Using Autotask and Pax8 together for catalog item management

Many MSPs use Autotask as their internal product catalog and Pax8 as their cloud marketplace for purchasing licenses. ClarityCalc is designed to work with both at the same time, pulling different data from each without conflicts.

Why use both?

Autotask typically holds your complete product catalog — hardware, software, services, internal tools — with your own naming conventions, categories, and organizational structure. It's the MSP's view of what they sell.

Pax8 holds the cloud products you purchase through them — Microsoft 365, SentinelOne, Acronis, etc. — with up-to-date cost data reflecting what you actually pay as a distributor partner.

By connecting both, you can import your catalog structure from Autotask and keep your cloud product costs current from Pax8.

How field ownership works

Each ClarityCalc catalog item field (like Unit Cost, Item Code, or MSRP) can only be synced from one provider at a time. This prevents the two systems from silently overwriting each other's data.

When you set up your first integration and configure your field mappings, those fields are claimed by that provider. When you set up a second integration, any field already claimed shows a "Synced via [provider]" label. You can reassign a field to the new provider if you want — this is an intentional action, not something that happens automatically.

Fields that are synced from a provider are read-only on the catalog item form. Each one shows the provider name and the date it was last synced beneath the input, so you always know where a value came from. To make manual changes to a synced field, unlink the catalog item from that provider — see the next section.

This is intentional. Your synced cost data should reflect what you're actually paying your vendors. If a vendor raises a price, you'll see it in your sync review and you'll see the resulting margin impact on your plans. That's the signal you need to renegotiate, restructure, or absorb the change. Letting synced costs be edited in place would hide that signal.

A common setup

Many MSPs configure their integrations like this:

From Autotask: Name, Item Code, Internal Name, Vendor, Category, Description, Active status. These are catalog-level fields that Autotask manages well.

From Pax8: Unit Cost (using Pax8's Partner Buy Rate), MSRP (using Pax8's Suggested Retail Price). These reflect what you actually pay and what the vendor recommends charging.

This gives you Autotask's catalog structure with Pax8's live pricing — a combination neither tool provides on its own.

Switching a catalog item to manual management

Sometimes you'll want to manage a catalog item yourself instead of syncing it. Common reasons include changing your purchasing source (you're no longer buying through Pax8 for that item), or wanting to maintain custom values that don't match what the integration provides.

ClarityCalc handles this at the catalog item level: you unlink the entire catalog item from the provider, and all of its fields become editable.

To unlink a catalog item from a provider:

1. Open the catalog item detail page.
2. Click Linked to: [Provider] near the catalog item title.
3. In the popover that appears, click Unlink from [Provider].
4. Confirm the action.

The catalog item's current values are preserved. Synced fields become editable. Future syncs from that provider won't touch this catalog item.

If a catalog item is linked to multiple providers (for example, Autotask for catalog fields and Pax8 for cost), each provider has its own line in the popover and you can unlink them independently.

To find catalog items you've unlinked or are managing manually, use the Source filter on the catalog items list page. The filter is multi-select — you can choose any combination of connected providers and "Manually-managed" to see exactly the slice of your catalog you care about.

Setting it up

If you connect Autotask first

1. Go to Global Settings → Integrations → Autotask PSA.
2. Click Sync Catalog Items and walk through the wizard. Configure your field mappings and import your catalog.
3. Later, go to Integrations → Pax8 and connect your account.
4. Open the Pax8 sync wizard. In the field mapping step, you'll see fields like Unit Cost marked as "Synced via Autotask."
5. Click Reassign on Unit Cost to switch it to Pax8's Partner Buy Rate. Do the same for MSRP if you want Pax8's Suggested Retail Price.
6. Save your mappings and run the sync. Items that exist in both systems will be matched by name. The review table shows what would change — you'll see the Autotask cost replaced by the Pax8 cost, with the exact values displayed so you can confirm.

If you connect Pax8 first

The same process works in reverse. Import your cloud products from Pax8, then connect Autotask later and reassign catalog fields (like Category and Description) to Autotask.

Catalog items that exist in both systems

When you sync from one provider and a catalog item name matches one that was imported from the other, ClarityCalc recognizes the match and shows it in the review table as an existing catalog item with potential updates — not as a duplicate to create.

For example, if you imported "Microsoft 365 Business Basic" from Autotask and then sync from Pax8, Pax8's version of that product will match against the existing one. The review table shows which fields would change based on your mapping configuration.

Catalog items that exist in only one system

Not every item will overlap. Autotask likely has hardware, internal tools, and non-cloud services that Pax8 doesn't carry. Pax8 may have cloud products that aren't yet in your Autotask catalog. Both sync independently — catalog items from one provider don't affect catalog items that only exist in the other.

Reviewing changes before they're written

When you run a sync, ClarityCalc shows you everything that would change in a review step before anything is written. The review table lists every catalog item with incoming changes, what would change, and where the value came from.

For catalog items that are referenced in active client plans, the review row also shows usage context — for example, "Used in 14 active plans across 8 clients." This tells you the operational reach of accepting a change before you accept it. A unit cost change that affects no plans is usually safe to accept silently. A change that affects dozens of plans across many clients is worth a closer look, especially if it's a cost increase.

Catalog items that aren't yet referenced in any plans don't show usage context — there's nothing to flag. Once they're added to a plan, future syncs will display the count.

Keeping data current

You can re-sync from either provider at any time. Each sync only touches the fields that provider is mapped to. Running a Pax8 sync updates costs and MSRP (or whichever fields Pax8 is mapped to) without touching the catalog fields managed by Autotask, and vice versa.

The review table always shows what would change before anything is written. Nothing is overwritten without your approval.

Checking where a value came from

ClarityCalc shows the source of every synced value in two places.

The catalog item detail page is where you'll see this most often. Any field that came from an integration shows the provider name and the date it was last synced directly beneath the input — for example, "Synced from Pax8 · Apr 15, 2026." If a catalog item is linked to one or more providers, the Linked to: indicator near the catalog item title summarizes who's involved.

The sync review table also shows per-field provenance when you expand a catalog item row, which is useful for understanding history during a sync: "Unit Cost was last updated from Pax8 on April 15" vs. "Category was set from Autotask on April 11."