Setting up taxes

What it does. Taxes tell Better Cater how much tax to add to an event, and which parts of the event get taxed. Food can be taxed at one rate, alcohol can carry an extra surcharge, and labor can be left alone.

When you’d use it. Your first week, to make sure the starter rate is the one you actually charge. Later, when you add a liquor surcharge, or start serving a county with a different rate.

How taxes work

Three pieces fit together:

• Tax rates are the percentages you charge, like Sales Tax at 5%. Each rate lists the item types it applies to.
• Tax categories are the item types: Food, Alcohol, Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Equipment & Rentals, Staffing & Labor, and a few more. Every item in your catalog carries one, so a rate only taxes the categories it’s checked for.
• Service zones group the rates you charge in one area. Each event uses one zone, and that’s what decides its taxes.

Your account already comes with a Sales Tax rate, a Default Tax Zone that uses it, and the standard categories. Most caterers only need to make sure that rate is the one they charge.

Change your tax rate

1. Click your profile icon in the top right, then click Settings.
2. Click Tax Settings in the left sidebar.
3. In the Tax Rates section, click the pencil icon on the rate you want to change.
4. Under Current Tax Rate, enter your rate in the Rate field. Type 8.5 for 8.5%.
5. Click Update Tax.

Once a rate has been used on an event, it locks. You’ll see a “Tax Rate Locked” notice, only the categories and zones stay editable, and the button says Update categories and zones. To charge a different percentage from then on, add a new rate with your zone checked, and uncheck that zone on the old rate. Events you already booked keep the rate they were booked with.

Add a tax rate

1. Go to Settings, then Tax Settings.
2. Click Add Rate.
3. Enter the name, like “Alcohol Surcharge”.
4. Enter the Jurisdiction if you want it on the rate, like California. This is optional.
5. Under Zones, check the service zones where you charge it. Your default zone is already checked.
6. Under Tax Categories, check every item type this rate should tax.
7. Under Initial Tax Rate, enter the percentage. Type 8.5 for 8.5%.
8. Set Effective From to the date the rate starts. Leave Effective To blank unless it expires.
9. Click Create Tax.

A rate is charged on events in the zones you checked. You can change its zones later from the same drawer, or from the zone itself.

Put your rates in a service zone

1. In Tax Settings, go to the Service Zones section.
2. Click the pencil icon on your zone. To cover a new area, click Add Zone and name it, like “Cook County”.
3. Under Select Active Rates, check every rate that applies in that zone.
4. Click Update Tax Zone, or Create Tax Zone for a new one.

A zone’s rates reach events you create from then on. Events that already exist keep the tax lines they were created with, even in the same zone.

Choose the zone for an event

1. Open the event.
2. On the Details tab, scroll to the Taxes section.
3. Click Edit.
4. Pick the zone from Tax zone.
5. Click Save.

When you pick a different zone, the event’s tax lines rebuild from that zone’s rates as soon as you save. Saving with the same zone leaves the tax lines as they were.

Make an event tax exempt

1. Open the event, go to the Taxes section on the Details tab, and click Edit.
2. Check Tax exempt.
3. Click Save.

Event Totals shows a “Tax exempt” badge and drops the tax lines from the total. The Taxes section keeps the rates listed and says the event is tax exempt.

What you’ll see. Each rate shows as its own line in Event Totals, like “Sales Tax (7%) $596.86”, and the same lines carry through to proposals and invoices.

If an item isn’t getting taxed the way you expect, open it in your catalog and check its Tax Category under Tax & Billing. A rate only taxes the categories it’s checked for.