Tight crackdowns by state governments have included greater attention to non-taxed transaction compliance. Manually managing the exemption certificate lifecycle can cause a high level of risk. Errors from improper application of the non-tax status, lost certificates, failure to produce a certificate during an audit and expired certificates that don't get renewed in time for transactions are common problems. But there is another option to managing your exemption certificates: automation.

For businesses that do not automate exemption certificate management, a manual workflow process requires the seller to be familiar with state requirements and maintain copies of the forms to complete an exemption certificate. Once the form is completed and signed, the billing or ERP system needs to be given that information in order to apply the correct sales tax information. Depending on how the system is set up for the POS or retail location, this could be as easy as entering in the data at the point of sale or entering behind the scenes post-sale.

We are recommending a great new add-on solution for Microsoft Dynamics GP,  from Avalara, called AvaTax Certs solutions to automate the exemption certificate management process.  AvaTax Certs, a cloud-based exemption certificate management (ECM) solution, seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Dynamics GP and allows you to deal with your certificate management from within the ERP--no switching back and forth between software packages.

Here are six great benefits to using AvaTax Certs integrated to Microsoft Dynamics GP to  to automate exemption certificates and take advantage of  built-in intelligence:

• Increased speed of certificate collection
• Online certificate collection for e-commerce and online stores, removing any delay in transactions
• Decreased non-taxed transaction billing errors--no crediting back or accounting adjustments
• Reduced staff time and effort in tracking, managing certs and responding to auditor requests
• Improved, seamless exempt customer purchase experience--customers are billed correctly, cert is found and applied automatically or can be immediately added to ERP information
• Elimination of manual entry and management of customer data--certs are stored in a secure, central, digital location made accessible to all your locations

An automated workflow can still have limitations but improves the experience immensely. Automation means that the ability to create the certificate automatically on-the-spot is easy, electronic, and enables digital long term storage without the need for paper.

To learn more about automating the exemption certificate lifecycle, we invite you download the white paper "Automating the Exemption Certificate Lifecycle" by clicking here.

By The TM Group, a  a Microsoft Dynamics partner holding dual Gold ERP and CRM competencies based in Michigan,

June 16, 2011 by Ken Jacobsen, The TM Group Inc.

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Tags: Avalara, exemption certificate management for Microsoft Dynamics, Michigan Dynamics GP Partner, Microsoft Dynamics GP tax solutions
Posted in Finance Department Tips & Tricks, ISV/Add On Products, Sales Tax Automation for Dynamics ERP | 1 Comment »

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