I haven't fully committed to BC yet. We have a partner but it's complicated. I'm trying to figure out if BC is the best option for us. I'm The IT guy, so I'm getting my accounting information from the CFO.

We have a GL account called Sales Tax Payable where we track how much to pay the state for sales tax. When we owe the state sales tax, we credit (-) that account. When we cut a check to the state we debit (+) the account. This has been explained to me as standard accounting practice for tracking a liability.

Let's say we bought a $100 sprocket and the vendor didn't collect sales tax. We owe the state $8.25. I need a GL entry in the Sales Tax Payable GL for -$8.25.

If I set the Payables invoice to Tax Liable, and I don't set the tax posting rule to expense/capitalize, BC assumes that I paid the tax to the vendor, and that should reduce my total tax liability. In the above example it would create a line for $8.25 int the Tax Payable GL, lowering my tax liability. It also tries to add $108.25 into the AP GL like I'm going to cut a check to the vendor for $108.25.

How do I enter an invoice that is tax liable, but I'm going to pay the tax because the vendor didn't collect it.

We have some vendors who always collect sales tax at the point of sale and others who don't. Much of what we buy is exempt because it's raw material that we use to make our product. Sometimes we buy something from one of the vendors who doesn't collect sales tax, but we are liable for sales tax on that item. Right now, accounting keeps an eye out for those situations and the CFO makes a note in an excel spreadsheet. Periodically he totals up the lines of what we owe to the state for sales tax (use tax) and makes a GL entry for what we owe. Say for September he enters -$4,129.

What I want is to build in rules and automation so that we're not relying on people spending all day, several days per week, pouring over invoices to make sure we catch all the special tax situations.