Invoicing, taxes and bookkeeping
From the invoice to the accountant, without retyping a line.
A self-employed inspector spends the end of every quarter hunting for invoices and recomputing taxes in a spreadsheet. Habita keeps that register as it goes, because the invoice comes from the same file as the report.
The invoice
- Invoice generated from the price agreed on the file, with no re-entry.
- Sales taxes calculated at the rates you configure.
- Numbering, dates and invoice status.
- Delivered to the client in their portal, with payment by e-transfer.
- Payment tracking: what is paid, what is still outstanding.
The sales journal
The Sales tab of the accounting section gathers everything an accountant asks for, for the period they ask for.
- Periods by month, quarter, year or custom range.
- Basis of your choice: on invoicing or on collection.
- Totals of sales and of each tax for the period.
- A detailed table by invoice: date, file, client, subtotal, taxes, total, status.
- CSV export, and direct sending to your accountant's email with a note.
Invoiced or collected is a checkbox, and it is the difference between declaring tax on money received and on money promised. An inspector who invoices in December and gets paid in January does not have the same quarter depending on which basis is used.
Travel, an expense almost nobody claims in full
Every inspection means a round trip. Habita computes the distance from your business address to the property and back, then applies the mileage rate you have configured.
- Distance travelled for the period, computed as a round trip.
- Deduction at the schedule you follow: CRA in kilometres with its annual tier, or IRS in miles. Rates and thresholds are configurable in your settings.
- Estimated fuel and driving time for the period.
- The rates are yours to control: they change year to year and you remain responsible for the values entered.
QuickBooks Online
For inspectors already living in QuickBooks Online, Habita connects to it and maps its elements to yours: the tax code, the service item and the income account. You confirm the mapping once.
That said, most self-employed inspectors do not need it. The sales journal and the export to your accountant cover the ordinary case, and one fewer moving part is one fewer thing to break.
Why this lives in the inspection software
The question is fair: why not leave invoicing to an accounting tool? Because the invoice is born from the same file as the report.
The agreed price is set when the appointment is booked. It carries into the agreement the client signs, then into the invoice they receive, then into the sales journal. No re-entry, so no gap between what was agreed, what was signed and what was declared. That gap is exactly where errors creep in when two systems talk to each other by copy and paste.
FAQ
Does Habita calculate sales taxes?
Yes, on every invoice, at the rates you configure, and the period totals appear in the sales journal ready to be filed.
Can I send my numbers to my accountant?
Yes. You pick the period and either export a CSV or send it straight to your accountant's email with a note, without an intermediate spreadsheet.
Is mileage calculated automatically?
Yes, as a round trip from your business address to the inspected property. The rate applied is the one you enter in your settings, in kilometres or in miles. These rates change year to year, and the IRS sometimes revises its own mid-year: confirm the current one with the CRA, the IRS or your accountant.
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