever tax rates you need, Skimmer Billing allows you to set them up and bill specifically for each of them.

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Here’s how to create a new tax rate. In the Tax Rates box, click the Add button and the Add Tax Rate window will appear. Enter a name for the rate, then enter the percentage, then click save. Now our new tax rate is set up. If you decide you don’t need it anymore, click the trash can icon, confirm deletion, and it’s gone.

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Now let’s talk about Tax Groups. Put simply, a Tax Group is a combination of Tax Rates. So, you create Tax Rates, then use them to build Tax Groups. Then you’ll apply these Tax Groups to service locations, and those taxes will be calculated when generating invoices. So for instance, if a city in your service area has a specific combination of tax rates, but a county has a different combination, these Tax Groups allow you to accommodate both. You can apply the appropriate group to each service location, and that set of taxes will be calculated for each invoice. You’ll see this in action when you watch the video on generating invoices. For now, we’ll focus on creating a Tax Group.

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In the Tax Groups box, click the Add button and the Add Tax Group window will appear. First, enter a name for this group. Then, look at the Select Rates box, and note that you can choose from the Tax Rates you’ve already created. Make your selections, and you’ll see the total combined rate displayed at the bottom. Once you have what you need, click Save, and the new Tax Group is now available. You can now assign this Tax Group to customer service locations, and Skimmer Billing will calculate those taxes when you generate invoices. If you decide this new Tax Group isn’t necessary after all, just click the trash can icon, confirm deletion, and it’s gone.

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So, now we have our Tax Groups. How do we apply them to service locations? We’ll show you two ways. First, here’s how to do it for individual customers. Go to the Customers tab and select their name. Once you’re in their profile, find the Service Location box and click Edit. On the edit screen, click the dropdown box labeled Sales Tax Group, and you’ll see the groups you’ve already built. Choose one, then click Save. Now, looking at the customer profile and this specific location, you can see that we’ve chosen a sales tax group.

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The second way makes it easy to apply changes in bulk. Go to Customers, then click Service Rates in the top right corner. This takes you to a screen showing all customers and service locations. Note the column to the far right, labeled Sales Tax Group. For any location, you can open the dropdown box and select a group. Or you can click the checkbox on the left for multiple customers, click the Bulk Update button, and apply a new Tax Group to multiple locations at once.

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So, that’s an overview of Tax Rates, Tax Groups, and how to apply a Tax Group to service locations. You’ll see all of this in action on the invoice generation videos. As you set up your rates and groups, it’s important to note that Skimmer does not advise any business on what you should or should not be taxing, or what tax rates you should be charging. It’s up to each business to obtain that information for your specific area, populate the required rates, and apply them to locations properly. Skimmer provides the ability and the flexibility, but not tax governance or assurance. That’s for each business and your financial advisor to determine.