Enabling the Avalara VAT Reporting Integration

The Avalara VAT Reporting Integration Feature Console page enables the Avalara VAT Reporting integration so that you can send your financial data from Accounting to Avalara VAT Reporting. You can then use Avalara VAT Reporting to submit reports to the appropriate tax authorities. For more information, see About the Avalara VAT Reporting Integration.

To enable the Avalara VAT Reporting integration:

  1. Click the Feature Console tab.
  2. In the Features list, click Avalara VAT Reporting Integration.
  3. For each feature step listed, click Perform. When the step has completed, the Status changes from "NOT DONE" to "DONE".
  4. For each optional step that you don't want to perform, click Skip. The Status changes from "NOT DONE" to "SKIPPED".
  5. For each manual feature step listed, complete the tasks required. When finished click Mark as Done.
    For more information, see the sections below.
  6. When all the feature steps have been completed, turn the slider from (off) to (on).

Adding the Avalara VAT Reporting Document Indicator Field to Page Layouts

Document Indicator is a required field for generating the XML document for Avalara VAT Reporting. If a value is not specified for a document, it is automatically calculated when generating the XML document as described in the table below. If you want users to be able to select a value for the document, you must manually add the Avalara VAT Reporting Document Indicator field to the appropriate page layouts and custom input forms. The field is available for the Sales Invoice, Sales Credit Note, Payable Invoice, Payable Credit Note, and Billing Document objects.

For more information on adding fields to a custom input form, see Setting up Custom Input Forms. For more information on adding fields to a page layout, see the Salesforce Help.

Avalara VAT Reporting Document Indicator Calculated Value per Object
Object Calculated Value
Sales Invoice "1 - Invoice"
Sales Credit Note "5 - Canceled Invoice"
Payable Invoice "1 - Invoice"
Payable Credit Note "5 - Canceled Invoice"
Billing Document

Calculated from the Document Type field:

  • "Invoice" - "1 - Invoice"
  • "Credit Note" - "5 - Canceled Invoice"

Creating a Tab for the Avalara VAT Reporting Batch Object

The Avalara VAT Reporting Batch object stores the executions of the background processes used by the Avalara VAT Reporting integration. By default, the records are only accessible from the email notification sent after a process finishes. However, the emails are only sent to the user who creates the Avalara VAT Reporting scheduled job. If you want the records to be accessible to other users in your org, you must first create a custom object tab and then assign it to the appropriate profiles.

For more information on creating custom object tabs, see the Salesforce Help.

Note:

You must also assign View All permissions for the Avalara VAT Reporting Batch and Avalara VAT Reporting Log objects to the appropriate profiles.

Setting the Start Date for Sending Transactions to Avalara VAT Reporting

When you launch feature step 8, you can select a start date for each VAT company in your org that has the Localization field populated. After you confirm the selected dates, a background process changes the Avalara VAT Reporting Status value for all the relevant transactions. Transactions that have the Transaction Date set to the selected date or to a later date are queued for sending to Avalara VAT Reporting. Their status changes to "Ready for Sending". Transactions before the selected date are considered historical data and are excluded from sending. Their Avalara VAT Reporting Status field remains blank.

Notes:
  • Only transactions that have at least one tax line item are processed.
  • When transactions are processed, they are validated using the predefined mappings. If a transaction is not valid, its status changes to "Validation Error". This can happen if a required field on a related record is blank.

When the process finishes, the dates are stored in the Avalara VAT Reporting Start Date field on the company records. You are also notified by email of the outcome of the process.

If you want to change the start date for a company, click Edit on feature step 5 and follow the instructions.

Scheduling the Avalara VAT Reporting Recurring Job

The Avalara VAT Reporting integration generates and sends XML documents with your financial data to Avalara VAT Reporting in a background process. You must schedule a recurring job to execute the background process. For more information, see Scheduling Avalara VAT Reporting Batch Jobs.

Notes:
  • The user who schedules the recurring job receives an email notification every time the job executes.
  • If another user will schedule the job, you must assign them the following:
    • Accounting - Localization permission set
    • Data Archiving permission set
    • Author Apex system permission