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SALES & USE TAX Reviews For Your Firm Avalara – AvaTax Calc 2012 OVERALL RATING BEST FIT Businesses with sales tax reporting obligations across multiple jurisdic- tions throughout the U.S. and Canada. AvaTax also supports those businesses that have overseas subsidiaries with single country VAT requirements, and off ers transaction processing in over 50 countries, with plans to expand on this capability over the coming months. STRENGTHS • Directly integrates with a business' accounting and sales systems • Rates and rules for over 14,000 juris- dictions are continuously maintained by Avalara, no updates required • Broad reporting and oversight capa- bilities. • Optional exemption certifi cate man- agement service (AvaTax Certs) is available • AvaTax Returns provides automated compliance processing • Complies with Streamlined Sales Tax and other state treaties POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS • No built-in DIY e-fi ling or payment options • Primarily for client-side use Avalara the AvaTax Calc system reviewed here is designed to integrate directly into a business' accounting system, online sales management or ERP. This allows for automatic, real-time determination of sales tax rates as an order or estimate is being entered or processed either by a business user or though e-commerce sales. T e other core product off erings from Avalara include AvaTax Certs, for exemption certifi cate management, AvaTax Returns, for out- sourced compliance reporting, and TrustFile, a non-integrated sales and use tax system for entities with less complex compliance needs. BASIC SYSTEM FUNCTIONS Initial installation and syncing to the business' accounting and sales system 877-780-4848 14 April 2012 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com items which are subject to taxes in diff erent locations. Most user interaction with the pro- gram is related to reporting. Upon completion of a transaction, each sale is broken down by invoice line, giving users the ability to drill down to each lower level jurisdiction. T e system supports multiple simultaneous state, county, city, district and special juris- dictions. Users also have web-based access to a forms library, basic exemp- tion certifi cate management (advanced options are available in the separate module), and liability reports. T e program can be used for any number of businesses being managed on the same accounting system, and supports entities with multiple loca- is guided by AvaTax support and training specialists. T e program can be integrated into most small, mid- sized and larger entity accounting systems and ERPs, including Quick- Books, Peachtree, Intacct and NetSuite. Initial system setup includes determi- nation of taxability rules for all inven- tory products, SKUs and other data. Aſt er implementation, the system is essentially a web-based tax lookup utility that works with the business accounting system to automatically determine and calculate tax rates and amounts across all potential jurisdic- tions based on a physical address. Since taxability of specific items can vary greatly across states and local jurisdic- tions, this process helps keep the business in compliance when selling tions. Because the core tax rate engine is web-based, reporting and other data can be accessed remotely, even if the business' accounting system is locally- installed. COMPLIANCE CAPABILITIES T e AvaTax Calc database is one of the most comprehensive systems on the market, with up-to-date, historical and pending future rates for more than 14,000 jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada, as well as VAT compliance for 39 countries. T ese rates, and all of the special taxability rules and sales tax holidays, are maintained and auto- matically updated by Avalara's profes- sional staff . AvaTax Calc is intended as the rate and rule engine, and does not include a direct e-fi ling and remit ance system. For reporting, users can manually produce forms for each of the states, with all forms available in the library. Businesses can also use Avalara's AvaTax Returns service, where Avalara's staff imports all of the transaction tax data, prepares all forms, and remits data to all jurisdictions where the business has a filing requirement. AvaTax Returns can also be used independently of the AvaTax Calc system. As noted previously, all rates, rules and taxability issues in AvaTax are kept updated in real-time by the vendor. INTEGRATION/IMPORT/EXPORT Integration with a business' sales and accounting system is at the core of the AvaTax Calc system, allowing taxability and appropriate rates to be applied instantly as users enter transactions. T e rates populate immediately and the system is transparent to most users. Drill-down and override is available to users with higher access rights. Integra- tions are available for more than 80 financial systems, including Quick- Books, Peachtree, Intacct and NetSuite. Liability reports are automatically generated, and users can produce detail and summary sales tax reports by company or jurisdiction. Data and reports can also be saved to Excel, Word and PDF formats. Alerts can be programmed to remind tax managers of deadlines, and an approvals process can be initiated that requires sign-off by supervisory staff . HELP/SUPPORT Since the program is mostly automated aſt er the initial setup, very few help features are necessary. However, the online management console off ers user manuals and best practices, as well as program documentation and integra- tion support. Additional resources are available via the Avalara University support center, which provides class- room-style live and recorded training. All live and web-based technical sup- port is included with system pricing. SUMMARY & PRICING AvaTax Calc is designed for businesses with complex and/or high volume taxable sales across vast numbers of jurisdictions. By synching with the business' sales, e-commerce, accounting or ERP, it frees the business user from tedious manual lookups of appropriate rates and rules, and also helps ensure greater compliance. Even more benefi - cial, these rate lookups are performed instantly via the web-based calculation engine, put ing real-time, accurate sales tax information directly into transac- tions as a line item that includes drill- down access to sub-jurisdictions. Exemption certifi cate management and return fi ling options are also available. Pricing for AvaTax Calc is based on the accounting system being used by the business, and the volume of transac- tions. For QuickBooks companies with up to 700 transactions per year, the cost is $350. For higher volumes, such as up to 7,000 transactions annually, the cost is about $0.35 per transaction/lookup (about $2,400). www.Avalara.com