How to Configure a Billing Schedule in The Program
Configuring a Billing Schedule
Billing schedules are an optional function of the program that are used to produce a bill for any Federal or State tax form you prepare with the program. With billing schedules, you can specify billing amounts based on forms, worksheets, and line items. The program will automatically determine the total fees, and can print an invoice with each tax return.
To configure a billing schedule, follow these steps:
- From the Setup menu.
- Click Billing Setup & the Billing Setup screen will display.
There are two Billing Setups available: The 1040 Individual Return Billing Setup is available when you are working in the 1040 program, and the Business Return Billing Setup is available when you are working in the Business Return program. The directions below can be used for both programs.
1. If you do not intend to use the invoicing feature, check the box next to Disable Invoicing which can be found on the bottom right hand side of the screen under the General tab and move to the next section, Local Setup.
2. To use the invoicing feature, under Billing Scheme,
a. Click the Save As button to create a new Billing Scheme. The Billing Setup window will open.
b. Enter a name for the Billing Scheme and click OK. The name for this Billing Scheme will appear on the dropdown list, and it will be assigned a Billing ID number. The directions that follow will setup this new Billing Scheme. Additional Billing Schemes can be created and selected from the dropdown list.
3. Under the General tab,
a. Under Office Information to be printed on each billing invoice,
i. Enter the Company Name on the first line, the Street Address on the second line, and the City, State, and Zip on the third line or;
ii. Click the LOAD button to automatically pull the Company Information previously entered during office setup on the Overrides Tab. Alternatively, enter your proper mailing address in this area.
b. Next to State Sales Tax Rate, enter the proper State, County, or other Local Sales Tax Rate if this applies to you. Check your state and local laws to determine whether tax preparation is a taxable item where you are located and the appropriate tax rate.
c. Enter the Self Prepared Flat Fee to charge a flat fee for data entry and electronically file returns for taxpayers that self-prepared their returns.
d. Check No Prior Year Balance on Invoice to prevent the program from transferring a balance due of the tax preparation fees from one year to the next.
e. Check No Prior Year Overpayment on Invoice to prevent the program from transferring the overpayments of tax preparation fees from one year to the next.
f. Check Don`t Bill for Sch A when using STD Deduction to prevent the program from charging for this form when the Standard Deduction amount is being used.
g. Check Turn Off Default Bank App Disbursement to require the preparer to select the type of bank product disbursement on the bank application.
h. Check Prevent transmit on returns with a balance due to require the invoice be paid in full prior to transmitting the return.
i. Check Disable Invoice Warning Errors to bypass billing verification errors.
j. Enter the Tax Preparation Discount, if applicable, as a percentage. This amount will be subtracted from the total due on every invoice processed under this Billing Scheme. (Example: This may be a Military Discount Billing Scheme that gives members of the military a 20% discount.) An entry for an optional discount for selected returns is also available further below.
k. Enter the Default Hourly Rate you charge for preparing returns if you charge by the hour. If you instead charge by the form, do not make an entry here and use the Form Billing tab instead.
l. Check Bill For Electronically Filed Forms Only if you want to charge only for the forms that are part of the final tax return. Any forms or worksheets used in preparation of the tax return, that do not become part of the final tax return, will not be billable.
m. Check Collect Tax on Billings to add the State, County, or other Local sales tax to the collectable amount of the Invoice.
n. Check No Prior Year Preparation Fee on Invoice to not include the prior year preparation fee on the invoice during the year to year transfer.
o. Check Validate the Prior Year Balance to require the preparer to check the box on the invoice, this will confirm that they are aware of an outstanding preparation fee balance and can adjust the fee as needed.
4. Under the Form Billing tab (for itemized billing by the form instead of an hourly rate),
a. The first item in the dropdown list will be US-Federal.
b. If you charge a fee for every form:
i. Under Per Item, enter the amount you charge for each form. Leave the other columns blank. Example: You charge $25 per W-2. If a client has 1 W-2 Form, he will be charged $25. If instead the client has 3 W-2s, he will be charged $75. If you do not charge for a specific form, leave the amount blank.
c. If you charge a base price for up to so many of one type of form,
i. Under Base Qty, enter the number of forms included in the base price.
ii. Under Base Price, enter the amount of the fee charged if one or more of those forms is included on the return.
iii. Under Per Item, enter the amount you charge for each additional form over the Base Quantity. Example: You charge $100 for up to the first 5 W-2s on a return. If more than 5 W-2s are added to the return, then you charge $20 each. If a client has 1 W-2, she will pay $100 for the addition of the W-2 to the return. If the client has 5 W-2s, she will pay $100 for the addition of the 5 W-2s to the return. If the client has 6 W-2s, she will pay $120, $100 for the first 5 W-2s and $20 for the last W-2.
d. Return to the dropdown list and pick the first state and/or the other federal forms (i.e. AL-Alabama for Individual Returns or US Federal – 1120S for Business Returns) for which you will be filing returns, if applicable. Enter the amount you charge for each state form according to the directions above.
e. Continue to select all of the federal forms and/or states for which you will be filing returns and enter how much you charge for each form.
5. Under the Worksheet tab, follow the directions for each worksheet in the same manner as directed above for forms.
6. Under the Line Items tab, follow the directions for each line item in the same manner as directed above for forms.
7. Under the Discounts Tab, enter a Discount Name, and a Discount Percentage or a Discount Amount that can be applied to an invoice with this Billing Scheme. This is an optional discount code that can be applied while the return is being prepared.
8. Under the Custom Charges Tab, enter a Charge Description and an Amount that can be applied to an invoice with this Billing Scheme. This is an option for customizable charges that can be applied while the return is being prepared.
9. Under the Custom Settings Tab, will display the premium services that you are enrolled in along with the Base Fees and the Add On/Mark Up Fee Amount associated with each premium service.
a. Check Auto Add Audit Protection (Financials Only) to automatically add this product to every individual return that has an associated bank product.
b. Check Auto Add Audit Protection (Non Financials Only) to automatically add this product to every individual return that does not have an associated bank product.
10.Under the PPR Settings Tab, will display the fee that will be charged for each Federal Return and State Return.
11. In the Billing Setup window, click OK to save and exit Billing Setup. You will be prompted to save this new Billing Scheme as a default Billing Scheme. A different Billing Scheme can be set as a default.