Setting up an Office 365 or Outlook mailbox in Communications Centre

Setting up an Office 365 or Outlook mailbox in Communications Centre  

Please Note: The Outlook (legacy) and Office 365 (legacy) options are expected to stop working within TaxCalc as Microsoft plan to decommission some of their older APIs from 31 March 2024. For any Microsoft email account types (Office 365, Outlook, Hotmail, Live) you should use the Microsoft Email provider option.  

We therefore recommend using the new Microsoft Email provider option for any Microsoft email type (Office 365, Outlook, Hotmail, Live and so on) instructions for which can be found in this Knowledge Base Article.  

The instructions below are provided if needed.  

TaxCalc connects to your Office 365 (legacy) or Outlook (legacy) mailboxes using Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) which is an internet standard communication protocol that allows you to send outgoing emails from your email provider.  

To start sending emails from TaxCalc you will need to provide the details for your Office 365 or Outlook 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 Office 365 (legacy) or Outlook (legacy) to see all options relevant to these accounts: 

3. The SMTP server will be entered for you as either ‘smtp.office365.com’ or ‘smtp-mail.outlook.com’. 
4. Enter the Email address for the mailbox that you are adding (for example myname@outlook.com)
5. The Encryption type and SMTP port for should be entered for you as ‘STARTTLS’ and ‘587’ respectively (it’s usually either 465 or 587).
6. In the From Name field, enter the name as it should display on the sent email.
7. Next enter the Username (which should be the same as the email already entered above). 

Authorising your mailbox 

The next step will involve authorising TaxCalc to connect you’re your email provider.  

You can use either simple (or basic) authentication (using an email and password) or OAuth authorisation. If using OAuth go to step 12 instead (below).  

Simple or Basic authentication 

If using this option, you may need to set up an app password to use in place of your normal mailbox password.  

Please see KB3028 - SMTP Application Passwords for more information on this. 

8. Enter your email account password (or app password if using one) and click the Email Passcode button to send a passcode to the specified email address which will verify that the setup details are working. 

Please Note: By clicking Email passcode you allow TaxCalc to send emails on your behalf and as a result you may be sharing sensitive information with this site or app. Read how TaxCalc manages your data on our term of privacy policy. 

9. Once you’ve received the passcode, enter the 6 digit code and click Verify:  

10. You’ll then see confirmation that the setup information has been verified:  

11. If the information you’ve entered is invalid, a message is displayed advising that the SMTP details are incorrect. 

Due to the security settings enabled on your email account you may need to setup App passwords, this process is detailed within the following articles.  

Why can't I verify the SMTP Outgoing Email setting for Microsoft Office 365/Outlook? 

OAuth Authorisation 

12.  Choose the Authorise this email account using OAuth option:  

13. Click the Authorise button.
14. Another screen will open taking you to the Microsoft web login page.  
15. Follow the Microsoft authorisation pages to log into your account and confirm that you are granting access to TaxCalc.  
16. If authorisation is successful, you can return to the Mailbox Settings screen which should be updated with the message Successfully Authorised.  
17. 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. 

18. Once authorised, click Save and close.

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

9 – Once you’ve received the passcode, enter the 6 digit code and click Verify:  

10. – You’ll then see confirmation that the setup information has been verified:  

11- If the information you’ve entered is invalid, a message is displayed advising that the SMTP details are incorrect. 

Due to the security settings enabled on your email account you may need to setup App passwords, this process is detailed within the following articles.  

Why can't I verify the SMTP Outgoing Email setting for Microsoft Office 365/Outlook? 

OAuth Authorisation 

8 - Choose the Authorise this email account using OAuth option:  

9 – Click the Authorise button  

10 – Another screen will open taking you to the Microsoft web login page.  

11 – Follow the Microsoft authorisation pages to log into your account and confirm that you are granting access to TaxCalc.  

12 – If authorisation is successful, you can return to the Mailbox Settings screen which should be updated with the message Successfully Authorised.  

13 - 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. 

1. Once authorised, click Save and close. 

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