Online order form
- Order total
- $287.40
- Goods subtotal
- $255
- Sales tax on the goods
- $20.40
Every figure on this page is computed from the inputs entered, by the method stated below it. OrderPadLedger publishes no tax rate, no screening rule and no survey: the defaults are a worked example to replace with your own.
An online order form is the order pad moved onto a page, and it earns its keep in one place: the total. A form that collects the lines and leaves the arithmetic to the customer, or to whoever reads the submission, produces the wrong number once a week, and a wrong total is a phone call, a refund or a lost order. What the form has to do is small and exact: take the lines at their quantities and prices, apply the tax to the goods and not the shipping, put the shipping on its own line, and hand back one total. This guide is about that arithmetic, and the free order form on this site does it with no account.
Try the free order form Free to use. No account, no card, no sign-up.
Lines at quantity times price, added before anything else
Each line is a quantity times a unit price, and the goods subtotal is the lines added up. The form works each line so the customer sees what each thing cost, and the subtotal is the base the tax applies to, which is why it sits on its own line before the tax rather than being folded into the total.
Tax on the goods, shipping on its own line
Sales tax applies to the goods at your state's and your city's rate, and in many states not to the shipping when it is stated separately, which is why the form puts shipping on its own line after the tax. The rate is yours to enter; the form publishes none, because the rate depends on where you are and what you sell.
One total, and the submission kept
Goods plus tax plus shipping is the order total, the last and largest figure on the form, and the one the customer pays. The paid plan keeps every order against the customer with its lines and its total, so the question about what was ordered in March has the form to hand.
Online order form: common questions
What should an online order form include?
The customer's name and contact, each line with a quantity and a unit price, the goods subtotal, sales tax at your rate on the goods, shipping or delivery on its own line, the order total, and how the customer pays. The free order form on this site carries the figures; the paid plan adds your logo and keeps the submission against the customer.
Is there a free online order form?
Yes. The order form on this site is free and needs no account: three lines, shipping and your tax rate in, the subtotal, the tax and the total out, printed as it stands. OrderPadLedger Pro adds your business name and logo, a PDF without our line, and saving every order against the customer.
Should sales tax apply to shipping?
It depends on the state: many do not tax separately stated shipping and some do. The form applies the rate to the goods and leaves shipping untaxed, which fits the common case; if your state taxes delivery, enter a rate that reflects it or add the shipping into a line, and your state's rule is the authority.
Will it do what you need for Online order form?
Tell us what your forms need and we will tell you straight whether OrderPadLedger Pro does it today, whether it is coming, or whether you are better off with something else. A person reads these and replies.