Avalara vs Xero | TrustRadius

What users are saying about

Score 8.3 out of 10

Based on 572 reviews and ratings

Score 8.7 out of 10

Based on 553 reviews and ratings

Feature Set Ratings

Type of tax

7.6

Avalara

76%

Xero

Feature Set Not Supported

N/A

Avalara ranks higher in 4/4 features

Sales and Use Taxes

8.7

87%

216 Ratings

N/A

0 Ratings

Cross-border Taxes

8.3

83%

46 Ratings

N/A

0 Ratings

VAT / GST Taxes

6.7

67%

38 Ratings

N/A

0 Ratings

Energy and Fuel Taxes

6.6

66%

20 Ratings

N/A

0 Ratings

Tax Reporting & Compliance

8.0

Avalara

80%

Xero

Feature Set Not Supported

N/A

Avalara ranks higher in 7/7 features

Geolocation for Tax Assessment

8.2

82%

120 Ratings

N/A

0 Ratings

3rd-Party Software Integrations

7.9

79%

160 Ratings

N/A

0 Ratings

Tax Data Reporting

8.2

82%

182 Ratings

N/A

0 Ratings

Compliance Administration Management

7.7

77%

135 Ratings

N/A

0 Ratings

Tax Exemption Processing

8.3

83%

148 Ratings

N/A

0 Ratings

Tax Document Management

8.0

80%

141 Ratings

N/A

0 Ratings

Complex Tax Scenario Management

7.6

76%

95 Ratings

N/A

0 Ratings

Payroll Management

Avalara

Feature Set Not Supported

N/A

8.3

Xero

83%

Xero ranks higher in 5/5 features

Pay calculation

N/A

0 Ratings

8.1

81%

64 Ratings

Benefit plan administration

N/A

0 Ratings

8.2

82%

23 Ratings

Direct deposit files

N/A

0 Ratings

8.9

89%

49 Ratings

Salary revision and increment management

N/A

0 Ratings

8.8

88%

41 Ratings

Reimbursement management

N/A

0 Ratings

7.6

76%

54 Ratings

Customization

Avalara

Feature Set Not Supported

N/A

7.7

Xero

77%

Xero ranks higher in 2/2 features

API for custom integration

N/A

0 Ratings

7.3

73%

78 Ratings

Plug-ins

N/A

0 Ratings

8.1

81%

85 Ratings

Security

Avalara

Feature Set Not Supported

N/A

8.6

Xero

86%

Xero ranks higher in 2/2 features

Single sign-on capability

N/A

0 Ratings

8.8

88%

72 Ratings

Role-based user permissions

N/A

0 Ratings

8.4

84%

114 Ratings

Reporting & Analytics

Avalara

Feature Set Not Supported

N/A

8.2

Xero

82%

Xero ranks higher in 3/3 features

Dashboards

N/A

0 Ratings

8.0

80%

129 Ratings

Standard reports

N/A

0 Ratings

8.7

87%

132 Ratings

Custom reports

N/A

0 Ratings

7.9

79%

121 Ratings

General Ledger and Configurable Accounting

Avalara

Feature Set Not Supported

N/A

8.1

Xero

81%

Xero ranks higher in 21/21 features

Accounts payable

N/A

0 Ratings

8.7

87%

130 Ratings

Accounts receivable

N/A

0 Ratings

8.7

87%

131 Ratings

Cash management

N/A

0 Ratings

8.1

81%

121 Ratings

Bank reconciliation

N/A

0 Ratings

8.9

89%

137 Ratings

Expense management

N/A

0 Ratings

8.1

81%

125 Ratings

Time tracking

N/A

0 Ratings

6.9

69%

42 Ratings

Fixed asset management

N/A

0 Ratings

7.2

72%

86 Ratings

Multi-currency support

N/A

0 Ratings

8.2

82%

82 Ratings

Multi-division support

N/A

0 Ratings

7.6

76%

74 Ratings

Regulations compliance

N/A

0 Ratings

8.3

83%

67 Ratings

Electronic tax filing

N/A

0 Ratings

8.3

83%

65 Ratings

Self-service portal

N/A

0 Ratings

7.8

78%

80 Ratings

Global Financial Support

N/A

0 Ratings

8.1

81%

36 Ratings

Primary and Secondary Ledgers

N/A

0 Ratings

7.7

77%

34 Ratings

Intercompany Accounting

N/A

0 Ratings

7.4

74%

40 Ratings

Localizations

N/A

0 Ratings

8.2

82%

40 Ratings

Journals and Reconciliations

N/A

0 Ratings

8.7

87%

89 Ratings

Enterprise Accounting

N/A

0 Ratings

7.4

74%

33 Ratings

Configurable Accounting

N/A

0 Ratings

8.3

83%

59 Ratings

Centralized Rules Framework

N/A

0 Ratings

8.0

80%

33 Ratings

Standardized Processes

N/A

0 Ratings

8.5

85%

59 Ratings

Inventory Management

Avalara

Feature Set Not Supported

N/A

6.8

Xero

68%

Xero ranks higher in 4/4 features

Inventory tracking

N/A

0 Ratings

6.1

61%

60 Ratings

Automatic reordering

N/A

0 Ratings

7.2

72%

24 Ratings

Location management

N/A

0 Ratings

7.7

77%

29 Ratings

Manufacturing module

N/A

0 Ratings

6.3

63%

16 Ratings

Order Management

Avalara

Feature Set Not Supported

N/A

7.7

Xero

77%

Xero ranks higher in 7/7 features

Pricing

N/A

0 Ratings

7.3

73%

61 Ratings

Order entry

N/A

0 Ratings

7.8

78%

56 Ratings

Credit card processing

N/A

0 Ratings

8.6

86%

57 Ratings

Cost of goods sold

N/A

0 Ratings

8.1

81%

65 Ratings

Order Orchestration

N/A

0 Ratings

7.3

73%

21 Ratings

End-to-end order visibility

N/A

0 Ratings

7.4

74%

24 Ratings

Order exception Resolution

N/A

0 Ratings

7.5

75%

17 Ratings

Attribute Ratings

Xero is rated higher in 9 areas: Likelihood to Recommend, Usability, Availability, Performance, Support Rating, In-Person Training, Online Training, Implementation Rating, Product Scalability
Avalara and Xero are tied in 1 area: Likelihood to Renew

Avalara

82%

331 Ratings

8.8

Xero

88%

155 Ratings

Avalara

91%

20 Ratings

9.1

Xero

91%

29 Ratings

Avalara

82%

323 Ratings

8.9

Xero

89%

80 Ratings

Avalara

83%

14 Ratings

9.0

Xero

90%

20 Ratings

Avalara

83%

14 Ratings

10.0

Xero

100%

16 Ratings

Avalara

37%

23 Ratings

7.3

Xero

73%

37 Ratings

Avalara

80%

2 Ratings

9.1

Xero

91%

1 Rating

Avalara

73%

3 Ratings

10.0

Xero

100%

5 Ratings

Avalara

68%

389 Ratings

9.5

Xero

95%

18 Ratings

Avalara

83%

7 Ratings

10.0

Xero

100%

6 Ratings

Pros

Avatax stays current with all the changes in rates and does an excellent job of calculating the correct sales tax to charge.
The reporting interface for sales tax reports is easy to use and once you set up a report you can save it as a favorite and rerun it any time with one click. Their UI on the reporting is simple and provides a minimum number of clicks to get the data you want and export it to Excel where every number lives whether it belongs there or not!

Read full review

Tom Berkompas

Chief Financial Officer

US DigitalElectrical & Electronic Manufacturing, 51-200 employees

View all 331 answers on this topic

Reporting (customizing look and contents and the ability to add multiple comparative periods is brilliant and not found in many other competitors.
Bank feeds. The way they organize bank feed and subsequent matching or coding is very user-friendly for non-accountants and fast for accountants.
Can file VAT returns and is MTD compliant in UK.
Customer support has been helpful (at least in my experience).

Read full review

Mohsin Ejaz

Senior Accountant

Tax Shop AccountantsAccounting, 11-50 employees

View all 155 answers on this topic

Cons

In the beginning our programmer wished to speak directly with a programmer at Avalara so he could have some specific questions answered. Instead he was referred to a forum where he had to post his questions. This delayed our implementation of Avatax.
I'm not sure if there is help available to assist in learning how to reconcile sales tax returns or not. We basically had to figure out how to do that ourselves.

Read full review

Bruce Griffith

Senior Accountant

AdventSource Inc.Religious Institutions, 11-50 employees

View all 331 answers on this topic

Overall it is a great platform and quite comprehensive for US based users.
However, if we focus on multinational companies that want to integrate the information of different companies in several countries within the same solution, we find the need to carry out reports outside the platform to provide the accounting structure and compliance necessary in countries outside the US.

Read full review

Verified User

Manager in Professional Services

Accounting Company, 51-200 employees

View all 155 answers on this topic

Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

Yes

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Yes

Entry-level set up fee?

Optional

Starting Price

$21 per month

Avalara Editions & Modules

—

Additional Pricing Details

—

General

Free Trial

Yes

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

Starting Price

$11 per month

Xero Editions & Modules

Edition

Early	$11¹
Growing	$32¹
Established	$62¹

per month

Additional Pricing Details

—

Likelihood to Renew

Avalara 9.1

Based on 20 answers

I have not been able to find a company that does it better than Avalara. I still have lots of problems, but we are working through them. Based on other demos i have seen and talking with peers in other companies, this is the best.

Read full review

Jessica Gorbett

Accounting Manager

Cavender's Boot CityRetail, 501-1000 employees

View all 20 answers on this topic

Xero 9.1

Based on 29 answers

In addition to the matters covered in this review, my reason for renewing this product is that Xero's functionality and the constant updates that the company provides, makes the software even more business friendly. The software therefore builds a brand loyalty among customers.

Read full review

Sarang Mandke

Consultant - Cloud accounting integration, Real Time Accounting

FuturebooksAccounting, 1-10 employees

View all 29 answers on this topic

Usability

Avalara 8.2

Based on 323 answers

I give Avalara a rating of 10 because of how easy it has been to train various, lower level employees to use the platform with fidelity. Even in my own training as an Account Executive who is responsible for calculating taxes on new deals, I was able to pick up the Avalara platform fairly quickly because of how easy and intuitive it is to use.

Read full review

Andy Webber

Account Executive

Albert | Learn By DoingComputer Software, 11-50 employees

View all 323 answers on this topic

Xero 8.9

Based on 80 answers

It has deep functionality, and it's easy to use for invoicing, quoting, financial reporting, and customer management. This product manages financial information for small business owners in a unique way. The phone interface is really good as well-meaning I can keep on top of the finances on my phone and feel confident about the financial decisions I'm making.

Read full review

Carolyn Swora

Workplace Culture Architect & Owner

Carolyn SworaManagement Consulting, 1-10 employees

View all 80 answers on this topic

Reliability and Availability

Avalara 8.3

Based on 14 answers

I have been using Avalara for years and do not remember ever having an outage during working hours. The service is accurate and dependable.

Read full review

Elaine Ware

Accounting Ma

Digital Ally IncElectrical/Electronic Manufacturing, 51-200 employees

View all 14 answers on this topic

Xero 9.0

Based on 20 answers

We have been actively using and 100% Xero based for our ecommerce accounting practice for over 4 years. There has on been one real outage for more than 5 minutes. Xero was open and transparent about the outage, what they were doing to resolve the issue, and provided 15 minute updates. Showing how they care about their customers and partners. Plus, showing that their customers care too, were understanding, and went surfing or in our case took a nap. Couldn't run our business without Xero as a partner.

Read full review

Scott Scharf

Co-Founder

Catching CloudsAccounting, 1-10 employees

View all 20 answers on this topic

Performance

Avalara 8.3

Based on 14 answers

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

Read full review

Jessica Gorbett

Accounting Manager

Cavender's Boot CityRetail, 501-1000 employees

View all 14 answers on this topic

Xero 10.0

Based on 16 answers

Pages generally load quickly, but it's a fairly common occurrence to have pages taking a bit longer than I'd like to load (as in, 4+ seconds). Occasionally I have to refresh a page to get it to work. Bank feed and integrations tend to be slow in general, but that could easily be due to API latency on the side of the other parties. Most of the time, though, the bank feeds refresh before I login so it's not a huge problem. Not necessarily good performance compared to a local app like QuickBooks desktop, but definitely good performance for a cloud application. Room for growth? yes.

Read full review

Verified User

C-Level Executive in Corporate

Information Technology and Services Company, 11-50 employees

View all 16 answers on this topic

Support Rating

Avalara 3.7

Based on 23 answers

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.

Read full review

Verified User

Manager in Finance and Accounting

Veterinary Company, 201-500 employees

View all 23 answers on this topic

Xero 7.3

Based on 37 answers

Support has always been responsive and quickly resolved any questions I have. The only reason I don't give full points is because there's no way to call for immediate help. I'm fine with this because I don't need it badly enough to pay for it

Read full review

Dave Olsen

CFO

RenewableTech VenturesVenture Capital & Private Equity, 11-50 employees

View all 37 answers on this topic

In-Person Training

Avalara 8.0

Based on 2 answers

I wasn't here when they first started with Avalara.

Read full review

Janey Graves

Sales Tax Administrator

The Merit Distribution Group, LLCWholesale, 201-500 employees

View all 2 answers on this topic

Xero 9.1

Based on 1 answer

The format was great; someone was there to ask questions or help if you were stuck.

Read full review

Garreth Collard

Executive Director

EpsomTax.com LimitedAccounting, 11-50 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

Online Training

Avalara 7.3

Based on 3 answers

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.

Read full review

Kathleen Gage

Sr. Accountant

DVL Group IncEnvironmental Services, 51-200 employees

View all 3 answers on this topic

Xero 10.0

Based on 5 answers

All of Xero's training is online and available for anyone (business owner or accountants) to learn and become experts in their system. There is a range of content from product training to real world webinars from their partners. Xero is beautiful accounting software and their training is the same.

Read full review

Scott Scharf

Co-Founder

Catching CloudsAccounting, 1-10 employees

View all 5 answers on this topic

Implementation Rating

Avalara 6.8

Based on 389 answers

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.

Read full review

Verified User

Manager in Human Resources

Wholesale Company, 1001-5000 employees

View all 389 answers on this topic

Xero 9.5

Based on 18 answers

If it can be done, time the implementation near a new fiscal year so you can start clean. Otherwise, you have to go back and do historical data from the beginning of the fiscal year, which can be brain draining.

Read full review

Andre Yeu

Owner / Head Trainer

When Hounds FlyConsumer Services, 1-10 employees

View all 18 answers on this topic

Alternatives Considered

We've looked at some other products but have been satisfied enough with Avalara that we've never had an interest in moving to another platform. It integrates well with our systems and does a great job for us. We have had some relationship management turnover and unmet expectations along with that experience, but generally have been able to resolve the issues.

Read full review

Jere Allen

CFO (Chief Financial Officer)

The Lab Depot IncConsumer Goods, 11-50 employees

View all 331 answers on this topic

Solely the ease of use. This has saved me so much time on day-to-day tracking it is astonishing. Not only does it make it super easy to send invoices, but it also makes it easy to print invoices off, eases the process of partial payments, and keeps good track of all notes made to the account.

Read full review

Molly Felber

Customer Success manager

JOHNSONCONCEPT LLC.Marketing & Advertising, 11-50 employees

View all 155 answers on this topic

Scalability

Avalara 8.3

Based on 7 answers

There is no change that has to happen as your company grows, Avalara continues to do it's job for any size company

Read full review

Verified User

Employee in Finance and Accounting

Building Materials Company, 501-1000 employees

View all 7 answers on this topic

Xero 10.0

Based on 6 answers

Over 600 plus apps available for integration and easy to create standard charts of account and report templates to implement across multiple entities. Same pricing regardless of number of transactions or users. Real benefit is variety of integrated apps that allow you to automate processes and have functionality that 10 years ago was only available in ERP systems costing hundreds of thousands.

Read full review

Verified User

Partner in Finance and Accounting

Accounting Company, 1-10 employees

View all 6 answers on this topic

Return on Investment

Prior to Avalara, we had two full-time people doing nothing but tax returns. Now, we only review data via reports within Avalara and it takes one person about 2 hours a month.
Certificate exemption was a manual process we tracked on an excel spreadsheet. It was not always easy to read and wrought with human error. CertCapture has made this process digital and saved us countless amounts of time.
With Avalara managing the taxation through our ERP, we rarely have to worry about the taxation not being correct on our invoices to our customers. This saves time in having to investigate tax rates by state, county, and jurisdiction.

Read full review

Verified User

Supervisor in Finance and Accounting

Industrial Automation Company, 501-1000 employees

View all 331 answers on this topic

Makes bookkeeping easier for clients or for us to do on behalf of clients.
Time saving reports for BAS preparation.
Picks up on potential issues in General Ledger Exceptions report.
Dashboard can show accounts watchlist and current payables/receivables.
Matches bills/sales to bank feed transactions and you can select multiple or split payments.

Read full review

Lauren Boyle

Senior Bookkeeper

MultipleFood & Beverages, 201-500 employees

View all 155 answers on this topic

Screenshots

See All (5) Avalara Screenshots

See All (6) Xero Screenshots