How To Link Avalara To Your BigCommerce Store

Linking Avalara to your BigCommerce store means integrating Avalara’s tax management services with your online store. Learn the key steps to link the Avalara app with your BigCommerce store and ensure accurate tax calculation and compliance.

About the Avalara’s AvaTax app

Avalara’s AvaTax offers a smart, time-saving solution for managing complex sales tax regulations across over 13,000 jurisdictions in the U.S. 

By integrating AvaTax with your BigCommerce site, you automate sales tax calculations, eliminating the need for manual spreadsheets and ensuring you’re always up-to-date with tax rates. This allows business owners to focus more on business growth than sales tax compliance.

Here are the key benefits of integrating Avalara AvaTax to your BigCommerce business:

• Save Time: Tax laws constantly change, making it tough to keep up through manual research. AvaTax automatically takes care of all the number-crunching, freeing you up to focus on growing your business.
• Sell Everywhere: With support from over 12,000 U.S. sales tax jurisdictions, AvaTax gives you the confidence to expand into new markets without the headache of figuring out complex tax calculations.
• Easy Setup: Activating AvaTax on your BigCommerce store is a breeze. With its user-friendly interface and simple setup process, you’ll be up and running quickly, with no tech skills required.

In a nutshell, Avalara’s AvaTax app is your ticket to smoother operations and faster growth. It takes the pain out of sales tax so you can concentrate on what matters—building your business.

How to link an Avalara account to your BigCommerce store?

Linking your Avalara account to your BigCommerce store is a straightforward process that ensures seamless integration of sales tax automation into your online business operations. Here are the two main stages to help manage BigCommerce integration with Avalara app directly:

Stage 1: Setting Up Avalara AvaTax for integration

Here’s how to set up Avalara AvaTax to prepare for the integration with your BigCommerce store:

• Step 1: Go to Your Store Settings: Head to your BigCommerce store setting by clicking “Settings” from your dashboard menu.
• Step 2: Install Avalara AvaTax: Now, look for the option to install Avalara AvaTax. It’s usually hanging out in the “Tax” settings. Once you spot it, click “Install” next to Avalara AvaTax. You must be logged in as the store owner to install the app.
• Step 3: Try Other Ways to Install: If you’re not finding it in the settings, don’t worry. You can also find AvaTax in the App Marketplace. Or, if you prefer, click the “Add tax service” button on the top right corner of your BigCommerce dashboard.

• Step 4: Connect with Avalara: Already have an Avalara account? Great! Just contact your account manager to connect it to your BigCommerce store. If not, no sweat. You must fill in some company details and create an Avalara account. Just follow the steps to finish setting up.

• Step 5: Update Your Profile: Once you’ve set up your Avalara account, hop on to your Avalara AvaTax account. Take a moment to update your company profile and explore adding other Avalara products like Avalara Returns and Cross-Border.
• Step 6: Adjust Your Tax Settings: Now, let’s customize those tax settings. In your Avalara AvaTax account, you’ll find options to tweak things like adding exemptions for specific goods, turning document submission on or off for tax reporting and returns, and more.

• Step 7: Check Your Transactions: As orders start rolling in, you can check them out in your Avalara AvaTax account. This lets you see details like applied tax codes, entity use codes, invoices, reporting currency, and a breakdown of the order’s tax summary.
• Step 8: Fine-Tune Automatic Tax Calculations: Need to tweak your Automatic Tax Calculation settings? No problem. Head back to your Avalara AvaTax account to set up local jurisdictions, manage tax exemptions, and make other adjustments to ensure your tax calculations are spot-on for your business.

By following these steps, you’ll have your Avalara account smoothly ready to link up with your BigCommerce store, and you’ll be all set up with Avalara AvaTax to handle your automated sales tax calculation and management. Easy peasy!

Stage 2: Connecting Avalara AvaTax to BigCommerce

Now is the time to connect the Avalara AvaTax app with your BigCommerce store in full detail. Here are the detailed steps to follow strictly:

• Step 1: Access Tax Settings: Head to your BigCommerce control panel and go to “Settings” > “Tax” to update your connection, test it out, or tweak your settings, like overriding tax codes.
• Step 2: Edit Avalara AvaTax Settings: Look for the Avalara AvaTax section and click “Edit” to adjust your settings.

• Step 3: Provider Connection Status: Up top, you’ll see info about your provider connection status and account details. You can also find buttons to update or test your connection.

• Step 4: Provider Options: Under “Provider Options,” you can toggle features like “Please submit my order data so I can use solution tax reporting and returns features.” This lets Avalara store transaction records. But if your provider account is also connected to an ERP, you should turn this off to avoid double reporting on tax liabilities.
• Step 5: Override Settings: You can also override settings for gift wrapping, handling, shipping, and default taxable codes. Check out their documentation if you need more info on Avalara tax codes.

By following these steps, you can smoothly connect Avalara AvaTax to your BigCommerce store and keep your tax settings in check. Review and adjust your settings carefully to ensure your tax reporting is accurate and compliant.

Avalara’s app features to benefit your BigCommerce store

Avalara’s app brings a range of handy features to boost your BigCommerce store’s tax management and make operations smoother:

• Simple Setup: Getting your tax management system up and running is a breeze with Avalara. You can easily link Avalara’s app with your BigCommerce store, freeing you up to concentrate on growing your small business rather than getting tangled up in complicated setup processes.
• Automated Tax Code Classification: Avalara takes the hassle out of tax code sorting by automating the classification process. This saves you time and energy while ensuring that each transaction’s tax calculation is spot-on, reducing the chances of errors and compliance headaches.
• Heat Map: Avalara’s heat map feature offers valuable insights into your leave sales tax responsibilities across different regions. By visualizing tax rates and trends, you gain a clearer picture to inform your business expansion plans and target markets more effectively.
• Avalara AvaTax Cross-Border: Particularly useful for BigCommerce stores eyeing international expansion, Avalara AvaTax Cross-Border simplifies the complexities of cross-border tax compliance. It seamlessly guides you through international tax regulations and tariffs, making global expansion smoother.
• Avalara Returns: Say goodbye to tax filing headaches with Avalara Returns. This feature automates preparing and filing tax returns, saving you precious time and ensuring you comply with tax authorities. With Avalara Returns integrated into your BigCommerce store, you can streamline your tax reporting workflow and focus on growing your business.

By taking advantage of these features, Avalara’s app equips your BigCommerce store with efficient tax management tools & payment gateways, helping you navigate the ever-changing business landscape with ease and compliance.

To sum up

The Avalara BigCommerce integration can help streamline tax compliance, reduce errors, and empower you to focus on business growth confidently and efficiently. By leveraging Avalara’s features, you can simplify tax management and ensure compliance while expanding your business seamlessly.

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