1. Home
  2. Tax Compliance Software
  3. Avalara Reviews
  4. User Review of Avalara
Avalara, a lot of good stuff with a minimum of bad
December 11, 2017

Avalara, a lot of good stuff with a minimum of bad

Tim Morgan | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Modules Used

  • AvaTax

Overall Satisfaction with Avalara AvaTax

Avalara is used in our accounting department for the calculation of sales tax in multiple states and the use of automated returns filed in those states. Our use includes specialized tax codes for software which we rely on for correct taxability analysis in said states. Avatax is connected to our Netsuite software for automated calculations.
  • Automated processed for calculations where analysts billing do not need extensive tax knowledge.
  • Automated processes for handling returns automatically and a consolidated payment for returns reducing reconciliations and checks.
  • Online access to data is very helpful with available agents online/phone to help answer questions.
  • Unable to take partially used credits on returns from previous months and apply them to current returns leaving unresolved balances with the state.
  • Clear process for handling manual returns, I have to contact someone if I don't want the return processed and even then my return is still sometimes automatically processed.
  • Not clear process on how the detailed transactions loaded into the software link to the summarized returns filed with each state causing reconciliation problems.
  • Avalara allows our team to function without a 100% dedicated tax accountant handling calculations and returns. This is a big savings for a smaller business in a growth pattern.
  • Avalara's tax calculations are rarely questioned by customers and we have almost always found them consistent with our customers expectations. This is extremely helpful as it reduces the need to do tax research around how to calculate tax on a new product.
  • A negative impact has been Avalara's inability to take credits due to mistakes or sales tax exemptions presented after invoicing. As such in a number of instances credits should have been applied to our return but Avalara was unable to handle this and a credit balance persisted on our account for many months until a manual refund request was filed.
The implementation of Avalara was very easy as the built in integrations into our software were available. When it was time to upgrade to a different accounting software, the upgrade was extremely easy to handle. Additionally we received help from Avalara in identifying the correct tax codes to use for our products which saved us a lot of time and effort.
  • We integrate AvaTax with Netsuite.
The integration is prebuilt into Netsuite and as such all transactions are handled naively. This is very helpful as we can gather a lot of data around jurisdiction and tax details in AvaTax for use in communicating with our customers and handling returns.
Usability once you get use to AvaTax is quite good. It is a fairly simple interface with a lot of drill down ability. The canned export reports are quite good as well giving one a lot of information. There is some missing usability with regards to reconciling detailed transactions back to the summarized returns.
Our company leverages the managed returns extensively and it really does save us a lot of time and effort. We do have AvaCert as well but have not leveraged the software as of yet however the setup of this software is relatively clean and clear. Over all the automation abilities in Avalara have been greatly beneficial for our tax capabilities.
Avalara came highly recommended and we did not seek alternative solutions.
Avalara is well suited for automation where there is little need for oversight. It is good as a set it up and let go system as long as your sure the sales tax has no problems.

I have had trouble getting personalized care from the account management and support team on some issues including complicated return reconciliation and explanations on why returns have been filed in the way they were filed. For instance our AM was unable to explain the detail lines in our contract. Additionally a return was files asking for a refund for a state. That state asked us for a reconciliation to process the refund and when we contacted Avalara we were unable to get a satisfactory answer.