Tracking Vending Machine Income/Expenses

Here is one way. Set up a customer "Soda Vending Machine." Set up a taxable item "Soda Sales" to whatever income account seems appropriate in your situation, maybe other income. When you count the cash in the box, do a sales receipt for the amount less tax to "Soda Sales" and QB will add the tax back in. Deposit the cash from this sales receipt into petty cash. As the item is taxable it will go through to your sales tax reports. And when you decide to take the cash to the bank, just enter the petty cash account on the deposit slip.

As for the expense side, set up an item for your soda purchases. I'd suggest not bothering with keeping inventory! Not enough dollars for the time and trouble. Do keep the full cases under lock and key or they'll walk away. As you are paying sales tax when you sell it you can buy it for resale without tax. As for the machine rental, that is a equipment rent type cost. You can set up an item for that as well.

You should be good to go.

There may not even be an expense side of the equation. Our vending machine is maintained by the vending machine company. We are only receiving a share of the revenues collected in the machine. We don't have a sales tax issue on ours but we record the revenue received as Misc Income and just deposit the money into our checking account. Most vending companies will pay by check so using the petty cash account probably is not necessary.

Ah, there is nothing better than to scarf down a big bag of Maui Chips and wash it down with a cold bottle of Pepsi. Whats up with this setting up a new Bank type account? My advice to you is that you need a lot more help than just accounting for this one type of transaction. Ask your accountant if they do QB consulting.

If they were told that they have a sales tax obligation by their accountant then their situation is completely different than yours.

That is the way I've more normally seen it done. However it sounded like the OP had bought/leased the machine rather than rented floor space to the vending machine company in exchange for a percent of sales. Generally in the percent of sales case the vending machine company is the one responsible for paying the sales tax and you don't have a key to the cash box in the machine.