Elite | Tax Integration

This article will cover how to configure the Vertex Tax Integration in Elite Software. Licensing may be required for this integration to work properly. The Closed Accrual Accounting Method is also a requirement when integrating with an External Tax Solution. 

 

Topics included in this article

• Integration Overview

• Credentials Configuration

• Setting up the System Parameters to Use Your Tax Integration

• Closed Account/Cash Mods and Integrated Sales Tax Solutions

• Transactions

• Logs

• Additional Notes

Integration Overview

1. Sales Tax Quotation

   1. Any transaction requiring sales tax will request a sales tax quotation from the external tax service API.

        

2. Sales Tax Posting

   1. Any transaction posting income within the application will also make a sales tax posting to the external tax service API.
         

3. Configurations
   

   💡 PRO TIP: Tax configurations in Elite are exception-based. If a customer or product follows standard tax rules for their location, no manual configuration is required. Use the following settings only for customers or products that are tax-exempt or require special taxability rules.

    

   1. System Configurations

      1. Client ID, Client Secret, Company Code

          

   2. Store Configurations - done from store 001 only

      1. Vertex v2 must be set as the Sales Tax Calculation Method.

      2. This sets all stores and validates each store's location with the external tax service to ensure accurate tax calculations.

         1. When enabled, 3 settings in the Adjustment section are set and locked.

            1. These settings are required for proper operation.

      3. Tax Display name for contract printouts (can be edited).

      4. Tax Classes - defaults if no item configurations exist.

         1. Sales Items, Rental Items, Assets Sales, Item Percentage, Damage Waiver, Other

         2. When no downstream tax codes/classifications are set up, these defaults will be used.

              

   3. Customer Configurations

      1. External Sales Tax Code - generally applies to a single customer.

      2. External Sales Tax Class - generally applies to many customers.

      3. Customers SHOULD NOT be set to Tax Exempt within Point of Rental, as it overrides all tax calculations in Vertex.

          

   4. Item Configurations

      1. Sales Tax Code - used if any special rules apply to any type of item.

      2. Inventory records CANNOT be set to non-taxable.

         1. This field should be disabled in File & Field Security so it cannot be manipulated by users.
             

   5. Item Category Configurations

      1. Rental Tax Class

      2. Sales Tax Class
          

   6. Jobsite Configurations

      1. External Sales Tax Code - A way to set a tax code against individual job sites to set exemptions.
           

            

4. Operation

   1. When a transaction is being created/modified, and a tax calculation is needed, the Tax, Total, and Due fields will display as ‘----’ and a tax calculator icon will appear in the top right corner of the contract.

      1. The user can click the icon to get an immediate tax calculation if needed.

      2. Saving the contract automatically requests a tax quote and updates the transaction to include sales tax where applicable.
           

   2. Transactions must have valid addresses for accurate tax calculations.

      1. If a necessary address is missing or formatted incorrectly, a sales tax calculation will not be requested, and instead, the user will receive a warning message.
         
            

   3. If the external tax service is unreachable for any reason, the contract can be switched back to use locally configured jurisdictions for each store.

   4. If a contract is closed and the external tax service is unreachable, it will be forced into a Review Billing status.

      1. These contracts can be modified, and the tax jurisdiction changed to External, then closed and posted.

   5. When a closed/posted contract is modified, an adjustment contract is created with the net changes, including the sales tax posting

   6. There are NO current methods to manipulate sales tax postings outside of a transaction. Any tax adjustments should be made from the transaction where the error occurred to adjust Point of Rental income and external tax postings.

          

5. Reporting

   1. Your external tax service will be your source of reporting and filing.

   2. Sales tax reporting within Point of Rental can be generated and will report all transactions and sales tax for a single jurisdiction by store. However, no detail can be obtained from Point of Rental.
        

        
6. General Ledger
   1. Sales tax will continue to be posted to the GL account configured in Account Numbers for sales tax payables.

Credentials Configuration

1. From Elite, go to Configuration Gear and look for API Configurations.

    

2. Enter the Client ID, Client Secret, and Company Code under the API Configurations. (Note: Client ID = API Key & Client Secret = API Password).

   1. Please note that if you use another Tax Integration Service, please see that API Integration area.

      

       

Setting up the System Parameters to use Your Tax Integration

1. In Elite, go to your Configuration Gear > App Configurations > System Configurations > Parameters > Store 1 > Accounting Tab

      

2. Set the Sales Tax Calculation method to Vertex v2. 

   

     

   • This step will initiate address verification requests for each store/location.

   • The Tax Area ID is obtained from Vertex and entered in Elite in store parameters > information tab and is used in all sales tax requests.

     • Please note that if multiple Tax Area IDs are returned for a location, you'll have to choose the one that will be stored in Elite. (Using the zip+4 address for each store minimizes the risk of multiple Tax Area IDs). 

       
         

3. Optional: Configure a tax class code for each income type.

   1. The income types: Rental, Sales, Asset Sales, Damage Waiver, Item Percentage, and Other.

      
      
      

   2. Select your Tax Date Source for Quotes and Posting (Invoices). The Contract Opening Date keeps the rates constant from the time the contract is opened. Current Date will use the current rate and will reflect any rate changes. For more information, see the article Tax Date Source for Tax Integration Services. We encourage both dates to be set to Current Date. Setting the Tax Date Source to Current Date allows our integrated tax services to pull the most up-to-date data available. This minimizes the risk of audits and ensures we collect and remit the exact amount required at the time of the transaction.   

   3. Display Breakout on Contract - This will print the full breakdown of the tax jurisdiction details on the contract. For more information, see the Tax Services—Integrated Tax Alias Configuration document.

      
       

4. Optional: Configure tax codes associated with specific item categories.

   1. Two tax codes can be configured at the item category level: Rental, Sales. This tax class configuration will apply to ALL items in the category.

      

        

5. Optional: Configure a tax code associated with specific items.

   1.  A single tax code can be configured at an item level on the Options tab. 

      

       

6. Optional: Configure tax codes or tax classes associated with specific customers.

   1. A customer can be set up with either a tax class or tax code.
      

Closed Account/Cash Mods and Integrated Sales Tax Solutions

When using an integrated sales tax solution, Closed Account & Cash Mods are automatically turned on and cannot be disabled. The modified closed contract (invoice) will not change, but an adjustment (credit) for the changes is created. No modifications to the Customer or products related to tax exemptions must be made.

To get accurate credits, all sales tax codes/classes (exemptions) must remain the same as they were when the original contract was closed.

Transactions

Anytime a change is made to the transaction that could impact the tax calculation (i.e. pricing, delivery address, etc.), the sales tax needs to be updated. That condition is indicated by the Tax, Total, and Due amounts being removed and the Calculate Tax icon being displayed.
 

The sales tax calculation can be requested from your Tax Integration Service in two ways:

1. You can manually request the tax calculation and transaction totals by clicking the Calculate Tax icon.

   • The sales tax request will be sent to your tax integration provider, and the transaction totals will be updated.
      

       

2. The Calculate Tax icon will be removed from the screen to indicate a successful update.

   • This “manual” tax request will always generate a quotation request only.

      

3. Alternatively, you can simply submit the transaction without the manual tax update.

   
    
   

   • A tax quote request will be sent to your tax integration provider automatically.

   • The transaction totals with the updated tax amount will be shown on the payment screen.
     
      

If the transaction is being finalized and updated to a Closed/Completed status:
 

4. A tax invoice request will be submitted to your Tax Integration Provider.

5. The transaction totals with the final tax amount will be posted in Elite.

   • Refer to the External Tax Credit Adjustments for the correct process for ALL tax credits.

   • It is important that NO modifications are made to the Customer or products related to tax exemptions. To get accurate credits, all sales tax codes/classes (exemptions) must remain the same as when the original contract was closed. 

   • Crediting tax only off a contract: Select modify the contract and check the non-taxable box on the information tab of the contract, then save the contract. This creates a credit for the tax only.

   • To fully credit an invoice: zero out the price on each line item so that the total of the contract is $0.00, then close out of the contract. This will create a credit for the exact amount of the invoice.

   • The original contract will have a call log that pops up for every credit created. The related contract lookup tool can be used to see the credits and the details of what was credited. This can be used to verify that multiple credits were not created for the same purpose.

   • When modifying a closed contract you cannot change the quantity of rental items, but you can change the price. You can change the quantity of sold assets or sale items which will create a credit for the difference.

   • Sales tax is calculated based on the delivery flag on a contract. If delivery is not flagged, the tax will be calculated based on the contract store’s address. If delivery is flagged, tax is calculated based on the delivery address on the contract. Sales tax integrations support passing the zip +4 from POR for the most accurate tax calculation.

   • Vertex: If the full street address is not provided, the tax will default to the highest tax rate for that zip code (this can be changed to default to the lowest tax rate in Vertex, but is not recommended).

   • SureTax (CCH): Delivery addresses are validated as part of the integration and will produce an error to the user that the address is not correct. 

   • Credits for Continuation Billed Contracts: Tax calculations reference data from both the parent and active continuation contracts to ensure accuracy:

     • Delivery Status: Determined by the original parent contract's delivery flag. If unchecked, the system defaults to the store's local TaxAreaId.

     • Tax Location: If delivery is checked, the address passed to Vertex is pulled directly from the active continuation contract being modified.

     • Legacy Support: This logic applies even if the original parent contract was created prior to the Vertex integration.

Logs

If there is a question or issue around the tax calculation, the logs for the tax call can be accessed from the transaction edit screen. The tax calls will be listed in time stamp order and display both the Request and Response.

Additional Notes

• In all Tax Integration requests, sales tax classes and codes will be included as configured.

• When a transaction involves an on-site delivery, the delivery address is included in a request as the destination address.

• When the value of a previously Completed/Posted transaction is modified, a new tax invoice request will be sent to your Tax Integration Service for the delta amounts of the modification.

• Do not use Elite's native tax-exempt flags. Using the "Tax Exempt" checkbox or "Non-Taxable" item status overrides the external tax service entirely. To maintain accurate audit trails and reporting within Vertex, manage all exemptions via External Tax Codes/Classes instead.

• If the tax call fails during manual continuation billing, the user will be warned and prompted to exit the contract. If it happens during auto continuation, the contract is skipped, and the incident is logged in the error log. These contracts can be addressed after the tax call conflict is resolved.

• Currently, only US zip codes and Canadian postal codes are supported for making tax calls.

• Delivery flags/addresses cannot be modified after the contract has closed.