# Invoice line categories and GST codes, and why they matter

> Every invoice line has a category, which decides where its income is counted, and a GST code, which decides its GST. How each line gets them.

Who this is for: Anyone with “Raise invoices and record payments” or “See all invoices and payments” (by default: Administrator, Head Coach, Casual Staff, Reporting, Treasurer).
Last checked in release 2026.10.23, on 23 October 2026.
Source: https://sportsclubos.net/help/invoices/categories/

Each line of an invoice carries two things besides its words and amount: a **category**, which says what kind of income it is, and a **GST code**, which says whether it has GST in it. Members do not see the category. The GST code shows on the invoice only when a line is not taxable.

## Categories

| Category | For |
|---|---|
| **Membership** | Membership fees, yearly or monthly. |
| **Joining fees** | Joining fees. |
| **Court hire and guest fees** | Court and table hire, and guest fees, counted by sport. |
| **Classes** | Class fees, terms and passes. |
| **Functions** | Function hire. |
| **Bar**, **Food**, **Pro shop and merchandise**, **Hire, lockers and table time** | Mostly the till's, also on a household's monthly account invoice. |
| **Other** | Anything else. |

### Why the category matters

When a payment is recorded, it is shared across the invoice's categories, to the cent. That is how the income figures know what the money was for:

- the reports and the Dashboard's income figures, by stream (membership, each sport's courts, classes, functions, bar and so on);
- the Finance overview and the BAS worksheet, by kind of income;
- the export to the accounts, where each category goes to the club's own income account;
- member and visitor income, where membership and joining fees are members' income.

A line in the wrong category puts its income in the wrong place in all of them.

### How a line gets its category

- **A line from the price list** takes its item's category. The club sets it on the price list.
- **A line you type** is given one when you add it: choose it from the list beside the line. A new typed line starts as **Other**.
- **A line Sports Club OS raises itself** names its own: a renewal is **Membership**, a function's invoice **Functions**, a class invoice **Classes**, and so on.
- An older line that never had one is given one from what it is (its price-list item, or membership on a renewal) and otherwise counts as **Other**.

## GST codes

A line's GST code is one of **GST** (taxable), **GST-free**, **Input-taxed** or **No GST** (not a sale). What each means, and how an invoice's GST is worked out from them, is in [How GST is worked out, and how prices are entered](https://sportsclubos.net/help/finance/gst/index.md).

### How a line gets its GST code

- **A line you type** takes the code you choose beside it. The list starts at **GST**, but a line you leave alone takes its category's code when it is saved, which is GST unless the club has changed that category. To be sure of a code, choose it in the list; if it already shows the one you want, choose another and then that one again.
- **A line from the price list** takes its item's code.
- **Otherwise** it takes its category's code, which the club sets on GST and prices. Every category is taxable unless the club changes it.
- **A renewal or joining fee** takes its membership type's code for the fee or the joining fee.

> **Your club decides:** the GST code of each category, membership type, price-list item and till product, on Finance > GST and prices. Ask the club's accountant before changing one.

## When codes and categories change

Changing an item's code or category on the price list, or a category's code, applies to invoices raised from then on. An invoice already raised keeps its lines as they were, and its total and GST are never worked out again, unless someone edits it while it is still unpaid.