When you first receive pcs Odyssey, there are two predefind tax codes

This document pertains to pcs Odyssey Version 4.51 Build 10 or higher.

When you first receive pcs Odyssey, there are two predefined tax codes.  Tax codes are used because they 
tend to be easier to remember, especially if you have many taxing agencies.  Once you establish a tax code, 
a rate can be entered with an effective date.  The effective date will NOT be used with the first tax rate you 
enter as it is assumed to be now or the current tax.  New tax rates
 and effective dates can be entered when new tax rate changes are required.

The first tax code in the database is “NO”.  This is used for Non taxable sales and has no tax rate.  
This code CANNOT be changed or removed.

The second tax code is “ST”, for State Sales Tax.  This is the code you will change the tax rate to match 
the tax code of your state.  Note:  Once a tax code has been used on an invoice, it can no longer be 
removed from this list.

If you have a County, City or some other tax that is charged separately, but at the time of sale, those can 
also be accommodated.  Just be sure to add any tax codes you need to the tax code file by following the 
instructions in the {Help}.  We’ll show you later how multiple tax codes are used on an invoice.

The first step in the pcs Odyssey tax hierarchy is to establish your tax code and rates, as previously described.

pcs Odyssey uses a simple and straightforward method of applying taxes to invoices. This is accomplished by setting a default tax code in the Setup section of pcs Odyssey. This tax will be used in sales when creating an Invoice, Work Order or Rental ticket without the need of making any other changes. We will cover specific examples of how to set up unique tax situations later in this document.

Even though pcs Odyssey provides many places to ADD over-ride taxes, unless it is absolutely necessary to do so, no other taxes need to be entered other than in this section.

Up to three tax codes may be entered and will be applied to an invoice. Please NOTE:, the “NO” tax code can only be used under the Default Tax 1 field. If it is entered in any other field, it will be ignored.

You will also note just to the right, the section that says “Misc Charge Defaults”. Well, when you are working on an invoice (Work Order or Rental, all the same), you can select Misc Charges. If your state requires any of these charges to be taxed, then you must check the “Taxable” box. Do this for the first four tabs. Now that they are set as “Taxable”, left click on the {OK} button.

Now that the default tax codes have been established for basic sales, other tax handling techniques and options will be discussed.

Before we get into how the tax code works on the invoice, we are going to look at specific areas where charging tax can be turned on or off and setting new tax codes. The first one will be Customers.

The first place we will check out is the customer screen. To get there, left click on the large Customer Invoicing button at the left of the screen. Now, left click on Customers under the data maintenance section. You will be presented with a list of customers. You have added customers, haven’t you? If not please do so now.

From the list, highlight a customer and left click on the {Change} button. You will see a screen similar to the following:

The circled box indicates the area where override taxes can be entered. Tax Codes 1 – 3 are used the same as those in the Setup section of the program.

The “Tax Exempt Number” is simply used to store the customers Exempt Number. Nothing else is done with it.

The “Always Use These Taxes?” check box is unique. When this box is checked, it tells pcs Odyssey that no matter what the tax code is, to override them with the tax code entered here.

For example; most farmers in many states are considered Non-taxable for 95% of the items they buy. However, there are some items that are taxable and they must pay the tax for them (there is a tax override in inventory which we will discuss later). So, under Tax Code 1, you would use the tax code “NO” and leave the “Always Use These Taxes?” blank.

Another example; if you deal any with local or state agencies, they are NOT subject to any tax. That means they don’t fit in the example above. With them, you will enter under Tax Code 1 the “NO” tax, but this time, you WILL check the “Always Use These Taxes”. Other than a manual override when invoicing, this is the top-level tax control.

Now, let’s move on to inventory.

To get to inventory, left click on the large Inventory button on the left.

The reason we are here is because there may be instances where you want a specific inventory item either to be always taxable or use a different tax. So, what we are going to do is to show you how to set up an inventory item with an override tax.

Now, left click on Inventory under the data maintenance section. You will be presented with a list of inventory. Highlight any item and left click on the {Change} button. When the “Maintain Inventory Part” screen is displayed, go to the bottom of the screen and left click on the {Options} button. Your screen will now look similar to the following.

Left click on the first option, Override customer taxes… , and the next screen will look similar to the following;

The rules for entering tax codes in this section are the same as previously described. Click on the {OK} button and the changes will be saved. NOTE: Just remember, the only time this tax code can be overridden, is at the time the inventory item is sold, either manually or when the customer tax code has the “Always Use These Taxes” flag turn on.

The next area we will look at will be Labor Codes in Work Order. Left click on the large Work Order button at the left of the screen. Now, left click on the sixth button down entitled Labor Codes. Highlight any item and left click on the {Change} button. You will get the following screen:

By default, Labor Codes are NOT taxable. You will note in the preceding example, the circled section on the right, the “NO” in the tax code field (these fields are disabled at this point).

If your local taxing agency requires you to charge tax on labor, then check the box next to the Labor Code that says “Taxable?”. Now the tax code box on the right hand side will be enabled. This will provide you an opportunity to enter a tax code that is different than your pcs Odyssey system default code. Some states charge a different tax on labor than they do on products.

Now then, let’s close out the Labor Codes and go back to the Work Order menu. The next button down, Warranty Providers. Left click on the button and when the “Browse the Warranty Provider file” window appears, left click on the {Add} button. You will see a screen similar to this:

Warranty Providers are considered Non Taxable and by default, are treated as such in pcs Odyssey. While it is a rarity for a Warranty Provider to be charged tax, we do provide the means for taxing a Warranty Provider. Entering the tax codes here follow the same rules as previously described.

OK, we are done with Work Order, so on to Rental.

Left click on the large Rental button at the left of the screen. Now, left click on the sixth button down entitled Rental Inventory. Highlight any item and left click on the {Change} button. When the “Update Rental Inventory” screen is displayed, go to the bottom of the screen and left click on the {Override Taxes} button. Your screen will now look similar to the following.

You will note that this screen looks just like the Tax Override screen in regular inventory. It works just the same as well.

Let’s close out all the screens until we are back to the main pcs Odyssey menu. Now we move on to the meat of the whole thing. Invoicing.

We are going to cover only Invoicing, as what we will cover will pertain to Work Orders as well as Rental.

Left click on the large Customer Invoicing button at the left of the screen. Now left click on “Add Invoice”. We will start off with a ‘Cash’ invoice. How do we know that? By not entering a customer. A cash invoice will use the system default tax code.

Let’s add a part by left clicking on {Add Part}. We’re going to use part number 12 017 01, keep the quantity of 1, then cleft click on the {OK} button.

As you can see from the following screen shot, 6% tax has been added to the invoice.

NOTE: All tax calculations are per entry, not per the invoice. Depending on the rounding, this will occasionally cause confusion if a person tries to calculate the tax based on the invoice. Since each item has the ability to be individually taxed with a different tax rate, this method MUST be used. Additionally, it is legal and is the preferred method by all 50 US States and the Provinces of Canada.

Now, we’ll add another part, except we’ll do a tax override. Again, left clicking on {Add Part}. This time we will use part 12 041 01. Instead of left clicking on the {OK} button, THIS TIME we will left click on the {Chg Tax} button at the bottom of the screen. Left click on the “Override Default Taxes” flag and the current tax is displayed. Press the <Tab> key and the tax code under the {Tax Code 1} field will be highlighted. Type in NO and press the <Tab> key again.

Now, left click on the {< Back} button, then left click on the {OK} button.

You will note that the part 12 041 01 now shows “Override” under the “Tax” column and that the invoice tax rate has not changed. Since the part is highlighted, you will also note in the lower left of the screen that the item as shown being Non-taxable. All tax codes for any highlighted item will be displayed there.

We are going to “Cancel” this order, so left click on “Cancel Order” and answer “Yes, I’m sure”.

Left click on “Add Invoice” and this time we are going to select a customer. Using our example data base, we’re going to select the customer Barton, Jarod, except we’re going to change his tax status to NO, Non-taxable. As previously described, we’ll highlight his name then left click on the “Change” button. Then left click on the {Tax Code 1} field and back space out the ST tax code. Now, let’s type in NO, and left click on the {OK} button. From the “Browse Customers” screen, left click on the {Select} button.

We’re going to use the same two part numbers that we previously used and add them to the invoice. This time we are going to do something different. Left click on the {Options} button at the bottom of the screen, then left click on {Miscellaneous Charges}. You will have a screen similar to the following displayed:

You will notice the circled area. The tax code is ST. If you remember earlier, in the Setup section, we set all Miscellaneous Charges to be taxable. In the case of this invoice, the customer is Non Taxable but the state requires that Misc. charges like these to be taxable. Left click on the “OK” button.

As you can see, the totals section now includes the Shipping charges with tax charged.

On to another example invoice. Let’s “Cancel” this order, so left click on “Cancel Order” and answer “Yes, I’m sure”.

Left click on “Add Invoice” and this time we are going to select a different customer. Again using our example database, we’re going to select customer Laplink, Larry. You’ll notice that the invoice defaulted to the system-defined tax of ST. Again, we’ll add the same two parts that we have previously used. We’ll also add the same Miscellaneous Charge that we previously used.

This time we’re going to add a twist to it. Left click on the {Options} button at the bottom of the screen, then left click on {Modify Tax Rates}. You will have a screen similar to the following displayed:

As you can see, the current ST tax code is displayed. What we are going to do is to change the ST code to NO and make the entire invoice Non-taxable. Once the change is made, click on the {OK} button and view the results.

Let’s do one more invoice and as mentioned earlier, it will be using multiple taxes. We’ll “Cancel” this order, so left click on “Cancel Order” and answer “Yes, I’m sure”.

Left click on “Add Invoice” and this time we are going to select a different customer. Again using our example database, we’re going to select System, Patrick, who has two tax codes assigned. You’ll notice that the invoice defaulted to the customer tax of ST and CO. Again, we’ll add the same two parts that we have previously used.

As you can see from the following, both taxes are added to the totals box.

Now that you have a good understanding of the use and implementation of tax codes in pcs Odyssey, you should be able to understand the few other areas we did not cover.

The final issue that we will cover is the Sales Tax Report.

Left click on the large General Reports button at the lower left of the screen. Now left click on “Sales Tax”.

You will be presented with a screen asking for the month and year that the tax report is to report on. Enter the month, 1 through 12 and the current year. Left click on the “GO” button and processing will start. The report could take a bit of time as each entry from the various invoices is checked and calculated.

The following describes the results of you tax report.

NOTE: Remember. You cannot just multiply the Taxable Amount by the tax rate and get the Tax Liability. The Tax Liability will NOT match. This is NOT a totals based but an item by item tax amount.

A. The ?? Deleted tax code line accumulates any information that has a lost code or a valid tax code cannot be found. This is the result of deleting a tax code that has been previously used, lost or bad data, computer lock ups, unusual program errors or power outages.

B. Invoices that were set as non-taxable are accumulated here. This total may include shipping charges, any Work order delivery charges, or any other items flagged as non-taxable.

C. This is the total amount of the TAXABLE items plus the tax amount for this tax code.

D. This is the Year to Date and Month to Date total sales, including taxes.

E. This is the Year to Date and Month to Date total sales, excluding taxes.

F. This is the amount that the tax liability is based on. This is for each tax code.

G. This is the actual amount of the tax collected, straight from the invoice. Right or wrong, it came from the invoice! We do not recalculate this figure as it is the amount that goes to Accounts Receivable and eventually to the General Ledger. The YTD and MTD amounts are what are owed to the government agencies.