How do I process an adjustment ("refund", "credit")?

How do I use Document Codes effectively?

• Randomize your Document Codes using a GUID (or something similar). Using a static string and a timestamp can result in an unwanted association between invoices.
• Do not re-use Document Codes. If you need to send another transaction or process an adjustment related to the same invoice, generate a new Document Code, and utilize a metadata field to create an association between the transactions, such as Invoice Number Reference (invn)
• All committed Document Codes are locked on the first day of the subsequent calendar month in which they are committed. A locked Document Code cannot be uncommitted.
• The commit process, where a Document Code's commit status is changed, can be performed out of sync with the tax determination process in your application. Remember, when you commit a Document Code, you are simply telling our Returns team that you would like all transactions associated with this Document Code to appear in your compliance report at the end of the filing period. If you are processesing Point Of Sale or other real-time transactional data, your application does not need to wait for a Commit API response.
• Keeping track of your Document Codes allows you to quickly correct unintended mistakes. Did an error occur during a Production bill run? Don't worry! Just uncommit all of the Document Codes associated with erroneous data.
• Once you send a Document Code through the CalculateTaxes API, if you want to change the Document Code's commit status, you must use the Commit API. You cannot change a Document Code's commit status through the CalculateTaxes API.

When should I commit my Document Codes?

What are the different date fields used in Reporting?

• Server Date: This is the timestamp (UTC) when Avalara received this transaction.
• Committed Date: This is the timestamp (UTC) when the Document Code associated with this transaction changed. If a Document Code is initially sent as uncommitted, Committed Date will default to Server Date.
• Invoice Date: This is the date you provided Avalara through the CalculateTaxes API. It signifies when this transaction took place and determines the rates and logic used by our tax determination engine during tax calculation.

How do I use the Geo service effectively?

• If you process a large number of transactions daily (> 100k), we highly recommend geocoding your Location information instead of using the geo flag within the CalculateTaxes API. By providing a "PCode" directly to our API, you can save time by avoiding geocoding during tax determination.
• Check for updates in your Location information using the Geocode API on a monthly basis.
• The Geocode API contains street-level information for USA and Canada only. The PCode API is commonly used for international locations. The PCode API uses the tax determination engine's default location determination logic and is considered less accurate than the Geocode API.

How is annual billing handled for E911 Transaction-Service Pairs?

• Utilizing the quantity field (qty) is identical to sending the same transaction a number of times equal to quantity.
• If you are using Invoice Mode ("invm":true): caps, brackets, and thresholds apply cumulatively.
• If you are not using Invoice Mode ("invm":false): caps, brackets, and thresholds apply individually.
• If your billing period is greater than one month in duration, disable Invoice Mode ("invm":false). Invoice Mode is intended for monthly billing periods.
• We recommend you test all of your tax scenarios in our Sandbox environment to answer taxation questions before they appear in your Production data.