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Reference data

Units of measure conversion

In some cases, you may find it necessary to convert quantities between different units of measure.
Determination can automatically resolve many of these differences and accurately calculate taxes and fees regardless of the differences in units of measure involved.
Duties charged for excise are usually per-unit-fees charged against a quantity amount, for example barrels, gallons, or pallets. Your ERP (enterprise resource planning) system specifies the terms on invoices as agreed by the purchaser.
Tax authorities define their duties in units of measure that are generally accepted in the industry being levied. Commonly, the invoiced units don't match units defined for per-unit-fees used in tax determination.
To provide 100% accuracy in resolving differing units of measure, you can add any custom units of measure and conversion factors required to support your business processes.

Source for ONESOURCE content

System data's provided based on the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe's (UNECE) Recommendation No 20 - Codes for Units of Measure used in International Trade," International Standards Organization (ISO) standards 31-0 1992, 80000-3 2006, and 80000-4 2006, and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard X-3.50 1986.

Units of measure: system data and custom data

ONESOURCE content provides the subset of codes most useful to Determination customers. You can also configure your own units of measure by adding new codes and the appropriate conversion factors.
Each unit of measure consists of the following:
  • A name and associated code. For example, the default unit of measure named pound has the code LBR.
  • A category, such as weight, length, or volume. Conversions can take place only between units of measure of the same category.
  • A base unit of measure. This base gets used as a fallback mechanism in certain instances.
  • Rounding and precision rules to use during any potential conversion.
  • Start and (optional) end dates.

Conversion factors

Both forward and reverse conversion factors are supported (for example, FOT (foot) to MTR (meter) and MTR to FOT).
You can also configure your own conversion factors between any combination of system and/or custom units of measure. Custom conversion factors take precedence over system conversion factors.
Unit of measure conversions must be direct, not a combination of multiple conversion factors. For example, if you need to convert gallons to quarts, you must explicitly configure that conversion. The system can't extrapolate gallons to quarts if you have the following rules configured:
  • Gallons to liters
  • Liters to quarts
Each conversion factor consists of the following:
  • From and To units of measure, such as LBR (pound) and ONZ (ounce).
  • An operator and factor, such as multiply by 16.
  • Start and (optional) end dates.

This article applies to:

  • Product: ONESOURCE Determination, ONESOURCE Indirect Tax
  • Subject: Conversions

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