A Software Company in Philadelphia Counting Ounces on an Invoice

Updated November 2026 · Written and maintained by the Progression Agency strategy team

Twenty four cans at twelve ounces is 288 ounces, and at the City’s 1.5 cents an ounce the line on the invoice reads $4.32. A software company in Philadelphia that builds for beverage distributors has to get that line right for every SKU, because the Department of Revenue requires a receipt with the ounces supplied and the tax for each transaction. This page runs five product cases through the same invoice line, then says what the software costs. Progression is based in New York, works with Philadelphia distributors and dealers remotely, and offers on-site sessions on request.

24 cans at 12 ounces

A dealer orders two cases of a sparkling cola, twelve cans to a case. The warehouse picks them, the driver drops them, and the invoice prints a line. On that line sits a number that did not exist in most invoicing systems a decade ago.

The arithmetic is short. Twenty four cans times twelve ounces is 288 ounces, and 288 times $0.015 is $4.32. That is the whole job when every item is one flavor in one size. The rest of this page is about the cases where it is not.

• Ounces come first, and the tax follows from them.
• The line must show the ounces supplied and the tax imposed.
• Store the rate as a value with a start date, never as a number inside a formula.

What a software company in Philadelphia has to get right on an invoice

The Philadelphia Department of Revenue says the Beverage Tax is 1.5 cents per ounce of sweetened beverage distributed. A distributor is any person who sells sweetened beverages to a dealer, and a dealer is any person who sells them at retail. Delis, restaurants, grocery stores, hospitals, schools and nonprofits can all be dealers.

A registered distributor has to give a receipt for each transaction showing the amount of sweetened beverages supplied and the amount of tax imposed. The receipt can be part of an invoice or a supplemental form provided by the City. A system that cannot print those two numbers is not ready.

For any question about coverage, rounding or registration, the Department of Revenue is the office to ask, and the Department invites tax questions at revenue@phila.gov. This page describes the rule in plain words and leaves the rulings to the City.

Who has to be registered?

A distributor that wants its customers to buy under the tax registers with the City, even if it is outside Philadelphia. The City keeps a published list of registered distributors, and it is the dealer’s responsibility to know whether a distributor is on it.

Case one: a sweetened can

Start with the plain case, worked in full. A sweetened cola lists sugar as an ingredient, so the tax applies. The system multiplies the ounces and prints the result.

A system should show its work in the audit view, even when the printed invoice shows only the result. If a dealer disputes a line, the ounces, the rate and the rate’s start date are the first things to open.

• Show ounces per can, cans per case and cases on the audit view.
• Show the rate and its start date beside the result.
• Keep the printed line short and the audit view complete.

Case two: a diet can

The Department of Revenue says it does not matter whether a sweetener has calories. Diet and zero calorie drinks are covered when a sweetener appears in the ingredient list, whether it is sucrose or an ingredient with no calories such as stevia or sucralose.

Can a calorie count drive the flag?

No. A flag keyed to calories will miss every zero calorie sweetener. Key it to the ingredient list: a listed sweetener turns the flag on. Store the ingredient text with the SKU so someone can see why the flag is set.

• Match the flag to the listed ingredients, not the nutrition panel.
• Keep one flag per SKU, set by a named person.
• Show the ingredient text on the item screen.
• Log each time the flag changes, with the date and the reason.

Case three: a fountain syrup

Concentrates and syrups used to make a beverage are covered when they include a sweetener, and the tax rate is based on the final beverage produced, not the raw syrup or concentrate. The software therefore needs to know what a syrup makes.

The ratio belongs in the item record, with the manufacturer’s instruction behind it. If the ratio changes with a new formula, the system should keep the old one for old invoices. Ask the Department of Revenue how it wants a mixed ratio documented.

• Store gallons of syrup and the ratio on the item record.
• Convert to ounces of final beverage in one place only.
• Keep old ratios for old invoices.
• Record who confirmed each ratio.

What if the ratio is a range?

Store the figure the product is meant to be mixed at, and record who confirmed it and when. A range that drifts from invoice to invoice is a question for the Department, and it should not be settled by a developer.

Case four: an unsweetened coffee and a sweetened one

One truck can carry both. The City covers pre-sweetened coffee and tea, and the test it describes is whether a sweetener is listed as an ingredient. An unsweetened coffee that lists none does not meet that description, though a doubtful label is a question for the Department.

The two lines have identical ounces and different tax, and only the ingredient flag explains the gap. This is why the flag has to live on the SKU and be reviewed whenever a supplier changes a recipe. A label that quietly gains a sweetener changes the tax on every case.

• Store the ingredient text and the date it was checked.
• Re-check the flag when a supplier sends a new label.
• Print a zero tax line for an untaxed item if your dealers expect to see it.
• Send borderline labels to the Department of Revenue, not to a guess.

How often should a flag be rechecked?

Whenever a supplier sends a new label, and at least once a year for items that rarely change. Give one person the job and keep the dated result next to the SKU.

Case five: a dealer who bought from an unlisted distributor

A dealer who does not buy from a registered distributor has to register and pay the tax to the City directly. The dealer needs a system that notices when a supplier is missing from the City’s list, because the dealer is responsible for knowing.

What should a dealer’s system flag?

Three things: a supplier that is not on the registered list, an invoice with no tax line, and a product that is sweetened. Any two together should land in a review queue before the month closes.

Dealers also notify their distributors that the sweetened beverages they buy are subject to the tax. A Pennsylvania sales tax exemption certificate showing the Philadelphia location is a valid notice, so keep it with the supplier record.

• Check each new supplier against the City’s list before the first order.
• Recheck the list on a schedule, since suppliers can change.
• Hold the exemption certificate with the supplier record.
• Route unlisted suppliers to a person for a decision.

The six cards above are the fields an invoice line needs before the five cases will run correctly. Everything else is reporting.

What invoice software for this tax costs

Price depends on where the ounces live today. A distributor whose item master already holds container sizes and ingredient text needs a smaller change than one that sells from spreadsheets. Progression quotes after a written scope.

Published bands for the builds behind a tax line

The bands run from the typical low to the published high for each kind of build.

Hosting, licenses and security testing are on top. Our software development company page explains how a scope is written, and app development agency covers the mobile side of a route sales tool. We publish no Philadelphia price and no price per SKU.

The 20th of every month

Returns and payments are due on the 20th of each month for the prior month’s sales. A registered taxpayer files every month, even with no activity. The City directs filers to the Philadelphia Tax Center for online returns and payments.

The return is only as good as the invoice lines under it. A report that sums the printed tax lines for a calendar month, and lists the ounces beside them, lets the person who files check the total against the invoices in a few minutes.

What if there were no sales?

A registered taxpayer still files. Set the system to create the return reminder on the first of the month whether or not any lines exist, so a quiet month does not slip past the 20th.

• Remind the filer on the 1st, the 15th and the 19th.
• Name a backup filer with access to the account.
• Keep a copy of each filed return with the invoice export behind it.
• Interest and penalties follow a late payment, so treat the 20th as fixed.

A brief for your controller

Copy this card into a document and fill it in before a software scope is written. A controller who completes it can show a developer every SKU, every dealer type and the person who files, which is most of what a scope needs.

Send the filled card with one invoice. Our software development company page describes the builds that follow from it. If your Philadelphia business also wants a new website, web design in Philadelphia has its own page, and marketing agency in Philadelphia covers promotion.

Related services and guides

Pages that sit beside this invoice line:

• Software development company
• App development agency
• Web design in Philadelphia

Frequently asked questions