On-prem Billsoft to AvaTax Cloud - Migration Guide

Owned by Mahnoor Khan (Deactivated)
Last updated: Feb 08, 2024 by Micah Gallant
3 min read

Summary

This article provides steps to migrate from the Billsoft on-prem tax integration to the AvaTax cloud EngageIP integration. This guide is not applicable to switching to other tax vendors.

If you presently have no tax integration setup in EngageIP and wish to configure AvaTax Cloud reference the AvaTax Cloud - Configuration article instead.

If the Avatax cloud service goes down (or connectivity is lost) for any reason, a new feature available in 9.3.7 or greater will monitor, notify and halt billing to provide time for review and resolution

Requirements

In order to upgrade Billsoft to the AvaTax cloud integration you will need:

  • The Billsoft on-prem solution configured in EngageIP and working

  • A high bandwidth internet connection

  • EngageIP version 9.1.0 or higher

  • Access to the EngageIP app server and database

  • Avalara AFC SaaS Pro Tax service login credentials (provided by Avalara)

Migration Steps

  1. Stop all EngageIP Windows Services

  2. Login to the EngageIP database and run following query to find all of the existing branded owners where BillSoft is configured

    SELECT owner.Name FROM TaxVendor tv INNER JOIN Owner ON Owner.ID = tv.OwnerID INNER JOIN TaxVendorType tvt ON tvt.ID = tv.TaxVendorTypeID WHERE tvt.Name = 'BillSoft'

  3. Note the owner names from the query result above

  4. Run the following query to update the tax vendor configuration

    UPDATE TaxVendor SET Name = 'AvaTax Vendor', TaxVendorTypeID = (SELECT TOP 1 ID FROM TaxVendorType WHERE Name = 'AvaTax'), ChargeScript = 'return true;', InvoiceChargeScript = 'return true;' FROM TaxVendor tv INNER JOIN TaxVendorType tvt ON tvt.ID = tv.TaxVendorTypeID WHERE tvt.Name = 'BillSoft'

  5. In the database delete the Tax Exempt Levels which are unsupported by AvaTax cloud ('Unincorporated', 'Other','All','County_Local','State_County_Local')

    IF EXISTS(SELECT * FROM TaxExemptLevel WHERE Name IN ('Unincorporated', 'Other','All','County_Local','State_County_Local')) DELETE FROM TaxExemptLevel WHERE Name IN ('Unincorporated', 'Other','All','County_Local','State_County_Local')

  6. In the AdminPortal access the Setup tab and load the Actions page. Delete the action script which the Billsoft configuration used to add the jurisdiction code to addresses on contacts (this script may be named 'EZtax pcode' and will have an event code value of 'ContactPointAddress.Create,ContactPointAddress.Update')

  7. Load the Setup tab for each branded owner that was configured to use Billsoft and populate the AvaTax Vendor settings (provided by Avalara)

  8. Perform an iisreset on the EngageIP server and restart EngageIP Windows Services

  9. Test to verify jurisdiction code updates and taxation is functioning

Note: UDR usage taxing will function as it did with BillSoft, no additional configuration is needed unless you would like to setup UDR Batch taxing with AvaTax.

Testing

  1. Access the AdminPortal and create a test account

  2. Add an address to the billing contact on the test account

  3. Edit the address to verify that a jurisdiction code has been added. If the code is not present check the Event Log for errors

  4. Add a transaction to the test account and ensure the proper taxes are applied to the transaction

Additional Configuration Options

To configure batch usage taxing or other AvaTax cloud features please reference the Avalara AvaTax Cloud - Configuration article.