Setting Up Taxes or Other Percentage Fees

In Visual Dispatch, percentage-based charges such as taxes, surcharges, or other fees can be included in quotes and invoices. These can be applied either manually or automatically, depending on your workflow. The system provides three customizable fields for this purpose, which can be adjusted to match specific business needs.

Changing Captions of the Tax Fields

By default, the three percentage fields are labeled Tax 1, Tax 2, and Tax 3. Their captions can be customized in the desktop version:

• Navigate to Tools > Options > Application > Captions.
• Scroll down to locate the fields Tax 1, Tax 2, and Tax 3 on the left.
• Enter the preferred captions on the right.

For example, one of these fields can be renamed from “Tax 1” to “Tax” or “Environmental Fee.”

Setting Up the Displayed Fields

Not all three fields need to be visible in the Quoting section. Fields can be enabled or disabled based on use:

• Navigate to Tools > Options > Quote.
• Check the box next to the Tax fields that should be displayed.
• Leave unchecked any fields not in use (for example, disabling Tax 3 if only two fields are needed).

Adding Taxes or Percentage Fees

Percentage-based charges are created and managed in the Tax Items list:

1. Navigate to List > Tax Items.
2. To add a new fee, click New.
3. Complete the fields for Name, Description, and Percentage Rate.

• Account and Item are optional and only required if Visual Dispatch is integrated with an external accounting system.
• If the fee needs to display as a line item, a matching Item must already exist to select from the dropdown.

Existing tax items can be edited from this same list, whether active or inactive.

Applying Taxes and Fees

There are two options for applying taxes or fees (check the appropriate box)

• Manual application – Select the desired fee when creating a quote or invoice.

• Automatic application – Apply specific fees to all invoices by default. (This will require additional setup in Invoice Option).

Automatic Application Setup 

Navigate to Tools > Options > Invoice > Items/Taxes.

At the bottom of the window, select which taxes/fees should be automatically applied to every invoice.

Including Taxes in a Quote 

To apply the configured percentage fields during quoting:

Open the web version of Visual Dispatch.

In the Quotes section, go to Resources & Items.

The fields that were set up (Tax 1, Tax 2, Tax 3, or their customized captions) will appear for use.

Important Notes

• For companies not integrated with an external accounting system, the Tax fields can be used for any type of percentage fee.
• When using QuickBooks integration, all percentage-based fields are treated strictly as “Taxes,” even if relabeled as surcharges or fees.
• As an alternative, percentage fees can also be added as line items if more flexibility is required.