How the Tabs <> Sphere Integration Works

Last updated: June 10, 2026

Overview

Sphere is a tax automation platform that works with Tabs to calculate and manage sales tax.

The integration is bi-directional:

Tabs sends invoice information to Sphere for tax calculation.
Sphere retrieves customer, product, invoice, and credit memo data from Tabs to support tax compliance and filing.

How Tax Calculations Work

Tax is calculated at two points in the invoice lifecycle:

Invoice Preview

When an invoice is generated or opened, Tabs requests a tax estimate from Sphere.

This allows users to review expected tax before sending the invoice.

Invoice Send

When an invoice is sent, Tabs requests a final tax calculation from Sphere.

The final tax amount is written back to the invoice and used for tax reporting and filing purposes.

Address Validation

Sphere validates customer addresses during tax calculation.

If an address cannot be validated:

Tabs displays an error.
Invoice sending is blocked until the address is corrected.

Managing Tax Exemptions

Tax exemptions can be managed through either system.

Customer-Level Exemption

A customer can be marked as tax exempt.

When a customer is tax exempt, taxes are not applied to invoices generated for that customer.

Invoice-Level Exemption

A single invoice can be marked as tax exempt, even if the customer is normally taxable.

Exemption Certificates

Exemption certificates are managed within Sphere.

If a customer has a valid exemption certificate in Sphere, taxes will not be applied during tax calculation, even if the exemption was not configured directly in Tabs.

Customer-level and invoice-level tax exemption settings can still be managed in Tabs, but Sphere remains the source of truth for exemption certificate management.

Data Shared Between Tabs and Sphere

Sphere uses information from Tabs to support tax calculations and filing.

Object	Purpose
Customers	Tax exemption status, address validation, and customer tax information
Products	Tax code mapping
Invoices	Tax reporting and filing
Credit Memos	Tax adjustments and reversals

Sphere syncs customer, product, invoice, and credit memo data from Tabs on a recurring basis. Tax calculations occur in real time when invoices are generated and sent.

Source of Truth

Configuration	Managed In
Tax code mappings	Sphere
Exemption certificates	Sphere
Tax calculations	Sphere
Tax filing configuration	Sphere
Address validation rules	Sphere
Customer tax exempt status	Tabs and Sphere
Invoice tax exempt status	Tabs and Sphere

Tabs surfaces tax results directly on invoices and customer records.

Supported Regions

Tax calculation and jurisdiction support are determined by Sphere.

If Sphere supports a jurisdiction, the integration can be used for tax calculation in that region.