FAQ: SAP B1 Tax Service Integration to Avalara Rate by Address

Please note that Tax Service provided through Tax Rates by Address from Avalara, while convenient for most businesses, may not meet your requirements. States with notably more complex tax rules, such as Texas or California, have more parameters outside business ship-to address. It is advisable to test and evaluate the service before using it for a specific company.

1. Do I need to sign up for an Avalara account?

Yes, to use Tax Rates by Address from Avalara API and obtain tax rates from the provider Avalara, you must register for the service with Avalara which is free-of-charge under a fair usage policy. Click here to  Sign up for Avalara Rates by Address – Avalara

After you sign up for Avalara Rates by Address, you’ll be contacted by Avalara at the phone number you provided to confirm you’re an SAP Business One customer. Then you’ll be sent your username and password.

2. Is there any additional cost to implementing the integration in SAP Business One?

If you are running on SAP Business One version 10 FP 2202 Hot Fix 1, FP 2208 or higher, you have the components needed. Services associated with this integration are billable.  Please contact support@consensusintl.com for an estimation. It will depend on your infrastructure and where your system is located.

Avalara’s fair usage policy allows you to use up to 400,000 API calls per year at no cost; each additional API call costs $0.08

3. I am currently using the TaaS (Tax as a Service) in SAP Business One. Is the current solution being discontinued? How is it different?

If you are using TaaS (Tax as a Service) in SAP Business One today, please note that you are doing so through the SAP Localization Hub Tax Service and that it will be terminated on November 30, 2022.

To maintain a similar experience and service in the US, SAP has partnered with Avalara to bring Avalara Rates by Address to SAP Business One customers.

• Avalara has become SAP’s new Tax As A Service (TaaS) default rates provider
• Rates are calculated by address vs rates by zip
• Rates are automatically updated, you no longer need to download and update your rate tables

In order to avoid service interruptions you will need to ensure you are running on SAP Business One version 10 FP 2202 Hot Fix 1, FP 2208 or higher and contact support@consensusintl.com to request implementation of the Avalara Rate by Address Tax Service as soon as possible. To learn where to find information about the SAP Business One version you are running, see this Support Tip: How to Know My SAP Business One Version .

4. How do I know if my Company is using the current TaaS (Tax as a Service) which will be terminated in November 30th, 2022?

Please read our blog article: How to know if you are using SAP Localization Hub Tax Service in SAP Business One . If you are using SAP Localization Hub Tax Service please contact us as soon as possible to avoid service interruption. Write an email to support@consensusintl.com

You will need to:

• Ensure you are in SAP Business One version 10 FP 2202 Hot Fix 1 or FP 2208
• Sign up for a free Avalara account
• Ensure your Business Partner Master Data includes Country information on your BP addresses

5. I need to upgrade to SAP Business One version 10.0. How much does it cost?

If you are running in an older version of SAP Business One and need to upgrade to SAP Business One version 10.0 to ensure continued Tax  Service, please contact us by sending an email to support@consensusintl.com and we will schedule a call to coordinate your upgrade.

The following are some preliminary considerations when planning your SAP Business One version 10 upgrade:

Maintenance: you need to be current on your Maintenance Contract (Annual Fee) to have access to the latest versions and Feature Packs

1. Infrastructure: you need to consider if your current infrastructure/operating system or addon softwares are compatible or meet SAP Business One version 10 requirements: you might need to upgrade your infrastructure/operating system as well. Please note you will also need to provide a separate testing environment for upgrade procedures
2. Services: software latest versions and FP are included in your Maintenance Annual Fee. Services related to Managing the upgrade, Target Version review, Environment Discovery (OS and Database compatibility), Customizations catalogue, Testing Environment Installation, Version Adjustments, Productive DB Upgrade Installation, and final tuning are all considered Billable Consultancy. We will provide an estimation of hours on a case-by-case basis
3. Time: your team will need to devote time to testing the new version in the Testing Environment. Their time and dedication to the Testing Phase is critical to ensure a smooth Upgrade of your live DB, minimizing disruptions to your operation with no downtime.

Learn more about Best Practices when Upgrading or Migrating to SAP Business One 10 in this 10-minute video from our 2020 Customer Day.