How to Connect Avalara or TaxJar

Many states, thousands of local rates

Selling into many US states means many local taxes, each with its own rates and changes. Keeping a CSV of local rates current for all of them becomes a job of its own.

A tax provider can work out the tax from the address. But if it is a separate system, invoices have to be sent to it by hand for its filing reports, and cancelled invoices have to be voided there too.

When the provider is unreachable, sales either stop or are taxed with nothing at all.

Why this happens

The provider is connected without installing the rules, so there is no fallback and purchases have no tax.
Sandbox and production credentials are mixed up.
Posted invoices are not recorded with the provider, so its reports miss them.
Differences between the tax posted and the provider’s tax are never reviewed.

Biznsbook addresses this through External tax provider, fallback to jurisdiction rules, provider reconciliation when Accounting and Taxation are on. Sales, purchases, POS, Field Service, and Real Estate all ask the same tax engine, so the invoice, the return line, and the ledger read the same posted tax.

A second state, a reseller with a certificate, and a supplier that charged nothing are where a rate table drifts. Making Biznsbook the place that taxes the invoice, keeps the certificate, and builds the return keeps those on the same posted tax.

Step-by-step: Connect Avalara or TaxJar

Written for owners, bookkeepers, and finance staff who charge and file sales tax, GST, HST, QST, or PST with Biznsbook Taxation. Biznsbook calculates and reports from your own setup. It does not give tax advice and does not file returns with a tax authority for you.

Prepare the rules first. Complete addresses, install the US pack for the states you sell into, record registrations, and add exemption certificates. The rules are the fallback and still price purchases, and switching to a provider needs at least one active rule.
Choose the provider. In Settings, under External tax provider, choose Avalara AvaTax or TaxJar and the environment: Sandbox while testing, Production when live. You use your own provider account; it is not bundled with Biznsbook.
Enter the credentials. Enter the license key for Avalara or the API token for TaxJar. It is stored encrypted for your company and shown as asterisks afterwards; leave it to keep the saved one. For Avalara, also enter the account id and the company code your invoices are recorded under.
Test the connection. Save, then click Test connection. Validate an address checks an address with the provider.
Switch the method. Set the calculation method to External tax provider and save. Record invoices from is set to today, so earlier invoices are not sent.
Decide on fallback. If the provider cannot be reached, the sale is calculated with the jurisdiction rules and flagged. If you untick Fall back to jurisdiction rules, the sale cannot be saved until the provider answers.
Review reconciliation. Every 15 minutes, or when you click Sync now, posted sale invoices are recorded with the provider, recorded again if their tax changes, and voided when cancelled. Provider reconciliation lists each one with the tax posted, the provider’s tax and the difference.

Review results after the first full filing period cycle. Adjust roles, mappings, or approvals where the same exception repeats.

Screen names in this guide match the Taxation tab bar in the product: Overview, Returns, Search, Settings, Packs, Rules, Local rates, Simulator, Registrations, Authorities, Components, Groups, Certificates, Nexus, 1099 / T4A, Provider, Checklist, Audit log, Approvals, and Guide. The tab bar only shows the tabs your permissions allow.

Common mistakes to avoid

Mistake 1: The provider is connected without installing the rules, so there is no fallback and purchases have no tax. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in a return line that does not match the ledger, or tax charged in the wrong place.
Mistake 2: Sandbox and production credentials are mixed up. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in a return line that does not match the ledger, or tax charged in the wrong place.
Mistake 3: Posted invoices are not recorded with the provider, so its reports miss them. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in a return line that does not match the ledger, or tax charged in the wrong place.
Mistake 4: Differences between the tax posted and the provider’s tax are never reviewed. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in a return line that does not match the ledger, or tax charged in the wrong place.

Note each recurring gap when you review the filing period. Each one should map to a step in this guide or an item on the compliance checklist.

Best practices that hold up as you scale

Prepare the rules first — Complete addresses, install the US pack for the states you sell into, record registrations, and add exemption certificates.
Choose the provider — In Settings, under External tax provider, choose Avalara AvaTax or TaxJar and the environment: Sandbox while testing, Production when live.
Enter the credentials — Enter the license key for Avalara or the API token for TaxJar.
Test the connection — Save, then click Test connection.
Switch the method — Set the calculation method to External tax provider and save.

Teams that keep addresses complete, try a change in the Tax Simulator before switching it on, and file from the return lines rather than a side spreadsheet keep the invoice, the return, and the ledger in step.

How Biznsbook supports this workflow

External tax provider — part of Biznsbook Taxation, which sits on Accounting. Tax can come from tax groups, from jurisdiction rules installed by the Canada or US pack, or from your own Avalara AvaTax or TaxJar account. Whichever method you pick, posted tax lands on invoice tax lines that the dashboard, the return lines, and the settlement journal all read. Posted documents keep their tax when you change the setup later.

fallback to jurisdiction rules — part of Biznsbook Taxation, which sits on Accounting. Tax can come from tax groups, from jurisdiction rules installed by the Canada or US pack, or from your own Avalara AvaTax or TaxJar account. Whichever method you pick, posted tax lands on invoice tax lines that the dashboard, the return lines, and the settlement journal all read. Posted documents keep their tax when you change the setup later.

provider reconciliation — part of Biznsbook Taxation, which sits on Accounting. Tax can come from tax groups, from jurisdiction rules installed by the Canada or US pack, or from your own Avalara AvaTax or TaxJar account. Whichever method you pick, posted tax lands on invoice tax lines that the dashboard, the return lines, and the settlement journal all read. Posted documents keep their tax when you change the setup later.

The Canada and US tax packs are drafts until a tax adviser reviews them, and rates and taxability must be checked for your business. Rates are effective-dated, and reinstalling a pack keeps rules you edited. Biznsbook prepares returns and contractor figures and exports them; it does not e-file, and it is not tax advice.

Suggested implementation timeline

Week 1: Complete the state or province and postal code on the company, warehouses, and customers, and install the country pack for the places you sell into.
Week 2: Record your registrations, set item tax categories, and try real sales and purchases in the Tax Simulator.
Week 3: Switch Tax Settings to jurisdiction rules, post a few real invoices and purchase bills, and check the tax on each.
Week 4: Create the first filing period, put external tax provider to work on real postings, review the return lines against posted tax, and export them for your adviser.
Ongoing: Each filing period, review the compliance checklist and the points under “Reading provider reconciliation” below.

Product page: Taxation. Hub: sales tax and GST guides. Decision: built-in sales tax rules vs Avalara or TaxJar.

How the provider’s tax lands in Biznsbook

Sales are priced from the ship-from and ship-to addresses and the item’s tax category. The provider’s state, county, city and district taxes are posted on Biznsbook components: the state’s from the US pack, and local ones created as needed. Returns, the dashboard, and the settlement journal therefore work the same way as with rules.

Item tax categories are mapped to provider tax codes. Those starting codes should be checked against each provider’s own catalogue for your products.

Before you go live

Start in Sandbox with your provider’s test account. Post a few invoices, cancel one, and check that reconciliation shows them recorded and voided. Then switch the environment to Production and enter the production credentials.

Keep the jurisdiction rules installed after switching. They are the fallback, they price purchases and use tax, and they let you switch back to rules later. Posted documents keep their tax when you change method.

Metrics to track monthly

Compliance checklist items by severity
Exemption certificates expiring within 30 days or already expired
States at or approaching their economic nexus threshold
Draft filing periods close to their end date
Recent sales to customers with no address, taxed at your own location

Start with three metrics; trend direction matters more than a single point-in-time snapshot.

Spreadsheet rate table vs Biznsbook Taxation

Compare a typical rate spreadsheet and manual return with the same work in Biznsbook Taxation.

Capability	Manual / Spreadsheet	Biznsbook
Local rates	❌ A CSV you maintain per state	✅ Worked out by the provider from the address
Recording invoices	❌ Sent by hand	✅ Recorded every 15 minutes or on Sync now
Cancelled invoices	❌ Forgotten at the provider	✅ Voided automatically
Provider down	❌ Sales blocked or untaxed	✅ Rules used and the sale flagged
Credentials	❌ In a shared document	✅ Stored encrypted per company
Differences	❌ Found at filing time	✅ Listed per invoice in reconciliation

Reading provider reconciliation

Provider reconciliation lists recorded invoices with their status: Recorded, Voided, Failed with the error, or Pending. Failed invoices are retried up to 8 times. Filter to differences and failures, and use Record again to retry one invoice. A difference usually means the sale was priced by the rules while the provider was down, or the invoice changed.

Write this into your filing routine, and revisit it when you register in a new province or state or change how tax is calculated.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a separate Avalara or TaxJar subscription?

Yes. You connect your own provider account. It is not a bundled subscription, and there is no extra Biznsbook module for it. Confirm the provider’s pricing with the provider.

What does the provider not price?

Purchases and tax-inclusive prices use the jurisdiction rules. Sale returns and POS sales are not sent to the provider yet.

What happened to invoices while the provider was down?

They were taxed with your jurisdiction rules and posted, with a warning. The sync records them with the provider later, and reconciliation shows any difference.

Do exemption certificates reach the provider?

Yes. A covering certificate is sent with the sale. Exempt customers and items with a non-standard treatment are not sent at all.

How this differs by industry

Retail

An online retailer shipping to most states lets the provider price web orders by address, while POS sales at its own store are still taxed by the rules at the store.

Wholesale & distribution

A distributor with resale customers in many states sends their certificates with each sale, and reconciliation shows any invoice where the provider’s tax differs from the tax posted.

Manufacturing

A manufacturer selling direct to buyers across the country uses the provider for sales and the jurisdiction rules for purchases and use tax on equipment.