The NetSuite Connector for Emburse Professional is fully integrated with NetSuite’s SuiteTax module. The integration will import your organization’s Tax Profiles (called Nexuses in NetSuite) and applicable Tax Codes into Emburse, so that users may select and enter the appropriate tax amounts on their expense reports. The tax amounts are then exported back to NetSuite.
This article will show an Administrator how to configure the SuiteTax integration in Emburse.
Enabling Tax Code Import
1. From the Emburse home screen, open Configuration and select Emburse NetSuite Integration.
2. Select Settings.
3. On the Expenses tab, toggle the Use NetSuite SuiteTaxes slider. In the Taxable Regions field, select the countries or regions in which users will need to report taxes. In a future step, we will link these regions to a particular currency.
4. Navigate to the Review tab and select Check Your Configuration.
5. Once complete, click Save And Close. A sync will begin to retrieve your organization’s Tax Profiles and Tax Codes. Once the sync is complete, another import will be necessary to import the tax codes to Emburse. Open the Schedule tab and click Import Now. Once the import is complete, proceed to the next section to further configure your tax codes.
Configuring Tax Profiles and Codes
With the import complete, you will see a new tab for Tax Profiles.
The Status of each Tax Profile will provide context for which Tax Profiles are available to users, and which are not. A status of Active means a user will be able to select the Tax Profile, and enter applicable tax amounts, on an expense report, assuming the correspoding currency is selected. A status of Needs Review means the Tax Profile is not visible to users, and requires more information before it can be used on an expense report.
The Tax Profile is the tax location. This might be a province or a region in a country, if a country has multiple tax jurisdictions. The tax profile could also be an entire country, if the country has standard tax rates regardless of location. Users will select a Tax Profile before entering the applicable tax amounts on an expense report.
Tax Profiles import directly from NetSuite. Within NetSuite, they are referred to as Nexuses.
The Applicable Taxes column will show you which Tax Codes will be available on each expense, based on the Tax Profile selected.
Tax Codes import directly from NetSuite. If you wish to make a change to a Tax Code name, or it’s relationship to a Tax Profile, please do so in NetSuite and perform a sync to import the changes.
The relationship between Tax Profiles and Tax Codes is managed in NetSuite and cannot be modified in Emburse directly.
The Currency will control when the Tax Profile is visible to users. A Tax Profile will only be available on an expense report if the user first selects the applicable currency.
1. To activate a Tax Profile, click the Edit icon.
2. Select a currency. A currency is required, and will determine when a Tax Profile will be available to users.
Example: If the Currency of a Tax Profile is set to Canadian Dollar, the user will only see the Tax Profile when Canadian Dollar is selected as the expense’s currency. If any other currency is selected, the particular Tax Profile - and by extension, the Tax Codes belonging to the Profile - will not be available for that expense.
3. For each applicable Tax Code, Add an Effective Date and Rate.
The Effective Date will control if the particular tax field appears on an expense line, based on the expense date. If the expense date is earlier than the Tax Code’s first effective date, the tax code will not be shown to the user.
The Rate will control the tax amount auto-calculation. Emburse uses a reverse calculation to determine the tax amount, based on the default tax rate and the expense amount entered by the user.
4. Once all Tax Codes have at least one tax rate, click Save to activate the Tax Profile.
The Tax Profile’s status will change from Needs Review to Active, indicating the Tax Profile is ready for use on expense reports.
5. Repeat this process for each Tax Profile - assigning currencies, tax rates, and effective dates for any Tax Profiles which should be selected on an expense report.
Administrators may return to this screen at any time to enter additional effective dates. For example, if a tax rate changes next year, Administrators can enter a new effective date and a new rate to ensure tax amounts are calculated correctly in the new year. Do not delete old tax rates, even if there is a new rate with a new effective date. Keeping the old rates active will ensure any old expenses submitted by users will leverage the tax rate which was applicable at the time the expense was incurred.
Tax Reclaim Rules
There may be situations where an organization can only claim a portion of an expense’s tax amount due to government regulations. For example, The Canadian government allows organizations to claim 50% of the GST/HST tax amounts on Meal and Entertainment expenses.
Configuring Reclamation Rules in Emburse will allow the tax amount auto-calculation to correctly report the full tax amount of an expense, while only exporting a portion of the tax amount to NetSuite for reclamation. Reclamation Rules are optional, and not required to activate a Tax Profile.
1. To configure a Reclamation Rule, open the Tax Profile in question.
2. Under the applicable Tax Code, select Reclamation Rules.
3. Enter the applicable Categories, the Reclaim Percentage, and the Effective Date. Click Add.
4. Click Back to return to the Tax Profile drawer.
5. Click Save.
Submitting Expenses with Tax Amounts
With Tax Profile and Tax Rates configured, users will begin to see new options when submitting expenses, based on the currency selected.
Because at least one Tax Profile is configured to the Canadian Dollar, the user sees the Tax Profile dropdown when Canadian Dollar is selected as the expense’s currency.
As soon as a Tax Profile is selected, the corresponding tax fields appear, based on their association in NetSuite.
In this example, the 5.00 GST amount was auto-calculated, based on the following inputs:
The Expense Date
The Currency
The Amount
The Tax Profile
The 5% Tax Rate associated with the AB_GST Tax Code
The Tax Amount is automatically calculated, using a reverse calculation derived from the expense amount. The user will continue to enter the full expense amount as it appears on their receipt, inclusive of taxes.
If a user were to adjust the expense amount after the calculation, the Tax Amount would be recalculated based on the new expense amount. The same is true if the Date, Currency, or Tax Profile were adjusted.
Users will have the option to manually adjust the Tax Amounts, if necessary.
The Tax Amounts will appear in the Details column of the expense report as soon as the expense is saved.
Because the expense category leverages a Reclamation Rule, a Reclaim Amount is displayed below the Tax Amount. The user will still be reimbursed the full expense amount (inclusive of all taxes), however only the Reclaim Amount will be exported to NetSuite, as this is the amount of the tax which can be claimed by the organization.
If another expense is submitted to a category which does not leverage Reclamation Rules, only the Tax Amount would appear in the Details column.
Approving Expenses with Tax Amounts
Approvers and Accountants will also see the Tax Amounts in the Details column when approving the expense reports.
Approvers with permissions to edit expenses during approval will also have the ability to adjust the tax amounts, if necessary.