This feature is available on all Goodshuffle Pro Plans.
When running a tax report from the Finances tab, you will receive a lot of valuable information.
Here's how you can break down the tax report to show you the information you need.
Starting at the very top, note each numbered section and their respective descriptions below:
1. The method you use to run your report. Learn more about Cash and Accrual reporting here
2. The date range and period of this report
3. Export this report to a CSV/Excel document
Next, let's look at the Summary sections...
4. This row shows you the different tax types in your account. For example, Sales Tax and Rental Tax. You will also see any projects that didn't have tax applied as 'Untaxed' sales. Projects that didn't have tax because the client, company, or project was either Tax Exempt or marked as having a Tax Resale Certificate will show in the final column. You can learn more about marking Tax Exemptions here.
5. This row will show you the total amount you owe for each tax type for the entire country. This is especially useful for Canadian users who need to track GST VS PST.
6. In this example, I can see I did a total of $2088.00 that was marked with 'Rental Tax'.
7. In this example, I can see I owe $96 for my 'Rental Tax'.
8. Here's where you can see a breakdown by State and Tax Type. In the example above, I can see I owe $96 to DC in Rental Tax.
Then, let's look into the Detailed section...
9. Here again I can see this row is dedicated to breaking down the different tax types in my account on a state level.
10. Here's where I can see the total taxable sales and amount owed for each tax type by state. In this example, I see I did $30,737 in total sales in the state of DC at a rate of 6%, with a total of $1844.22 owed to the State.
11. Here again I can see this row is dedicated to breaking down the different tax types in my account on a city level.
12. Here's where I can see the total taxable sales and amount owed for each tax type by city. In this example, I see I did $1920 total sales in the city of DC at a rate of 5%, with a total of $96 owed to the city.
Note: You may see the total taxable sales or owed tax not match if you add all the city totals in a state. This can happen if tax isn't charged on a specific city in a state, or if a city has multiple tax rates that aren't charged at a state level.
For example, Entertainment tax may only be charged in Philadelphia, but not collected by Pennsylvania.
Finally, let's look into the Projects section...
13. Show/Hide projects included in this report
14. Change the different states included in this report
15. This row shows you the Project Information and different tax types
16. These rows show you the details of the specific projects
Note: Hovering over the Project ID will show you the Tax Location used on this project.
I will also be able to jump right back into the project by clicking the ID.
Note: I can see that I had a project that had Rental Tax, but also included some Untaxed Sales. That'd be a prompt that I need to revisit that project to ensure everything that needs tax has tax applied.
Why doesn't my Tax Report match my Client Activity Report?
This is a common question. The short answer: these reports are designed for different purposes, so they calculate totals differently.
The Client Activity Report shows all payments received and recorded on your projects. The "Total Payments" amount includes everything the client paid - taxes, processing fees, and all.
The Tax Report breaks things out differently. It separates your Taxable Sales from the Taxes collected, and it shows amounts before processing fees are deducted.
To find your net sales before fees from the Tax Report, use this formula:
Taxable Sales – Taxes = Net Sales Before Fees
Because the Client Activity Report bundles taxes and fees into one total, while the Tax Report separates taxable sales and taxes into their own columns, the numbers won't match - and that's expected.
Cash vs. Accrual: Which should I use?
The Tax Report lets you choose between two reporting methods:
Cash Report – Shows taxes based on when payments were received. If a client paid in January, that tax shows up in January's report - even if the event isn't until March.
Accrual Report – Shows taxes based on projects with payments during the period. This ties the tax to the project rather than strictly to payment timing.
Most businesses use whichever method matches how they file taxes. If you're unsure, check with your accountant - they'll know which method aligns with your tax filings.
Note: If you're trying to reconcile reports and the numbers still seem off, double-check that you're using the same date range on both reports and the same reporting method (Cash vs. Accrual) that matches your accounting approach.
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