Third-party tax applications

There are three third-party tax applications that are widely used with Lawson Accounts Receivable application: Vertex, Quantum, and Taxware. This is an overview of each application.

Note: See the Tax User Guide for details on Vertex and Quantum and Taxware.

Vertex

Vertex is a third party system that calculates sales tax. The Vertex company performs all the research and updating of tax information for you.

Vertex compiles a national sales tax rate directory listing information about every state, county, and city with a population over 250, including tax rates and effective dates. The tax rate information is updated monthly.

There are four options for assigning customers to tax authorities:

  • GeoCode

  • State, City, and ZIP code

  • State and ZIP code

  • State, City, and ZIP code or State and ZIP code

    (if the city name is invalid, then access by state and ZIP code)

Quantum

The Quantum system calculates sales tax for locations in the United States and Canada. Quantum updates tax rates for you on a monthly basis for states, counties, cities, and towns.

Quantum calculates sales tax based on state, city, and ZIP code location. Also available are jurisdictions, which represent the tax authorities where you pay your taxes. Jurisdictions contain codes for:

  • States

  • Counties

  • Cities

  • ZIP codes

  • ZIP code extensions

  • Geographic codes

The geographic code allows you to tell the system directly which town to tax if there were two towns with the same ZIP code but different tax rates. The code consists of the ZIP codes and a two-digit number uniquely identifying the location.

A program exists to determine the appropriate tax authority on which rates are based and tax is calculated. Sales tax can be calculated at two levels: invoice total or line item.

These are some features that Quantum provides:

  • override individual tax rates for a customer or a transaction by percentage or amount (allowing you to backbill a customer after a rate change)

  • find out the correct tax for non-sale items such as insurance and freight

  • keep current and previous tax rates on file for credit invoicing

  • automatically handle situations where one rate overrides another (for example, a city tax rate overrides a county rate)

Taxware

The TAXWARE third-party tax system, which is available for Lawson's UNIX platform users, calculates taxes for locations in the United States and Canada. TAXWARE updates all state, county, city, and town tax rates for you on a monthly basis.

The TAXWARE system calculates tax based on state, city, and ZIP code location. Also available are jurisdictions, which represent the tax authorities where you pay your taxes. Jurisdictions contain codes for

  • states;

  • counties;

  • cities;

  • ZIP codes;

  • ZIP code extensions; and

  • geographic codes

The geographic code lets you tell the system directly which town to tax if there are two towns with the same ZIP code but different tax rates. The code consists of the ZIP code and a two-digit number uniquely identifying the location.

A program exists to determine the appropriate tax authority on which rates are based and tax is calculated. Tax can be calculated at two levels: invoice total or line item.

These are some special features that TAXWARE provides:

  • override individual tax rates for a customer or a transaction by percentage or amount (allowing you to backbill a customer after a rate change);

  • find out the correct tax for nonsale items such as insurance and freight;

  • keep current and previous tax rates on file for credit invoicing; and

  • automatically handle situations where one rate overrides another (for example, a city tax rate overrides a county rate).

Using the Jurisdiction Options:

Jurisdictions can include counties, cities, rapid transit districts, school districts, police jurisdictions, and water commissions.

By selecting the jurisdiction option, you receive a more exact tax rate, especially when the jurisdiction for a transaction is different than the ship-to location.

For the system to calculate tax rates by jurisdiction, these information are needed:

  • Ship-to location

  • Ship-from location

  • Point of order acceptance and origin

  • Point of order acceptance codes define the location where the terms of the sale are negotiated and where the sale is finalized. Point of origin codes indicate the location of the sales agent.

  • Point of title passage

  • Service indicator