Avalara AvaTax estimates US sales tax on B2B orders created in TRAEDE. When the invoice is synced to QuickBooks, Avalara (running inside QuickBooks) calculates the final tax amount and replaces the estimate.

Prerequisites

• An Avalara AvaTax account (with Account ID, License Key, and Company Code).
• Avalara AvaTax connected to your QuickBooks Online account.
• The QuickBooks app installed and connected in TRAEDE.

Setup

Step 1: Install the Avalara app

1. Go to App Store and find Avalara.
2. Click the Install tab.
3. Enter your Account ID and License Key.
4. Click Install.

Step 2: Configure Avalara settings

1. After installing, go to the Settings tab.
2. Enter your Company Code (this must match your company code in Avalara AvaTax).
3. Set Environment to Production (use Sandbox only for testing).
4. Click Save settings.

Step 3: Set the QuickBooks tax mode

1. Go to App Store → Quickbooks → Settings.
2. Under Invoices, set Tax mode to Use Avalara Tax.
3. Click Save settings.

How it works

Tax on orders

When you create or update an order with a US delivery address, TRAEDE automatically calls Avalara to estimate the sales tax. Tax is calculated on product lines, shipping, and handling fees. The estimated tax appears in the order totals as the VAT amount.

Note: Avalara tax is only calculated for orders created directly in TRAEDE with a US delivery address. Orders imported from Shopify or WooCommerce are excluded since those platforms handle their own tax.

Tax on invoices

When an invoice is created from the order, the Avalara tax estimate is carried over. At this point the tax is still an estimate.

When the invoice is booked and synced to QuickBooks, the following happens:

1. TRAEDE sends the invoice lines to QuickBooks as non-taxable (since Avalara in QuickBooks will handle the tax).
2. Avalara AvaTax, running inside QuickBooks, calculates the final sales tax.
3. TRAEDE reads the final tax amount back from QuickBooks.
4. The estimate on the invoice is replaced with the final tax amount from Avalara/QuickBooks.

Invoice emails

Invoice emails are held until the final tax is confirmed from QuickBooks. This prevents sending invoices with estimated tax amounts to your customers. Once the final tax is in place, the email is released automatically.

What to expect

• Order tax is an estimate. The amounts you see on orders are calculated by Avalara as an estimate. They may differ slightly from the final invoice tax.
• Invoice tax is final. After syncing to QuickBooks, the invoice tax is the definitive amount calculated by Avalara inside QuickBooks.
• Credit notes follow the same flow. When a credit note is created and booked, it is synced to QuickBooks and the final tax is calculated the same way.

Avalara settings reference

Related articles

• [LINK: QuickBooks invoice sync and tax modes — overview of how invoice sync and tax modes work]
• [LINK: QuickBooks built-in tax engine — alternative tax mode using QuickBooks' own tax calculation]
• [LINK: Shopify US sales tax pass-through — how Shopify-calculated tax flows to QuickBooks]