Sign Funding Power of Attorney (FPOA)

Before Avalara can file any returns on behalf of a client, the merchant must sign and submit a Funding Power of Attorney (FPOA). This authorization allows Avalara to withdraw funds for tax payments and is a mandatory prerequisite for filing.

What is the FPOA?

The FPOA gives Avalara permission to:

Pull funds from the merchant’s bank account.
Remit payments to tax jurisdictions on their behalf.

The FPOA must be completed per Company. If the client has multiple companies, each requires its own signed FPOA.

Note

If the client is signing an FPOA for Canada, they must first complete a one-time Canada screening questionnaire. This screening consists of a small set of questions to determine whether Avalara can file Canadian returns on the client’s behalf.

If Avalara can’t file the client’s Canadian returns, the client must file them independently.
If Avalara can file the client’s Canadian returns, the client can proceed to signing the FPOA.

For details, see Answer screener questions for Canada filing requirements.

Submit an FPOA

To request an FPOA signature, use the fundingPoa mutation.

View request for U.S.:

mutation FundingPOA {
  fundingPoa(
    companyId: 12345678
    input: {
      requestWidget: true,
      fundingEmailRecipient: "email@example.com",
      currency: "USD",
      agreementType: "ACHDebit"
    }
  ) {
    errorMessage
    javaScript
    companyId
  }
}

View request for Canada:

mutation FundingPOA {
  fundingPoa(
    companyId: 12345678
    input: {
      requestWidget: true,
      fundingEmailRecipient: "email@example.com",
      currency: "CAD",
      agreementType: "ACHDebit"
    }
  ) {
    errorMessage
    javaScript
    companyId
  }
}

View response for U.S. and Canada:

{
  "data": {
    "fundingPoa": {
      "errorMessage": null,
      "javaScript": "",
      "companyId": "123456"
    }
  }
}

Note

Set requestEmail: true to send an email-based signing request.
Optionally, you may use requestWidget: true if embedding the signing experience in your application.

Track FPOA status

Once the request is sent, the FPOA’s status can be tracked directly using the companies query.

View request:

query CompanyFundingStatus {
  companies(id: 123456) {
    errors {
      message
      extensions {
        documentation
      }
    }
    value {
      name
      fundingStatus {
        companyId
        lastActivated
        status
      }
    }
  }
}

View response:

{
  "data": {
    "companies": {
      "errors": [],
      "value": [
        {
          "name": "ABCDE",
          "fundingStatus": [
            {
              "companyId": "123456",
              "lastActivated": "2025-04-22T12:06:25.072",
              "status": "Out for Signature"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

FPOA statuses:

Out for Signature: The POA document has been sent out and is awaiting signature.
Signed: The POA document has been signed successfully.
Staged: The signed POA is ready and staged for the next step in the process.
Pending: The POA process is in progress but not yet signed.
None: Represents an invalid or incomplete state, such as Aborted, Expired, Idle, Invalid Data, Request Failed, or Unknown.

Important

Avalara can’t begin filing returns until the FPOA is approved.
Be sure to poll for status and notify the client of the next steps.
Each company managed by the partner must have a separate, signed FPOA.