Category: Integrations

Shopify is one of the biggest and most well-known ecommerce platforms — and for good reason. The platform is easy to use and streamlines creating an online store. You don’t have to be a tech genius to create a beautiful, intuitive store with Shopify. Sales tax, payment processing, inventory management, and other essential processes can be part of your Shopify platform, or you can choose to integrate separate platforms with your Shopify store.

Do You Need to Add Integrations to Shopify?

Technically, you don’t need to use separate apps or platforms with Shopify. The platform has plenty of tools to get you set up and to help you manage your business. That said, you may want to use a separate integration with your Shopify platform.

The options available from Shopify might not meet your needs or go far enough. For example, on Shopify, sales tax calculations and collection are included in Shopify Tax, but the feature doesn’t remit taxes for you. 

If you want to build your Shopify ecommerce tech stack, start with the following.

Shopify Payment Processing

Shopify has its own payment processor, plus the option of choosing from more than 100 other payment gateways.

Why might you choose a separate payment processor? Two reasons: cost and options. Not everyone likes to pay with a credit card online, so it can be worthwhile to allow payment options like PayPal or GooglePay. 

Different processors charge different rates to run a payment, so you might prefer to work with one that charges a lower fee.

Shopify Shipping 

Fast, accurate shipping means happy, repeat customers. You can ship items independently, or work with a fulfillment service to manage shipping. As your company grows, a fulfillment service starts to make sense. 

Shopify’s built-in shipping feature helps you print labels and can connect you to a fulfillment service if that’s the best option for your business.

But, it’s always worthwhile to shop around and look for a separate fulfillment service provider, if needed. Plenty of fulfillment services work with Shopify. Choose the one that has the best cost, service, and accuracy. 

Shopify Inventory Management

You can’t sell what you don’t have in stock. Similarly, you can’t sell products no one wants to buy. Inventory management keeps your store stocked with the bestsellers and helps you avoid ordering too many units of the duds. 

With Shopify, you can manage inventory through the platform’s apps or a third-party option. When picking an app, consider the price, how well it integrates with your other apps, such as your shipping and payment processing apps, and its user-friendliness. 

Shopify Sales Tax Management

You must collect sales tax if you sell through Shopify in the U.S. Shopify sales tax calculates and collects the tax for you on relevant sales. A Shopify sales tax report simplifies the filing process for you.

But, you may want a Shopify sales tax platform that does more. TaxCloud Simple Sales Tax for Shopify automatically moves your orders from Shopify to TaxCloud. From there, the platform produces a sales tax report, files your sales tax return, and remits payments automatically.

With TaxCloud’s Shopify sales tax app, you can feel confident that your business complies with the 11,000 sales tax jurisdictions across the U.S. You also get friendly support and customer service from a group of sales tax experts when needed.

Talk to us today to learn more about integrating sales tax software with your Shopify store.

Step 1: Create a TaxCloud Account

• If you have an account, proceed to step 2.
• If you have not created a TaxCloud account, Sign Up. Creating an account can be completed in minutes.

 

Step 2: Configure Your TaxCloud Account

Now that you have a TaxCloud account, you need to ensure that your company profile is set up correctly for your unique company requirements. Log in to your TaxCloud account and review the onboarding checklist below. Your company profile determines when and how sales tax is calculated.

• WooCommerce Store: All stores default to a test environment. Transactions in a test store will not be included in sales tax returns or sales tax summary reports. See Step 7 about going live.
  • To add a new store, select Stores → red +Add button. Select WooCommerce as the store type. Input the store name and URL.
    • Select a default Taxability Information Code (TIC) if your product or service varies in taxability to ensure TaxCloud calculates tax correctly throughout the US. Otherwise, it will default to TIC 0 and tax fully. See Step 5 about product taxability.
  • If you created a new Store during the TaxCloud account setup and need to make changes, select Stores → Get Details to change the Store name or default TIC.
  • Note the API Login ID and API Key numbers within Stores → Get Details. You’ll need this for Step 4.
• Add business locations: If your business has a physical location in the United States, you must add each to TaxCloud. Include all types of locations, brick-and-mortar stores, warehouses, and distribution facilities. To do so, select Settings → Locations and click “Add Location.”
• Select registered States for Tax Calculations: To add states, select Settings → Manage States → select the State via map or scroll → Manage to edit and add your State license number. TaxCloud does not validate license numbers. If anything is inputted, calculations will start immediately. Adding the filing information will not turn on TaxCloud Returns. Contact TaxCloud Sales or Support to have TaxCloud file and remit taxes on your behalf.

 

Step 3: Install Simple Sales Tax within WordPress

• Download TaxCloud’s Simple Sales Tax WordPress plugin to integrate WooCommerce with TaxCloud.
• Within WordPress → Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, Choose plugin. Select the simple-sales-tax.ZIP file that you previously downloaded. Do not select the unzipped file. To finish, select Install Now.

 

Step 4: Configure Simple Sales Tax within WordPress/WooCommerce

• Existing tax rates: If there are tax rates in the WooCommerce tax rate tables, a notice displays when you log in to WordPress. Only keep existing WooCommerce tax rate tables for tax types not handled by TaxCloud. Otherwise, delete all existing tax rate tables so customers are not taxed twice.
• API Credentials: Settings → Integrations → Simple Sales Tax, enter the TaxCloud API Login ID and API Key from Step 2. Click Verify Settings to validate the API credentials. After entering and validating your credentials, click Save Changes to import your business locations from TaxCloud.
• Business Addresses: Settings → Integrations → Simple Sales Tax → TacCloud Settings → below Address Settings, you should now see a list of your TaxCloud locations in the Shipping Origin Addresses field. Select all of the addresses you ship your products from.
  • Updating/changing locations: If you update your business locations anytime, you must add/update locations within TaxCloud. Next, update the WooCommerce Store Address under General Settings → select Save Changes. Select the new address(es) in the Shipping Origin Address field. 
• Exemption Settings: If you have tax-exempt customers, enable tax exemptions and fill out the fields under the Exemption Settings heading.
  • Optionally change the default settings under Display Settings and Advanced Settings. Do not change Advanced Settings unless you’ve reviewed all effects.
  • Click Save Changes to finalize your changes.

 

Step 5: Configure Your Products

If you sell products or provide services that vary in taxability throughout the United States, assign a Taxability Information Code (TIC) to each product or service. For your convenience, Simple Sales Tax provides three methods by which you can do this:

• Category-level TIC assignment: To assign a TIC to all items in a category, navigate to Products → Categories and select the category you want. Click the button next to Taxability Information Code, select the TIC, and click Save Changes.
• Bulk TIC assignment: To assign a TIC to a group of products, go to Products → select the checkbox next to each product → select Edit under Bulk Actions → Apply. You’ll see an option to set a TIC for the selected products.
• Single Product TIC assignment: To assign a TIC to a single product, go to Products → Edit → scroll until you see the Product Data box → under the General tab → select the TIC → select Update to save your changes.

Step 5b: For Multi-State Businesses Only

If you ship items from multiple business locations, you must indicate the shipping origin addresses for each item. These locations are Shipping Origins. This is important as a handful of states use the origin address to determine the sales tax.

By default, all products in your store will use the Shipping Origin Addresses you’ve selected on the Simple Sales Tax settings page. If you need to change the default origin addresses for individual products, go to Edit Product under Product Data > Shipping > Origin addresses.

Step 6: Perform Test Transactions

You must complete at least one test order by creating mock transactions to ensure you get the expected sales tax results. Add items to your cart and go through the checkout process. After checking out, go to the WooCommerce -> Orders page to mark your test order as Completed.

Review your transactions within TaxCloud by logging in and selecting Transactions -> Details. Select Filter to display Test Transactions. 

Step 7: Mark your TaxCloud Store Live!

Now that you have tested your website and verified that Simple Sales Tax is working properly, it is time to switch your TaxCloud account from a test to a live environment.

Log into TaxCloud -> Store -> green Go Live button. If you don’t see a Go Live button, you’re Store has already been marked as live. Review your transactions and confirm that all test transactions have a Test status. If test transactions display as Captured, you can click on the transaction to edit and mark it as Returned so it’s excluded from any sales tax returns & reports.

Step by step guide to connecting your Stripe account with TaxCloud

1. Navigate to the TaxCloud and sign in to your account.

 

2. After signing in, click the Settings navigation button and then click the Stores & Websites icon.

3. The Stores page allows you to add a new store.

 

4. On the Add Store dialog, select the Stripe marketplace, and be sure to set the Automatic Monthly Import to true.

 

5. Now you will need to link the TaxCloud app to your Stripe store. Select Link Account at the lower right of the card.

 

6. This will bring you to Stripe, where you will be able to install the TaxCloud app. This grants TaxCloud the authority to view your Stripe Account data and orders so we can help you calculate, collect, and remit sales tax to the states where you have sales. Click on the button on the lower right that reads Connect my Stripe account.

 

7. You will now return to your TaxCloud dashboard where you will see your store listed at Stripe.

 

8. When you are ready to submit live transactions to your account make sure to select the Go Live button.  Accounts that are already live, will have a Live label instead of the button.

Steps to connect your SquareUp store to your TaxCloud accounts:

1. Browse the Integration Setup Page to get started.

2. Sign in to your Square account and click allow to grant all relevant permissions.

3. If you don’t already have a Taxcloud account, fill out the registration form and click submit. If you already have a Taxcloud account, click the ‘sign-in’ link and logon to your account.

4. You’re done!

After completing the setup, the new integration will be listed on the app dashboard where you can edit it or start a new one.

TaxCloud’s Shopify integration combines the power of automated order imports with sales tax compliance. Get a unified view of your tax liabilities, stay ahead of tax obligations with real-time reports and economic nexus notifications, and integrate with other platforms like Quickbooks to manage all your eCommerce finances in one spot.

Did you know TaxCloud can also file and remit your tax returns? Learn more here. 

Ready to integrate the Simple Sales Tax app into your Shopify store? We’ll guide you through connecting TaxCloud to your Shopify account and get you up and running in no time.

How to Connect the TaxCloud Shopify Integration

1. Log in to the Shopify store, where the Simple Sales Tax app will be installed. Multiple stores can be integrated with one TaxCloud account for easy compliance management.

2. Install the TaxCloud Simple Sales Tax app from the Shopify App Store. (See the Shopify Help Center for assistance installing Shopify apps.)

3. Review the app requirements and select Install app.

4. Approve the subscription.

5. If you’re a new TaxCloud user, sign up for an account

5a. Select the option below if you’re an existing TaxCloud user.

6. Schedule your onboarding consultation with one of our Account Specialists.

Our Support team is happy to help with any questions you might have.

Steps to connect your QuickBooks Online account to your TaxCloud account:

 

1. Sign in to your TaxCloud account.

2. Select Stores from the menu on the left side.

3. Add a new store by clicking the red +Add button in the upper right-hand corner.

4. Select QuickBooks from the dropdown menu under store type.

5. If you sell items with taxability variations throughout the US, add a default Tax Information Code (TIC). Otherwise, add 0 for all fully taxable items. You’ll be able to add more TICs later.

6. After you’ve saved the new Store, you can link it to your QuickBooks Online account by clicking Link Store.

6. You will be prompted to log in to your QuickBooks account.

7. After you’ve entered your QuickBooks Online credentials, you’ll need to approve TaxCloud’s access to your QuickBooks Online account data by selecting Connect. We use this information to calculate sales tax and remit (if purchased Returns) on your behalf anywhere in the United States.

8. Once QuickBooks is linked with TaxCloud, the “link account” button is hidden. Select Get Details on the Store to view more settings. Here you can turn off auto imports, manually import data outside of the automation schedule, or edit the store name and default TIC.

9. After completing testing and when you are ready to submit live transactions, select the green Go Live button. Accounts already live will have a Go Live date displayed.

NOTE: Test transactions are not included in tax reports or filed with the states.

Steps to connect your Etsy store to your TaxCloud account:

1. Sign in to your TaxCloud account.

2. After signing in, click the “Settings” navigation button and then click the “Stores & Websites” icon.

 

3. The Stores page allows you to add a new store.

 

4. On the “Add Store” dialog, select the “Etsy” marketplace.

 

Be sure to set the Automatic Monthly Report to True.

 

5. You will receive a pop-up message indicating that you have configured your store to automatically upload transactions to TaxCloud every month. This is good! You will need to link the TaxCloud App to your Etsy Store. To do this select “Link Application” at the lower right of the alert box.

 

6. This brings you to Etsy where you will be able to install the TaxCloud app. This grants TaxCloud the authority to view your Etsy account data and orders so we can help you calculate, collect and remit sales tax to the states where you have sales. Click on the button on the lower left that reads, “Allow Access.”

 

7. You will now return to your TaxCloud account where you will see your store listed at Etsy.

 

8. When you are ready to submit live transactions to your account, make sure to select the “Go Live” button. Accounts that are already Live will have a “Live” label instead of the button.

How do I connect my eBay store to TaxCloud?

Steps to connect your eBay store to your TaxCloud account:

 

1. Sign in to your TaxCloud account.

2. In your TaxCloud dashboard, navigate to Settings, then to the Stores & Websites icon.

 

3. The Stores page allows you to add a new store.

 

4. Enter the required information and select eBay from the Store Type field.

 

Toggle the Auto import switch if you would like your eBay data imported automatically each month.

 

5. Now link your TaxCloud store your Ebay account by clicking Link Account.

 

6. Now login to your eBay account.

 

7. Approve TaxCloud for access to your account.

 

8. You will be redirected back to your TaxCloud Stores page, and you should see the linked icon in your TaxCloud store.

 

9. Your eBay and TaxCloud accounts are now linked. That’s all there is to it.

 

10. When you are ready to submit live transactions to your account, make sure to select the “Go Live” button. Accounts that are already Live will have a “Live” label instead of the Go Live button.

 

11. That’s it Your accounts are now linked!

With TaxCloud’s BigCommerce integration, you can say goodbye to manual order uploads. Our integration provides sales tax calculation for your eCommerce store at the time of checkout and offers real-time transaction capture.

Did you know TaxCloud can also file and remit your tax returns? Learn more here. 

How to Connect Your Store With the TaxCloud BigCommerce Integration

Ready to combine the power of BigCommerce and TaxCloud? We’ll guide you through connecting TaxCloud to your BigCommerce store and get you up and running in no time.

Instructions for BigCommerce App Installation:

1) In your dashboard, select Store Setup->Tax, and then ‘Add tax service’.

 

2) Select to install the TaxCloud service, which starts the installation process.

 

 

3) Confirm your intent to install the app by selecting the Install button.

 

4) On the next screen, you must allow TaxCloud access to your account data to complete the app installation.

 

Instructions for BigCommerce App Configuration

For TaxCloud to begin providing sales tax calculations, you will need to complete the following app configurations:

 

1. Enable TaxCloud to be your sales tax service provider.

 

2. After selecting the Enable button, you should see a visual representation that your account is enabled.

 

3. Now select the edit button.

 

4. You will see the below screen for Tax Options. Please note the following:

• There is the option to submit committed transactions or finalized transactions to TaxCloud for filing. If your transactions move into another integration with TaxCloud, do not select this option as it will result in duplicate transactions.
• Additional fields are provided to add a Taxability Information Code (TIC) for TaxCloud to identify and properly tax items. Add the default TICs for Handling (11000), Shipping (11010), and fully taxable items (0 or blank). Check out all of TaxCloud’s TICs here.

 

 

5. Make sure that prices in your store are entered exclusive of tax. The setting is controlled under Tax Settings. 

 

6.  Your store is now set up to calculate sales tax using TaxCloud!

Please note your store will initially collect tax in test mode, meaning we will not remit any sales tax on your behalf, and the system will only provide sales tax amounts for a limited time.  To configure which states to calculate tax, to go live, or to get your questions answered using chat, you will need to launch the TaxCloud app under My Apps.