How Automatic Tax Calculation Works

MonuDesk can set the sales tax rate on a new quote for you, from the purchaser's ZIP code. You turn this on in Settings → Taxes.

Turning it on

Open Settings → Taxes. In the Settings menu it is listed under Cemeteries & Tax Zones, next to Counties/Zones. The Taxes card ("Control how sales tax is calculated on new orders.") holds Automatic Tax Calculation, marked Recommended. Tick Enabled to turn it on, or untick it to turn it off. The change is saved as soon as you tick or untick the box. A company in Germany, Austria or Switzerland also finds How totals are shown on this card, described at the end of this article.

It is one setting for the whole company, and changing it needs the Edit settings permission. If your company was already using MonuDesk before this setting arrived, it starts switched off; new companies start with it on. A new company whose country is Germany, Austria or Switzerland starts with it off, and its Sales Tax % in Settings → Company Profile starts on the national VAT rate: 19% in Germany, 20% in Austria, 8.1% in Switzerland.

How the rate is picked

With Automatic Tax Calculation on, a new quote takes the combined state and county sales tax rate for the purchaser's ZIP code. MonuDesk reads the ZIP code from the purchaser's address on Step 1 (Client Info), so pick the address from the suggestions as you type it. If the order uses a separate billing address, the billing address's ZIP code is used instead.

On the pricing card the rate is filled in for you. Hover it and it reads Rate is set automatically by Auto Tax Calculation, and the question mark next to it names the ZIP code the rate came from.

If no rate is found for the ZIP code, or the purchaser has no ZIP code, MonuDesk works down the usual steps and uses the first one that has a rate:

• the county or zone rate of the cemetery on the order (Settings → Counties/Zones),

• the Default tax rate of the order's location (Settings → Office Locations),

• your company Sales Tax % (Settings → Company Profile).

With Automatic Tax Calculation off, a rate you type on the pricing card comes first, then the same three steps.

Saved quotes and orders keep their rate

Once a quote is saved, it keeps the tax rate it was saved with. Opening it again with Edit Quote or Edit Order does not re-rate it, whatever the ZIP code, county, location or company rate says today, and switching Automatic Tax Calculation on or off does not change quotes and orders you already saved. The question mark next to the rate then reads Using the rate this order was saved with.

To change the rate on a saved quote or order, click the rate on the pricing card in Edit Quote or Edit Order and type the new one. A reset link then appears next to it; click it to go back to the automatic rate.

Your company Sales Tax %

While Automatic Tax Calculation is on, the Sales Tax % field in Settings → Company Profile is greyed out, with the note Used as the fallback rate when Auto Tax Calculation can't find a more specific rate for a ZIP, county, or office. To change that fallback rate, switch Automatic Tax Calculation off, update the Sales Tax % and save, then switch it back on.

In Settings → Cemeteries, a cemetery with no county then reads No county / zone. Uses tax rate from Auto Tax Calculation.

The rate only decides the percentage. The tax is still worked out from the lines you leave taxable on the pricing card, and switching the order to Tax Exempt still takes the tax off entirely.

How totals are shown

For a company in Germany, Austria or Switzerland, a second setting on the Taxes card decides whether totals are shown net or gross. You set it separately for Private customers (retail, plot owner and family contacts) and Business customers (funeral homes, cemeteries, monument companies, vendors and other businesses), choosing Net prices or Gross prices incl. VAT for each. The card explains: "Net adds VAT on top of the total. Gross shows the total incl. VAT with the net amount underneath, on the pricing cards, invoices and the customer portal. The amounts never change."

Every company starts on net for both, and nothing changes until you switch it. Only a company whose country is Germany, Austria or Switzerland sees the setting, whatever language its screens use. Every other company uses net automatically, does not see the setting, and settings search does not find it. On net, an order for a funeral home, cemetery or monument company is made tax exempt automatically. Once either buyer type is set to gross, that automatic exemption is off. Changing the setting needs the Edit settings permission.

Related articles:

• How the Pricing Panel Works

• How to Set Up Counties or Zones

• How to Manage Your Company Profile

• Setting Up Office Locations