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 Vertex Q or Vertex O.
    Company Code
    Specify the company code that you use in the Vertex software.
    Division Code
    Specify the division code that you use in the Vertex software.
    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.
    Note: If you select this option, you must set up SVC-LBR-EXEMPT in Vertex as a non-taxable item for the labor charges to not be taxed.
    Exclude Field Service Misc
    Select this option to exclude miscellaneous transactions from the tax calculation.
    Note: If you select this option, you must set up SVC-MSC-EXEMPT in Vertex as a non-taxable item for the miscellaneous charges to not be taxed.
    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 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.

  3. For a Vertex Q interface, on the Vertex Q Parameters tab, specify the Database Type as ISAM or SQL. The 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 the 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.

  4. For a Vertex O interface, specify this information on the Vertex O Parameters tab:
    URL
    Specify the URL where the Vertex O Tax web service calls should be made.
    User/Password
    Specify the user ID and password required to access the Vertex O Tax web service.
  5. If applicable, specify this additional information on the Vertex Q Parameters or Vertex O Parameters tab:
    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.
    Debug
    If taxes are not being calculated correctly, you can select the Debug 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.
  6. Save your changes.