Set up taxes

A tax tells WbizManager the rate to apply, the account the tax posts to, and whether it adds to the document total or takes something off it. Once a tax is active, you can choose it with Add Tax on an invoice or bill.

Steps

1. Open Settings › Taxes

   In the menu on the left, select Settings, then Taxes. You see every tax your company has set up. Select Add New. The Create New Tax panel opens on the right.

   

   1. Taxes in the Settings menu.
   2. Export to Excel downloads the tax list as a spreadsheet.
   3. Upload vendors › Upload Data adds many taxes at once from a spreadsheet (see Add many taxes at once). The button really is labelled Upload vendors on the Taxes screen.
   4. Add New opens the Create New Tax panel.

   If you have no taxes yet, the list says No taxes yet and shows an Add tax button instead.

   If you don't see Add New, your role can't create taxes. If you don't see Upload vendors, your role can't import taxes. Ask your administrator.

2. Name the tax and set its rate

   • Tax Name: what people see when they pick the tax, for example VAT 7.5%.
   • Tax Code: a short code, for example VAT75. Each code can be used only once.
   • Rate: the percentage, from 0 to 100. For 7.5%, enter 7.5.

   

   1. Tax Name, Tax Code and Rate.
   2. Account: where the tax posts (next step).
   3. Tax Type: where the tax shows in reports.
   4. Effect on Total: whether it adds to or comes off the total.
   5. Save creates the tax.
3. Choose the account

   In Account, choose the account the tax posts to, for example VAT Payable. Transaction Type fills itself in from the account (Credit or Debit). You can leave it as it is: when a document posts, WbizManager works out the right side of the ledger for you.

4. Choose the tax type

   Tax Type decides where the tax appears in the tax summary report:

   Tax Type	Use it for
   VAT	Value added tax
   Withholding tax (WHT)	Tax your customer deducts and pays to the tax authority for you
   NCD levy	The Nigerian Content Development levy
   Cabotage levy	The cabotage levy

5. Say what the tax does to the total

   Effect on Total has three choices:

   • Addition: the tax is added to the total. Use this for VAT.
   • Subtraction: the tax is taken off. Two more choices appear (see the next step).
   • None: treated the same as Addition.

   Leave Compute On on Subtotal.

6. For a deduction, choose how it's taken off

   If you chose Subtraction, pick a Subtraction Effect:

   • Reduces invoice total (customer owes less): the invoice total goes down by the tax.
   • Withheld at source (customer pays less cash, owes the same): use this for withholding tax. The invoice total stays the same, but you expect less cash because the customer pays part of it to the tax authority for you. Choose a Withholding Receivable Account, where the withheld amount is recorded as tax you can claim back.

   

   1. Effect on Total: Subtraction.
   2. Subtraction Effect: Withheld at source.
   3. Withholding Receivable Account: where the withheld amount is recorded.
7. Save

   Select Save. You'll see Tax created successfully!, and the tax appears in the list as Active.

Add many taxes at once

If you have a lot of taxes to set up, fill them in on a spreadsheet and upload it. Each row is checked first, and nothing is created until you say so.

1. Open the bulk upload

   On the tax list, select Upload vendors, then Upload Data. (The button is labelled Upload vendors even on the Taxes screen.) The Bulk upload taxes window opens.

   

   1. Download template gets the empty spreadsheet.
   2. Choose your filled-in file (Excel .xlsx only).
   3. Check file checks every row. It creates nothing.
   4. Create all creates the taxes. It stays greyed out until every row is valid.
2. Fill in the template

   Select Download template and open the file. It has a Taxes sheet to fill in and a How to fill sheet that explains each column. Put one tax on each row.

   Column	What to enter
   Tax Code	Required. Must not already be used in your organisation, or appear twice in the file. Up to 50 characters.
   Tax Name	Required. The name shown on invoices and bills.
   Rate	Required. A percentage from 0 to 100, for example 7.5.
   Tax Type	Optional. VAT, WHT, NCD or Cabotage.
   Effect on Total	Required. Addition, Subtraction or None.
   Subtraction Effect	Only for Subtraction: Reduces invoice total (the same as leaving it empty) or Withheld at source. Leave it empty otherwise.
   Account	Required. The code or exact name of an active posting account.
   Withholding Receivable Account	Required when the tax is Withheld at source, and left empty otherwise. The code or exact name of the account.
   Transaction Type	Required. Credit or Debit.
   Active	Optional. Yes (the same as leaving it empty) or No.

3. Upload and check the file

   Choose your file, then select Check file. A message tells you Every row is valid. or how many rows need correcting, and a table lists each row with its Row, Tax code, Tax name, Rate (%), Status and Details.

   Status	What it means
   Ready	The row is valid and can be created.
   Needs correcting	Something is wrong. Details says what.
   Created	The tax was created.
   Not saved	The row was valid, but the tax could not be created. Details says why.

   If rows need correcting, fix them in the spreadsheet, choose the file again and select Check file again.

4. Create the taxes

   • When every row is Ready, select Create all. The number in brackets is how many taxes will be created.
   • If only some rows are ready, Create all stays greyed out ("Every row must be valid to create all rows"). You can correct the file, or select Create valid rows only to create just the ready rows and leave the rest.

   You'll see how many taxes were created, and the list refreshes. Select Close.

Turn a tax off or change it

Use the actions on a tax's row in the list:

• View shows the tax. Edit lets you change it.
• The status switch turns the tax Inactive so it can no longer be picked, without deleting it. Turn it back on to use it again.

To keep a copy of all your taxes, select Export to Excel on the list. The file (taxes.xlsx) lists every tax with its Tax Code, Tax Name, Tax Type, Rate (%), Account, Effect on Total, Subtraction Effect, Withholding Receivable Account, Transaction Type and Status.

If something goes wrong

Message	What to do
Tax name is required / Tax code is required	Fill in Tax Name and Tax Code.
Rate must be between 0 and 100	Enter a percentage from 0 to 100, for example 7.5.
Account is required	Choose an account in Account.
A withholding receivable account is required when tax is withheld at source	Choose a Withholding Receivable Account, or change the Subtraction Effect.
Tax Code … already exists.	Use a different Tax Code.
This tax is already in use and cannot be deleted.	Turn the tax Inactive instead.
Upload the taxes as an Excel (.xlsx) file, using the template.	Save the file as .xlsx. Start from Download template.
The file is missing the column(s): …	Keep the template's column headings. Download it again if needed.
The file is larger than 2 MB. / The file has more than 500 taxes.	Split the taxes into smaller files.
Account "…" is not an active posting account.	Check the account code or name in your chart of accounts.
More than one account is named "…". Use the account code.	Enter the account code instead of the name.
Nothing was created: … row(s) need correcting.	Correct the rows marked Needs correcting, or select Create valid rows only.