Payment reminders and tax set-aside

Handl can chase overdue invoices for you automatically, and help you keep a running sense of how much of what you've been paid you should be setting aside for tax. It can also add your tax payment for each filing period to your upcoming commitments, with the date it's due.

Turn on reminders for a project in its settings to enable automatic reminder emails around an invoice's due date.
Reminders are scheduled relative to the due date — some before it as a friendly nudge, others after it if payment is overdue — and can be customised per project or client.
Separately, set up a tax set-aside rule under Settings → Money → Payment options → Set-aside to get a prompt every time a payment comes in, suggesting how much of it to put aside for tax — either based on the actual tax charged on the invoice, or a flat percentage of what was paid.
You'll see this as a notification (and alongside your regular payment notification) each time a payment succeeds, along with a running total for the quarter.

Set your tax filing period

Handl works out what you owe for each filing period, so it needs to know how often you file.

Go to Settings → Workspace → Agency and find Currency & tax.
Under Tax period, choose Monthly, Every 2 months, Quarterly, Every 6 months or Annual. Leave it on the default and Handl uses the usual period for your country. New Zealand and Ireland default to every 2 months.
Set First period starts in if your periods don't start in January, and choose whether to Report tax on a cash or accrual basis.

A default doesn't overwrite a period you've already chosen.

Your tax payment in Commitments

Handl adds one tax payment for each filing period to Commitments (Settings → Money → Commitments), so it shows in your upcoming payments and your cash flow without you entering it.

Amount. It's the tax you collected in the period, or the net amount (collected minus credits you can reclaim) if your agency reclaims tax. While the period is open it's an estimate and is marked as one. After the period closes it's treated as the amount owed, but keeps updating if late invoices or payments change it.
Due date. Handl uses the standard due date for your country and filing period (see below). It's never created already overdue.
Locked. The row stops changing when you mark it paid, or once its due date has passed.
Your edits win. If you change the amount, the due date or the estimate flag on a tax row, Handl keeps your value and stops overwriting it. Each can be edited separately.
Changing your filing period. Open tax rows you haven't edited that overlap a new period are archived and replaced. Rows you've paid, edited, or that are locked or already closed are left alone, so check Commitments after changing it.

To turn this off, go to Settings → Workspace → Agency → Currency & tax and switch off Add my tax payment to Commitments. Open tax rows you haven't edited are archived. Switching it back on restores them. Rows you archived yourself stay archived.

Standard filing due dates

Handl uses the standard self-lodgement date, not the later date available through a tax agent, and where it depends on something Handl doesn't know it picks the earliest option. It doesn't move the date for weekends or public holidays. Examples:

Australia (GST): monthly, 21st of the month after; quarterly, the 28th of the month after the quarter ends (28 February for the December quarter); annual, 31 October.
New Zealand (GST): the 28th of the month after the period ends, except periods ending in November (due 15 January) and March (due 7 May).
Ireland (VAT): the 19th of the month after the period ends.
United Kingdom (VAT): 1 month and 7 days after the period ends.

Handl also has standard dates for Canada, Singapore, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Spain. For the United States, sales tax is set by state, so Handl shows an estimate (the 20th of the month after) and marks it as one. For any other country Handl doesn't guess a date: the tax tile shows No standard due date · add it and you can add the commitment yourself with your own date.

The tax tile on your dashboard

The tax tile (labelled GST, VAT or Tax to match your country) shows the period you're about to pay. After a period ends and until its due date passes, the tile headlines that period's amount, with a chip such as Due 28 Oct · 27 days, and a footer row for the current period so far. Once the due date has passed, or when no due date is known, it goes back to headlining the current period.

Good to know

Payment reminders are off by default per project — turn them on deliberately if you want Handl to email clients automatically.
Tax set-aside and the tax commitment are reminders only — Handl doesn't move or transfer any money on your behalf; you still need to pay the tax and transfer the suggested amount yourself, wherever you keep it.
The commitment amount is an estimate of what you owe from the invoices in Handl, not a lodged return. Check it against your own records before you file.
If a period's tax is in more than one currency, or the exchange rate for it isn't available, Handl doesn't show a number rather than guess one.
The wording adapts to your region — Australian agencies see GST-focused language, US agencies see sales tax language, and other regions get general tax-time wording.
If a client has told you they've paid by bank transfer or mailed a cheque, automatic reminders for that invoice pause for 3 or 10 days respectively.

FAQs

Will Handl automatically set aside money for tax?
No — it only prompts and tracks a suggested amount; moving the money is up to you.

Why is there no tax payment in my Commitments?
Check that Add my tax payment to Commitments is on, and that your country has a standard due date. If it doesn't, add the commitment yourself from the tax tile's Set due date hint.

Can I turn reminders off for a specific client?
Yes — reminder settings can be overridden at the project or client level.

How often will a client get a reminder for the same overdue invoice?
Reminders are throttled so a client won't be emailed about the same invoice more than once within a short window.