How to Use CData Connect to Access Live Avalara AvaTax Data in Power Automate

CData Connect enables you to access live Avalara AvaTax data in workflow automation tools like Power Automate. This article shows how to integrate Avalara AvaTax data into a simple workflow, moving Avalara AvaTax data into a CSV file.

CData Connect provides a pure SQL interface for Avalara AvaTax, allowing you to easily integrate with live Avalara AvaTax data in Power Automate — without replicating the data. Connect looks exactly like a SQL Server database to Power Automate and uses optimized data processing out of the box to push all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Avalara AvaTax, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Avalara AvaTax data.

Create a Virtual SQL Database for Avalara AvaTax Data

CData Connect Server uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources and generate APIs.

1. Log into Connect Server and click Connections.
2. Select "Avalara AvaTax" from Available Data Sources.
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Avalara AvaTax.

   The primary method for performing basic authentication is to provide your login credentials, as follows:

   • User: Set this to your username.
   • Password: Set this to your password.

   Optionally, if you are making use of a sandbox environment, set the following:

   • UseSandbox: Set this to true if you are authenticating with a sandbox account.

   Authenticating Using Account Number and License Key

   Alternatively, you can authenticate using your account number and license key. Connect to data using the following:

   • AccountId: Set this to your Account Id. The Account Id is listed in the upper right hand corner of the admin console.
   • LicenseKey: Set this to your Avalara Avatax license key. You can generate a license key by logging into Avalara Avatax as an account administrator and navigating to Settings -> Reset License Key.
4. Click Save Changes
5. Click Privileges -> Add and add the new user (or an existing user) with the appropriate permissions.

How to Integrate Avalara AvaTax Data into Power Automate Workflows

After configuring CData Connect with Avalara AvaTax, you are ready to integrate Avalara AvaTax data into your Power Automate workflows. Open Microsoft Power Automate, add a new flow, and name the flow.

In the flow editor, you can add the actions to connect to Avalara AvaTax, query Avalara AvaTax using SQL, and write the query results to a CSV document.

Add an Open SQL Connection Action

Add an "Open SQL connection" action (Actions -> Database) and click the option to build the Connection string. In the Data Link Properties wizard:

1. On the Provider tab: select Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server
2. On the Connection tab:
   1. Select or enter a server name: set to the address and port of the SQL (TDS) endpoint of CData Connect, separated by a comma (e.g. localhost,8033)
   2. Enter information to log onto the server: select "Use a specific username and password" and use CData Connect credentials
   3. Select the database: use the database configured above (e.g. AvalaraAvatax1)
3. Click "Test Connection" to ensure the connection is configured properly
4. Click "OK"

After building the connection string in the Data Link Properties wizard, save the action.

Add an Execute SQL Statement Action

Add an "Execute SQL statement" action (Actions -> Database) and configure the properties.

• Get connection by: SQL connection variable
• SQL connection: %SQLConnection% (the variable from the "Open SQL connection" action above)
• SQL statement: SELECT * FROM Transactions

After configuring the properties, save the action.

Add a Write to CSV File Action

Add a "Write to CSV file" action (Actions -> File) and configure the properties.

• Variable to write to: %QueryResult% (the variable from the "Execute SQL statement" action above)
• File path: set to a file on disk
• Configure Advanced settings as needed.

After configuring the properties, save the action.

Add a Close SQL Connection Action

Add a "Close SQL connection" action (Actions -> Database) and configure the properties.

• SQL Connection: %SQLConnection% (the variable from the "Open SQL connection" action above)

After configuring the properties, save the action.

Save & Run the Flow

Once you have configured all the actions for the flow, click the disk icon to save the flow. Click the play icon to run the flow.

Now you have a workflow to move Avalara AvaTax data into a CSV file.

With CData Connect, you get live connectivity to Avalara AvaTax data within your Microsoft Power Automate workflows.

Related Power Automate Articles

This article walks through using CData Connect Server with Power Automate Desktop. Check out our other articles for more ways to work with Power Automate (Desktop & Online):

• Avalara AvaTax Data in Power Automate Desktop via ODBC
• Avalara AvaTax Data in Power Automate (Online) using CData Connect Server