Best Practices for Shopify

To ensure Galvix calculates sales tax accurately, it's important to follow certain practices in Shopify. This guide highlights the essential steps for creating an order, managing refunds, as well as key considerations to avoid.

Table of Contents

• Provide Complete & Accurate Customer Addresses
• How to Create an Order in Shopify Admin
• How to Set up Exempt Customers in Shopify
• How to Create a Refund in Shopify
• Next Steps

Provide Complete & Accurate Customer Addresses

Galvix relies on accurate shipping addresses from the order to determine the correct tax jurisdiction, as tax rates vary by zip code, city, and state. If a shipping address is not available, the billing address will be used for tax calculations.

When creating an order in Shopify:

• Shopify will pre-fill the address from the customer record
• However, Galvix always uses the address on the order/invoice itself, not the customer profile

For precise tax calculations, it is recommended to include the following address details in your invoice or credit note:

• Full street address
• City, State, County, and Country
• 9-digit zip code (e.g., 12345-6789) for enhanced accuracy.

How to Create an Order in Shopify Admin

Creating an order properly ensures Galvix can pick up the transaction and accurately calculate the tax expected amount.

Steps to create an order:

• Go to Orders in your Shopify admin

• On the right side, click on Create order
  • Now add a customer (ensure their address is complete and up to date). Add one or more products to the cart.

• Verify the shipping address or update it directly in the order.

• Click Mark as Paid (or save as draft, then mark paid later).

• The order will now be visible in Galvix under the Transactions tab once the same is confirmed.

How to Set up Exempt Customers in Shopify

Some customers, such as nonprofits or resellers, may be exempt from sales tax. In such cases, they must be properly flagged in Shopify to ensure Galvix does not apply tax on these transactions. Galvix considers exemptions only if they are explicitly selected in the customer’s tax settings.

You’ll need to assign the correct exemption reason (e.g., Virginia reseller) under each customer profile. Once marked properly, Galvix will apply zero sales tax on transactions for these customers in the relevant states.

How to Create Refunds in Shopify

When you create a refund in Shopify, Galvix also creates a Refund transaction, which you can view in the Transactions tab. During return preparation, Galvix automatically subtracts the refunded tax amount from the collected tax amount, ensuring your filings remain accurate even after adjustments or refunds. To ensure Galvix creates the refund transaction accurately, you must follow the steps below in Shopify to create a refund.

Steps to create a refund:

• Go to Orders in your Shopify admin and open the relevant Order from your Orders tab that you want to create a refund for.

• Click on Refund on the top right side of your screen.

• Select the items to be refunded. Click Refund to finalise.

Once issued, the refund will sync to Galvix and appear as a Refund transaction, adjusting your tax liability accordingly.

Next Steps

• Check out → the Shopify FAQs for answers to common questions.