EXEMPTAX supports integration between multiple different systems including those with specific providers listed below:
- Shopify (realtime)
- Stripe (realtime)
- BigCommerce (realtime)
- QuickBooks Online (realtime)
- Chargebee (realtime)
- NetSuite (synced every few minutes)
- DMSi (synced every few minutes)
- EXEMPTAX API (internal system - realtime)
Note: Before creating a support ticket, it's important to understand that in the rare instance of a sync delay or issue between EXEMPTAX and third party systems, 99% of the time it is due to factors outside of EXEMPTAX's control, and usually automatically resolves in a timely manner depending on your leading system's error handling logic, including retry logic for failed webhooks and scheduled jobs.
For more information on troubleshooting errors, please see below.
Issues with Third Parties
One of the most common reasons for errors is temporary outages or issues experienced by third parties. We recommend reviewing their status pages for any issues you may be experiencing. For your convenience they are listed below:
- Shopify: https://www.shopifystatus.com/
- Stripe: https://status.stripe.com/
- BigCommerce: https://status.bigcommerce.com/
- QuickBooks Online: https://status.quickbooks.intuit.com/
- Chargebee: https://status.chargebee.com/
- NetSuite: https://status.netsuite.com/
- DMSi: (not available)
- EXEMPTAX API (Internal System): http://status.exemptax.com/
Note: Certain systems may not automatically retry failed webhooks or scheduled jobs. To combat this, EXEMPTAX runs overnight scheduled jobs to detect and rectify failed updates.
Common False Alarms
One of the most common integration incident tickets we receive are usually worded along these lines:
"Why is my customer being charged tax in {insert system name} even though they have a certificate in EXEMPTAX?"In such situations, we typically ask our customers to rule out the following human errors:
1. Confirm that the automation setting in EXEMPTAX that dynamically updates the exemption status is enabled in your account's integration settings.
Depending on your system and configuration, if the setting is enabled you may see something like this in your company settings:
To remediate this issue, if applicable please enable the automation setting in your account through the interface or via a support ticket for manual change and activation.
2. Confirm that the certificate is correctly linked to the corresponding customer and meets the setting criteria. For example, if your automation is configured for completed certificates, then pending certificates which have not been processed for the customer in EXEMPTAX will not trigger the automatic taxability status update.
To remediate the issue, please correctly process the pending certificate on the correct customer record.
3. Confirm that your customer's certificate is processed correctly. For example, in systems like BigCommerce if your customer is marked with an invalid exemption reason code like "E" for Charitable Organization in Washington state.
Note: This is just one of many possible scenarios where an exemption reason code may not be acceptable in a particular state.
In such scenarios your leading tax calculation system may ignore the code and charge tax anyway, as an incorrect exemption code indicates the customer's certificate has been incorrectly processed or manually overridden to an incorrect value in EXEMPTAX.
To remediate the issue, you may need to request a new valid certificate from the customer, or correctly reprocess the prior issued certificate.
Generally speaking, if there is an exemption status or code in your leading system that reconciles with the certificate associated with the customer in EXEMPTAX and the value is not empty or missing, and you believe there is an issue with tax calculation, this is almost always indication of another user processing error.4. Confirm that the certificate processed for the customer is not a single transaction certificate. If your customer has submitted a certificate which only applies for a single transaction (invoice, purchaser order, etc.) then the automation logic marking the customer tax-exempt in your leading system will not apply, as exemptions are applied at the customer and, if applicable, specific state levels.
To remediate the exemption issue, if possible please request from your customer another blanket tax-exemption certificate to reduce friction in this area.
Investigation of Errors
Occasionally there may be errors by EXEMPTAX in processing status updates in our system. While we try our best to reduce errors with quality engineering and error handling practices, such errors may still occur as we process millions of events.
Before generating a support ticket, please verify that the following are true for your account:
- Your automation settings are enabled and correct
- You have ruled out issues with third parties during the time of the incident
- Your account has not been manually disconnected during the time of a potential incident
- You have the correct blanket certificate with the correct certificate status tied to the correct customer
- You are experiencing recurring issues that are not resolving themselves after overnight daily jobs
Please create a support ticket and provide additional information with specific examples, and we will escalate this for special handling with our engineering resources.