Overview

Shogo pulls sales and tax data from your point-of-sale (POS) and posts it to your accounting system each day. How that tax data appears depends on four things:

1. Posting type — Journal Entry, Sales Receipt / Invoice, or Itemized. Availability varies by accounting system (see section 1).
2. The "Track Sales Tax in [accounting system]" setting — a per-store checkbox in Shogo that tells your accounting system to calculate tax totals from the tax rates that Shogo sends.
3. The "Per-Line Taxes on Transactions" setting — a setting in Shogo (also called the "Global Tax Model") that controls whether tax is applied at the posting header (one tax code per posting) or per line. Defaults based on your accounting system's country.
4. Your region / accounting system — determines the defaults for both tax settings and which behaviors are required.

The rest of this article walks through each.

Key terms, defined

• POS (point-of-sale): Your sales system — Square, Toast, Clover, Shopify, Lightspeed, etc.
• Accounting system: QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, etc.
• Journal Entry: A daily journal entry summarizing sales as debits and credits to GL accounts. Supported by all accounting systems.
• Sales Receipt (QuickBooks) / Invoice (Xero): A daily summary sales document with line items grouped by POS department or category. Available only in QuickBooks (Online and Desktop) and Xero — these two are functionally the same posting method, just named differently per system.
• Itemized Sales Receipt (QuickBooks) / Itemized Invoice (other systems): A daily sales document with one line per POS item (SKU/PLU). Supported by all accounting systems.
• Tax rate: A single percentage (e.g., 6.5% state).
• Tax code: A container that bundles one or more tax rates under a single name (e.g., 6.5% state + 1% county + 0.5% city = one "Anytown Combined" tax code).
• Combined (composite) tax code: A tax code made up of two or more component rates that report to different agencies — e.g., Canadian GST + PST, or HST. Set up in the accounting system, not in Shogo. See section 7.
• TAX / NON markers: Labels Shogo applies to each line on a sales receipt to indicate whether that line's revenue is taxable (TAX) or non-taxable (NON). When Track Sales Tax is OFF, every line is marked NON regardless of the underlying taxability — that’s by design (see section 2A).
• Track Sales Tax in [accounting system] (Shogo setting): A checkbox that tells Shogo when to send tax amounts vs tax rates. When enabled, Shogo sends sales receipts with TAX/NON line markers and tax code(s); the accounting system does the calculation.  This can cause rounding differences between the POS reported tax and the accounting system.
• Per-Line Taxes on Transactions (Shogo setting, also called "Global Tax Model"): A global toggle that controls whether tax is applied at the receipt header (one code per receipt) or per line (each line has its own code). Defaults to FALSE for US accounts and TRUE for non-US accounts.
• Netting discounts: Reducing the taxable (and non-taxable) sales totals by the relevant portion of discounts before posting, rather than posting gross sales and a separate discount line.

1. Posting types and which accounting systems support each

Shogo supports three posting methods. Availability differs by accounting system.

Journal Entry — all accounting systems

Creates a single journal entry per day with sales grouped by POS department or category, posted as debits and credits to GL accounts.  This entry is streamlined, reporting data directly to the General Ledger/ Chart of Accounts. 

• Tax can be mapped directly to a tax GL (liability) account. Journal Entry is the only posting type that allows direct tax-to-GL mapping.
• Does not feed your accounting system's product/service-based reports — including item-level sales reports, sales dashboards, and built-in sales tax reports. Those reports read from sales receipts/invoices, not journal entries.

Sales Receipt (QuickBooks) / Invoice (Xero) — QB and Xero only

Creates a daily summary sales document with line items grouped at the POS department or category level. Called "Sales Receipt" in QuickBooks and "Invoice" in Xero — same behavior, different names.

• Supported only in QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, and Xero. No other accounting system has this posting method.
• Populates QuickBooks' product/service reports and Sales landing page (and the Xero equivalents).
• The two tax settings in section 2 below interact most visibly with this posting type, because how tax is applied to the document depends on those settings. 

• Use this option if you intend to use your accounting software sales tax reports rather than those from your Point of Sale

  NOTE:  The Point of Sale will track sales tax on each individual transaction.  The Accounting System will take the total sales for time period and calculate the sales tax.  This can cause a difference between the POS sales tax report and the Accounting sales tax report.

  

Itemized Sales Receipt / Itemized Invoice — all accounting systems

Creates a daily sales document with one line per POS item (SKU/PLU).

• Supported by most accounting systems Shogo integrates with.
• Called Itemized Sales Receipt in QuickBooks and Itemized Invoice in other systems.
• Populates the destination system's item-level sales reports and dashboards.
• Tax is carried per line based on the item's taxability and rate.
• Taxes, payments and cash operations are entered as a separate journal entry. Offers the highest level of detail, it will provided data on each item sold, and is best if using POS for inventory control. While this posting method provides the highest level of detail, it also requires the most work to maintain.    
• Itemized always posts a Payments Journal alongside the sales entry, regardless of whether Track Sales Tax is on or off. This is unlike the Sales Receipt / Invoice posting method, where the Payments Journal only appears when Track Sales Tax is on.

Note:  If your Point of Sale provides the ability to do COGS/IA please refer to Point of Sale Help (Shogo Point of Sale Help) for additional details, specific to your POS.

Note: When choosing the Itemized Sales Receipt/Invoice posting method, you will need to choose a Clearing Account and a Payments Clearing Item (see screenshot below). All items on your Itemized Sales Receipt/Invoice will post to one GL account (your chosen Clearing Account). The funds will then be applied using your chosen Payments Clearing Item account across multiple GL accounts. These two accounts will zero one another out each day as funds are moved between the accounts.

When using the Itemized Invoice/Sales Receipt posting method, Shogo will post a daily Sales Invoice and a Payments journal every day. The Daily Sales Invoice will list all items sold for the day and all items sold will post to your Payments Clearing Account as shown above.

Shogo will also post a Payments Journal each day, which allows the funds received in the Clearing account to be split across multiple G/L Accounts, as shown above.

See also: What QuickBooks posting methods are supported? (QuickBooks-specific) and Accounting Posting Methods.

2. Two Shogo settings that affect sales tax

Shogo has two distinct settings that affect how sales tax flows from Shogo into your accounting system. They sound similar but do different things.

A. Track Sales Tax in [accounting system]

This is a per-store setting in Shogo. You'll see it labeled with the name of your accounting system — "Track Sales Tax in QuickBooks," "Track Sales Tax in Xero," etc.

• ON: Shogo tells your accounting system to calculate the tax totals. Shogo sends one or more sales receipts; each line has a TAX or NON marker (visible in Shogo's preview), and the receipt has tax code(s) attached so the accounting system can do the math. The accounting system's built-in sales tax reports (QuickBooks Sales Tax Center, Xero's sales tax report) populate from these receipts.
• OFF: Shogo posts pre-calculated tax amounts. The accounting system records them as-is. POS and accounting system tie out exactly. The accounting system's built-in sales tax reports don't reflect Shogo data, since they need rates / tax codes to populate.  What this looks like in the preview: every line on the sales receipt is marked NON in the Taxable column — even items that are clearly taxable in your POS. This is intentional. In this mode, Shogo sends the tax total your POS already calculated as its own line on the receipt; marking the other lines NON keeps the accounting system from re-calculating tax on top of the amount Shogo already sent. If a customer asks why a clearly-taxable product shows NON in the preview, that’s the answer.

B. Per-Line Taxes on Transactions (Global Tax Model)

This is a global setting (account-wide), not per-store. The UI labels it "Per-Line Taxes on Transactions"; internally it's referred to as the Global Tax Model.

• OFF (US default): Tax code goes at the receipt header. All lines in the receipt are taxed at the same rate. This mirrors how US QuickBooks itself attaches tax codes — at the document level rather than to individual lines — and Shogo follows that convention. If a day's sales span multiple tax combinations (separate liquor tax, sales straddling a rate change, etc.) Shogo creates multiple receipts — one per unique tax combination encountered. The first receipt typically has a mix of TAX and NON lines; subsequent receipts have only TAX lines (one per additional tax combo). Non-taxable sales always go on the first receipt.
• ON (non-US default): Tax code goes on each line. A single receipt can contain multiple tax codes — one line might be 5% GST, another 13% HST, another non-taxable, and so on. Only one receipt per day. This is how every accounting system except US QuickBooks handles tax natively.
• The default is set automatically based on the country reported by your accounting system's API. For most customers, this is correct out of the box. If something looks off, contact Shogo support — defaults can occasionally need adjustment.

How the two settings work together

The combinations that matter:

• US accounts (Track Sales Tax ON, Per-Line Taxes OFF): Multiple receipts per day, each tagged with one tax code at the header. Shogo creates a unique tax code in QuickBooks for each combination of rates it encounters. The first receipt has TAX/NON line mix; subsequent receipts contain only TAX lines.
• Non-US accounts (Track Sales Tax ON, Per-Line Taxes ON): Single receipt per day, with each line carrying its own tax code. Multiple tax codes on one receipt. Both settings need to be on for sales receipts to work correctly in non-US accounts — these defaults should be set automatically based on country.
• Track Sales Tax OFF (any region): Shogo posts pre-calculated tax amounts and the accounting system doesn't recalculate. POS and accounting system match exactly, but built-in sales tax reports won't reflect Shogo data.

Choosing the Track Sales Tax setting (configuration, not tax treatment)

• Turn Track Sales Tax ON if you want your accounting system's built-in sales tax reports (QuickBooks Sales Tax Center, Xero's sales tax report) to reflect Shogo's sales data — for example, if you file sales tax from your accounting system. Trade-off: when the accounting system recalculates from rates, small rounding differences vs. the POS total are normal (usually pennies, occasionally a few dollars).
• Turn Track Sales Tax OFF if you file sales tax from your POS and want exact tie-out between POS and your accounting system. You'll give up the accounting system's tax reports as a view of Shogo data in exchange.
• For non-US accounts using Sales Receipt / Invoice posting, Track Sales Tax ON is required.

You shouldn't normally need to change Per-Line Taxes on Transactions yourself — the default that comes from your accounting system's country is almost always right. If you suspect it's set wrong, contact Shogo support.

See also: How can I use QuickBooks Sales Tax Reports with the Shogo integration? (QuickBooks-specific).

3. What customers on other accounting systems should know

If you're posting to NetSuite, Sage Intacct, or any system other than QuickBooks or Xero, your two posting options are Journal Entry and Itemized Invoice. The Sales Receipt / Invoice posting method does not exist for these systems.

• Journal Entry lets you map tax directly to a GL account but doesn't feed product/service-based sales tax reports in your accounting system.
• Itemized Invoice posts per-SKU lines with each line's tax behavior carried on the line, and feeds your accounting system's item-level reporting and tax tracking.

The Track Sales Tax setting still applies — it controls whether your accounting system calculates tax or just records pre-calculated amounts. The Per-Line Taxes on Transactions setting interacts most visibly with Sales Receipt / Invoice posting; for Itemized posting, tax is per-line by definition.

4. Discount handling

Shogo supports three different ways to post discounts. You can change this in your Shogo accounting settings (Store Settings → Preferences tab).

1. Net discounts — Discounts are reduced from the taxable and/or non-taxable sales totals before posting. No separate discount line.
2. Post gross sales with discounts posted separately by category — Sales post at gross (pre-discount) values, with a separate line for discounts grouped by sales category.
3. Post gross sales with discounts posted separately by reason/purpose — Sales post at gross values, with a separate line for discounts grouped by the POS discount type (e.g., "Employee Meal," "Loyalty," "Promo").

Interaction with the tax settings

• Track Sales Tax ON + QuickBooks (Online or Desktop): Discounts must be netted (option 1). For QuickBooks, Shogo only sends the tax rate, not a pre-calculated tax amount — QuickBooks does the math from your gross sales. If discounts post as a separate line, that line carries no offsetting tax of its own; QuickBooks calculates tax on the un-discounted gross sales while the discount only affects the bottom-line subtotal. The result is a tax total that can drift noticeably from your POS report. Shogo enforces netting by default in this configuration; an override is possible but not recommended.
• Track Sales Tax ON + Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, or any other system: All three discount methods work. For these systems Shogo sends the calculated tax amount alongside the rate on each line, so the destination system records the right tax even when discounts post as a separate line. Netting is still tidier on the page but not required for the totals to balance.
• Track Sales Tax OFF (any accounting system): All three discount methods work. Shogo posts pre-calculated tax amounts and the accounting system doesn’t recalculate.
• Journal Entry posting (any system): All three methods work; tax posts to a GL line and isn’t recalculated.
• Itemized posting (any system): All three methods work; tax is carried per line via item taxability.

If you need to switch to netted discounts, make the change in Store Settings → Preferences tab.

Shogo honors your POS's own treatment of discounts (pre-tax vs. post-tax) when calculating the amounts it posts. The configuration above is about how those amounts appear in your accounting system, not whether tax is calculated on the pre- or post-discount total.

See also: How does Shogo Handle Discounts from My Point of Sale?.

5. Reporting sales by taxability

By default, Shogo reports sales to your accounting system by POS category. If you'd prefer sales summarized by taxable vs. non-taxable rather than by category, Shogo supports this — contact the Shogo Support Desk and we can make the change. The trade-off is a simpler entry at the cost of category-level sales detail.

See also: Can Shogo Report My Sales by Taxability rather than by Category?.

6. Service charges

Service charges (auto-gratuities, delivery fees, booking fees, etc.) can be taxable or non-taxable depending on your jurisdiction and how your POS classifies them.

What to know about how they interact with tax:

• When Track Sales Tax is on and a service charge is taxable in your POS: the service charge needs to be mapped as an item / product / service in your accounting system so it lands on a product line of the sales document. The accounting system's tax engine applies tax to product lines — a service charge mapped outside of products/services won't be picked up by tax tracking.
• With "report by taxability" (see section 5): non-taxable service charges fold into the non-taxable sales total by default. If you want service charges visible as their own line, keep sales reporting at the category level and map each service charge to its own item / product / service.

7. Tax rate vs. tax code

A tax rate is a single percentage. A tax code is a container that bundles one or more tax rates under a single name. For example, "Anytown Combined (8%)" might be a tax code made up of a 6.5% state rate, a 1% county rate, and a 0.5% city rate.

• US QuickBooks (Per-Line Taxes off) uses tax codes at the receipt-header level — one code per receipt, all lines share it.
• Non-US QuickBooks, Xero, and most other configurations (Per-Line Taxes on) apply tax codes per line. A code can still bundle multiple rates; what changes is where it's applied (header vs. line).

Shogo creates tax codes automatically when needed, and maps each line/receipt to the appropriate tax code from your accounting system's tax setup.

Combined (composite) tax codes — GST + PST, HST, and similar

If your jurisdiction collects multiple component taxes that get reported separately to different agencies — Canadian GST + PST or PST/QST, Australian GST in some scenarios, the various provincial HSTs, and so on — the components must be configured in your accounting system as a single combined (or composite) tax code, with the component rates defined inside it. The accounting system handles the split to each agency on the back end.

Do not try to model the components as separate Shogo lines (e.g., one Shogo line for GST and another for PST on the same sale). Doing so doubles up the underlying sale, since each line is treated as its own taxable amount. Shogo collapses your POS’s combined tax into a single line on the receipt and applies the combined tax code; the accounting system then allocates the dollars to the component agencies during reporting.

Where to set this up:

• QuickBooks Online: Taxes → Sales tax settings → Custom rates → Add rate → Combined. Define one nickname, agency, and rate per component.
• Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, etc.: the equivalent setup lives under each system’s tax-rates / tax-codes configuration. Consult your accounting system’s documentation for the exact path.

FAQ — “Why can’t I map my POS’s GST tax to QuickBooks GST and my POS’s PST tax to QuickBooks PST as two separate Shogo lines?” Because the underlying sale would then be counted twice — once on the GST line and once on the PST line — doubling your reported revenue. Combining the rates into one tax code in your accounting system is the only correct way to model multi-agency taxes for a single sale.

8. When POS and accounting system tax numbers disagree

The most common causes, in order:

1. Small rounding differences (pennies to a few dollars). When Track Sales Tax is on, the accounting system recalculates tax from the rates / tax codes Shogo sends, which can introduce per-line or per-receipt rounding vs. the POS total. This is expected. Worth keeping in mind: most jurisdictions require you to file sales tax monthly using totals rounded once at the month level, while Shogo (and your accounting system) round on every posting. The figure you actually pay to the taxing authority will essentially never equal the figure on your books to the penny — a few-dollar variance over a month is normal, not a bug. If exact tie-out between POS and your accounting system is required, turning Track Sales Tax off sends pre-calculated amounts with no recalculation. 
2. Track Sales Tax ON + QuickBooks with discounts not netted. QuickBooks recalculates tax from the rate Shogo sends, applied to gross (un-discounted) sales; a separate discount line carries no offsetting tax of its own, so QuickBooks-calculated tax can drift well above what the POS reported. Change discount handling to “net discounts” in Store Settings → Preferences tab (see section 4). For non-QuickBooks systems with Track Sales Tax on, this same configuration usually still ties out because Shogo sends the calculated tax amount — but if you’re seeing drift on those systems too, check this anyway.
3. Tax reports blank or inaccurate when posting Journal Entry. Most accounting systems' built-in sales tax reports read from sales receipts / invoices, not journal entries. JE posts won't reflect in those reports regardless of the Track Sales Tax setting. (See: I am using a QuickBooks Journal entry and my QuickBooks Sales Tax reports are inaccurate — QuickBooks-specific, but the same concept applies broadly.)
4. Wrong default for Per-Line Taxes. If you're on a non-US account and seeing US-style behavior (multiple receipts per day, header-level tax codes) — or vice versa — Per-Line Taxes may be set incorrectly for your country. Contact Shogo support; we can verify and adjust.
5. Multi-component tax modeled as separate Shogo lines instead of a combined rate. If you’re seeing roughly doubled revenue or tax (rather than a small drift), check whether GST/PST or similar component taxes are being mapped as two separate Shogo lines. They should be a single combined tax code in your accounting system — see section 7.

See also: QuickBooks Value Added Tax (VAT) errors in Shogo (QuickBooks-specific).

9. When to contact Shogo support vs. your bookkeeper

Contact Shogo support about how Shogo is behaving, which posting type or setting to use for a goal, and anything about configuring your account:

• Switching posting types (Journal Entry ↔ Sales Receipt / Invoice ↔ Itemized) and migrating your mapping.
• Turning Track Sales Tax on or off.
• Verifying or adjusting Per-Line Taxes on Transactions.
• Tax mismatches after you've checked the causes in section 8.
• Configuring "report by taxability" mode.
• Structuring tax codes across multiple jurisdictions.

Talk to your bookkeeper or accountant about tax treatment, tax law, and accounting decisions:

• Whether a particular service charge, tip, or gratuity should be taxable.
• How to file sales tax in your jurisdiction.
• Whether discounts should be pre-tax or post-tax for your business.
• Any question that's really a question about the right tax or accounting treatment for your situation.

Shogo doesn't give accounting advice — even humans at Shogo will point you to your bookkeeper for those calls.

When you do reach out to Shogo support, include your POS name, your accounting system (QuickBooks Online/Desktop, Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, etc.), your region/country, your posting method, and a specific date's numbers where you're seeing a discrepancy. That's enough for us to diagnose most questions on the first reply.