Of all the areas that QuickBooks® for Mac consultants struggle with, finding and fixing sales tax errors is one of the toughest because we can’t get the detailed reports our Windows’ counterparts have access to within the software.

Some of us – determined to track down those nagging discrepancies – turn to “round-tripping” (converting the file from Mac to Windows and back to Mac) only to find the data scrambled in the process. For others, the conversion to QuickBooks for Windows is successful and provides reports not available in QuickBooks for Mac, but finding the problem provides little relief if fixing it in Windows or Mac is not an option.

Here, we have provided a step-by-step guide for finding sales tax errors and our advice for fixing them. Spoiler alert: starting with QuickBooks Mac 2014, you can use the same “Adjust Sales Tax Due” feature that’s been available in Windows for years.

Sales Tax reporting errors can be caused by:

• Income transactions created with Journal Entries or Deposits
• Sales Discounts created with Receive Payments
• Sales Items mapped to Expense accounts, or Other Income accounts
• Sales tax paid by Check instead of Sales Tax Payment
• Prior period adjustments
• Receive Payments entered in prior periods
• And so much more …

How to Find Sales Tax Errors

Start by creating both a Sales Tax Liability and a Profit and Loss report. The Total Income on both of these reports should the same. If they aren’t the same, make sure the dates and the reporting basis on the Profit and Loss report matches that of the Sales Tax Liability report.

EXPERT TIP: To set the reporting basis for the Sales Tax Liability report, go to QuickBooks > Preferences > Sales Tax

If the reporting basis or the dates are not the reason your Profit and Loss does not match your Sales Tax Liability report, create another Profit and Loss report and filter it for income transactions and compare it to the unfiltered Profit and Loss report. Any differences will point you to the errors on the Sales Tax Liability.