CSV import: Advanced Tax overview

When you use Advanced Tax in Accounts Receivable, Order Entry, and Purchasing transactions to calculate tax, several objects need to be set up. You can use CSV files to import tax authorities, details, schedules, schedule maps, and more.

If you are using the Taxes application, these objects are also used for tax calculation and determination for VAT and GST tax solutions. The order of import is also applicable when you set up a custom VAT or GST tax solution. Learn more about the Taxes application.

Before you begin

Before importing Advanced Tax information, Sage Intacct assumes the following about you and your company:

  • You've familiarized yourself with how Advanced Tax works.
  • You've configured your company to use Advanced Tax.
  • You've created a Tax Accrual GL account.
  • If using Advanced Tax with Accounts Receivable, you've created account labels for taxable items, such as professional fees.

Accounts Receivable requirements

When using Advanced Tax with Accounts Receivable, you should have the following information in your company before importing data into Intacct:

  • Vendor information
    The vendor information for the tax authorities you will remit taxes to. This is a required field in the Tax Authority CSV template.
  • Account labels
    Used to refer to the GL accounts for the sales tax liability. This is a required field in the Tax Details CSV template.
  • Account label tax groups
    This is a required field in the Tax Schedule Map CSV template.

Order Entry and Purchasing requirements

When using Advanced Tax with Order Entry or Purchasing, you should have the following information in your company before importing data into Intacct:

  • Vendor information
    This can also be used as a tax authority, depending on your payment needs. This is a required field in the Tax Authority CSV template.
  • GL accounts
    Used for referring to the accounts for the sales tax liability. This is a required field in the Tax Details CSV template.

Order of import

When importing tax objects into Intacct, the order in which you import data is the key to successful imports. For example, if you import tax schedule but you don't have any tax schedule in your company, your import will fail because tax schedules is a required field in the Tax Schedule Maps CSV file.

Be sure to review the CSV template files before importing information into Intacct. If a required field is left blank, the import will fail. You can get copies of the following CSV templates on the Import Data page or on the list pages.

Follow this order of importing to prevent import failures:

  1. Contact Tax Groups (a required field in Tax Schedule Maps)
  2. Item Tax Groups (a required field in Tax Schedule Maps if using Advanced Tax in Order Entry and Purchasing)
  3. Tax Authorities (an optional field in Tax Details)
  4. Tax Details (an optional field in Tax Schedules)
  5. Tax Schedules (a required field in Tax Schedule Maps)
  6. Tax Schedule Maps
If you only have a few items to import, it could be more efficient to enter the information manually through the Intacct UI.

Import with CSV files

Sage Intacct assumes that the most common way data is entered into Intacct is from a blank CSV template. When importing data using CSV files, be sure to do the following:

  • Download the most current version of the template from the Import Data page or the list pages.
  • Review the CSV templates for required fields.
  • Review the Prepare your file for CSV import best practices before starting your import.

You can also export existing data from Intacct, change the information in the CSV files, and import the new data into Intacct. See Export and import tax information for how to do this.

Export and import tax information

You can export anything that you can display in the Tax Authorities, Tax Details, Tax Schedules and Tax Schedule Maps lists to a CSV file. This allows you to precisely control what gets exported, including the columns of data, display and sort order, and the list of the tax information that's included. After exported, you can update and change the information in the CSV file and then import your changes into Intacct.

The export and import process:

  1. Create a new view.
  2. Export the view to CSV file.
  3. Make updates and edits to the exported CSV file.
  4. Import the updated CSV file.

Create a new view

To control what gets exported, you can create a custom view of a tax information list that includes just the data you want to see.

The following steps use the Tax Authority list as an example, but you can follow these steps for Tax Details, Tax Schedules, and Tax Schedule Maps.

To create an export view for Tax Authorities:

  1. Go to Accounts Receivable, Order Entry, or Purchasing > Setup > Tax and select Authorities.
  2. Locate the Manage views dropdown menu at the top of the Tax Authority list, and choose Create New View.
  3. On Step 1 of the Create New View wizard, select the columns of data you want to include.
    Intacct recommends including the fields that are in the Tax Authority CSV template: Name, Description, Vendor, and Parent Authority. For the other tax templates, you can either include all the fields in each template, or just the required fields. The required fields are indicated in the individual CSV templates.
  4. Make other changes as needed.
  5. Select Save.

Export the new view

After you've created a new view for the Tax Authority information you want to export, you export the information as a CSV file.

The following steps use the Tax Authority list as an example, but you can follow these steps for Tax Details, Tax Schedules, and Tax Schedule Maps.
  1. If you haven't already done so, choose the list view that includes the data you want to export.
    • At the top of the Tax Authorities list, select the All dropdown menu and then choose the name of the view that you previously created.
    • If you don't select a view before exporting the list, your export file will include the list of authorities and columns that you currently see in the Tax Authorities list.
  2. Export the list as a CSV file from the Export dropdown menu at the top of the Tax Authorities list. Save the file to your computer.

Update the CSV file

After you've exported your existing Tax Authority information, you can edit the resulting CSV file with new information, and then import your changes.

Don't overwrite existing data with blank data, unless you intend to remove that data from your Tax Authorities list. For example, if you export the Description field and then clear the data in the Description column of your spreadsheet, existing descriptions will be deleted when you import the file.
  1. Open the CSV file in a spreadsheet application.
  2. Update the spreadsheet.

    • You can add new Tax Authorities. If the Tax Authority that you specify doesn't already exist in Intacct, a new Tax Authority record will be created.
    • Be sure to include required fields in your CSV file. If you do not included fields of information that are required, the import can fail.
    • Be sure to change the labels in the header row for each column so they match the labels in the header row of the current import template.

      To download the current import template:

      1. At the top of the Tax Authorities list, select Import. The Import dialog box appears.
      2. Select the Download template link.

      The first row in the template is the header row, and the second row contains descriptions of the kinds of data to enter for the column.

  3. When you're finished, save the spreadsheet in CSV format.

Import your changes

The following steps use the Tax Authority list as an example, but you can follow these steps for Tax Details, Tax Schedules, and Tax Schedule Maps.

  1. Select the Import button at the top right of the Tax Authorities list.
  2. In the Import Company Information dialog, set the following and select Import:

Be sure to specify the email address where results should be sent. If any records fail to import, you'll be notified by email.