Avalara vs. QuickBooks Online

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Avalara
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
Avalara AvaTax connects to the software that businesses already have and delivers sales tax decisions based on precise geo-location in more than 12,000 taxing jurisdictions in the U.S.
$21
per month
QuickBooks Online
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
QuickBooks Online is a SaaS version of the QuickBooks product. It contains all of the features found in the local version. Higher-priced plans include greater automation, payment management, inventory and time tracking, and analytics features.
$15
per month
Pricing
AvalaraQuickBooks Online
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Self-Employed
$15
per month
Simple Start
$25
per month
Plus
$75
per month
Advanced
$150
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AvalaraQuickBooks Online
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
AvalaraQuickBooks Online
Considered Both Products
Avalara
Chose Avalara
We have not used any other products.
QuickBooks Online
Chose QuickBooks Online
Ultimately, QuickBooks/Intuit has the most market share when it comes to accounting software. The benefit of so many people using this software is that there's always an answer to a problem that you may be having when it comes to using the software. Intuit has provided a …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
AvalaraQuickBooks Online
Type of tax
Comparison of Type of tax features of Product A and Product B
Avalara
8.6
292 Ratings
2% above category average
QuickBooks Online
-
Ratings
Sales and Use Taxes8.8285 Ratings00 Ratings
Cross-border Taxes8.862 Ratings00 Ratings
VAT / GST Taxes8.053 Ratings00 Ratings
Energy and Fuel Taxes8.924 Ratings00 Ratings
Tax Reporting & Compliance
Comparison of Tax Reporting & Compliance features of Product A and Product B
Avalara
7.9
271 Ratings
5% below category average
QuickBooks Online
-
Ratings
Geolocation for Tax Assessment8.3164 Ratings00 Ratings
3rd-Party Software Integrations7.8215 Ratings00 Ratings
Tax Data Reporting8.2240 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance Administration Management7.9185 Ratings00 Ratings
Tax Exemption Processing8.3196 Ratings00 Ratings
Tax Document Management7.9190 Ratings00 Ratings
Complex Tax Scenario Management7.2123 Ratings00 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Avalara
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
3.4
78 Ratings
75% below category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings4.369 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings3.432 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings4.865 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings2.344 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings2.046 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Avalara
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
2.8
68 Ratings
84% below category average
API for custom integration00 Ratings1.854 Ratings
Plug-ins00 Ratings3.957 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Avalara
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
4.2
108 Ratings
60% below category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings3.681 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings4.7102 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Avalara
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
5.7
132 Ratings
27% below category average
Dashboards00 Ratings5.2124 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings5.8128 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings6.2116 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
Avalara
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
4.1
143 Ratings
56% below category average
Accounts payable00 Ratings5.4122 Ratings
Accounts receivable00 Ratings6.1131 Ratings
Cash management00 Ratings6.0120 Ratings
Bank reconciliation00 Ratings6.5137 Ratings
Expense management00 Ratings5.5123 Ratings
Time tracking00 Ratings2.656 Ratings
Fixed asset management00 Ratings5.653 Ratings
Multi-currency support00 Ratings1.923 Ratings
Multi-division support00 Ratings1.942 Ratings
Regulations compliance00 Ratings2.538 Ratings
Electronic tax filing00 Ratings5.266 Ratings
Self-service portal00 Ratings3.166 Ratings
Global Financial Support00 Ratings1.816 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings3.635 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting00 Ratings5.229 Ratings
Localizations00 Ratings4.321 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings5.574 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting00 Ratings2.225 Ratings
Configurable Accounting00 Ratings2.638 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework00 Ratings3.024 Ratings
Standardized Processes00 Ratings4.548 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
Avalara
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
1.6
47 Ratings
125% below category average
Inventory tracking00 Ratings1.645 Ratings
Automatic reordering00 Ratings1.522 Ratings
Location management00 Ratings1.721 Ratings
Manufacturing module00 Ratings1.717 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
Avalara
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
3.9
86 Ratings
60% below category average
Pricing00 Ratings4.855 Ratings
Order entry00 Ratings4.753 Ratings
Credit card processing00 Ratings3.263 Ratings
Cost of goods sold00 Ratings4.268 Ratings
Order Orchestration00 Ratings4.521 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility00 Ratings4.520 Ratings
Order exception Resolution00 Ratings1.518 Ratings
Best Alternatives
AvalaraQuickBooks Online
Small Businesses
Canopy
Canopy
Score 9.6 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
LOVAT
LOVAT
Score 10.0 out of 10
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 8.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Vertex
Vertex
Score 8.6 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 8.5 out of 10
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User Ratings
AvalaraQuickBooks Online
Likelihood to Recommend
7.9
(403 ratings)
4.1
(159 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.4
(26 ratings)
2.6
(24 ratings)
Usability
7.8
(395 ratings)
4.4
(76 ratings)
Availability
8.0
(8 ratings)
2.2
(5 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(8 ratings)
1.3
(4 ratings)
Support Rating
2.7
(18 ratings)
2.8
(68 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
7.3
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
6.3
(197 ratings)
3.1
(6 ratings)
Configurability
5.0
(5 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
5.1
(11 ratings)
1.5
(2 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(7 ratings)
1.3
(2 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
1.2
(8 ratings)
1.3
(2 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
7.8
(8 ratings)
1.3
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
AvalaraQuickBooks Online
Likelihood to Recommend
Avalara
Multi state sales tax returns. I think the software is pretty good although it’s not intuitive. I found it takes some time to get used to using and you’re pretty much on your own. In my experience, they will not give professional advice. However, sometimes I think there is such a fine line that it is indistinguishable and, in my experience, they lead you right up to that line and then just stop.
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Intuit
It seems Intuit is more interested in generating revenue than taking care of their customers. After only 28 (working) days using it, I've had to call for Help 23 times, and, in my experience, only spoken to 2 people who had an understanding of basic accounting practices and the ramifications of some of their suggested fixes on the General Ledger.
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Pros
Avalara
  • Calculates the correct tax regardless of state, county, or local jurisdiction.
  • CertCapture provides a site for managing all resale certificates, updating, renewing, and providing reports/backup in the event of an audit.
  • One stop shop for all things tax makes my life easier!
Read full review
Intuit
  • It enables me to do a P&L for each specific program as requested by the county for the grant money that they give us.
  • It enables me to do [an] organizational budget as well as a budget for each specific program
  • It enables the accountant and the auditor access at any time for transparency
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Cons
Avalara
  • I feel customer service in all areas needs drastic improvement - customer support, implementation, account management, etc.
  • Support for implementation; have the implementation team understand the business you are in and what products/ services you have purchased. Improve upon the sequence of implementation to make logical sense.
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Intuit
  • The budgets feature leaves a lot be desired - difficult and clunky to populate and maintain.
  • Reporting for Budget vs Actual is available but the ability to reforecast based on updated data is not.
  • The rules function to default common types of expenses isn't perfect and will get confused if like amounts or a number of similar items present.
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Likelihood to Renew
Avalara
We need their help with filing and keeping track of things. It is very likely we are in the process of renewing right now. Autumn is our case manager and she has been a great help in keeping us updated on our usage and renewal. I feel we will be using this for a very long time.
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Intuit
It like the product 'right out of the box' and I trust Intuit will continually improve it over the years based on my experience with their desktop products. The large providers of Apps makes customizing the entire package relatively easy and seamless for a wide variety of business types.
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Usability
Avalara
My usability rating 5 years ago would have been much lower. I jumped in to the sales tax world with little experience outside the state where my employer is located. I think a structured training program from the outset would have helped. I know tutorials were available, but where to find them, which ones to begin with, etc. made usability very frustrating. I was learning the system but also using the system at the same time to bring my employer into compliance with the new nexus requirements
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Intuit
While QuickBooks Online is generally easy to navigate, there are some features and functions that often require a Google search in order to find out where they are actually hidden. Additionally, there are some simple customization features that are surprisingly not available for an otherwise advanced program (e.g. only having a pool of 4 fonts to choose from, only having 4 very limited templates for invoicing, not color selection, etc). While I would say that about 75% of users shouldn't have a problem finding their way around with basic functions, there is a learning curve if you want to be able to dive into some of the more useful features, almost to the point that you need to have a dedicated account manager in order to use QuickBooks Online most effectively.
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Reliability and Availability
Avalara
I have been using Avalara for years and do not remember ever having an outage during working hours. The service is accurate and dependable.
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Intuit
We have rarely had outages in the last 10 years. I can only recall 2 times in the last 10 years where we were not able to access our client files.
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Performance
Avalara
We do have trouble tying Avalara's reporting back to our POS, but we just got a new POS system and there are bugs we are still trying to work out within the POS system. I do not believe this is an Avalara issue
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Intuit
There are tab issues. When I tab the field doesn't highlight and I have to backspace or delete what is in the field. Happens on the memo field and sometimes other fields. Very time consuming.
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Support Rating
Avalara
Avalara is not consistent in giving us information timely. For instance, right now, we have a help desk ticket with them that's been open since October. They are still trying to figure it out and we haven't gotten any feedback on where they are at or what is going on. That seems to me a very excessive amount of time to be working on a problem. Was it forgotten? Is there something bigger going on? Do they need something from us? An update would be helpful.
Also, many times when we call with an issue or concern (wrong tax rate for instance) we generally feel like the help desk assumes it's of our doing instead of theirs and doesn't truely listen when we explain the problem because we end up repeating it over and over as well as sending examples. We expect more respect on our end.
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Intuit
Support is great, all incidents been resolved. Quickbooks Online forum is very well organized and helpful. I like the fact that they let the community contribute in resolving issues. Most or many of your answers can be found online. You can also get help on YouTube, but the easiest way to get assistance is through their chat system.
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In-Person Training
Avalara
I wasn't here when they first started with Avalara.
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Intuit
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Avalara
The videos go too fast; I kept having to pause them and go back. They don't allow for any practice transactions or provide training materials.
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Intuit
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Avalara
The implementation team from Avalara was very knowledgable and did a good job of passing along information so that we could maintain the system and be able to make future changes ourselves. We had asked for some custom tax setup and they worked with us to get additional taxes set up that they didn't previously have. They worked with us to pull our documentation on tax rules and make sure those were included. I had hoped more scenarios would be there out of the box to cut down on the configuration time.
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Intuit
The person in charge of QB needs to be very accurate with record keeping and is recommended to stay on top of tasks. The biggest issue we have is reconciliation, and those issues occur only when too much time has occurred between reconciliations
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Alternatives Considered
Avalara
When I started with the company, they were using a version of CCH. This was my first experience with that program and I found it very cumbersome. It was unable to calculate multiple tax rates (this may have changed in the last 10 years) and while it filled out some of the tax returns for us, we still had to manipulate many and file them ourselves. Now we just verify that what we show in our system matches Avalara and hit approve and we are done for another month.
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Intuit
I have used Wave Accounting for another business. I selected QuickBooks Online over Wave because of the features available from QuickBooks. Wave is great since it is free, but I feel that paying for QuickBooks Online is worth it for the features. In addition there is such a robust support network and training available for QuickBooks.
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Scalability
Avalara
There is no change that has to happen as your company grows, Avalara continues to do it's job for any size company
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Intuit
As we have grown along our professional path, we have also expanded our use of QB. The scalability is easy and features seem to be waiting for you until you need them. We have increased profits by over 10x from our first year in business to the current and have yet to find a reason to look elsewhere
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Return on Investment
Avalara
  • We are positively impacted by Avalara in having a central library to store our certificate files.
  • We spend very little time and resources to calculate and compile tax data for filing.
  • The electronic filing has helped insure we are on time with our filings and avoiding penalties.
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Intuit
  • It has created a lot of cost and in-efficiency whenever we need to talk to support.
  • I spent a lot of time setting up their automatic reminders for past due invoices and it worked for a couple of months and then it stopped. It's currently being worked on by their tech team but it has been months and it is still not working. It would have saved me a lot of time.
  • Their multi-currency saves time in sending invoices abroad but it's limiting when a customer wants an invoice in USD instead of a foreign currency so I have to set up different customer accounts for different currencies.
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ScreenShots

Avalara Screenshots

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