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Avalara review
May 02, 2024

Avalara review

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Modules Used

  • AvaTax
  • Returns
  • CertCapture

Overall Satisfaction with Avalara

We use Avalara for our sales tax calculations with our connector. Also, they help us with our sales tax returns. We use the ECM pro for our sales tax certificate. We use their reporting to complete some returns that we do manually.
  • Sales tax calculations
  • Sales tax issues with returns they make sure to contact the state.
  • Their ECM pro and Avatax works well with our connector
  • It would be great if they could also advise about franchise tax
  • It would be helpful to know the full explanation of the fees in detail than just summary
  • Calculating sales tax is so beneficial to us because before Avalara we would have to input and research doing thing manually cost us time.
  • Avalara filing the returns saved us more than 40 hours of time spent.
  • Avalara's returns reporting makes it easier to file some of the returns we do manually and saves us time.
  • ERP software
The integration with Avalara took some time however it was our software connector that needed to be adjusted for it work properly.
It is very simple to use and easy to navigate once we knew what to do.
  • Avalara Returns
  • CertCapture
We use both the Avalara returns and cert capture. For the registration and nexus studies they were done prior to using Avalara. We had so many states that we had nexus with that Avalara made it easier and saved us time in calculations and filing returns.
The only thing would be helpful is if their cost is lower for the ECM pro, did not expect it to be so high, we mainly use the software and load our own certificates and manages them.

Do you think Avalara delivers good value for the price?

Not sure

Are you happy with Avalara's feature set?

Yes

Did Avalara live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Avalara go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Avalara again?

Yes

If the company have many nexus states for sales tax and also many customers it would be very beneficial to the company to have Avalara to do all the calculations and returns than having the company staff spend so much time on it and Avalara also will contact the state if there is any issues and error and resolve it if they do the returns.

Avalara Feature Ratings

Type of tax
10.0
Sales and Use Taxes
10
Tax Reporting & Compliance
10.0
Geolocation for Tax Assessment
10
3rd-Party Software Integrations
10
Tax Data Reporting
10
Compliance Administration Management
10
Tax Exemption Processing
10
Tax Document Management
10
Complex Tax Scenario Management
10

Cross-Border Tax Compliance with Avalara

Avalara shows if we have nexus in that state.
We do not have a new line of business.
No - Based on our manufacturer we are not able to.
We use the legacy program for that state and we have it in place to only ship from our location and Amazon handles the nexus for that state and pays the sales tax on our behalf and file.

Using Avalara

3 - Most of them use the ECM pro for the certificate capture and customer information.
1 - This person handles all.
  • Sales tax calculations
  • Certificate compliance, storage and implementation
  • Returns
  • Returns
  • Sales tax questions when there are changes to the sales tax in that state
  • maybe if they do franchise tax
We use Avalara in our everyday business.

Evaluating Avalara and Competitors

  • Integration with Other Systems
  • Ease of Use
Mainly integration with our system and ease of use.
I think our selection based on the integration it was worth it.

Avalara Implementation

  • Third-party professional services
Our software for Avalara connector is with Infor FACTS and Sequoia team helped us to get us connected with Avalara.
Yes - It took us some time with testing to make sure that it was working before going live with the connector.
Not sure - We did not change any management.
  • Testing phase with our connector
Once the testing was completed it worked seemlessly.

Avalara Training

  • Online Training
The documentation online we informative and helpful. The videos from the Avalara institute and the help tab if we have any questions and the search too were helpful. We like the ease of using the click here for more information tool about nexus and the information for the ECM Pro training were helpful. Whenever we have a question we normally get an email along with the tool as to where to find our answer. We also like that it shows information about nexus status of the states we maybe approaching and we can look more into it.

Configuring Avalara

It is easy to configure once the system was tested.
It would be helpful to have and to know how long the testing would have taken place.
Some - we have done small customizations to the interface - Most of it was done with the help of both Avalara and our software engineer.
Some - we have added small pieces of custom code - The codes were easy to do.
We only implemented some codes for legacy and some items that needed to be coded for sales tax exemption.

Avalara Support

All the questions and needs and issues the customer care team is very quick to respond.
ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
None
Our support is included in our program.
In the beginning when we purchased the product they helped us with our software engineer to make sure that it would work with our connector.

Using Avalara

ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Well integrated
Consistent
Convenient
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
  • Sales tax reporting
  • Returns reporting
  • Sales tax calculations
  • Certificate integration and customer information.
  • Items that are exempt integration with our connector
  • Current ECM pro sometimes is slow in loading

Integrating Avalara

Integration was done with our software engineer once it was done it was an ease of use. Now it seems seemless.
No. We have used as much as we can.
  • File import/export
It would be helpful to know how long it would take to integrate the software connector we use.
  • INFOR FACTS
It is 100% integrated with our distribution software.

Relationship with Avalara

In the beginning of the process the vendor was very easy, now because of the most recent changes there isn't a phone number for direct contact communication anymore.
Once it was originally integrated it was very easy and smooth transition.
Sales tax returns and SST returns and certificaton.
To have a live person to talk to meaning a phone number and contact who is immediately available to answer questions.

Upgrading Avalara

Yes - Minimal down time. The unexpected is the new higher cost so much more than before.
  • To have other users to use the ECM Pro
  • Less cost.

Avalara Reliability

Because it is done online it is easier for my associates to use.
We have not had any issues with it unless we ourselves are down due to power outage.
No issues with integration, sometimes the certificate loading takes time.