Avalara: Getting Started Integration Guide

1) In Recur360, go to Settings -> Integrations and select “Avalara” from the choice of integrations.

2) Fill in your Avalara username and password to connect your account. Click save to validate it.

3) Create the proper Item and Tax Code in QuickBooks to use with the AvaTax integration.

a) If you are using QuickBooks Online, in your list of Products and Services, create a new Service Item named “R360-AVATAX-SALES TAX”. The name must match exactly, including capitalization. Set the item to Nontaxable.      

     Then create a new custom Tax Code with name “R360-AVATAX” (must match exactly again) and 0% rate.

Once these are in, then in Recur360 click “Sync Data” on the side menu to sync them in. Once the sync is done you should see that the Avalara Integration has detected them in the integrations section.

b) If you are using QuickBooks Desktop, in your Item List, create a new Service Item named “R360-AVATAX-SALES TAX”. The name must match exactly, including capitalization. Set the item to Nontaxable. Map it to Avalara Payable (Other Current Liability)

Then create a new Sales Tax Item with name “R360-AVATAX” (must match exactly again) and 0% rate. Map to the Tax Agency (vendor) Avalara

Once these are in, then in Recur360 in “Sync Status”, schedule a sync with QuickBooks Desktop and use your web connector to sync the data back to Recur360. Once this is complete you should see that the Avalara Integration has detected them in the Integrations section.

4) Upon refresh, the integrations section should now state that AvaTax has been successfully setup. You are now able to start using it. In order to use it, simply select “R360-AVATAX” as the tax code whenever you create a recurring or one-time invoice.

Settings

•  In order to change the company that AvaTax will write the transactions to, change the company under “Linked Company” and save.
•  If you would like to save on API calls while creating an invoice, you can do so by telling AvaTax not to calculate the tax until you are done editing an invoice. To do this, simply check the box that is labeled “Check here to limit API calls to Avalara by only getting the tax information for an invoice after it is submitted. If this option is selected then you will not see real time updates while editing an invoice.” and click save.
•  Upon any invoice getting created in Recur360, it will automatically be committed in Avalara. If you would like to leave it uncommitted in Avalara then check the checkbox that reads “Check here if you would not like to have us automatically commit all transactions.” and click save.

Mapping Tax Codes and Tax Exemptions

•  In order to map your items to Avalara Tax codes, select the “Tax Code Mapping” button in the Avalara integrations. You are then able to map based on categories (tax codes in QuickBooks Desktop and sales tax category in QuickBooks Online) or based on items. If an item is unmapped, it will use the category mapping by default. If an item is mapped, it will override what you have for the category.
•  If you mark an item as non-taxable in an invoice, that will override any tax code mapping you set and the item will not be taxed. If it is taxable, it will use the tax code mapping you have set.
•  If you have a tax-exempt customer, you may set the tax exemption reason within the customer by editing them. In QuickBooks Online you will find this in the “Tax Info” section by unchecking the “This customer is taxable” checkbox. In QuickBooks Desktop this is found in the “Tax Settings” section by setting the Tax Code to “non” or your non-taxable tax code. Then you will see the Avalara Tax Exemption Reason. Set this to have send the tax exemption reason to Avalara when that customer is used.

Address Validation

•  Upon entering your username and password, you will have the address validation API from Avalara enabled on your account. This can be disabled by checking the disable checkbox in the Integrations section on Recur360.
•  When you edit a customer, you have the ability to validate their billing/shipping address when entering it. Doing so will automatically fill in the resolved address for you if it succeeds.
•  If a call is done to Avalara, the address that is used from the customer (shipping by default but billing address is used if shipping does not exist) will be validated automatically if it is not already validated. The address must be validated to complete the transaction and get the tax. Once the address has been successfully validated, the resolved address will automatically be saved to the customer for you and the address will show as validated.
•  In order to ignore address validation for a specific customer, edit the customer and in the “Additional Recur360 Settings” section for that customer, click the checkbox that says “Ignore address validation for this customer” and click save.

Error Reports

•  When an error occurs in related to AvaTax, an email will be sent to the admin account to notify them of the error. This occurs once every 24 hours. A status will also appear on any invoices or recurring invoices with errors that will inform the user that they need to consult the Avalara Error Report.
•  To see all Avalara errors, click on “Reports” on the side menu in Recur360 and then select “Avalara Errors”. This will display all time stamped error messages from Avalara as well as a link to the invoice this error occurred on and the customer it was associated with.