How do I add or edit an invoice item (discount, surcharge, or subtotal)?

In invoice item represents any product you sell. Set up invoice items to reduce data entry and simplify your bidding and invoicing process. You can use invoice items for products you sell, the hourly rate for services you provide (set up an item for each service, such as consulting, writing, or research), discount rates and special charges (such as surcharges or finance charges), or subtotals.

You can create a complete list of the items you sell to customers before you begin invoicing (recommended), or you can add them to the Invoice Items list as you create estimates or invoices. That way, when you’re ready to create an estimate or invoice, much of your work is already done. Just select items from your item list and enter the quantity—Quicken calculates the totals for you. If you sell dozens of products or parts, just set up a few major item types, and then edit the item price when you enter it on the invoice.

In addition to using items to fill out estimates and invoices more quickly, Quicken uses invoice items to track customer charges—and your income—in more detail. Add this detail with invoice items rather than numerous income categories. For example, because Pat’s interior design business sells more items than she wants to add to her Category List, she could have one income category called Design Services, and another called Product Sales. She could assign all of the items she sells to customers (pillows, display shelves, mirrors, and so on) to the Product Sales income category, and assign the services she provides (design consulting, sketches, and so on) to the Design Services category. When she later creates a Profit and Loss Statement, Quicken reports the income from Product Sales separately from the income from Design Services.

Click the Business tab, then click the Business Actions and choose Invoices and Estimates > View all Invoice Items.
Select the appropriate option:
- To create a new invoice item, click New.
- To edit and existing invoice item, click Edit.
In the Item Name/Number field, enter an item name. For example, "10 percent discount," "subtotal," or "training."

Naming items so that your customers can interpret them when they see them on the invoice can be helpful; for example, Consulting Fees and Training are more understandable than 9348 and 9349. On the other hand, if a customer relies on specific item numbers, you may want the same numbers to appear on the invoice.
Select the appropriate option:
- Add a discount or surcharge invoice item
  - Enter a category. The tag is optional.
    - When should I enter a business tag with a category?
      The fastest and easiest way to add business tags to your invoice items is at the invoice level. To do this, enter a business tag in the Business Tag field when you create the invoice. Quicken then automatically assigns this business tag to each invoice item you include in the invoice without further input from you.
      You should not include one business tag at the invoice level and another business tag at the invoice item level because Quicken will not be able to determine which business the invoice item belongs to. If you want to include business tags at the invoice item level, then you should leave the Business Tag field in the invoice blank.
    - When should I enter a regular tag with a category?
      Tags help you group or classify transactions. You can add tags to an invoice item by adding a slash and the tag name to the category (as in category/tag). For example, if you're a wedding planner who wants to charge some items to the bride's side and other items to the groom's side, you can create one tag named bride and another tag named groom, and then use these tags with the invoice items that each side is responsible for.
      Quicken appends the regular tags you include with invoice items to any business tag you have included in the Business Tag field of the invoice.
      For example, say you want to charge the cost of the cake to the bride's side. You could add a category named Food and add a tag named Bride, and then enter Food/Bride in the Category/Tag field of the invoice item. When it comes time to create the invoice, you could enter the name of your wedding planning business in the Business Tag field of the invoice, and then add the items you bought for the wedding to the ITEM list. When it comes time to enter the invoice item for the cake, make sure it includes the category/tag named Food/Bride. Then you can customize a report for the bride's side and another for the groom's side to see the amount that each side owes.
  - In the Per Item Rate field, enter a percentage and then select the Percentage checkbox.
    
    Enter a negative number for a discount; enter a positive number for a surcharge or markup.
    If you use discounts/surcharges of different percentages, and you want Quicken to calculate the amount, you need a separate item for each percentage.
- Add a subtotal invoice item
  - Enter a description to appear on each sale where you use this subtotal item.
  - Select the Subtotal of the Preceding Items checkbox.
    
    Because this is a subtotal item, the item rate, tax, percentage, and category/tag options are disabled.
If this invoice item is for a taxable item, select the Taxable checkbox.

You cannot make a subtotal item taxable.
When you add a taxable invoice item to a form, Quicken calculates the tax and deducts it from the total amount (for discounts) or adds it to the total amount (for surcharges).
The tax rate Quicken bases the calculations on is the tax rate defined for the tax account associated with the form. Don't enter the tax rate in the Per Item Rate field, which is for the item's price.
Click OK.
The next time you want to use this item, select it from the Item list while in the estimate or invoice form and fill in the quantity.
- If the invoice item is a discount, Quicken calculates the percentage of the preceding item and enters the discount amount for you.
- If the invoice item is for a subtotal Quicken calculates the subtotal amount of the preceding items and enters the amount for you.

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