Upload an exemption certificate

Introduction

A sales tax exemption is when a purchaser can legally make a tax-free purchase with the help of an exemption certificate. This certificate documents the exemption the purchaser claims to make a tax-free purchase. Common types of exemption certificates you can upload to Anrok include:

• Multiple Points of Use (Apportionment) Exemption — A document granted for certain items or services that will be used at multiple locations or for multiple purposes. This exemption allows the purchaser to pay a reduced sales tax rate based on the anticipated multiple uses or locations. See Multiple Points of Use (MPU) policy.
• Non-Profit Exemption — A document issued to qualifying nonprofit organizations by a governmental authority, such as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This certificate exempts the organization from certain taxes that would otherwise apply to for-profit businesses.
• Resale (Reseller) Exemption — A document that proves to the seller that the buyer is a legitimate reseller and eligible for sales tax exemption. Reseller purchases are generally tax-exempt because the ultimate consumer will pay sales tax when they purchase the product. See Overview of resale certificates.
• Direct Payment Permit — A document that allows the buyer to self-assess and report sales tax to the jurisdiction directly rather than paying it to the seller at the point of sale.

If one of your customers has an exemption certificate, you are responsible for determining whether they are making an exempt purchase and adequately completing the exemption certificate. Once the certificate is verified, you can add the certificate to Anrok to prevent tax from being applied to the customer's invoices.

Add an exemption certificate

You can upload a customer's tax exemption certificates into Anrok to prevent tax from being calculated on their transactions.

Try uploading a tax exemption certificate in the demo above ☝️

1. In the Anrok app , go to Certificates. Take me there!

2. Select Add or request certificate, then click Upload a certificate.

   Tip

   Customers on Anrok's Custom plan can select to automatically prefill certificate information using AI. Please submit this form to upgrade and unlock AI prefill capabilities.

3. Under Customer details, search for the customer in the search bar. If the customer does not exist in Anrok yet (e.g., you have not created an invoice for the customer yet), click +Add customer, then enter the Customer ID and Customer name. When entering the customer ID, be sure to add the billing system: prefix so that it maps to your billing system successfully. For example, if the customer ID is 10000 in NetSuite, you would enter netsuite:10000 as the customer ID in Anrok.
4. Under Certificate details, enter the Exemption number, Certificate type, and Exemption start date, then upload the exemption certificate.
5. Under Jurisdiction details, enter the Jurisdiction and Registration ID where the exemption certificate is valid. If there are multiple jurisdictions, you can select +Add a jurisdiction.
6. If applicable, enter the Exemption expiration date.
7. When you are finished adding the certificate's details, click Save.
8. Under Reprocess customer transactions, select the Start date and End date from which you want transactions reprocessed to apply the certificate.
9. If there has been an address change on the customer record, select the checkbox next to Prioritize customer address over invoice address.
10. Click Next, then acknowledge the potential impact of these changes.
11. When you're finished reviewing, click Start.

Bulk upload certificates

If you have a large number of exemptions to add to Anrok and would prefer to import your exemptions using a CSV file, you can choose to bulk upload certificates in Anrok. 

Try bulk uploading exemption certificates in the demo above ☝️

1. In the Anrok app , go to Certificates. Take me there!
2. Select Add or request certificate, then click Bulk upload certificates.
3. If your exemptions apply to customer records for a specific already-integrated billing system, you can click the dropdown under Billing system to select it.
4. Select Download template, then enter your customer's exemption certificate information into the provided template.
5. Once completed, select Browse to upload.
6. Once the upload is complete, Anrok will share a preview with formatting information and file changes required before proceeding. Make any required changes, then click Continue. 

7. Put all exemption certificates referenced in the template column for Filename into a folder, then click Browse to upload the folder. If you are not uploading specific exemptions at this time, leave Filename blank in your template upload.

   Note

   Anrok's placeholder certificate will be used for this record until the specific exemption record is uploaded. Please note that it will be your responsibility to come back and replace this with updated credentials and an updated certificate once you've obtained it.

8. When you're finished, confirm these certificates are valid and authorized, then click Start upload.

Certificate template fields

The Anrok bulk certificate template is available in your Anrok account using these steps. You can also download it here: Download template. 

These are the required and optional fields when completing a template upload. 

Certificate types

Exemption certificates come in several types, each corresponding to a specific reason a buyer is exempt from sales tax. The table below outlines the most common certificate types, what each one usually covers, and the kinds of organizations that typically hold them.

Exemption number formats

Anrok uses the certificates uploaded into the customer ID to adjust the transaction's tax implications. When providing a certificate to Anrok, it is important to ensure that the exemption certificate is valid within the jurisdiction. Listed below are common certificate formats: