3 questions from the package
From the RFI round. The first shows part of the guide each question carries; the workbook adds follow-ups, how to verify the answer, a priority and a weight.
1. Provide the list of US jurisdictions your sales and use tax rate content covers, broken down by state, county, city and special taxing district.
Why it matters. A missing local or special district rate leads to undercollection that the buyer still owes to that jurisdiction. Coverage stated only at state level hides gaps where most rate variation sits.
Good answer
- Provides a jurisdiction-level list or count for each of the four levels, by state
- States how the list is kept current and when it was last updated
- Notes any jurisdiction types or states that are excluded
Red flags
- Gives a single headline count without a breakdown by level
- Claims full coverage without a list the buyer can check against [state list]
- Special taxing districts are not mentioned
2. Provide the list of taxability categories (product and service tax codes) that you maintain, with the written definition of each category.
Why it matters. If categories are coarse or undefined, items with different taxability end up in the same category. The buyer then over-collects or under-collects tax on them.
3. State whether your engine calculates consumer use tax due on purchase transactions where the supplier charged no tax or less tax than was due.
Why it matters. If the engine does not calculate use tax on under-taxed purchases, the buyer accrues it manually or not at all. The shortfall then surfaces as an assessment in a use tax audit.
Capability areas
Jurisdiction Coverage & Tax Content (13)
Breadth and depth of rate and rule content for US sales and use tax (state, county, city, special district), VAT, and GST across the jurisdictions where the buyer owes tax, plus who maintains that content and how quickly changes are published. Excludes product taxability mapping (TAX) and e-invoicing mandate coverage (MND).
Product & Service Taxability Mapping (10)
How the buyer's catalog is mapped to taxability categories, including digital goods, SaaS, bundles, mixed taxable and exempt items, and buyer-specific overrides, and how mapping changes are governed. Excludes the calculation logic that applies the mapping (DET).
Tax Determination Logic (13)
The calculation engine's handling of sourcing rules, address validation and rooftop location, cross-border and reverse-charge scenarios, marketplace and drop-ship flows, purchase-side tax (consumer use tax accrual, input VAT/GST recoverability), and credit and return adjustments. Excludes how the engine is called from source systems (ERP).
ERP, Billing & Commerce Embedding (11)
Tax-specific integration into the buyer's ERP, billing, e-commerce, procurement, and POS flows: call points across the document lifecycle, consistent results across channels, fallback behavior when the engine is unreachable, and tax-call performance under load. Excludes generic API, SSO, and connector questions covered by the integration module.
Exemption & Resale Certificate Management (13)
Collection, validation, storage, expiry tracking, and renewal of exemption and resale certificates, and how certificate status is applied to transactions at determination time. Excludes audit retrieval of historical records (REC).
Nexus Monitoring & Registration (8)
Tracking of economic and physical nexus thresholds and VAT/GST registration thresholds, alerting before new obligations arise, and support for registering in new jurisdictions. Excludes filing once registered (RET).
Returns Preparation, Filing & Remittance (14)
Generation of returns and periodic statutory filings (VAT/GST returns, recapitulative and listing reports, audit files an authority requests in a standard format) from transaction data, review and adjustment workflow, electronic filing and payment, self-serve versus managed-service operation, and handling of amended returns and authority notices. Excludes reconciliation and audit records (REC).
Reconciliation & Audit Defense (10)
Reconciliation of determined, invoiced, filed, and cleared amounts; immutable records of determinations, filings, and clearances; reproduction of past calculations as of their original date; and producing evidence for a tax authority examination. Excludes generic security certifications covered by the compliance-certifications module.
E-Invoice Generation & Formats (13)
Creation, validation, and exchange of structured e-invoices, both outbound and inbound, in network and country-specific formats, including mapping from ERP data, handling of mandatory fields, and archiving of the legal invoice. Excludes the authority clearance and reporting interaction (CTC).
Clearance & Real-Time Reporting Operations (12)
Connectivity to tax authority platforms and accredited networks under clearance and reporting models, status tracking, rejection handling and correction, behavior during authority endpoint outages, and the vendor's accreditation status with each authority. Excludes invoice format generation (EIN).
Regulatory Change & Mandate Readiness (9)
Current production coverage of e-invoicing and CTC mandates, the process and lead time for supporting new or changed mandates and formats, communication of mandate changes to customers, and how changes are rolled out without per-country rework by the buyer. Excludes rate and rule content updates (JCT) and the general product roadmap covered by the roadmap module.
Questions about this package
How many Tax Compliance & E-Invoicing Platforms RFP questions are there?
126 solution questions in 11 capability areas: 24 for the RFI, 67 for the RFP and 35 deep-dive questions for the finalists. The workbook adds 100 due-diligence questions on security, integration, implementation and exit.
What comes with each question?
Why it matters, good-answer signals, red flags, follow-up questions, how to verify the answer (a demo step, a test or a document), and a suggested priority and weight for scoring.
Can I edit the questions?
Yes. The workbook is an ordinary Excel file. Change, add or remove questions, and change the weights; the scorecard recalculates.
Which license do I need?
The Enterprise License covers any number of evaluations inside one organization. The Consultancy License covers use with any number of clients. Neither allows reselling or republishing the questions.
