Re: [SL] Adding extra custom reports

[Jeff V. <jv...@ch...>]

On Sun, 2006-11-05 at 20:18 +0000, Ed W wrote:
> Hi
> 
> > Seneca has done quite a bit of work creating a tax module for lsmb,
> > this allows for spiffy things like compounding taxes (in Quebec, QST
> > has to be applied on top of total + GST). There are also folks there
> > who do work for hire, and $12k would probably get you an entire
> > re-write if that's what you wanted. :-)
> 
> :-)
> 
> What I have in mind in particular is adding a calculated tax column for 
> each line of the invoice (instead of calculating it each time).  This 
> seems to be a sensible addition anyway so that old invoices don't change 
> if you change the tax rate...
> 
I think the sales table that records invoices should contain the full
details, including the amount of tax and the rate, since that is fixed
once the sale is made, and should never be recalculated at a later date.
If adjustments need to be made, that is a special case and should be
handled with a GL entry to record the change and have it fully
documented.

One accounting system I worked with recorded the full details for each
sale in each record so that when the document was reviewed at a later
date it never needed to go back and pull the current inventory/parts
information because price changes can screw up the earlier invoice
amounts if the current data is used instead of the historical data.
Any invoice could be reprinted exactly as initially created with no
recalculations needed.

That seems reasonable since once a sale is made it is actually a matter
of immutable historical record.

> In particular I want to have a tick box on each line (as per the 
> Transaction screen) where you can override the calculated tax and change 
> it per row. 
> 
That makes it very taxing on the user to be required to verify each
line, and the rounding that occurs on each line is likely to make the
total taxes for the invoice off by rounding errors.

> The point is sometimes each line can be a penny out if the supplier 
> calculates it a funny way.  Othertimes you want the ability to override 
> the whole invoice to make it non-vatable because the shipment is going 
> overseas.  Second hand sales (and car sales and other margin sales) also 
> need to have funny amounts of VAT charged which are based on the profit 
> margin rather than the entire cost.
> 
Rounding errors are the reason tax is charged on the invoice subtotal
and not per line.
I agree that there should be reasonable ways to manage taxes.
Exceptions may need to be handled differently, but I would not ever want
taxes calculated on a per line basis.  It seems better to make a GL
entry for special cases so there is a record and documentation of
situations that are not taxed in a standard way.
The tax man wants non-standard tax treatment documented for the possible
audit situation.

> I'm sure that there are otherways to skin this cat.  Thoughts invited...
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Ed W
> 
> 
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