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Tax Vendor Screen

Last Updated: Fri Oct 20 2023

Tax Vendors are configured in Setup / Finance / Taxes / Tax Vendor

Overview

From this screen you can configure tax vendors that use native (LogiSense) or third party (AvaTax) tax solutions. Tax vendors added here are selected when configuring tax codes in order to specify how charges that fall under the tax code are taxed. For example, a tax code configured to use the AvaTax tax vendor will tax transactions that fall under the tax code using tax rates supplied by Avalara. Conversely, a tax code setup to use the native LogiSense tax vendor would tax based upon the tax rates that are configured on the tax code.

Tax Jurisdiction Codes

Tax Jurisdiction Codes (a.k.a. Pcodes) are numerical values used by AvaTax to indicate the tax jurisdiction that an account falls under. Jurisdiction codes are determined by checking the addresses found on service contacts (or alternately, if service contacts are not used then billing account contact addresses can be configured for taxation). When a jurisdiction code is found it is added to the address details on the service/billing account contact. So long as an AvaTax vendor is active the addresses that are added or updated on these account contacts will be passed to Avalara in order to retrieve the correct jurisdiction code and update it on the contact's address details.

Batch Taxing

When utilizing an integrated tax vendor (AvaTax) transactions will be calculated in batches instead of making an API call to the tax vendor on every taxable transaction. This reduces system load, particularly in environments where usage transactions occur very frequently. By default batches are sent to Avalara when the number of transactions to tax reaches 1000 or 30 seconds have elapsed since the last bulk transmission was sent. The batch size and frequency may be adjusted from the defaults on your instance, as LogiSense will determine and configure the optimal batch taxing configuration before your environment goes live.

Prerequisites

If you wish to configure an AvaTax tax vendor you will first need the credentials and settings supplied by Avalara.

Tax Vendor Panel

The Tax Vendor panel on the left of this screen allows you to select existing tax vendors to view and edit on the Edit Tax Vendor panel to the right. Actions are also available in this panel which are shown as icons above the Filter text box. The available actions are described below.

Actions

Icon

Description

Deletes the tax vendor if not in use

Adds a new tax vendor

Edit Tax Vendor Panel

The information in this panel reflects the currently selected tax vendor. From here you can change vendor details (note: fields with a magenta left border are required).

Tax Vendor Fields:

  • Name: a descriptive name of the tax vendor

  • Active: enables or disables the tax vendor. A disabled tax vendor will not tax or perform any other integration options (e.g. if you disable an AvaTax tax vendor then tax jurisdiction codes will not be added/updated on account contact addresses)

  • Vendor: the native or external tax solution to use

Configuration tab

This tab will display configuration settings when an integrated tax vendor is selected (i.e. AvaTax).

  • Company Identifier: optional company identifier. Your company name/client company name if you are acting as a billing provider

  • URL: endpoint URL provided by Avalara

  • User Name: Avalara supplied user name

  • Password: Avalara supplied password

  • Client ID: Avalara supplied client ID number

  • Client Profile ID: optional Avalara tax profile (number) used to apply AvaTax customizations files and configurations that are setup on the profile (e.g. tax exclusions and overrides). If you have no profiles setup leave this field empty

  • Service Class: service class to indicate the primary service your organization provides (local or long distance). Only relevant in certain jurisdictions (e.g. New York)

  • Business Class: business class to indicate if your organization is an incumbent or competitive provider (CLEC or ILEC). Only relevant in certain jurisdictions (e.g. Oregon)

  • Default Account Tax Category: this option will appear during configuration after importing service tax categories. The default account tax category set here is passed to Avalara for taxation in situations where no account tax category has been set on an account. A default account tax category is particularly useful when you only use one account tax category across all accounts, as using a default will eliminate the requirement to configure an account tax category on each account

  • Default Service Tax Category: this option will appear during configuration after importing service tax categories. The default service tax category set here is passed to Avalara for taxation in situations where no service tax category has been set on a service. If you only use one service tax category then configuring it as the default will eliminate the requirement to configure the service tax category on each service in the product catalog


Adding a LogiSense Tax Vendor

  1. Under the Tax Vendor heading on the left click the (emoji) icon

  2. Under the Add Tax Vendor heading on the right give the tax vendor a Name (e.g. LogiSense)

  3. Check off the Active option if you want the LogiSense tax vendor to be enabled at this time

  4. In the Vendor field select LogiSense

  5. Click Save

  6. The tax vendor is setup, you can now use the vendor when configuring tax codes


Guides

Adding an AvaTax Tax Vendor

  1. Under the Tax Vendor heading on the left click the (emoji) icon

  2. Under the Add Tax Vendor heading on the right give the tax vendor a Name (e.g. AvaTax)

  3. Leave the Active option unchecked at this time, addition configuration steps are required before a AvaTax based vendor can be enabled

  4. In the Vendor field select AvaTax

  5. On the Configuration tab populate the fields using the information supplied by Avalara

  6. Click Save

  7. A heading called Tax Categories will appear On the saved AvaTax vendor you just created, under this heading click the Get Categories button to import service tax categories from Avalara

  8. Specify the Default Business Tax Category and Default Service Tax Category

  9. Click Save

  10. At this point the AvaTax integration can be enabled, to do this edit the vendor and select the Active option

  11. Click Save

  12. Optional: to validate that the service tax categories were imported, navigate to the service tax categories screen

  13. The tax vendor is setup, you can now use the vendor when configuring tax codes


Editing Tax Vendors

  1. Under the Tax Vendor heading on the left click the tax vendor you wish to edit

  2. Under the Edit Tax Vendor heading on the right modify the tax vendor details

  3. Click Save when you have finished making changes


Deleting Tax Vendors

Note: Tax vendors that are in use (configured on tax codes) cannot be deleted. In order to delete a tax vendor that is in use, first determine which tax codes are configured to use the tax vendor you wish to delete and change the tax code to use another tax vendor.

  1. Under the Tax Vendor heading on the left select the tax vendor you wish to delete

  2. Under the same Tax Vendor heading click the (emoji) icon

  3. On the confirmation dialog that appears select Yes