Avalara is the Uber of sales tax - it has been transformative in its connector-related focus
Updated February 12, 2020

Avalara is the Uber of sales tax - it has been transformative in its connector-related focus

Judy Vorndran | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Modules Used

  • AvaTax
  • Returns
  • CertCapture

Overall Satisfaction with Avalara

We partner with Avalara to help companies collect and remit sales taxes across the US, due to its relatively easy integrations to multiple GL systems, it can be integrated readily, thus, with proper sales tax mapping and nexus set up - create reporting for taxes owed by jurisdiction. It is a bit more like a rate database with product taxability - and is an excellent product for those with a relatively simple invoicing system - i.e., invoice and add taxes.
  • Amazing sales process.
  • Great marketing.
  • Loads of connectors.
  • Fun.
  • Service - too self-service with no personal resources.
  • Videos cannot be the only way to provide support.
  • Somewhat inflexible.
  • Huge improvement over manual calcs.
  • Reporting is very helpful for reconciling and reporting for returns.
  • Easy to set up nexus.
  • Quickbooks
  • Intacct
  • NetSuite
  • Shopify+
  • MicrosoftNAV
  • Sage
100% better than manual and in some taxpayer instances can achieve greater than 80% risk mitigation - but it is not "set it and forget it," taxpayers must understand their nexus footprint, their taxability determinations and reporting obligations to work hand in hand with automation.
  • Yes - almost all clients use some element of returns or information to calculate returns themselves, outsource or a biproduct of both - Cert Capture is a relatively basic exemption cert repository system, but it is hands-down better than paper files, since one can track expiration dates and certs by state.
Limited with home rule jurisdictions and taxability categories, it's not a very robust product, but will meet most of the needs of e-commerce end users or a business needing tax calculating on an invoice without having to run the iterations manually.
Avalara is well suited for ecommerce, simple integrations, unsophisticated or nonexistent tax departments, simple invoicing process with tax - it is a rate calculator with a taxability mapping interface which can allow one to set up tax and collect across the country without having to set up separate codes by state.

Avalara Feature Ratings

Sales and Use Taxes
10
Cross-border Taxes
8
VAT / GST Taxes
8
Energy and Fuel Taxes
8
Geolocation for Tax Assessment
6
3rd-Party Software Integrations
10
Tax Data Reporting
8
Compliance Administration Management
5
Tax Exemption Processing
5
Tax Document Management
7
Complex Tax Scenario Management
3

Using Avalara

  • Rates
  • Rules
  • Managing exempt certs
  • Managing returns
  • Wayfair thresholds analytics
  • Data grab for audit support
  • Income tax factor apportionment data
  • Understanding reporting trends by state.
  • Amassing transactions not taxed but mb should be.
  • Calculating transactions for Wayfair.
  • Marketplace information.
  • Connecting to other software.
You wouldn't give it up or you would have to go manual - so stickiness is high and integrations take a few months so investment in change is required.

Evaluating Avalara and Competitors

  • Price
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Prior Experience with the Product
  • Existing Relationship with the Vendor
connections to GL systems and e commerce functionality

Avalara Implementation

Change management was a minor issue with the implementation
  • getting connectors to talk to GL systems
  • challenges with understanding native functionality within Avalara
Difficult to get hands-on assist - expectation is plug and play and that is not the typical end user.

Integrating Avalara

  • Shopify
  • Magento
  • Basic website API