Charging a Customer Quickly

One total, a labour and parts split, and the state the work happened in — with the right sales tax and the rule behind it.

Sales tax on contracting work is decided line by line, and that is not something anybody wants to do standing in a customer’s basement. Quick Charge does the typing: pick what kind of job it was, enter the total, move the labour/parts slider, confirm the state, and Seayora produces two correctly-classified lines and prices the tax on them.

What kind of work was it?

Repair or service call — something broke and you fixed it. Taxable in most states, including the labour.
Capital improvement — a permanent addition that increases the property’s value. Often exempt, but only with the customer’s signed certificate.
Maintenance agreement — a recurring service plan rather than a one-off visit.
Materials only — you supplied the parts and somebody else fitted them.
Labour only — no materials at all.

The shape only says what KIND of line each half is. Your state’s rule then decides whether it is taxable, and Seayora shows you which rule it used and the citation behind it.

The state is the job site, not the billing address

Work on real property is taxed where the property is. An out-of-state owner of a Brooklyn building is a common case, and using their billing address would tax the wrong jurisdiction on every one of those jobs — so the state is its own field on the charge screen and you can change it right up to the moment you take payment. Changing it re-prices everything.

Switching to a state you are not registered in

Seayora will not charge tax in a state you have no registration for — collecting where you have no return to remit on is its own offence. But it does not quietly show you $0.00 either: it tells you the work WOULD have been taxable there, and that the liability for the uncollected tax is yours rather than your customer’s. That is usually the moment somebody discovers they need to register.

The split

The slider divides your total between labour and parts to the cent, so the two lines always add back to exactly what you told the customer. Each shape starts at a sensible default — 60% labour on a service call, 45% on a capital improvement — and you move it if the job was not typical.

Things you bill often

Under the form is a short list of lines you have billed before, with what you typically charged for them. It is built from your own invoices — Seayora ships no price book and sets no prices — so it is empty at first and fills in once you have billed the same thing a couple of times.

Where you can collect

The second tab lists every state you have actually worked in over the last two years, taken from the job sites on your own work orders, and says for each one whether you are registered, whether the state has sales tax at all, and whether Seayora could check. A state it could not price reads “couldn’t check” — never “no tax due”.

Frequently asked questions

Does Seayora file my sales tax returns?

No. It computes the tax, records what you collected and the basis for it, and prints that on the document. It does not register you, file a return or remit anything.

Why is my capital improvement being taxed?

Because there is no exemption certificate on file for that project. The certificate IS the exemption — at audit, “it was obviously a capital improvement” is not a defence. Add the customer’s signed certificate and re-price.

The preview and the invoice show different tax.

They cannot. Both are the same call to the same engine with the same arguments — the preview IS the invoice. If they differ, something changed in between: the state, the shape or the split.

Can a technician use this, or only the owner?

A technician can price and charge. The registration list and the billing history behind the suggestions are the owner’s.

Related guides

Related features and guides

Invoices, Receipts & Sales Tax for Contractors — Documentation. How a contractor invoice is built in Seayora, how sales tax is worked out for the job site line by line, what the customer sees at checkout, and when a receipt is issued.
Tax Settings: Registrations, Rates & Exemption Certificates — Documentation. Telling Seayora where you are registered to collect, entering county and city rates, filing exemption certificates, and reading each state's rule.
Compliance, Safety & 1099s for Contractors — Documentation. Setting what your business is required to hold, how Seayora grades your certificates, the safety incident log, and exporting 1099s for your accountant.
Pricing Tiers, Tax Quotes & Receipt Capture — Feature. Configurable pricing tiers, tax quoting, late fees, promo redemption, PDF invoices, and OCR receipt scanning that turns a photo into a booked expense.
Split Rent with Roommates — Feature. Roommates each pay their portion of rent directly from their own bank account or card. The landlord sees one compiled total — nobody has to front the whole month.
Sales Tax Basics for Contractors and Service Businesses — Guide. A plain-English introduction to sales tax for service and trade businesses — when it applies, the idea of nexus, and how to track what you collect.