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Avalara

Avalara

Overview

What is Avalara?

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.

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Recent Reviews

Avalara Review

7 out of 10
February 29, 2024
Incentivized
We use Avalara to track our sales tax eligible sales and calculating the correct amount of sales tax that should be charged and remitted …
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Indirect Tax

9 out of 10
December 05, 2023
Incentivized
I played a pivotal role in implementing AvaTax at Alchemee. I used to manage the system. We filed our US and Canadian returns through this …
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Great!

10 out of 10
December 05, 2023
Incentivized
We use Avalara for our sales tax compliance. Avalara is excellent at tracking the data necessary to fill out the sales tax returns. We …
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How Avalara Differs From Its Competitors

Additional Capabilities

Avalara Returns CertCapture Professional Services (nexus studies, registrations, backfiling, etc.)
In my past job, I used the Avalara returns and professional services (e.g., registrations and backfilling)
In my current job, our indirect tax team uses Cert Capture.
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Additional Capabilities

Avalara Returns CertCapture Professional Services (nexus studies, registrations, backfiling, etc.)
As mentioned earlier, It auto-files the sales tax returns for each state. It has the capability to capture all customer records for Sales Tax exemption certificates and the validity of it per …
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Additional Capabilities

Avalara Returns CertCapture Professional Services (nexus studies, registrations, backfiling, etc.)
All of the above we have used because be recently started filing taxes in a new state and they help us in backfiling. Also, provided the training and assisted us in uploading the exemption certificate.
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Additional Capabilities

Avalara Returns CertCapture Professional Services (nexus studies, registrations, backfiling, etc.)
We are using Avalara due to the high number of exemption certificates that we need to manage. Prior to CertCapture, we had them saved in digital format and were just hoping that they were correct. …
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Additional Capabilities

Avalara Returns CertCapture Professional Services (nexus studies, registrations, backfiling, etc.)
Avalara Returns- no issues or complaints once we got everything set up. CertCapture- could be more user-friendly; training upon implementation was minimal. Professional Services- we utilized this …
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Systems Integrated With

None. Ended up implementing a different tax engine due to lack of follow up and support. We continue to use some parts of AvaTax and TTR research
I was not part of the integration in my current company, but implemented Avalara about 5 years ago with a renewable energy company. Since the industry …
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Additional Capabilities

Avalara Returns CertCapture Professional Services
All these services have allowed sales tax reconciliation and compliance to be a one person job each month. This involves filing 25-30 different returns each period across all our branches.
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Additional Capabilities

Avalara Returns CertCapture Professional Services
We have benefited from CertCapture and the Avalara Returns tremendously. I personally use CertCapture on the daily, for easy access to customer accounts and see their sales tax exemption form status along with being able to upload sales tax …
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Systems Integrated With

We have integrated Avalara and CertCapture with our ERP. We have integrated Avalara with our online e-commerce store. We are currently integrating CertCapture with our online shopping cart.
Each integration that we did had it's own challenges, but I would not say any of them presented difficulties …
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Avalara Business Impact

Avalara lets us know when we are getting close to having economic nexus in a state. The product keeps up with thresholds and all the changes in tax rates of individual jurisdictions, so we don't have to.
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Avalara Business Impact

I'm the CFO of an organization that sells Personal Medical Devices world wide. Since the change in Wayfair vs South Dakota, we went from collecting sales taxes in one state, to now collecting taxes in 23 different states. This just wouldn't be possible without the professional help that Avalara …
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Avalara New Lines of Business

Our expansions was into new areas for online shopping and how we approach that market. No matter what or how we sell, it all boils down to having AVATAX to be there to ensure we are doing everything the best way possible. We went from 1 to 23 states to collect in. Not only did Avalara assist us …
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Avalara Marketplace

We do not use Marketplace selling. Our devices are by prescription and sold under a physician's recommendation.
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Additional Capabilities

Avalara Returns CertCapture Professional Services (nexus studies, registrations, backfiling, etc.)
Our organization utilizes Avalara Returns for all of our sales tax compliance filings. Having several entities with different filing requirements and reporting periods in states across the country, …
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Additional Capabilities

Avalara Returns CertCapture Professional Services (nexus studies, registrations, backfiling, etc.)
We have benefited greatly from all of these services. They create great time savings for the organization to allow us to focus on other relevant tax related projects.
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Additional Capabilities

Avalara Returns CertCapture Professional Services (nexus studies, registrations, backfiling, etc.)
Outsourcing has saved thousands of $ in labor and fees while ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and compliance.
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Avalara Business Impact

As our company has Nexus in all states, Avalara has helped us to quickly and efficiently collect and remit the appropriate tax in all states. If we had to do any returns manually it would take more than 1 individual calculating and processing these as a full time job. Avalara keeps our company tax …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 11 features
  • Sales and Use Taxes (295)
    8.8
    88%
  • Tax Exemption Processing (201)
    8.3
    83%
  • Tax Data Reporting (248)
    8.3
    83%
  • 3rd-Party Software Integrations (223)
    8.0
    80%

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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Entry-level set up fee?

  • Setup fee optional
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://www.avalara.com/us/en/products/…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Starting price (does not include set up fee)

  • $21 per month
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Product Demos

Avalara AvaTax Demo

YouTube
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Features

Type of tax

A list of the different types of taxes that can be filed using tax compliance software.

8.1
Avg 8.4

Tax Reporting & Compliance

Activities relating to tax filing, reporting, document management, and exemption certificate processing.

8.1
Avg 8.4
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Product Details

What is Avalara?

Avalara helps to make tax compliance faster, easier, more accurate, and more reliable for 30,000+ business and government customers in over 90 countries. Tax compliance automation software solutions from Avalara leverage 1,200+ signed partner integrations across ecommerce, ERP, and other billing systems to power tax calculations, document management, tax return filing, and tax content access. Visit avalara.com to learn more.

Avalara Features

Type of tax Features

  • Supported: Sales and Use Taxes
  • Supported: Cross-border Taxes
  • Supported: VAT / GST Taxes
  • Supported: Energy and Fuel Taxes

Tax Reporting & Compliance Features

  • Supported: Geolocation for Tax Assessment
  • Supported: 3rd-Party Software Integrations
  • Supported: Tax Data Reporting
  • Supported: Compliance Administration Management
  • Supported: Tax Exemption Processing
  • Supported: Tax Document Management
  • Supported: Complex Tax Scenario Management

Additional Features

  • Supported: Centralized tax management: Unifies sales and use tax calculation, document management, and returns preparation.
  • Supported: Integrations: AvaTax connects with more than 700 prebuilt integrations to connect with accounting, ecommerce, POS, and other systems, plus an advanced API.
  • Supported: Cloud-based: A software-as-a-service solution, AvaTax updates take effect as soon as they are deployed, helping to ensure the most current information is used.
  • Supported: Exemption management: Certificates from vendors are stored electronically for access and to track expiration dates. Automatic renewal requests are sent out before certificates expire.
  • Supported: Returns filing and remittance: Returns preparation and remittance in multiple jurisdictions. Avalara Returns can track and manage due dates and payment requirements, enabling users to pay returns with a single source of payment.
  • Supported: Lodging: Lodging tax for hotel or rental property are managed with a solution that plugs into reservation software to deliver lodging tax calculations in real time as well as preparation, filing, and remittances of lodge tax returns.
  • Supported: Communications: Tax calculations are delivered on an array of communications transactions by directly connecting to a current billing or ERP system, or to an in-house build via API.
  • Supported: Beverage Alcohol: Simplified regulatory compliance for suppliers, distributors, and retailers in the beverage alcohol industry.

Avalara Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of

Avalara Video

Why Avalara?

Avalara Integrations

Avalara Competitors

Avalara Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Avalara Downloadables

Frequently Asked Questions

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.

Avalara starts at $21.

Vertex, Sovos Intelligent Compliance Cloud, and Thomson Reuters ONESOURCE are common alternatives for Avalara.

Reviewers rate Sales and Use Taxes highest, with a score of 8.8.

The most common users of Avalara are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(720)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-2 of 2)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
December 02, 2021

We would love to have more information on how to use Avalara after going live.

JG
Jessica Gorbett
Accounting Manager
Cavender's Boot City (Retail, 501-1000 employees)
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We are currently new with Avalara. We went live with a new web platform in April 2019. We are using it to calculate our tax on our web, but we are not entirely sure if it is working correctly for us. We have gone to Avalara University for training, but it isn't helpful to our situation. Currently, we don't see committed transactions, so we don't actually know if or even how to use it correctly.
Pros and Cons
  • Has tax exceptions, such as tax-exempt holidays, already figured in.
  • Training has been a difficult area for us.
  • Being able to receive timely contact with our rep has been a challenge. Particularly since the Wayfair decision.
Likelihood to Recommend
I think this is a fantastic product. However, I feel we went live and were not prepared on how to utilize it to our full benefit. Training and connection with a live person could be better. I would like to take advantage of more products from Avalara, but until some of this is resolved, my CFO will not allow us to do so.
Avalara Feature Ratings
Type of tax (4)
17.5%
1.8
Sales and Use Taxes
70%
7.0
Cross-border Taxes
N/A
N/A
VAT / GST Taxes
N/A
N/A
Energy and Fuel Taxes
N/A
N/A
Tax Reporting & Compliance (7)
31.428571428571427%
3.1
Geolocation for Tax Assessment
70%
7.0
3rd-Party Software Integrations
70%
7.0
Tax Data Reporting
N/A
N/A
Compliance Administration Management
N/A
N/A
Tax Exemption Processing
N/A
N/A
Tax Document Management
80%
8.0
Complex Tax Scenario Management
N/A
N/A
Return on Investment
  • Currently, from a reporting standpoint, it has not helped us.
  • It is currently capturing rates we were not certain if we were calculating correctly. This is a positive for us.
  • We are finally able to utilize Avalara as it was meant to be utilized, but we do have some problems.
Systems Integrated With
  • Microsoft D365
Usability
8
I think it would be great if we knew how to use it.

Training has still been an issue.
Additional Capabilities
  • CertCapture
Cert Capture has been helpful.
Alternatives Considered
None at this time.
Avalara Business Impact
No.
Avalara New Lines of Business
No, we just added Avalara to our already existing business.
Avalara Cross-Border Compliance
I'm not sure
We have not talked about the possibility of expanding.
Avalara Marketplace
We do not sell on marketplaces.
Users and Roles
79
Avalara is working on all of our registers in our stores and on the web. We have 90+ stores. Two people in the Corporate office do the maintaining and reporting.
Support Headcount Required
2
Business Processes Supported
  • Sales Tax Calculation
  • Certificate Capture
Innovative Uses
  • Cert Capture has been wonderful
Future Planned Uses
  • We would like to have Avalara file our returns, but that may be a 2022 project.
Likelihood to Renew
9
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.
Other Software Used
Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), Microsoft Azure
Products Replaced
No
Key Differentiators
  • Price
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Product Reputation
Evaluation Lessons Learned
I would not change my evaluation process.
Implementation Details / Implementation Partner
  • Third-party professional services
RSM
Implementation Phases
No
Implementation Issues
  • connection from Avalara and D365 seem to drop and only state rates calculate
Implementation Rating
3
Contact with ANYONE at Avalara has been extremely challenging from the very start of the project. (this was from 2018-2019)

(2021) Since our newest integration, we finally have a dedicated rep that is great and responsive. She helped us with coordination of the right people and stayed involved with every step of the process
Training Types Used
  • no training
Ease of Avalara Training
No it was not.
Product Configurability
5
I am not on that side so it is hard for me to answer.
Configuration Lessons
Again, I don't use that side so it is hard for me to answer.
UI Customization
Some - we have done small customizations to the interface
Extensibility and Customization
No - we have not done any custom code
Additional Customization Considerations
No
Premium Support
We have not purchased premium support. I do not feel like we should have to spend that extra money. The customer service dedicate rep we have is WONDERFUL! When I have to go to support, I feel like it takes a long time, and my problems don't really get resolved. I feel as a customer, I shouldn't have to purchase extra to get some help on a product I already pay a large amount of money for.
Support Rating
5
Based on prior question, support is not great unless it is from our dedicated rep.
Bug Resolution
No
Exceptional Examples of Avalara Support
Any single time I have called my dedicated rep, I know I am going to get immediate help. She is very attentive to our needs. We recently did an acquisition, and she reached out to another rep that had more experience in doing these, walked us through the process beforehand, then on the day of, stayed on the phone with us to make sure it was done correctly. They also scheduled a follow up call to make sure everything was working well. I admired that she felt she needed a partner on this and worked to have one when the time came. I also liked that we had a "pre call" to get everything talked through and ready so that the day of, the actions were pretty seamless. Debbie Sweeney-Radice is our dedicated rep.
Easy Tasks
  • Adding locations into Avalara has been pretty easy
Difficult Tasks
  • We struggle with reporting
Future Integration Plans
  • Microsoft D365
Types of Integration
  • File import/export
Ease of Integration
5
Integration Lessons Learned
We did not have a smooth integration. We had high turnover on the Avalara side, so no one knew our company and responses were very slim.
Systems Integrated With
  • Sales Force
  • Microsoft D365
This was very difficult. We were supposed to go live in 2018 and did not complete until April 2019.
Pre-Sale Experience
4
Post-Sale Experience
3
Key Negotiation Points
I do not recall at this time.
Dealing with Avalara
Follow up with the company would be great. This was a big challenge for us.
Upgrade Process
No
Upgrade Benefits
  • No upgrades
Anticipated Benefits from Future Upgrades
  • Ease of use
Future Edition Upgrade Plans
No
Migrating Between Editions
No
Scalability
8
We only use two services with Avalara and so far, those seem to be pretty good.
Reliability and Availability
8
To my knowledge, the availability of Avalara has not been an issue.
Performance
8
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.
February 04, 2020

Cream of the crop

JM
John Moeller
Tax Manager
Hop Energy LLC (Oil & Energy, 201-500 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We are using the federal terminal reporting of Avalara
Pros and Cons
  • Customer Service is top notch
  • Always willing to help you 100%
  • Detail of the program is above and beyond
  • the new e-mailing customer help desk
Likelihood to Recommend
Setting up everything, the customer service department stayed on the phone with me the entire time walking me through it and they also were right there watching me via the computer the first time I filed the return. They have been a help ever since when needed.
Avalara Feature Ratings
Type of tax (2)
100%
10.0
Sales and Use Taxes
100%
10.0
Energy and Fuel Taxes
100%
10.0
Tax Reporting & Compliance (1)
100%
10.0
3rd-Party Software Integrations
100%
10.0
Return on Investment
  • The actual process is cut by more then 80%
Systems Integrated With
  • ADDS
Could not do because of the other system.
Usability
10
Very easy to navigate
Alternatives Considered
If you are at the top of the stack looking down the first one you will see is Avalara
Avalara Business Impact
I use their changed monthly
Avalara New Lines of Business
NA
Avalara Cross-Border Compliance
No
Avalara Marketplace
na
Users and Roles
2
Tax Department
Support Headcount Required
1
None needed from a user stand point, customer service at Avalara is great
Business Processes Supported
  • Federal filing
  • ease of use
Innovative Uses
  • Tax updates
Future Planned Uses
  • Went to use them for sales and excise tax in multi states
Likelihood to Renew
10
Worth every $$
Other Software Used
Products Replaced
No
Key Differentiators
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
Evaluation Lessons Learned
na
Implementation Details / Implementation Partner
  • Implemented in-house
Implementation Phases
No
Change Management Lessons
Change management was a small part of the implementation and was well-handled
Implementation Issues
  • training
  • integration
Implementation Rating
10
Easy and painless, customer service will stay with you the entire time
Training Types Used
  • Online training
In-Person Training
10
na
Online Training
8
was really good
Ease of Avalara Training
na
Product Configurability
8
just right for this product
Configuration Lessons
let your support do what they do best.
UI Customization
Some - we have done small customizations to the interface
support help me and showed me how
Extensibility and Customization
No - the product does not support adding custom code
Additional Customization Considerations
na
Premium Support
No
Support Rating
5
the e-mail you have to send to support back and forth is not easy. Easier to make a 5 mion call then hours on e-mails
Bug Resolution
No
Exceptional Examples of Avalara Support
once you get to the support team, they are great at helping you resolve all issues.
Easy Tasks
  • filing
Difficult Tasks
  • support e-mail
Future Integration Plans
  • ADDS
Not able to
Types of Integration
  • File import/export
Ease of Integration
8
could not integrate, not because of Avalara
Integration Lessons Learned
do your homework and make sure you can
Systems Integrated With
  • Adds
We have to create a CSV file to upload.
Pre-Sale Experience
7
Post-Sale Experience
4
Key Negotiation Points
na
Dealing with Avalara
na
Upgrade Process
No
Upgrade Benefits
  • na
Anticipated Benefits from Future Upgrades
  • na
Future Edition Upgrade Plans
No
Migrating Between Editions
No
Scalability
8
Reliability and Availability
7
Performance
8
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