K2 Enterprises Review of Avalara

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Randy Johnston Editor-In-Charge - Dr. Bob Spencer Editor-At-Large

Avatax - Avalara

http://www.avalara.com

Category: Specialty Service – Sales Tax - Class: Full Range from Entry to ERP

Best Fit

· Avalara’s products fit a large range of businesses that have a compulsory requirement to calculate, report and remit sales, use or VAT tax. AvaTax, Avalara’s end-to-end transactional tax management service is delivered as a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution—eliminating the need for installation within the business and maintenance of tax tables within accounting products. The product is natively integrated into more than 75 popular accounting software products and is also available as a service for eCommerce sites.

Strengths

Sales tax complexity varies by state and tax jurisdiction. Currently there are approximately 13,000 U.S.tax regions, each with a correlating set of tax statutes and regulations, including rates and rules. These taxing regions are the foundation for accurate sales tax calculation and compliance. Prior to taxing regions, businesses used ZIP codes for determining the appropriate rates and rules to apply to a sales transaction. Designed by the United States Postal Service for efficient mail delivery, postal zip codes are not an accurate means or sufficient to determine sales tax liability. The only accurate methodology is to use geolocation technologies. With sophisticated address validation capabilities, Avalara’s sales tax management engine can make jurisdictional assignments based on a roof-top address.
Avalara’s compliance teams maintain comprehensive research for country, state, county, city and special tax jurisdictions. This extensive sales tax research provides up-to-date rates, boundary, sourcing rules and taxability information that is updated routinely, and provided on the effective date without any maintenance by the customer due to the SaaS delivery model. Most organizations do not have the expertise on staff nor sufficient staff to do the appropriate research. Even when tax rate data is purchased, the accuracy can be questionable without geolocation information, and most software products do not have this capability. AvaTax fixes this deficiency in accounting products.
AvaTax quickly applies sales tax calculations to the invoice, online shopping cart or other sales document, working in the background (often in under a second depending on Internet connection) via a secure, encrypted Internet connection. The setup inside most accounting software is no more than substituting a tax rate with the word AvaTax and the selection of states in which the business has nexus. This makes the product quick and easy to setup.

· Additional features and benefits.

Brief Product Description and Pricing

· Avalara is an Internet-based solution that integrates seamlessly with your traditional accounting system. Its unique method of applying sales tax based on your nexus and other data down to the actual street address is seem as a significant benefit of this product.

· Pricing will vary based on the accounting software interfaced with and the volume of sales, which determines how much you use the product. Based on your specific application, visit their pricing web page for detail.

Technical Specifications

· Windows XP and Vista client preferred

· Requires a high-speed Internet connection

Integration with Accounting and Ease of Setup

AvaTax, Avalara’s end-to-end sales tax management service, seamlessly integrates with leading accounting software products including Epicor Enterprise, Epicor Vantage, Epicor CRS Retail Suite, Microsoft Dynamics™ GP, Microsoft Dynamics™ NAV, Microsoft Dynamics™ AX, Intuit’s QuickBooks, Sage Software’s Sage MAS 90 ERP, Sage MAS 200 ERP, Sage MAS 500 ERP, and Sage Accpac ERP. AvaTax has a non-invasive interface to your specific ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) or e-commerce systems, with no risk to data or accounting system integrity. AvaTax populates sales and use tax information which is then incorporated into the ERP internal process.

In additional to AvaTax, Avalara offers a suite of transactional tax compliance solutions:

AvaFile™ – AvaFile is a fully outsourced managed returns service that allows tax departments to view, modify, and approve returns for submission to tax jurisdictions.
TrustFile™ – Acquired by Avalara in August 2007, Trustfile offers a simple, inexpensive solution that automates sales tax e-filing and e-payment within one application.
AvaRates™ – AvaRates offers the most competitive, easy-to-use, affordable and flexible line-up of sales tax rate tables and tools on the market.
SalestaxPC and SalestaxII™ – Acquired with Independent Systems Programming Inc. in April 2008, SalestaxPC and SalestaxII provides companies with the most accurate rate tables—automatically uploaded and updated within their accounting application.
LaserBridge+™ – Extending the functionality to SalestaxPC and SalestaxII, LaserBridge+ provides businesses the functionality to populate and print sales and use tax forms for

Representative Client List (if available)

· M3 Moveable Cubicle

Company History and Contact Information

· In 1999, Rory Rawlings and his wife, Patti, founded Advantage Solutions, Inc. (now called Avalara), which focused on middle-tier Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions. Rory discovered numerous clients were faced with extensive sales tax requirements, with no affordable solution available that was both easy to implement and maintain - a deficiency painfully realized through sales and use tax audits. Leveraging his previous experience and work, Rory wrote his third North American sales tax calculation engine. Since then, Avalara has created an experienced team committed to become the leading provider for North American sales and use tax calculation requirements. It is a privately held company located on historic Bainbridge Island in Washington State.

· Avalara can be reached at;

435 Ericksen Ave. N.E.

Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

877-780-4848

www.avalara.com

marketing@avalara.com

Commentary (The following is provided by the Editor with notes and comments from others.)

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION FOR ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS

The information provided herein is not warranted in any way and is subject to change without notice.

We recommend that you confirm information contained herein with the appropriate manufacturer or reseller.

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