Avalara API Configuration Settings

The Avalara third-party tool requires setup for connection parameters to ensure that the tax calculations are quick and efficient for your business. Use the Avalara Tax Servicetab on the API Configurations menu to define the tax settings for your Avalara interface.

For Canadian customers, see Enabling Canadian Provinces below.

To set up the Avalara parameters:

  1. From the System > System Programming >Add On Products > API Maintenance menu, select API Configurations.

  2. In the side panel, select Avalara Tax Service to display the window.

  3. Use the Enable Avalara Tax Calculations field to set the date you want to start using Avalara to calculate taxes for your defined settings.

Note:Sales order generations with a ship date on or after the specified date obtain sales tax values from Avalara.

  1. ClosedSet the Connection Settings area options.

    Field

    Description

    Avalara URL*

    The Internet address for the Avalara interface.

    Avalara Account*

    Your customer account ID with Avalara.

    Avalara License

    The license number for the Avalara account you are using to for connections.

    Timeout* (seconds)

    Enter the time after which you want the connection to time out. The default is 30 seconds.

    For example, if you know that your connection can be slow, you may want the system to wait for a response from Avalara for 45 seconds before timing out the connection and logging an Avalara error.

    Test Connection*

    Use the Test Connection button to verify the listed information in the URL, account, and license fields is accurate. These values are provided by Avalara. The system tests the connect and displays a confirmation when the information is correct:

    If Avalara encounters an error, the system alerts you of the missing data or failure to authenticate.

    * Required.

  2. ClosedReview the Other Settings tab configurations.

    Area

    Field

    Description

    G/L Account Settings

    Default Account*

    Select the G/L account for which you want to use to apply the tax information.

    Eclipse recommends creating a new G/L account to make the reconcile process easier.

    Customer Settings

    Customer Type to Send in Tax Lookup

    Indicate which customer type you want to use when looking up tax information. This value controls the entity ID sent to Avalara and determines how exemption certificates are managed at Avalara. Select one of the following:

    • Ship-To - Use if your exemption certificates are managed at the Ship-To level, meaning each Ship-To has an exemption certificate in Avalara.

    • Bill-To - Use if your exemption certificates are loaded into Avalara for the Bill-To entity ID. This is the default.

    Tax Codes

    Default Freight Tax Code**

    Select the default tax code you want to use for freight charges.

    Note: Geocodes are only used for National Sales Tax Database checks. Avalara does not use them.

    Default Handling Tax Code**

    Select the default tax code to use for handling charges.

    Default Tax Method

    Select Ship Branch, Price Branch, or Ship-To Customer.

    This default method is used If an order has no ship via assigned or has no method defined for which addresses to send to Avalara.

    Split Freight

    Freight In Tax Code

    For Split Freight taxing method. This is the code for taxing expenses related to receiving freight, such as the shipping and handling cost of bringing inventory into your branch. A Ship Via may use a different tax code.

    Freight Out Tax Code

    For Split Freight taxing method. This is the code for taxing expenses related to sending freight out, such as the shipping and handling cost of delivering goods to your customers. A Ship Via may use a different tax code.

    Tax Commit Settings

    Retax Orders During Commit

    Indicate if you want the system to recalculate tax when the sales order has been committed through Avalara.

    G/L Adjustment Settings

    Send Cash Receipt G/L Adjustments

    Indicate if you want to send cash receipt adjustment. This option makes G/L adjustments in Cash Receipts to remove the tax from the closed period invoice, if needed, and those G/L adjustments sync over to Avalara for reporting.

    Adjustment Account

    Use the Adjustment Account field to indicate which General Ledger account to use for Avalara cash receipts adjustment. Then, when using A/R Adjustments function in A/R Entry, you can select this account to apply the adjustments:

    Important: This account should be unique to use with Avalara so that the system can properly determine which transactions to sync to Avalara.

    Company Codes**

     

    Company Code

    Enter the codes you want users to use for company identification. The company code must match the code  defined on the Avalara Admin Portal. You can define more than one.

    For each company code in the list, use the Branches/Terrs field to define the branches or territories that are included in that company code.

    Note:The company code must match what is entered in the Avalara Admin Portal exactly or errors could display. Misspellings and typos can cause errors to occur.

    Branches/Terrs

    Select one or more branches and/or territories that are included for each code listed in the Company Code field.

    Note: If a branch has more than one company code associated with it, Eclipse uses the first company code in the list for which it is assigned. If sales tax is required to calculate and the branch is not assigned a company code, the first company code in the list.

    Company ID

    Part of the certificate capture is having the Company ID passed to Avalara. Avalara needs the 4-6 digit Company ID to associate the customer’s certificate information with the appropriate company.

    Select the Company Code and the branch/territory, then enter the value in the Company Id field. This associates the Company ID with the Company Code and the branch/territory. The system retains the association.

    * Required.

    ** Codes must match the code defined on the Avalara Admin Portal.

  3. In the Logging tab for each transaction, set the State column to On to enable logging so you can review transaction information. The default is 1000 records for 30 days.

  4. Save your changes and exit the window.

Additional Control Maintenance Records

The system respects the following control maintenance records. We recommend reviewing them prior to activating Avalara.

Note: Changes to sales orders using Avalara should always follow the standard credit and rebill process.

Handling Print Errors

If there is an invoice error that would prevent Avalara from providing a tax amount, you can set the system to disable printing. Select the check box labeled, If an Avalara error exists, set the Print Status to Hold.

This prevents an inaccurate invoice from being produced that does not have taxes on it.

Performance Options

Improve the speed of Avalara processing by setting the Execution Thread Count and the Maximum Thread Workload. The increase in speed is accomplished through running multiple system threads of Avalara data tasks at one time. You can also adjust the threads when running the Avalara Tax Commit process, if you are authorized to do so. The settings here are default settings.

Enabling Canadian Provinces

For Canadian customers, you must activate the Canadian provinces to see the associated tax values.

To activate the provinces:

  1. Login to the Avalara Portal.

  2. Click the Organization tab.

  3. Click on the Nexus Jurisdictions for your company code.

  4. Select Jurisdictions for Canada.

  5. Select all the provinces listed.

  6. Save your changes and exit the portal.