Item: Vertex
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Vertex O Series for sales and use tax calculations. We have nexus in almost every state, and have a lot of sales to dealers - so we also license ECM (Exemption Certificate Manager), which allows us to seamlessly link the certificate scans to the customers. I have learned from auditors that Vertex is the auditor’s preferred data source as well.

Pros and Cons

Exemption certificate management
Staying current with rate changes
Staying current with legislative changes
Vertex always wants to hear suggestions from their customers.

Transaction data extract still requires use of a pivot table...
UI is not intuitive and there aren’t mouseover tips, so occasionally it can be difficult to figure out how to use unexplored features.
Would like to see more examples of how others use Vertex.
Recently learned of the very active user community for Alteryx. Would like to see Vertex incentivize users to share tips, tricks and advice.

Return on Investment

We transitioned from paper-based to electronic management of our exemption and resale certificates.
We can easily run reports.
We can model transactions directly in the transaction tester.

Key Differentiators

Product Reputation
Prior Experience with the Product
Existing Relationship with the Vendor

We already had Vertex when I started working in indirect tax. At one point, I thought it was clunky and unwieldy, and toyed with looking at Avalara. In the end, the more I learned about the power of the underlying tax engine, and the dedication of the employees to maintain an open dialogue with their customers, I realized that Vertex is a solid, stable, professional tax engine and not just a pretty face with an aggressive sales team.

Alternatives Considered

Avalara

Avalara has a more intuitive user interface, but I find that the transaction detail I need isn’t there (Shopify Plus), so I use Avalara just for real-time rate calculations. Am not impressed with Avalara’s reports, so I rely on the Shopify transaction export for tax filing details.

Innovative Uses

Learned of the exemption and resale certificate audit report - output is a single PDF with all certificates for a certain state in a specified time frame.

Product Configurability

Configurability is a bit complex. We are about to implement Accelerator, which will enable more direct and user friendly access to settings that are typically configured and managed by IT or consultants. Vertex takes effort to master!

Exceptional Examples of Vertex Support

I haven’t had an issue for which I needed support directly from Vertex.

Systems Integrated With

Likelihood to Recommend

Works well with SAP and is an all-round best choice for enterprise level sales and use tax requirements. Pricing can be a barrier for some organizations, and it’s not a product that you can license and configure on your own, you’ll need to budget for consulting and testing. Would like to see Vertex become more active in addressing use tax challenges posed by newer P2P systems, like Coupa, that don’t directly integrate with Vertex, and in fact create gaps in the accuracy of use tax accruals. Since Coupa pretends this is not an issue, I want Vertex to step up with a solution for tax departments who have to find workarounds for P2P software that operates in a vacuum.

Vertex - not sexy, but built to last!

Software Version

Overall Satisfaction with Vertex