Job Taxability Settings
BuildOps now lets you set whether a job or project is taxable, non-taxable, or exempt right when it's created — and automatically carry that decision through to every purchase order, receipt, bill, and invoice tied to that job. No more setting tax line-by-line, and no more surprises at billing time.
This update is available whether or not you use Avalara. If you already use Avalara, nothing changes in how your integration calculates tax — you simply gain the option to set default taxability at the Job Template level so it carries into new jobs automatically.
What's new:
A new Tax Settings screen where you define your own Work Taxability options (for example, "Taxable," "Non-Taxable," "Exempt") and how each one should behave on document lines.
Job Templates now carry a default tax treatment for both purchasing (AP) and invoicing (AR), so selecting a template at job creation sets both automatically.
AP and AR Work Taxability fields are now visible and editable on the Job Details and Project Details screens (web), and on Job Details (mobile).
Purchase orders, receipts, bills, and invoices automatically inherit the correct taxable status from the job — no manual line-by-line entry required.
Field technicians can select a Job Template — and see or override tax treatment — right from the mobile app when creating a job.
An optional company setting, "Job Template Required When Creating a Job," lets you require an explicit tax decision on every new job, web and mobile.
You can assign a default Job Template to a customer, so jobs created for them are automatically set up correctly.
Job Templates can now be archived instead of deleted, keeping your list tidy without losing historical records.
Job Settings — requiring a template on every job
A new setting, Job Template Required When Creating a Job (Web & Mobile), is available under Job Settings.
Off by default — nothing changes for you until you turn it on.
When on, every new job — whether created on web or mobile — must have a Job Template selected before it can be saved. This guarantees an explicit AP/AR tax decision is made on every job, with no silent defaults.
Job Settings — make Job Template selection mandatory on every new job
Setting up your tax categories
Go to Company → Tax Settings → Work Taxability Configuration to define the taxability categories your business uses. For each one, choose how it should behave:
Always Taxable, Always Non-Taxable, or Inherit from the Item List.
Tax Settings → Work Taxability Configuration
Building tax treatment into your Job Templates
In Settings → Job Templates, each template can now carry an AP Work Taxability (for purchases) and an AR Work Taxability (for invoices). This is where you encode your business rules — for example:
Job Template | Purchases (AP) | Customer Invoice (AR) | Result |
Taxable Job | Non-Taxable | Taxable | Tax charged once, to the customer |
Non-Taxable Job | Taxable | Non-Taxable | Tax paid once, to your vendor |
Exempt Customer | Non-Taxable | Non-Taxable | No tax collected at all |
Job Template setup
AP and AR Work Taxability fields on the Job Template
Creating a job on Web
When creating a job on web, simply select the right Job Template. Both the purchasing and invoicing tax treatment populate automatically. Users with permission can still override it for a specific job.
Job creation wizard (web) showing template selection and auto-populated taxability fields
If a customer always needs the same treatment, assign them a default Job Template on the customer record so it's pre-selected automatically every time.
Creating a job on mobile
Field technicians get the same capability when creating a job right from the mobile app:
Select a Job Template during job creation, just like on web.
See and override the AP and AR Work Taxability values that come from the template, if their role permits.
If the "Job Template Required" company setting is turned on, mobile job creation requires a template too — so field techs never create a job without an explicit tax decision.
If the customer has a default Job Template, it's automatically selected and pre-fills the taxability fields on mobile, just as it does on web.
Setting a default template for a customer
If a customer consistently needs the same tax treatment, you can set that as their default.
On the customer's record, assign a Job Template — from then on, any new job created for that customer (web or mobile) automatically uses that template's AP/AR tax treatment, no manual selection needed.
Everything downstream follows the job
Once a job's tax treatment is set, every document connected to it inherits the correct value automatically:
Purchase orders, receipts, and bills inherit the job's AP (purchasing) treatment
Invoices — including Time & Material invoices generated from mobile job reports — inherit the job's AR (invoicing) treatment
Purchase order or bill with the Taxable column automatically set Document lines automatically reflect the job's tax treatment
Invoice totals calculated automatically based on the job's AR Work Taxability
Authorized users can still manually override individual lines when a specific document needs an exception.
This update is generally available. Setting up Work Taxability categories and Job Templates is optional — nothing changes for you unless you choose to configure it.
Your Customer Success Manager can help you get this set up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do I need to do anything if I already use Avalara?
A: No. Your existing Avalara setup and tax calculation behavior are unchanged. This update simply adds the option to set default tax treatment at the Job Template level.
Q: Will this change how my existing jobs are taxed?
A: No. Nothing is applied retroactively. Your existing jobs, purchase orders, invoices, and templates keep working exactly as they do today. The new taxability fields only apply going forward, and only where you choose to use them.
Q: Is this required, or can I keep entering taxability manually?
A: It's entirely optional. If you don't set up Work Taxability categories or Job Templates, nothing changes for you.
Q: Can I require every job to have a tax decision?
A: Yes — turn on "Job Template Required When Creating a Job" in Job Settings to make an explicit template (and therefore tax treatment) mandatory on every new job, web and mobile.
Q: Can I still manually adjust tax on a specific document?
A: Yes. This feature sets a smart default — it doesn't remove your ability to manually adjust the taxable status on an individual PO, bill, receipt, or invoice line, as long as your role has permission to do so.
Q: What happens on mobile?
A: Field technicians can select a Job Template — and see or override tax treatment — right when creating a job. When a Time & Material invoice is generated from a mobile job report, the correct tax treatment is applied automatically.
Q: What if I archive a Job Template or tax category that's already in use?
A: Archiving only removes it from future selection — it doesn't affect any job, document, or historical record that already used it.
Q: Who can change tax treatment on a job or document?
A: This follows your existing role permissions — no new roles or permission changes are introduced with this update.
Q: Where do I start?
A: Go to Company → Tax Settings to define your tax categories, then Settings → Job Templates to build them into templates. Your BuildOps representative can help you get set up.