Setting up a Microsoft mailbox in Communications Centre

Please Note: This email provider option covers all Microsoft mailbox types (Office 365, Outlook, Hotmail, Live and so on). If you have already added any accounts using the Outlook (legacy) and Office 365 (legacy) options, you should change them to this provider type and re-authorise them as the legacy mailbox types may stop working from 31st March 2024.  

TaxCalc connects to your Microsoft mailboxes using a RESTful API.  

RESTful API (Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface) is an API that conforms to the REST standards allowing applications to communicate with each other securely but is often less generic in its use (more specific to each Email Provider).

To start sending emails from TaxCalc you will need to provide the details for your Microsoft mailbox account and authorise TaxCalc to connect on your behalf to send emails.   

Adding a new Mailbox  

There are two places in which a mailbox can be added in TaxCalc depending on whether the mailbox will be used by multiple users within an office (Office settings) or whether it’s a personal mailbox for a specific user (User settings).  

For an Office mailbox, go to Admin Centre > Firm Details > Edit Office > Outgoing Email Settings 

For a User mailbox, go to Admin Centre > Users > Edit User > Outgoing Email Settings 

Then from the relevant Outgoing Email Settings page: 

1. Select Add to open the following Mailbox Settings screen: 

2. For the Email provider choose Microsoft Email to see all options relevant to these accounts.  
3. Enter the Email address for the mailbox that you are adding (for example myname@office365.com).
4. In the From Name field, enter the name as it should display on the sent email. 
5. Next enter the Username (which should be the same as the email already entered above).  

Authorising your mailbox 

Microsoft accounts now use OAuth authorisation to authorise TaxCalc to connect to your mailbox and send emails.  

6. Click on the Authorise button.
7. Another screen will open taking you to the Microsoft web login page.
8. Follow the Microsoft authorisation pages to log into your account and confirm that you are granting access to TaxCalc.
9. If authorisation is successful, you can return to the Mailbox Settings screen which should be updated with the message Successfully Authorised.
10. If the authorisation has expired, the following message is displayed, Authorisation may have expired. Re-authorise using the button above. 

Please Note: Depending on your set up, re-authorisation is due every 90 days. However, you will also need to reauthorise if authorisation fails. 

11. Once authorised, click Save and close. 

For more information on Communications Centre, please see KB3199 Communications Centre: Collateral.