How Keystone Determines Tax Authority Defaults for Tickets

When new tickets are created by Keystone from many different programs including Ticket Maintenance, Quick Ticket Entry, Dispatch, Ticket Printing and Import Tickets. All of these options use a simlar algorythm to determine the best default tax authority.

Plant Maintenance: Tax Authority Method

The Tax Authority Method configured in AR Plant Maintenance is the most essential part of determining which Tax Authority will be used when creating a new ticket.

• Tax Authority Method:
  • Force: Is intended only for plants where you are legally required to tax everything based on the origin point of the sale. This by design WILL override all other methods (Job Tax Authority, Zone, Customer , Zone etc.)
  • Customer: The tax authority comes from an Order, Job or Zone if setup, otherwise from the customer default. This is the traditional way of handling Tax Authorities in Keystone prior to version 2.3.
  • Default: This option, similar to "Customer", gets it's default value from the Order, Job or Zone if setup, otherwise it will default to the plants default tax authority. The default should be either the plant's most common Tax Authority, or blank.
    Sequence for Determining Tax Authority:
    • Use Tax Authority from a Job if it exists
    • Use Tax Authority from Order (If in Ticket Printing using an existing Order)
    • Use Tax Authority from a zone if it exists
    • Default to the Plant's Tax Authority (even if blank).

Tax Authority Method Technical Description

As of version 2.2.36 of Keystone, a new field called Tax Auth Method has been added to the Defaults tab in Plant Maintenance. This field helps determine the default Tax Authority that will be used for new orders and tickets within the system.

The Tax Authority for a new order/ticket is determined by a particular sequence of instructions as follows:

1. If the plant has its own Tax Authority and the Tax Auth Method is set to Force, the Tax Authority value in Plant Maintenance is used.
2. If a priced job has its own Tax Authority, the Tax Authority from that priced job is used.
3. If the zone has its own Tax Authority, the Tax Authority from that zone is used.
4. If the plant's Tax Auth Method is set to Default, the Tax Authority value in Plant Maintenance is used, even if it is blank.
5. The Tax Authority from the customer is used.

An additional instruction is added to the above sequence to determine the Tax Authority when editing an existing order/ticket:

1. If the plant has its own Tax Authority and the Tax Auth Method is set to Force, the Tax Authority value in Plant Maintenance is used.
2. If a priced job has its own Tax Authority, the Tax Authority from that priced job is used.
3. If the zone has its own Tax Authority, the Tax Authority from that zone is used.
4. If the Tax Authority from the order/ticket prior to editing is not blank, the original Tax Authority value is used.
5. If the plant's Tax Auth Method is set to Default, the Tax Authority value in Plant Maintenance is used, even if it is blank.
6. The Tax Authority from the customer is used.

A shorter sequence of instructions determines the Tax Authority for a new ticket that is created from an order:

1. If the plant has its own Tax Authority and the Tax Auth Method is set to Force, the Tax Authority value in Plant Maintenance is used.
2. The Tax Authority from the order is used.

The appropriate sequence of instructions is triggered when any of the following events occur:

• A new order/ticket is created.
• An order is copied (duplicated.)
• The Plant Id is changed.
• The Zone Id is changed.
• The Job Id is changed.