Migrating from Tax Notification Service to Symmetry Guides

Symmetry Guides replaces the Tax Notification Service (TNS). This article walks you through what’s changing, what to expect during the transition, and where to find your tax data in Symmetry Guides.

What is Symmetry Guides?

Symmetry Guides is designed to replace TNS and expand on everything it offered. Built on the same trusted tax research database that powers Symmetry’s payroll tax products, Guides delivers real-time tax rates, wage bases, and compliance data across 7,000+ U.S. jurisdictions, as well as rate information for Canadian taxes. Guides also goes beyond TNS capabilities by including step-by-step tax filing information across U.S. jurisdictions, agency-specific contact details, and an AI-powered search feature.

Demo video

Watch a high-level demonstration comparing Tax Notification Service to Guides.

Features: TNS vs. Symmetry Guides

Feature	Tax Notification Service (TNS)	Symmetry Guides
Tax rate & wage base updates for U.S. and Canada	Yes	Yes, with expanded capability to see tax limits
Email notifications on tax changes	Yes	Yes, with self-service subscription management
Searchable online tax database	Yes	Yes: search for instant results across 7,000+ U.S. jurisdictions, plus Canadian tax rates
Filing instructions & protocols	No	Yes: step-by-step filing guides by tax program across U.S. jurisdictions
Agency contact information	Limited	Yes: agency-specific contact details for tax programs
AI-powered research assistant	No	Yes: ask questions, get instant answers
Who pays	No	Yes: identifies whether the employee, the employer, or both pay the tax

Transition timeline

Date	What Happens
April 2, 2026	Email announcement sent confirming TNS will be replaced by Symmetry Guides and sharing details on what to expect.
April 16, 2026	Symmetry Guides access is live. You will see the Symmetry Guides tile in your Client Support Center portal. Your existing TNS access will remain available in a secondary location (footer within the Guides tile) during the overlap period.
April 16 to July 15, 2026	90-day free access period. Explore all Symmetry Guides features at no additional charge while your existing TNS subscription remains active.
July 15, 2026	90-day free access period ends. Clients who have renewed or upgraded to a Symmetry Guides subscription will retain uninterrupted access to Guides. Clients on active TNS contracts will continue to be served per their contractual terms.
At your next renewal	TNS will be fully retired. Your subscription will be updated to Symmetry Guides. Your account manager will reach out before your renewal to walk you through the updated pricing and packaging.

How to access Symmetry Guides

Log in to your Symmetry Client Support Center portal as you normally would using your existing credentials.
On your portal home page, click the Symmetry Guides tile to launch the application.
If you have trouble accessing Symmetry Guides, submit a support ticket.

Field mapping: where to find your TNS data in Symmetry Guides

If you’re familiar with the TNS interface, the table below shows you exactly where each field from TNS lives in Symmetry Guides. Note that data in Guides is split across two sections:

Taxes (for rate and jurisdiction data)
Filing (for agency and compliance workflow data)

TNS tax research listing (found under Taxes in Symmetry Guides)

NetSuite TNS Field	Symmetry Guides Field	Location in Symmetry Guides
`TAX INFORMATION`	Tax name	Taxes screen
`UNIQUE TAX ID`	Tax ID	Taxes screen
`RATE STATE NAME`	State	Taxes screen
`RES RATE`	Res rate	Taxes screen
`NON-RES RATE`	Non-res rate	Taxes screen
`CALC TYPE`	Calc type	Taxes screen
`WAGE BASE`	Wage base	Taxes screen
`RATE EFFECTIVE DATE`	Effective date	Taxes screen
`DOWNLOAD FILE (PDF source doc)`	Not available in the initial release of Symmetry Guides. If access to agency source documents is important to your workflow, please share feedback via a support ticket; this is being evaluated for a future release.
`PSD CODE`	PSD code	Taxes screen (use the Columns configuration at the top right of the page to show this column)
`DATE EMAIL SENT`	Coming in a future release
`LAST MODIFIED`	Last modified	Taxes screen
`EXTERNAL RATE NOTES`	Research note	Taxes screen - click into tax row or click View tax button for tax detail
`STE VERSION`	STE release	Taxes screen
Not in TNS	Who pays (new in Guides)	Taxes screen (use the Columns configuration at the top right of the page to show this column)

TNS tax rate (found under Taxes in Symmetry Guides)

NetSuite TNS Field	Symmetry Guides Field	Location in Symmetry Guides
`TAX NAME`	The tax name is at the top of the page with no field name	Taxes screen - click into tax row for tax detail - top of page
`RES RATE`	Res rate	Taxes screen - click into tax row for tax detail - Tax Records section
`NON-RES RATE`	Non-res rate	Taxes screen - click into tax row for tax detail - Tax Records section
`CALC TYPE`	Calc type	Taxes screen - click into tax row for tax detail - top of page
`OH City Tax Credit`	Ohio city tax credit	Taxes screen (use the Columns configuration at the top right of the page to show this column) - can also click into tax for tax detail (Tax Records section)
`OH City Credit Limit`	Ohio city credit limit	Taxes screen (use the Columns configuration at the top right of the page to show this column) - can also click into tax for tax detail (Tax Records section)
`IS RITA`	Is RITA	Taxes screen (use the Columns configuration at the top right of the page to show this column)
`IS RITA`	Is RITA Tax?	Taxes screen - click into tax row for tax detail - Tax Records section
Not in TNS	Ohio tax base	Taxes screen (use the Columns configuration at the top right of the page to show this column)
`WAGE BASE`	Wage base	Taxes screen - click into tax row for tax detail - Tax Records section
`RATE EFFECTIVE DATE`	Effective date	Taxes screen - click into tax row for tax detail - Tax Records section
`EXTERNAL RATE NOTES`	Research note	Taxes screen - click into tax row for tax detail - Tax Records section
`TR STATE LIST`	State name listed with no field name	Taxes screen - click into tax row for tax detail - shown in the breadcrumb near the top of the page
`SUPPLEMENTAL FLAT TAX? (checkbox)`	Supplemental flat tax	Taxes screen - click into tax row for tax detail - Tax Records section
`SUPPLEMENTAL INFO`	Supplemental info	Taxes screen - click into tax row for tax detail - Tax Records section
`DATE EMAIL SENT`	Coming in a future release
`STE VERSION`	STE release	Taxes screen - click into tax row for tax detail - Tax Records section
`TAXRATEUNIQUEID`	Tax ID	Taxes screen - click into tax row for tax detail - top of page
`LAST MODIFIED`	Last modified	Taxes screen only (not within tax info/Tax Records)
Not in TNS	Who pays (new in Guides)	Taxes screen - click into tax row for tax detail and within Tax Records section

Frequently asked questions

Will I lose any of my existing TNS data or tax history?

No. All historical tax rates and wage base data from TNS have been imported into Symmetry Guides. Your rate history is fully preserved and searchable.

How many tax records can be displayed per page?

TNS had a limit of 1,000 rows returned at a time. With Guides, there are no limits to the number of rows which can be viewed (but there are per page limits; you can view 10, 25, or 50 tax records per page).

Can I export my tax rate data from Symmetry Guides?

Symmetry Guides does not offer a bulk file export of tax rates. Instead, webhooks deliver tax rate changes directly to your systems in real time as they happen. See Webhooks in Guides: Overview to set up your first webhook.

Will I still have access to release notes to view tax changes?

There will be no change to access to the Client Support Center to view tax rate changes in our Symmetry Tax Engine (STE) notes. In a future release of Guides, we will have in-application release notes and release notifications.

If I already have a tax filing solution, how should I use the step-by-step tax filing information within Guides?

Compare the step-by-step filing information in Guides with your current solution. If something does not fit your workflow, submit a support ticket with specifics so the team can review.

What if a filing section isn’t available for a tax program?

Tabs are always available on each Tax Program page. Sections appear when verified agency information is available for that tax program. If a section you need isn’t shown, or you have feedback on filing content, submit a support ticket.

Additional resources

See the following articles to learn more about using Symmetry Guides:

​What is Symmetry Guides?

​Demo video

​Features: TNS vs. Symmetry Guides

​Transition timeline

​How to access Symmetry Guides

​Field mapping: where to find your TNS data in Symmetry Guides

​TNS tax research listing (found under Taxes in Symmetry Guides)

​TNS tax rate (found under Taxes in Symmetry Guides)

​Frequently asked questions

​Will I lose any of my existing TNS data or tax history?

​How many tax records can be displayed per page?

​Can I export my tax rate data from Symmetry Guides?

​Will I still have access to release notes to view tax changes?

​If I already have a tax filing solution, how should I use the step-by-step tax filing information within Guides?

​What if a filing section isn’t available for a tax program?

​Additional resources