Avalara Launches Three-Fold Initiative to Combat State and Local Tax Compliance Risk

SALT-in-a-Box helps accountants and bookkeepers advise clients confidently

Bainbridge Island, WA – May 13, 2015 –  Avalara, Inc., a leading provider of cloud-based software delivering compliance solutions related to sales tax, VAT and other transactional taxes, today launched SALT-in-a-Box (SIB), a comprehensive, no-cost program that enables accountants and bookkeepers to help their clients proactively identify and address State and Local Tax (SALT) compliance issues.

Specifically, SIB provides accounting professionals with a single user-friendly place to access industry-leading tools, information, and services enabling them to:

• Know with certainty if their clients are at risk for sales tax non-compliance
• Be armed with clear, detailed knowledge to effectively address risk when issues arise
• Proactively serve as a trusted advisor on SALT-related compliance issues

“Together with leading CPA firms, Avalara developed SALT-in-a-Box for accounting firms and industry professionals faced with increased client demand for assistance with state and local tax issues,” said Patrick Falle, North America Channel Chief at Avalara.  “Firms that have decided to take a proactive stance in addressing this growing market can easily pick up SALT-in-a-Box and start helping clients to identify and make the right decisions surrounding sales tax issues – and in doing so, they’ll also expand their billable advisory services, and strengthen their engagement with new prospects and existing clients.”

According to Tom Hood, CPA, CITP, CGMA, and President & CEO of the Maryland Association of CPAs, accounting professionals and bookkeepers are paying close attention to state and local tax as an area of increasing complexity for their business clients:

“There’s a broad industry need amongst CPAs and accounting professionals for assistance in advising their clients on state and local tax compliance risk,” said Hood. “It is great to see Avalara, an industry leader in sales tax compliance solutions, bring their SALT-in-a-Box program to the market to help meet it.”

“Sales tax risk is a big issue facing businesses of all sizes, and accounting professionals are on the front lines when clients need assistance,” said Andy Johnson, CPA and co-founder of Peisner Johnson & Co, LLP. “I applaud Avalara’s initiative, and encourage accounting advisors to take advantage of this valuable, free service.”

CPAs, accountants, and bookkeepers interested in Avalara’s SALT program can go to www.avalara.com/salt-in-a-box for complete information, or email accountantprograms@avalara.com to reach Avalara’s Accounting Channel Partner team.

About Avalara

Avalara helps businesses of all sizes achieve compliance with sales tax, VAT, excise tax, and other transactional tax requirements by delivering comprehensive, automated, cloud-based solutions that are fast, accurate, and easy to use. Avalara’s end-to-end suite of solutions is designed to effectively manage complicated and burdensome tax compliance obligations imposed by state, local, and other taxing authorities in the United States and internationally.

Avalara offers hundreds of pre-built connectors into leading accounting, ERP, ecommerce and other business applications. The company processes millions of tax transactions for customers and free users every day, files hundreds of thousands of transactional tax returns per year, and manages millions of exemption certificates and other compliance related documents.

A privately held company, Avalara’ s venture capital investors include Sageview Capital, Battery Ventures, Warburg Pincus, Technology Crossover Ventures, Arthur Ventures, and other institutional and individual investors. Avalara employs more than 800 people at its headquarters on Bainbridge Island, WA and in offices across the U.S. and in London, England and Pune, India. More information at: www.avalara.com