Setting up a Vertex Tax Interface

Note:  Before starting this task, you must install the tax system and configure the interface as described in the Tax System Interface Configuration Guide.

In the Tax Interface Parameters form, set these parameters:

  1. On the General tab, specify this information:
    Tax System
    Select the appropriate Vertex tax interface: Vertex O or Vertex Q.
    Company Code
    Specify the company code that you use in the Vertex software.
    Division Code
    For Vertex Q, specify the division code that you use in the Vertex software. This field is not used for Vertex O.
    Calculate Order Entry Tax
    Select this option to use the tax interface to calculate taxes during order entry and any other place that SyteLine normally calculates tax on order records. Generally, you should select this option; however, if you are having performance issues due to the number of times that the system calculates sales tax on an order, you might need to clear this option. Note that invoicing always calculates tax, as does the Order Verification Report and the Calculate Tax button on the order header.
    Ignore Drop Ship Tax Code
    This field indicates whether the tax is calculated on the customer who is paying for the order or the customer to whom you are drop-shipping the product. If this field is selected, the header customer address is used for the tax calculation. If this field is not selected, the address of each drop ship is sent for the tax calculation.
    Exclude Field Service Labor
    Select this option to exclude labor transactions from the tax calculation.
    Exclude Field Service Misc
    Select this option to exclude miscellaneous transactions from the tax calculation.
    Pass Operation Product Code on Project/Fixed Operations
    Select this option if tax should be calculated based on the product code of the operation, as opposed to using a generic SRO operation calculation.
    Store State In
    If, when tax amounts are posted to the general ledger, you want the state to be stored in one of the Unit Code fields, specify that unit code in this field. Otherwise, specify None.
    Send for Product
    Specify the information you want to send to the tax software in order to set up exemptions and special rules: Item, Product Code, or None. For example, you can send the item number from an order line, or the product code from that item, or nothing. Most users select Item.
    International Tax Code Default
    Specify the tax code to use as the default for customers who are not based in the United States or Canada. This replaces the default SyteLine tax code, which is normally set to EXTRNL
    US Country
    Specify the country that represents the United States.
    Canada Country
    Specify the country that represents Canada.
    Note: Any country other than United States or Canada is considered a "foreign" country and is ignored by the Vertex tax interface and thus calculates zero tax.
  2. If most of your customers will be taxed using the tax interface, click Set All Customer Tax Code 1 to EXTRNL. This is a quick way to substitute the selected tax interface (as Tax Code EXTRNL) in place of all tax codes that are currently defined for Tax System 1.

    If you do not click this button, you must manually specify the EXTRNL tax code for each of your customers who is to be taxed using the tax interface. You would not change the tax code for customers outside the taxing authorities that are currently supported by their taxing partner. For example, if your customers are outside of the US or are in a state/province for which you have not purchased taxing functionality, do not click this button.

    Note:  The Set All Customer Tax Code 1 to EXTRNL routine does not update Address Tax Code Defaults records. You must update these records manually where applicable.
  3. Perform one of these tasks:
    • For the Vertex O tax interface, click the Vertex O Parameters tab and specify this information:
      URL
      Specify the web address of the Tax Interface Web Service, for example http://servername/TaxIntegrationService.
      User/Password
      Specify the user ID and password required to access the Vertex O Tax web service.
      Correct Customer Address
      Select this option to have the Vertex O system automatically correct and validate any customer's addresses as they are entered into the system. If this option is selected, the SyteLine customer address is overwritten by the full address information available in Vertex O. Vertex O receives a street address and zip code from SyteLine and sends back the full postal address. This feature works for the United States and Canada only.
      Correct Prospect Address
      Select this option to have the Vertex O system automatically correct and validate any prospect's addresses as they are entered into the system. If this option is selected, the SyteLine prospect address is overwritten by the full address information available in Vertex O. Vertex O receives a street address and zip code from SyteLine and sends back the full postal address. This feature works for the United States and Canada only.
      Vertex O Debugging
      If taxes are not being calculated correctly, you can select the Debug Infor option. This creates entries in the Application Debug Log table, and you can view these entries on the Application Debug Log Listing form.
      Caution: 
      Because this feature can cause performance issues in your live system, it should not be used unless you are trying to troubleshoot an issue while working with support.
    • For the Vertex Q tax interface, click the Vertex Q Parameters tab, and specify this information:
      Database Type
      Specify ISAM or SQL. The remaining fields on the tab are different based on this setting:
      • For ISAM databases, set all the DB directories to the network share that you set up when you installed the Quantum for Sales and Use Tax Software. This can be a mapped drive or a UNC path, in this format: \\servername\sharename.
      • For SQL databases, specify the Datasource and Server Name as you enter it in the Lookup utility to get to the Vertex databases. Usually, the datasource is Vertex.dbo if Vertex is the name of your database, and the server name is the name of the ODBC connection that you specified on the database server.

        You can also optionally specify a SQL user name and password for the Vertex DLLs used to connect to the Vertex database. If this information is not specified, the Vertex DLLs connect as the domain user under which the SQL service is running.

      Validate Customer
      Select this option to validate customer addresses as they are added. Validation of each address is performed when you save the customer record (for both new and modified). Invalid customer addresses cause the system to not calculate taxes at invoicing.
      Caution: 
      Invoicing routines will not provide warning or error messages if a customer address is invalid but will simply not calculate the tax. If this occurs, you must manually create an invoice for the tax calculation amount.
      Validate Prospect
      Select this option to validate prospect addresses as they are added. Validation of each address is performed when you save the customer record (for both new and modified). Invalid prospect addresses cause the system to not calculate taxes during creation of estimates.
      Use Ship To as Order Acceptance
      Vertex has an additional address you can use for Order Acceptance. Use this grid to specify for each state whether you want to pass the Order Acceptance address.
      Vertex Q Debugging
      If taxes are not being calculated correctly, you can select the Debug Infor option. This creates entries in the Application Debug Log table, and you can view these entries on the Application Debug Log Listing form.
      Caution: 
      Because this feature can cause performance issues in your live system, it should not be used unless you are trying to troubleshoot an issue while working with support.
  4. (Optional) Use the Warehouse tab to specify the county where a warehouse is located, for more accurate taxation.
  5. Save your changes.