13392: Bill Format Options

Drake Tax offers three bill formats. Click on a format to see details:

• Comprehensive Bill
• Summary Bill
• Classic Bill

Once set up, the bill format usually remains static through the season serving all of your clients. Occasionally, there may be a situation that requires a change or other modification to the bill presented to a client. Rather than having to make a change to your global setup that may need to be reverted afterwards, use the Bill Screen to make changes to a single bill.

You can also set up global Miscellaneous (Misc) Codes to be used in the Bill Screen. See Related Links below for details. 

Comprehensive Bill:

Formatting options available for the Comprehensive Bill are located under Setup > Options > Billing tab:

• Select Comprehensive Bill
• Show preparer fees withheld from bank product
• Sales tax rate
• Billing statement format - select one
  • Show only total amount
  • Show form list and total
  • Show forms, form prices, and total (default)
  • Bill by time
  • Show forms, number of forms, and charges per form
  • Move prep time charge to bottom of bill
  • Do not prepare a bill
• Header on bill - select one
  • Show preparer's name (default)
  • Show only tax year
  • Professional services statement
  • None

At Setup > Communications Editor > Setup > Page Layout -

• Use letterhead on bill
• Use logo on bill
• Letter Margins
• Use border on bill

To edit the Comprehensive Bill, go to Setup > Communications Editor > Open > select any tax package > Comprehensive Bill (all packages). 

Summary Bill:

Formatting options available for the Summary Bill are located under Setup > Options > Billing tab:

• Select Summary Bill
• Show preparer fees withheld from bank product
• Sales tax rate
• Billing statement format - the only effective option is Do not prepare a bill. Otherwise, the Summary Bill display is like the selection Show only total amount.

Under Setup > Communications Editor > Setup > Page Layout  choose additional layout options: 

• Use letterhead on bill
• Use logo on bill
• Letter Margins
• Use border on bill

To edit the Summary Bill, go to Setup > Communications Editor > Open > select any tax package > Summary Bill (all packages).

Classic Bill:

Formatting options available for the Comprehensive Bill are located under Setup > Options > Billing tab:

• Select Classic Bill
• Show preparer fees withheld from bank product
• Sales tax rate
• Billing statement format - select one
  • Show only total amount
  • Show form list and total
  • Show forms, form prices, and total (default)
  • Bill by time
  • Show forms, number of forms, and charges per form
  • Move prep time charge to bottom of bill
  • Do not prepare a bill
• Header on bill - select one
  • Show preparer's name (default)
  • Show only tax year
  • Professional services statement
  • None
• Print taxpayer's phone number on the bill
• Print taxpayer's e-mail address on the bill
• Custom paragraph options - select one
  • None (default)
  • Top of bill
  • Bottom of bill

Layout options are available under Setup > Communications Editor > Setup > Page Layout​:

• Use letterhead on bill
• Use logo on bill
• Use border on bill

Data Entry - Bill Screen:

Options and entries provided on the Bill screen, located on the General or Miscellaneous tab (location varies depending on the federal return type):

1. Video: Update Pricing - this link takes you to our Pricing Setup video tutorial
2. Options - This section allows the preparer to change
   1. Date printed on the bill
   2. Billing Options (content, not format)
   3. Position of the Custom Paragraph
   4. Inclusion of Filing Status Optimization charge (check the box to remove)
   5. Indicate a Self-prepared EF return (see field help for additional information)
3. Adjustments - this section provides adjustments included within the preparation service (calculated top to bottom)
   1. Multiple Write-in adjustments for generic use
   2. Balance due from prior year
   3. Tax Planner (optional write-in charge)
   4. Percent Discount
   5. Percent Increase
   6. State Sales Tax Percentage
   7. Local Sales tax percentage
4. After-the-fact Adjustments - This appears after the preparation fee calculation (Adjusts Net Fee)
5. Payments - Entries here show on the client bill and can also be pulled into reports
6. Notes - Anything entered in the Notes section wills appear at the bottom of the clients bill
7. Audit Protection - This link takes you to the Protection Plus page to select if the client is, or is not, opting into Protection Plus (see Related Links for additional information)

This message may appear in the Return Notes section of the Calculation Results screen, and refers to the bill options.

Please go to Setup > Options > Billing. Under Billing statement format choose the first option: Show only total amount.