Posts by neonsurfer13

I haven't really done business with clients outside the States before, but an opportunity just popped up. The buyer is a private individual located in Canada, which means they're outside the US.
Do I need to list any sales tax on the invoice or the quote? Whose responsibility is the tax here, and what does the bookkeeping look like for me down the road?
I already have an EIN if that’s what’s needed—basically, do I need to coordinate this through a freight forwarder or how does it work?
Thanks

Alright, thanks... I finally got everything filed with the IRS yesterday.

Help me out here
I just processed my first card payment through an online service today, even though my bank won't actually drop the cash into my account for another 30 days.
I'm planning to ship the goods tomorrow or maybe Monday. What’s the actual deadline for me to Invoice this under the Internal Revenue Code?
Does it have to be done right this second, or can I wait until tomorrow when the items actually go out?

Oh, one more thing... on that Invoice, am I supposed to include that note about "payment based on collected fee"... even though I haven't technically collected anything yet since the money is tied up for a month, but I need to issue the bill now?

Brenda Chase3 said:You certainly can, but you need to be careful about one specific detail. If you also live in that same building, you shouldn't claim 100% of the cost as a business expense because that would include your personal residential utilities. Most professionals suggest claiming about 30%, though some accountants might tell you to go with 50%. Personally, I always book it at 30% because that’s what most of the accounting firms I've consulted have advised me to do.
Naturally, you wouldn't list this as a fixed asset. A single pellet or even a bag doesn't cost more than $1.25; the total value of the whole batch is only $2.75. It's considered a consumable heating supply, treated exactly like natural gas or electricity. When someone gets an electric bill for $1.75, they don't capitalize it as a fixed asset—they simply record it as an operating expense.

So, if I buy this pellet under my own name instead of through the business, and then just write off 30% of the invoice... is that it? Are there any other catches I should know about? Or do I just attach the receipt and claim my 30%, or do I actually need to make some kind of note on it since I'm not claiming the full amount?

Can I write off the cost of buying wood pellets for heating my office as a business expense?
I mean, I figure if a small business owner heats their place with electricity, they just write off the utility bill. Wood pellets are basically just fuel, just like electricity, gas, or whatever else.
The total comes out to about $2667 including tax.
How do I list this without it being flagged as a fixed asset, since the amount is over $1167?

The FBI just told me I should just slap some random label on the report for now and then try to link everything later using an SNU form. Honestly, it sounds like a total headache. I have no clue how I’m supposed to merge all that data down the road, especially since half of this debt predates the current filing system.

Keith Martinez5 said:From what I understand—and please feel free to set me straight if my memory is failing me here—you can't just shuffle funds around however you please. It all depends strictly on the classification of the revenue; for instance, you wouldn't be able to offset local municipal tax revenue against federal tax revenue, or vice versa... at least, that's how they explained the logic to me over at the LAPD office. If I'm reading you correctly, though, you're looking to move funds between different types of state taxes and health insurance levies, right?

Exactly. Moving from code 1619 to 8605. If you aren't allowed to shift money wherever you want, then what's even the point of this whole offsetting process?
I've got other amounts under different codes that I'd love to shuffle around too, but the reporting requirements make it a total nightmare.

Brenda Chase3 said:That report identifier actually refers to the specific IRS Form 941 number. You have to input which Form 941 you're referencing, since the amounts you're reclassifying are tied directly to the payroll taxes reported on those forms.

Look, there isn't an IRS form for this specific offset... I'm dealing with a debt here. Basically, I've got some extra cash sitting in one income category, and I just want to move it over to cover the balance on this other one.

I’m asking again—does anyone actually know anything about this reclassification form?
I need to move some funds from one income type to another (reclassifying tax and surcharges overpayments into health insurance premiums), but the form is asking for some kind of report code. I have no clue what to put in that field. Is there some extra step I need to take first to generate that code? How does this even work?

So, they finally added that new adjustment form to the IRS website. I tried to run one through earlier, but the damn thing keeps flagging a field for "Report Code." Does anyone actually know what code you're supposed to plug in there?

Just one more thing... I’ve set up my web shops so they look like two completely separate business locations. But honestly, they’re both just virtual storefronts, not two actual brick-and-mortar shops at different addresses. How do I handle this?
I haven't actually registered a business location through the IRS portal for tax purposes yet, so I'm not sure what my options are here. Since the first web shop is still running through my main transactional account, I don't need to register it separately. For the second shop, how am I supposed to report the business location?

Carol Price4 said:That could work... it’d look pretty much like this:

1) 1/1/1, 2/1/1, 3/1/1 ...

2) 1/2/1, 2/2/1, 3/2/1...
and
1/2/2, 2/2/2, 3/2/2...

So basically—Location 1, Register 1
Location 2—Register 1 and Register 2

Thanks!

David Mitchell4 said:The answer is yes—each shop maintains its own numbering sequence. However, you could potentially link the second one to Elvis Presley via an API so that all your invoices, whether cash or transaction-based, flow through a single point. You'll just need to hire a developer to handle that integration for you.

Look, that’s exactly what I’m asking 🙂 how do I actually separate those sequences?

Could I maybe set it up like this?:

WEB SHOP 1 INVOICE
accountnumber-storelocation1-register1

WEB SHOP 2 INVOICE
DIGITAL TRANSACTION:
accountnumber-storelocation2-register1-operator1

REGISTERED SALE:
accountnumber-storelocation2-register2-operator1

David Mitchell4 said:I hear you, but I think you’re off base here. You might want to double-check which sequence number is actually being offered next. If you’ve been messing around with manual overrides... well, look, the invoice number should always be the very next one in line, regardless of whether the previous entry was a finalized sale or just a transaction.

Look, we're clearly talking past each other here. 🙂
The situation hasn't even happened yet, but I want to iron this out now so I know what my options are. This isn't about me "messing" with the software.

Let me try explaining it differently using a real-world example.
I have one web shop where everything goes through a direct bank transfer. When someone pays, I mark it as paid, and the site automatically generates an invoice—let's say 1-1-1.

Then I have a second, totally separate business with its own web shop—a different app entirely. Here, customers can pay via bank transfer or credit card.
Now, if someone pays via bank transfer on this second shop, the system also issues an invoice labeled 1-1-1 because it has no idea that the first shop already used that number, you know?
But fine, I can go into the admin panel and tweak how those invoices look if I have to.

Here’s where the third scenario hits the fan: someone pays by credit card on that second shop, and now that invoice needs to be officially reported for tax purposes. For the reporting part, let's say we use a service like Square. That's where the headache starts. From what I understand, I can't adjust the numbering or start skipping numbers within the service. I can only set the very first starting number.
So, I set the first invoice to 2-1-1... but then the next invoice on my FIRST web shop also turns out to be 2-1-1 (unless I manually change it there to 3-1-1). Then, a taxed invoice comes along that *should* be 4-1-1, but the Square service won't let me jump to 4-1-1 because the last number it recorded was 2-1-1.

Hopefully, that makes sense now.
How do I fix this mess?

Can I just register each web shop as a separate business location or assign them to different registers or payment terminals so the numbering stays separate?

David Mitchell4 said:Account numbering isn't some arbitrary choice you get to make; it's mandated by federal law. The sequence follows a specific structure: business location ID followed by the operator/terminal ID. And honestly, why on earth would an account be "skipping"? You run 1-1-1 as a transaction, 2-1-1 gets fiscalized, 3-1-1 gets fiscalized again, then 4-1-1 isn't fiscalized because it’s just another transaction. I fail to see where your confusion lies 😁

Some software packages offer a "Services - Service Types" menu where you can define specific "activities," which you then select on the receipt. That data stays within your internal system or reporting graphs; it isn't visible anywhere else.

And yes, ALL receipts are fiscal receipts—it's just that some have been officially processed through the system while others haven't.

I think we're talking past each other here.
Look, okay, I have my receipts: 1-1-1 is a transaction, 2-1-1 is registered, 3-1-1 is registered, and 4-1-1 isn't registered.
But here's the thing—this software I use for, let's call them, non-registered sales, prints out that 1-1-1 receipt. Then, according to what you said, the next one should be 2-1-1, which gets registered through something like a Square service.
When someone pays their next bill on the non-registered side, my software automatically tries to generate receipt 2-1-1, but that number was already snatched up by the registration software. So, I'm stuck having to manually jump the settings every single time so it skips to 3-1-1 instead of trying to grab 2-1-1.
On the flip side, the registration software prints out 2-1-1, and now the next non-registered receipt should be 3-1-1, followed by a registered 4-1-1. But the registration software is going to try to print 3-1-1 because that's what its sequence tells it's next.

I hope you get what I'm getting at... that's why I was thinking if there was a way to tweak the invoice number. Besides the standard stuff required by law (store ID, terminal ID, blah blah blah), could I maybe bake in a sub-sequence for different activities? Or just anything that separates them so each method—registered or not—can follow its own independent numbering line.

I want to split them up just for the sake of keeping things practical. Like I mentioned before, I’ve got this specific software that handles all my billing for the main side of the business. If I follow the standard sequence, I’d have to go into that software every single time and manually tell it to start skipping the invoices that were already processed through the tax system. Then there's the headache of the tax software itself—it follows its own rigid numbering, and from what I can tell, there's no way to skip numbers to squeeze in an invoice that doesn't need to be reported.
That’s why I’m thinking about using a custom numbering system, something like 1-1-number 1-2-number. The first digit would represent the physical storefront, and the second could identify the specific business line. It’s just a way to organize things internally.
But honestly, even with the second business, I run into the same wall: some invoices need to be reported to the IRS, while others are cashless transactions that don't.
None of this would even be an issue if I had the flexibility to change the sequence for the reported invoices, but as far as I understand, that’s just not how it works. Basically, if I start my reported invoices at number 25, the next one is automatically 26, regardless of whether a non-reported invoice takes up that slot in my records.
Maybe I'm overthinking this or missing something obvious, so I'm asking anyone who actually knows the ins and outs of this stuff to set me straight.

Up until now, I’ve only run one side of my business, and everything was handled strictly through bank transfers. I use this specific software tailored for my niche that handles all my invoicing.

Now, I’m adding a second line of business. Most of the payments there will still be via bank transfer, but I might have a handful of customers every month paying online with a credit card.

I’m struggling with how to keep the bookkeeping clean here. Ideally, I want my primary business to keep its existing invoice numbering sequence, but if it’s even remotely possible, I’d love for this new venture to have its own separate numbering system.
The headache is that while my bank transfer stuff doesn't need to be reported through the POS system, those few credit card sales definitely do. From what I gather, once a transaction hits the POS/tax reporting system, I can't just mess with the invoice numbers. My concern is how to manage the sequencing—if I issue several non-reported invoices via bank transfer first, and then a credit card payment comes in, the tax software won't even know those previous invoices exist. It'll throw the whole numbering off.

Thanks in advance!

Is it actually legally required to maintain a physical receipt book, even if there's basically no way for me to fail to fiscalize within 48 hours?
Here’s the deal: my web shop doesn't handle credit card payments directly. Instead, once I send over a quote, the customer pays through a third-party payment processor. Then, I just hop onto another online portal to register the transaction. It's all digital. So, why bother with the old-school paperwork?

Is it actually legally required to keep a physical receipt book if there's basically no way for me to run the fiscalization within 48 hours?
Here’s the deal: my web shop doesn't take card payments directly. Instead, I send out a quote first, and then the customer pays through a third-party payment processor. Once that's settled, I have to jump onto another separate site to handle the fiscalization process.

David Mitchell4 said:Your account needs to be designated properly under US law. There's no requirement to separate accounts based on how you collect payments. It’s perfectly fine if account 23-1-1 is for transactions and 24-1-1 is for cash. You don't technically have a "payment terminal" as a standalone device; in reality, it's just your computer running whatever fiscalization software you use.

Fine, but can I still separate the sequences by business activity? Like, could I have 2017-1-1-xxx for my first branch and 2017-1-2-xxx for the second? In this scenario, the digit "one" refers to the physical storefront, which is actually the same location.

Is that numbering format legit?

Honestly, we're overthinking this whole numbering thing. I use standard American and European Union invoicing formats, and most of the time, it’s just one single number and you're done. There's no year, no storefront ID, no device code... just a plain number and that's it.