The current version of the CereTax for NetSuite SuiteApp is 1.2.2. If you are using an older version, please work with your IT team to schedule an update at your earliest convenience.
Installing and setting up CereTax for NetSuite
Installing CereTax
Follow the steps below to install the CereTax SuiteApp:
Within your NetSuite account, open the SuiteApps page.
On the SuiteApps page, search for “CereTax” and select “CereTax for NetSuite” from the results.
Go to the top right corner of the CereTax SuiteApp details page and click on Install.
The installation process will begin, and the page will update after the installation is complete. Installation of the CereTax SuiteApp may take some time. To view the installation status,
Re-open the SuiteApps page.
Search for and click on the CereTax SuiteApp tile.
The CereTax SuiteApp details page will appear, and the status can be viewed in the top right corner of the page.
If any errors are encountered during the installation process, please take a screenshot of the errors and reach out to your CereTax implementation contact for support.
Tax Setup
After the CereTax SuiteApp is installed, the next step is to configure the tax-related prerequisites for the CereTax SuiteApp. There are separate steps for US and Canada taxes.
United States Tax Setup
United States Tax Code
Go to Setup > Accounting > Taxes > Tax Codes
Click on “New Tax Code”
Under Tax Agency, select “New”
Enter “CereTax” in the Company Name field
Select a subsidiary from the “Primary Subsidiary” drop-down
Save the Tax Agency record.
The new “CereTax” Tax Agency will be automatically selected on the new Tax Code page. Do not make any changes to the selected Tax Agency. After saving the Tax Agency record, you will be redirected back to the new Tax Code page. To complete the Tax Code setup, configure the following fields and save the new Tax Code:
Tax Name: Enter “CereTax”
Rate: Enter “0”
Subsidiaries: Select all the Subsidiaries that will use CereTax to calculate tax.
Tax Account: Select the Tax Account for CereTax-calculated taxes to be posted to
Canada Tax Setup
In order to setup tax for Canada using CereTax, the following prerequisites must be completed. In some cases, these prerequisites may already be configured. Any steps that include configurations already set-up in your NetSuite account can be skipped. If your business does not collect tax in Canada, these steps can be skipped.
Canada Nexus
Go to Setup > Accounting > Nexuses.
Set-up nexus for each province in Canada you are obligated to collect tax for.
Next, go to Setup > Company > Subsidiaries.
Open each subsidiary configured for CereTax that needs to calculate tax in Canada.
Add each applicable province to the subsidiary's nexus profile and save your changes.
Canada Tax Agency, Tax Codes, and Tax Group
Two Tax Codes need to be set-up for Canada - one for GST/HST and one for PST.
Go to Setup > Accounting > Taxes > Tax Codes
Click on “New Tax Code”
Under Tax Agency, select “New”
Enter “CereTax Canada” in the Company Name field
Select a subsidiary from the “Primary Subsidiary” drop-down
Save the Tax Agency record.
The new “CereTax Canada” Tax Agency will be automatically selected on the new Tax Code page. Do not make any changes to the selected Tax Agency. After saving the Tax Agency record, you will be redirected back to the new Tax Code page. To complete the Tax Code setup, configure the following fields and save the new Tax Code:
Tax Name: Enter “CereTax-GST”
Rate: Enter “0"
Subsidiaries: Select all the Subsidiaries that will use CereTax to calculate tax.
Tax Type: Select "GST/HST"
Tax Account: Select the Tax Account for CereTax-calculated taxes to be posted to.
Repeat these steps again to create a second Tax Code for Canada PST. The CereTax Canada Tax Agency created for the first Tax Code can be reused. The second Tax Code should be configured with the following field values:
Tax Name: Enter “CereTax-PST”
Rate: Enter “0”
Subsidiaries: Select all the Subsidiaries that will use CereTax to calculate tax.
Tax Type: Select "PST"
Tax Account: Select the Tax Account for CereTax-calculated taxes to be posted to.
Next, Go to Setup > Accounting > Tax Groups, click "New Tax Group" and select Canada. To complete the Tax Group setup, configure the following fields and save the new Tax Group.
Tax Code: Enter “CereTax-Canada"
Subsidiaries: Select all the Subsidiaries that will use CereTax to calculate tax.
GST/HST: Select “CereTax-GST”
PST: Select "CereTax-PST"
Integration Setup
The next steps will configure the CereTax SuiteApp for calculating tax.
Connect to CereTax
Go to CereTax > Setup > Configure CereTax.
Click on “Configure” next to the subsidiary you wish to set up CereTax for.
Under “Connect to CereTax”, do the following: - Environment: Select a CereTax environment to connect to. - API Key: Enter the API Key provided to you by the CereTax implementation team.
Under the Tax Calculation tab, do the following: - Sales Profile: Enter the profile provided by the CereTax implementation team - Tax Code: Search for and select the “CereTax” Tax Code
Select “Validate Credentials”
If your credentials validated successfully, select "Save" and continue with the set-up process. If your credentials did not validate successfully, do the following:
Ensure the API key entered matches what was provided by CereTax for the environment you have selected.
Reach out to the CereTax implementation team.
Loading CereTax Data
This will initiate a data sync between NetSuite and CereTax for several CereTax data entities.
Go to CereTax > Utilities >
Click on "Sync Data Objects"
The data sync will process in the background and take 5-10 mins to complete.
Tax Calculation Settings
Go to CereTax > Setup > Configure CereTax. Under the Tax Calculation tab, configure the following Transaction and Line-level defaults.
Transaction Default
Business Type: Select an option that best matches your business.
Customer Type: Select an option that best matches the type of customer you sell to.
Make Customers Taxable: Check the box to automatically flag new customers as taxable.
Tax Included: Check the box if your items are sold with tax inclusive pricing.
Line Default
PS Code: Select a PS Code all line items will use when not assigned a specific PS Code at the Item level.
Unit Type: Select a Unit Type all line items will use when not assigned a specific Unit Type at the Item level.
Address Validation Settings
Under the Address Validation tab, configure the following settings:
Enable Address Validation: Check the box to enable new address records to be automatically validated and updated by CereTax.
Validate Addresses on Every Transaction: Check the box to enable CereTax to validate every address on every transaction.
Save your CereTax configuration settings after completing the tax calculation and/or address validation settings.
Customers
Required Customer Settings
All customers need to be assigned the CereTax Tax Code you set up in the previous steps. A Mass Update can be performed in NetSuite to update the “Tax Item” setting on your existing customer records. To perform a Mass Update, do the following:
Navigate to Lists > Mass Update > Mass Updates
Expand the “General Update” option in the Action list and select “Customer”
The “Mass Update” page will open. Under the Criteria tab, add a Filter of Taxable = true
Open the Mass Update Fields tab
Search for and select the “Tax Item” field
In the Tax Item dropdown, search for and select “CereTax” or "CereTax-Canada"
Click on the “Preview” button at the top of the Mass Update page
Click on the “Perform Update” button at the top of the Mass Update Preview Results page
The Mass Update will now begin. Click on “Refresh” to monitor the progress of the update.
The CereTax Tax Item can also be assigned individually on the customer page.
Optional Customer Settings
There are optional settings that can be configured at the customer-level in NetSuite. Any settings set at the Customer level will override the default values set up in CereTax configuration settings.
Customer Type
To assign a Customer Type to a specific customer record, do the following:
Go to Lists > Relationships > Customers.
Select an existing customer or create a new customer.
Open the CereTax tab on the customer page and make any applicable changes to the following: - Customer Type: Select a Customer Type be used on sales transactions for this customer.
Save the customer record if any changes are made.
Customer Exemptions
If you sell to exempt customers, exemptions can be set up directly in NetSuite. To assign exemptions to the customer records, do the following:
Go to CereTax > Utilities > Customer Exemption > New. This will open the CereTax Customer Exemption page.
Search for and select a customer to set up an exemption for.
Select the state the exemption is associated with.
Select the Tax Level, Tax Type, and/or Tax Type Class the exemption is applicable to.
Enter a Tax Exemption Percentage. This should be 100% unless you are setting up a partial exemption.
Enter an Exemption Reason, ex. Reseller
Click Save.
Items
Optional Item Settings
There are optional Item settings that can be configured within NetSuite for the CereTax SuiteApp. Any settings set at the Item level will override the default values set up in CereTax configuration settings.
To configure these settings, do the following:
Go to Lists > Accounting > Items.
Select an existing Item or create a new Item.
Open the CereTax tab on the Item page and make any applicable changes to the following: - PS Code: Select a PS Code to be used on sales transactions for this item. - Unit Type: Select a Unit Type to be used on sales transactions for this item.
Save the Item record if any changes are made.
Calculating and Viewing Tax on Transactions
Tax is calculated on sales transactions any time the document is saved.
After tax is calculated on a transaction, the total amount of tax calculated will display in the native NetSuite tax field.
Detailed tax information can be viewed by opening the “CereTax” tab on the document page.
The “Logs” tab within the CereTax tab will display every tax request made to CereTax for the transaction.
Address Validation
The address validation component of the CereTax SuiteApp attempts to validate and normalize addresses and determine an address' physical location, up to rooftop-level precision. Address validation can be performed on individual addresses or through a bulk utility. Address validation is available for all native address types within NetSuite for Customer, Vendor, Partner, Prospect, Location, and Subsidiary records.
Individual address validation
Individual address validation is automatically done any time a new address is added, or an existing address is edited. The results of address validation will be summarized on the address tab of the record associated with the address. If the address was successfully validated, a checkmark will be show under the "CereTax - Address Validated" column. If the address could not be validated, an error will be shown under the "CereTax - Error Message" column.
For successfully validated addresses, the full address validation results can be seen by clicking Edit on any validated address.
Bulk address validation
Bulk address validation can be used to validate and review multiple addresses at once. This utility is generally used during the onboarding or initial implementation to validate all existing addresses. To use the bulk address validation utility, do the following:
Go to CereTax > Utilities > Address Validation.
Enter date criteria for one of the following combinations to search for address records.
Created From and Created To.
Modified From and Modified To.
Click “Search”. This will return any matching records for the date range specified across all tabs on the page.
Select the results across all tabs that you wish to validate.
Click “Validate selected addresses”. It may take some time for all the selected addresses to be validated depending on the number of records submitted for validation.
After address validation completes, each record will have a “Passed” or “Failed” indicator under the View Result column. Records with a Failed result should be reviewed so that the underlying issue can be resolved before the address is re-submitted for validation.
Records that passed validation can be accepted one-at-a-time by clicking on “Passed” and selecting Accept. Alternatively, you can multi-selected records to approve and then select “Accept selected validated addresses”, which will update all selected records at once.
Custom Attribute Mapping
The CereTax for NetSuite SuiteApp supports sending CereTax native and custom NetSuite fields as line-level attributes. Attributes passed to CereTax from NetSuite can be used in Rules and Reports within CereTax.
Custom Attribute Mapping works based on the field name and field ID from NetSuite. Any field that you may want to send to CereTax as an attribute must be present at the Transaction Level as a Transaction Body Field, Transaction Line Field, or Transaction Item Option.
To set up custom attributes, do the following:
Identify the ID(s) of the field(s) you want to set up as an attribute.
Open one of the following pages under Customization > Lists: Transaction Body Fields, Transaction Line Fields, or Transaction Item Options.
On the Transaction Body Fields, Transaction Line Fields, or Transaction Item Options page, identify or add the field(s) you want to send to CereTax as an attribute.
For each field you want to send to CereTax, identify and record the Field ID using the the ID column of the table.
Configure the fields you want to send to CereTax.
Navigate to CereTax > Utilities > Custom Attribute Mapping
On the first row of the Custom Attribute Mapping table, enter the NetSuite ID in the "Field ID" column and a name for the field in the "Field Name" column for the field you wish to send to CereTax as an attribute. The "Field Name" column will determine the label the attribute is sent to CereTax with.
Click "Add" to add additional fields as custom attributes.
After you finish entering the attribute(s) you want to send to CereTax, click "Save"
When an existing or new transaction is saved and sent to CereTax, the configured custom attributes will be included on the transaction if they are present on the transaction.
Updating the CereTax SuiteApp
The CereTax SuiteApp is an unmanaged SuiteApp. This means updates must be installed manually. CereTax will release new versions and notify customers when new versions are available. Once notified of a new version, your team can schedule a manual update.
Follow the steps below to uninstall the CereTax SuiteApp:
Within your NetSuite account, open the SuiteApps page.
On the SuiteApps page, search for “CereTax” and select “CereTax for NetSuite” from the results.
Go to the top right corner of the CereTax SuiteApp details page and click on Upgrade.
Updates will generally take 5-10 mins to install.
Uninstalling the CereTax SuiteApp
Follow the steps below to uninstall the CereTax SuiteApp:
Go to Customization > SuiteCloud Development> Installed SuiteApp List.
From the Installed SuiteApps list, identify the CereTax SuiteApp.
Select Uninstall from the CereTax SuiteApp action menu. The uninstallation process will begin.
When the SuiteApp finishes uninstalling, it will be removed from the Installed SuiteApps list.
