Set up standard tax solutions
Related information
Related topics
When your organization is subscribed to the Taxes application, you can use the following standard tax solutions to calculate, capture, and report on VAT or GST:
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Australia GST: This standard tax solution provides an automated setup for the tax rates for Australia and customizable templates for tax invoices. Using Intacct's integration with Sage Regulatory Reporting, your Business Activity Statements (BAS) are calculated for you.
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Canadian Sales Tax: This standard tax solution provides an automated setup for the tax rates for Canadian GST, QST, PST, and HST, and customizable templates for tax invoices. Using Intacct's integration with Sage Regulatory Reporting, your GST34-2 reports are calculated for you.
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Deutsche Umsatzsteuer: This standard tax solution provides an automated setup for domestic tax rates for Germany and access to GoBD export files and DATEV format file exports. Using Intacct's integration with Sage Regulatory Reporting, your UStVA return is prepared and electronically submitted through ELSTER for you.
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South Africa VAT: This standard tax solution provides an automated setup for the tax rates for South Africa and customizable templates for tax invoices. Using Intacct's integration with Sage Regulatory Reporting, your VAT201 Declarations are calculated for you and can be submitted electronically or manually.
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TVA Française: This standard tax solution provides an automated setup for the tax rates for France domestic VAT and a report that can be exported in the Accounting entries file (FEC) format. Using Intacct's integration with Sage Regulatory Reporting, your CA3 VAT returns are calculated for you.
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United Kingdom VAT: This standard tax solution provides an automated setup for the tax rates for the United Kingdom and customizable templates for sales invoices. Using Intacct's integration with Sage Regulatory Reporting, you can calculate and complete MTD submissions of your VAT tax returns to HMRC.
Sage Intacct has been through HMRC's recognition process for Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT.
| Subscription |
Taxes |
|---|---|
| Regional availability |
All regions |
| User type |
Business user with admin privileges |
Prepare for setup
Complete the basic tasks in the following table before initiating the setup tasks for a tax solution.
| Task | Description |
|---|---|
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Set the locale language for your country |
The locale language determines the terminology that's displayed. Example
If you select AU as the locale language, then the US term "checking account" becomes "cheque account", and in the UK locale, the US term "checking account" becomes "current account". To set the locale language, go to Company > Setup > Company. Select Edit and, in the Global settings section, select Language. Learn more about Terminology across locales. |
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Set the accounting method |
Select Accrual only for the accounting method. The Taxes application supports accrual accounting and the accrual side of dual-method accrual and cash basis accounting. Cash basis accounting is not supported. Cash basis tax capture is supported only in France for companies or entities that use the TVA Française standard tax solution. |
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Enter a tax ID and operating country |
Ensure a tax ID and operating company have been entered on the Company Information page. The number that you enter must be the number that's registered with the tax authority for your country. If you change the tax ID after you start entering taxable transactions, your tax submissions will be incorrect. The Deutsche Umsatzsteuer standard tax solution for Germany uses the steuernummer domestic tax ID for the UStVA return. Learn more about editing company information. |
Standard tax solution setup checklist
Complete the tasks in the following table to set up a standard tax solution.
If you configure the Taxes application for a single tax jurisdiction, you can configure only one these tax solutions. If you configure the Taxes application for multiple tax jurisdictions, you can configure one tax solution per entity.
Download the standard tax solution log to review the standard setups and recent updates for each tax solution.
Key consideration for success. After you set up your tax solution and before you enter any taxable transactions, double check that the tax numbers (Tax ID, ABN, or VAT registration number) you enter for your company or entities are correct. Ensure they're the tax numbers that are registered with the tax authority for your country. Otherwise, your tax submissions will be incorrect.
The Deutsche Umsatzsteuer standard tax solution for Germany uses the steuernummer domestic tax ID for the UStVA return.
| Task | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
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Create at least one GL account |
Create at least one GL account to capture taxes when transactions are posted to the GL. Typically, a liability account is used. When you configure the tax solution in a later step, you'll specify which GL account to use for the tax details for input taxes and output taxes. You can edit the tax details later to change the GL accounts, if needed. Best practice: While you can use the same GL account for both input and output taxes, some organizations find it more helpful to track the input and output taxes separately using two different GL accounts. |
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Configure Taxes |
When your company was provisioned, the Taxes application was added to the subscriptions list. Enable the Taxes application if it hasn't already been enabled. (Go to Company > Admin > Subscriptions and then select the Taxes icon.) Configure the Taxes application to support either a single tax jurisdiction or multiple tax jurisdictions. If you select Single tax jurisdiction, select Australia GST, Canadian Sales Tax - SYS, Deutsche Umsatzsteuer - SYS, South Africa VAT, TVA Française - SYS, or United Kingdom VAT. Learn more about configuring Taxes. Can't find the Taxes subscription?
Check your Order Entry, Purchasing, and Accounts Receivable configuration. If the Use Advanced Tax schedules checkbox is selected, deselect it, then check the Subscriptions page again. Skip this task if the Taxes application has already been configured unless you want to change the installation option from Single tax jurisdiction to Multiple tax jurisdictions so you can use other tax solutions. |
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Grant tax permissions |
Grant the following the Taxes permissions to the appropriate users:
Learn more about granting permissions to users. |
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Configure the tax solution |
Edit the unconfigured tax solution to enter and save the configuration options:
The default set of tax objects needed to capture Australia GST, Canadian Sales Tax, Deutsche Umsatzsteuer, South Africa VAT, TVA Française, or United Kingdom VAT is automatically created:
Typically, the default setup can be used as is. You can add additional tax object records to meet additional business needs, if necessary. Learn more about configuring tax solutions. |
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Ensure that customers are defined with certain tax-specific attributes |
To capture and report tax correctly, set the following attributes for each customer before any transactions are created:
Download the Standard Tax Solution log to review the standard contact tax groups for each tax solution. For General Ledger and Accounts Receivable transactions, the contact tax group associated with the customer ship-to contact is used to filter which tax details (rates) users can select for each line item. For Order Entry transactions, the contact tax group associated with the customer ship-to contact is used to determine which tax details are automatically chosen and applied to calculate the tax per line item. If a customer's ship-to contact is the same as the primary contact, entering a tax number for the customer (when appropriate), marking the customer as taxable, and assigning the customer to a contact tax group is sufficient. If the ship-to and primary contacts differ, make sure the ship-to contact has a tax number (when appropriate), is marked as taxable, and is assigned to a contact tax group. Learn more about adding or editing customers and editing contacts. Instead of manually editing customer information or contact information, you can import customer information to define the primary contact and ship-to contact attributes. Learn more about importing customers. In multi-entity organizations, customers can be added at the top or entity level. |
Required for:
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Ensure vendors are defined with certain tax-specific attributes |
To capture and report tax correctly, set the following attributes for each vendor before any transactions are created:
Download the Standard Tax Solution log to review the standard contact tax groups for each tax solution. For General Ledger and Accounts Payable transactions, the contact tax group associated with the vendor pay-to contact is used to filter which tax details (rates) users can select for each line item. For Purchasing transactions, the contact tax group associated with the vendor pay-to contact is used to determine which tax details are automatically chosen and applied to calculate the tax per line item. If a vendor's pay-to contact is the same as the primary contact, entering a tax number for the vendor (when appropriate), marking the vendor as taxable, and assigning the vendor to a contact tax group is sufficient. If the pay-to and primary contacts differ, make sure the pay-to contact has a tax number (when appropriate), is marked as taxable, and is assigned to a contact tax group. Learn more about adding or editing vendors and editing contacts. Instead of manually editing vendor information or contact information, you can import vendor information to define the primary contact and pay-to contact attributes. Learn more about importing vendors. In multi-entity organizations, vendors can be added at the top or entity level. |
Required for:
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Define items as taxable and assign to item contact tax groups |
To capture and report tax correctly in an Order Entry or Purchasing transaction, items need to be marked as taxable and assigned to an item tax group before any transactions are created. Download the Standard Tax Solution log to review the standard contact tax groups for each tax solution. Learn more about adding or editing items. Instead of manually editing item information, you can import item information. Learn more about importing items. In multi-entity organizations, items can be added at the top or entity level. |
Required for:
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Create printed document templates |
Create a document template to use for printed tax or sales invoices in Accounts Receivable and Order Entry. Sage Intacct provides samples from which you can start: Australia GST
Canadian Sales Tax
South Africa VAT
United Kingdom VAT
They are designed to show VAT or GST separately on each line. Learn more about creating printed document templates. |
Required for:
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Assign the printed document template to invoices in Accounts Receivable |
You assign printed document templates to invoices on the Configure Accounts Receivable page:
In multi-entity organizations, printed documents templates can be added at the top or entity level. To use a different template in a specific entity, assign at the entity level. You can also assign printed document templates for specific customers. Templates assigned to customers will override the default template specified on the Configure Accounts Receivable page. Learn more about assigning a printed document template to a transaction or customer. |
Required for:
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Create at least one Order Entry transaction definition |
To post VAT or GST in transactions to the GL, you need at least one Order Entry transaction definition with these attributes:
When a transaction that uses this transaction definition is posted, VAT or GST is posted to the GL. You can also print or email a compliant tax or sales invoice. To see the calculated taxes in a non-posting transaction, such as a sales order, enable subtotals in the transaction definition and configure one subtotals line for tax. Learn more about creating or editing Order Entry transaction definitions. In multi-entity organizations, transaction definitions can be added at the top or entity level. |
Required for:
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Create at least one Purchasing transaction definition |
To post VAT or GST in transactions to the GL, you need at least one Purchasing transaction definition with these attributes:
When a transaction that uses this transaction definition is posted, VAT or GST is posted to the GL. To see the calculated taxes in a non-posting transaction, such as a purchase order, enable subtotals in the transaction definition and configure one subtotals line for tax. Learn more about creating or editing Purchasing transaction definitions. In multi-entity organizations, transaction definitions can be added at the top or entity level. |
Required for:
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South Africa only: |
You need to set some specific options so that your Accounts Receivable invoices and Order Entry invoices include the correct legal wording when they're printed or emailed. The sample printed document templates that are provided for South Africa rely on these options. Start with the sample templates to ensure that your invoices contain the correct wording. Customers. When customers in South Africa have agreed to accept emailed documents, the text 'Computer Generated' needs to be included in the PDF. Set the Accepts emailed invoices option to true in the customer record so that the PDFs are generated with correct wording.
Learn more about adding or editing customers. Accounts Receivable. After a posted invoice is printed, all subsequent printed copies of the document need to include the text 'Copy'. In addition, the posted transactions that have been printed or emailed should not be editable. Setting two options on the Configure Accounts Receivable page ensures that these requirements are met.
Generating credit and debit notes to include the text 'Copy' is not supported. Therefore, to ensure that these documents meet the appropriate legal wording requirements, enter these transactions in Order Entry or Purchasing. Order Entry After a posted invoice is printed, all subsequent printed copies of the document need to include the text 'Copy'. In addition, the posted transactions that have been printed or emailed should not be editable. Setting options in the Configure Order Entry page and in the transaction definition ensures that these requirements are met:
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Required for:
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Optional: Edit tax details |
When you saved the configuration options for the Australia GST, Canadian Sales Tax, Deutsche Umsatzsteuer, South Africa VAT, TVA Française, or United Kingdom VAT tax solution, a default set of tax details was created with the GL accounts specified in the Tax Solution Information page. If you want to change the GL account for any of the tax details, edit the tax details. Edit the tax details for the appropriate applications:
If the list of details shows details for more than one tax solution, you can filter the list by the tax solution you want. Learn more about tax details. |
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Finalize the setup |
For multi-entity organizations, you want to ensure that your entities are defined correctly with the appropriate tax solution, operating country, and tax ID. |
