Setting up an AvaTax 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
    Specify AvaTax.
    Company Code
    Specify the code that you that you set up in AvaTax for this site.
    Division Code
    This field is not used in AvaTax.
    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
    If Service is installed, select this option to exclude labor transactions from the tax calculation.
    Exclude Field Service Misc
    If Service is installed, select this option to exclude miscellaneous transactions from the tax calculation.
    Pass Operation Product Code on Project/Fixed Operations
    If Service is installed, 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
  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 your third-party tax solution. 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. On the AvaTax Parameters tab, specify this information:
    URL
    Specify the URL (web address) of the Tax Interface Web Service:
    • http(s)://servername/TaxIntegrationService for the live system
    • http(s)://servername/TaxIntegrationServiceDev for the test system
    Account
    Specify the account that Avalara provided to access the hosted tax application.
    License Key
    Specify the key that Avalara provided for your company's setup.
    Correct Customer Address
    Select this option to have the AvaTax 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 AvaTax. AvaTax 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 AvaTax 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 AvaTax. AvaTax 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.
    AvaTax 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. Save your changes.
Related topics
  • Setting Up Default Tax Codes