Texas sales tax help
Capture the manufacturing machinery & equipment exemption and configure sales tax correctly in QuickBooks.
Sales tax helpTexas · Manufacturing Accounting
Texas manufacturing accounting that knows your true unit cost.
Texas makers win or lose on cost accounting — and on claiming the exemptions Texas actually offers. We set up inventory and standard costing, keep COGS clean for the margin tax, and make sure the Texas manufacturing machinery & equipment sales-tax exemption is captured, by your TechBrot team, with every close reviewed by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor.
Monthly bookkeeping: $500–$2,500+ a monthWhat sets the price
If your file needs our paid diagnostic first, its fee is credited in full against the cleanup. Either way, you get a fixed fee in writing before any work starts.
State rule
Texas rule: property a manufacturer uses or consumes in actual manufacturing is exempt from sales tax when it directly causes a chemical or physical change to the product, but hand tools and office equipment are not; QuickBooks splits exempt from taxable purchases. Source: Tax Code §151.318.
§ The short version
Texas manufacturing accounting from TechBrot sets up inventory and standard costing so you know your true unit cost, keeps cost of goods sold clean for the franchise tax, and splits exempt production purchases from taxable ones under Tax Code §151.318, in your own QuickBooks file. Monthly bookkeeping runs $500–$2,500+/mo.
They took something that felt overwhelming to me as a first-year business owner and made it simple.
What stood out the most was TechBrot Inc’s attention to detail.
Intuit QuickBooks Certification Level 2 and QuickBooks Workforce Certification,
§ 01 · Why Texas manufacturer books break
Three places Texas makers lose the numbers.
A profitable-looking maker can be selling at a loss per unit. Knowing which gap you’re in tells us where to start.
01Unit cost
Selling at a loss per unit
Without real costing, material/labor/overhead blend into one number — and a maker can run a busy shop while individual products lose money on every unit.02Exemption
Leaving the exemption on the table
The Texas manufacturing machinery & equipment exemption only helps if qualifying purchases are tracked and the exemption is claimed — many makers pay sales tax they didn’t owe.03Inventory
Inventory that doesn’t tie
Raw materials, WIP, and finished goods that aren’t valued and reconciled distort COGS, the margin tax, and the BPP rendition all at once.§ 02 · What TechBrot handles
What we track for a Texas manufacturer.
Every engagement is scoped to your products and lines, delivered in your own QuickBooks file by your TechBrot team.
01
Inventory & standard costing
Raw materials, WIP, and finished goods valued and material/labor/overhead tied to each product for true unit cost.
QuickBooks accountant02
Manufacturing exemption captured
Qualifying machinery, equipment, and production inputs (the §151.318 chemical-or-physical-change test) tracked apart from hand tools, office, and maintenance purchases, with use tax accrued where a vendor didn’t charge it, so the Texas sales-tax exemption can be claimed — your CPA confirms eligibility.
Sales tax help03
Clean COGS for the margin tax
Cost of goods sold tracked distinctly from overhead so your CPA can take the COGS deduction on the franchise (margin) tax.
Franchise tax help04
Equipment on the BPP rendition
Machinery and equipment tracked on a fixed-asset schedule by location, so the $125,000-per-location exemption that applies from 2026 and the business personal property rendition are accurate and ready.
Bookkeeping services05
Gross margin by product line
Reporting that shows margin by product or line so pricing and capacity decisions rest on real numbers.
Financial statements06
Monthly close that ties
A monthly close with inventory reconciled and COGS clean — CPA-ready and decision-ready.
Monthly bookkeeping§ 03 · Tools we work alongside
Connected to how you make.
- Fishbowl, Katana, and inventory/MRP platforms
- QuickBooks Online or hosted Desktop — your file
- Shopify, Amazon, and B2B sales channels
- Gusto, ADP, and payroll providers
- Bill.com for vendor and materials AP
- Barcode / shop-floor data tools
We reconcile alongside the inventory and shop-floor systems you already run — the books read from how you make.
§ 04 · How engagements work
From blended margin to true unit cost.
Every Texas manufacturing engagement follows the same rhythm — books accurate first, cost visibility second, advisory third.
- Step 1
Free costing & inventory review
A QuickBooks ProAdvisor reviews your costing, inventory, and whether the manufacturing exemption is being captured — at no cost. - Step 2
Written fixed-fee scope
A written scope and fixed fee within 3 business days — setup, cleanup, or monthly. - Step 3
Build costing & inventory
Inventory valuation and standard/job costing set up, COGS separated, qualifying exemption purchases tracked. - Step 4
Monthly unit-cost visibility
A monthly close showing true unit cost and product-line margin, CPA-ready.
§ 05 · Beyond the books
True unit cost is the start. Pricing and capacity are the point.
When unit cost is real and inventory ties, the decisions get real: which products to push, which to reprice, whether the next machine pays for itself, where capacity is leaking margin — answered from numbers that hold.
That’s where fractional-CFO advisory picks up, on cleaned-up books, in coordination with your CPA.
Checked against Tax Code §151.318 and the Texas Comptroller.
§ 07 · Around this page
Around Texas.
Texas QuickBooks ProAdvisor & bookkeeping
The state page: services, industries, cities and the Texas tax terms in one place.Manufacturing accounting, nationally
The national engagement this page is the Texas version of — same scope, same written fixed fee.Not sure where your file stands? Start with the free QuickBooks file review · how Texas compares: state-by-state tax quirks.
§ 08 · FAQ
Texas manufacturing accounting questions.
What does Texas manufacturing accounting include?
Inventory valuation and standard or job costing, clean cost-of-goods-sold tracking for the franchise (margin) tax, capture of the Texas manufacturing machinery & equipment sales-tax exemption, and equipment tracked on a fixed-asset schedule for the business personal property rendition — in your own QuickBooks file. We deliver the books; your CPA confirms exemption eligibility and files.
What is the Texas manufacturing sales-tax exemption and do I qualify?
Texas offers a sales-tax exemption on machinery and equipment used in the actual manufacturing, processing, or fabrication of a product for sale. Qualifying tangible personal property purchased with the proper exemption certificate can be exempt from sales tax. Tax Code §151.318 sets the test: property that becomes an ingredient or component of the product, or property directly used or consumed in or during actual manufacturing, processing, or fabrication that is necessary or essential to it and directly makes or causes a chemical or physical change to the product. It expressly leaves out intraplant transportation equipment, hand tools, office equipment or supplies, and maintenance or janitorial supplies. Eligibility has specific conditions and depends on how the equipment is used, so we track qualifying purchases and documentation while your CPA confirms eligibility and the Comptroller’s current rules. Don’t assume — confirm before claiming.
How does cost accounting work for a maker?
We set up inventory valuation (raw materials, WIP, finished goods) and standard or job costing that ties material, labor, and overhead to each product or production run. That surfaces your true cost per unit and real gross margin by product — so you can see which products actually make money instead of relying on a blended company-wide number.
How does the franchise (margin) tax treat manufacturers?
Manufacturers often benefit from electing the cost-of-goods-sold deduction on the Texas franchise (margin) tax, because they carry substantial real COGS. For reports due in 2026 and 2027, the rate is 0.75% for entities other than retailers and wholesalers, an entity at or below $2,650,000 in total revenue owes no tax, and the report is due May 15. We track COGS cleanly and distinctly from overhead and selling expenses so your CPA has a clean base to compute the margin and choose the most favorable deduction method. We track it; your CPA computes and files.
Do you handle inventory for the BPP rendition?
Yes — inventory and equipment both feed the annual business personal property rendition. From January 1, 2026, Tax Code §11.145 (as amended by H.B. 9) exempts $125,000 of the appraised value of income-producing personal property that has taxable situs at the same location in a taxing unit, so we keep inventory valued and reconciled and the fixed-asset schedule for machinery and equipment by location, and the rendition is accurate and ready. The valuation methodology and any protest stay with your CPA or a property-tax consultant.
Do you work in my own QuickBooks file?
Yes — your file, your data, in QuickBooks Online or hosted Desktop, with a senior bookkeeper assigned to your file, and every close reviewed by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor before it reaches you, connected to your inventory and MRP systems rather than proprietary software.
Texas manufacturers start here