Overview
Avalara has announced that it will be deprecating support for Transport Layer Security (“TLS”) 1.0 and 1.1 during the course of 2022. You may have seen one or more messages from Avalara regarding this topic. A sample message can be found by clicking here which will take you to the Avalara Help Center. While these directions walk you through the general steps required to complete this update, we wanted to provide our customers with a summary specific to Sage 500 ERP.
Avalara is asking companies running supported versions of Sage 500 ERP to complete this update by March 31, 2022. For companies on unsupported versions of Sage 500 ERP, Avalara has indicated that have until December 31, 2022 before the Avalara Service will be affected. This provides companies with time to complete an upgrade to a supported version of Sage 500 ERP.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: On September 22, 2022, Avalara revised its target date to disable connections using Rest v1 and SOAP services by extending the compliance deadline to February 16, 2023. Avalara continues to improve its security protocols to meet industry standards and is in the process of disabling support for connections using TLS 1.0 and 1.1.
Why are they doing this?
Avalara is working to improve security and reliability by deprecating support for TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1. Avalara is not alone in taking this step; it is a change that many companies have undertaken over the past several years. This is good news because it improves security for you and your customers.
What does this mean for your Sage 500 ERP environment?
In order to support TLS 1.2, this will likely mean that your Sage 500 ERP Client Workstations will need to have a newer version of the Avalara Integration Connector installed. Avalara updated its Avatax Integration Connector for Sage 500 ERP with support for TLS 1.2 in December of 2021. Therefore, if you downloaded the Avalara Integration Connector prior to this you will need to download the latest version and apply this to all of your Sage 500 ERP Client Workstations. It is important to note that these updates from Avalara are only available for companies that are running a supported version of Sage 500 ERP. These versions are 2018 (7.9), 2019 (8.0) and 2021 (8.1). If you are not on a supported version, review the section called “What if I am not on a supported version?” below.
In our review of the update, we have found that Avalara has made changes to both components that get installed on a Sage 500 ERP Client Workstation. These are the Avatax Adapter as well as the Avatax Integration Connector for Sage 500 ERP. These are typically found in the following locations on a Sage 500 ERP Client Workstation:
- Avatax Adapter
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Avalara
- Avatax Integration Connector for Sage 500 ERP
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Sage Software\Sage MAS 500 Client\AV
We found no updates required when reviewing the Server components installed with the Avalara Integration Connector for Sage 500 ERP. Based on this, we have determined that this did not need to be applied to support TLS 1.2.
How can I check to see if I have the updated version installed?
Avalara is making sandbox accounts available for testing your connection to Avalara. Avalara has already updated its sandbox environment to disable TLS 1.0 and 1.1. Based on this, you can test your installation by connecting to your sandbox account. If you don’t have a Sandbox account, reach out to your Avalara representative for assistance in establishing one. The have indicated that they will make these available through March 31, 2022.
Avalara also has directions on its Help Center to request a sandbox account. Click here to follow a link to this page. (Note that this page may be disabled after March 31, 2022.)
What if I am not on a supported version?
For companies running Sage 500 ERP versions 2017 (7.8) or older, you will need to consider your options. You can continue to use the existing Avalara Integration Connector for Sage 500 ERP through December 31, 2022. At that point, if no other action is taken you will lose the ability to calculate tax using Avalara from Sage 500 ERP.
Avalara recommends that all companies on unsupported versions upgrade to a supported version of Sage 500 ERP and the Avalara Integration Connector for Sage 500 ERP and complete testing prior to December 31, 2022 to avoid service interruptions.
WHAT IF I AM USING EBUSINESS SUITE WITH SAGE 500 ERP?
For companies utilizing eBusiness Suite (“eBS”) with Sage 500 ERP and Avalara, you will need an update applied to your eBS installation. This update will need to be applied by December 31, 2022 in order to continue to use eBS without interruption. To receive this update, please reach out to your Sage 500 ERP Partner or RKL eSolutions for assistance.
Need Help?
Assistance for RKL eSolutions Clients:
If you're an RKL eSolutions client, please reach out to us for assistance or with questions. We are actively researching options for companies that do not have the ability to upgrade the Sage 500 ERP environment. We can discuss what we have determined to-date and if any of these options could be viable for you. We can also assist you with an upgrade or Sage ERP replacement options if that is the most appropriate path for your company.
Not an RKL eSolutions Clients?
Contact your Sage Partner or reach out to Sage Support for assistance.
If you are interested in migrating to a new Sage ERP solution, check out the migration resources below and feel free to contact us directly with any questions.
