Consequences of posting to Gst/Hst payable account

Hello Valpaige,

From what you're describing, it sounds like you're looking to enter your expenses, where the vendors haven't given you a detailed breakdown of which items are taxed and which aren't. I know how it can take a lot of time to figure this out, but in this situation, that's the best practice. Here's why.

When you post directly to a sales tax payable account from an expense transaction, it can cause issues with your calculations. When you've entered it in the past, you should have seen this warning message.

If you were to click on the Tell me more about this issue link, you'd be taken to the in-product help article called "Why can't I post directly to a sales tax account." As the brief article explains, posting directly to the sales tax account confuses the program and causes it to mark those sales tax amounts as "unassigned," which can create more work for you or your accountant when filing your sales tax remittances.

Spending the time now to figure out which amounts should be taxed and which shouldn't will make sure that your books are accurate in the long run. If you have similar transactions that you post pretty regularly, I'm sure you'll even become familiar with which items need to be taxed over time and become quicker at getting through this.

If you're not sure how to work through this, I recommend speaking with an accountant to ensure that you're entering things correctly into your books. Don't have an accountant? Don't worry, QuickBooks' Find an Accountant website can help. It's as simple as entering your postal code to find QuickBooks-savvy accountants in your area.

Give me a shout if you have more questions about this process in QuickBooks Desktop.