Avalara is awesome!
October 02, 2024

Avalara is awesome!

Devin Brown | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Modules Used

  • AvaTax
  • Returns
  • CertCapture

Overall Satisfaction with Avalara

We use Avalara to file in states where we have nexus and also to store hundreds of customer exemption certificates. Avalara keeps track of tax law and rate changes so we can spend more time on other business needs. Avalara is also great at reporting our use tax. We determine what transactions are subject to use tax then import those into Avalara to be filed on the return. The economic nexus tracker in Avalara is super helpful as well so we can see what states we need to consider registering in.

Pros

  • Avalara helps my company maintain sales tax compliance.
  • Avalara stores customer exemption certificates and automatically exempts their transactions.
  • Avalara notifies us when we are approaching or have exceeded the economic threshold in a new state.

Cons

  • Avalara needs to be able to provide tax and legal advice, so we don't have to go to an outside source.
  • Some states we file in have more than just sales tax on the return. For example, Washington has B&O tax, tire tax, sales and use tax. It would help a lot if Avalara could report all of these taxes, so we don't have to file manually.
  • We went from two staff members down to one staff member dedicated to monitoring and reconciling sales tax with the G/L.
  • It takes the one staff member less time to monitor sales tax than having to go through and calculate and file in each state.
  • Avalara gives us confidence that the returns are filed accurately and timely every month.
It's moderately difficult. We are still working out the kinks with the integration, primarily on the Fusion side. One example is Fusion creates a separate transaction when an invoice is voided but Avalara does not. This makes it a little more difficult to reconcile.
Overall, Avalara has been an excellent resource for the company. We highly recommend it. Once you get familiar with the software it's not hard to navigate and use for your business' needs. There are reports for any type of tax detail you need from individual jurisdiction detail to a comprehensive summary of all states filing or not filing in.
  • Avalara Returns
  • CertCapture
The company has hundreds of customer exemption certificates stored in Avalara. It would be a daunting task if we had to manage these ourselves and make sure exempt customers are properly exempt. Avalara accurately and timely files our returns. They also update rates as they change. Avalara's taxability matrix makes it easy to select the correct tax code for our products and services, and we can see how they will be taxed in each state.

Do you think Avalara delivers good value for the price?

Yes

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

Avalara is great for registering and filing in multiple states and with excellent accuracy. Avalara is especially helpful when the business has multiple product/service lines with different taxability rules.

Avalara isn't needed as much when the business only files in a couple of states or has one basic product line.

Avalara Feature Ratings

Type of tax
10.0
Sales and Use Taxes
10
Cross-border Taxes
10
Tax Reporting & Compliance
9.5
3rd-Party Software Integrations
9
Tax Data Reporting
10
Compliance Administration Management
10
Tax Exemption Processing
10
Tax Document Management
10
Complex Tax Scenario Management
8

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