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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    ADP SmartCompliance

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/AADP SmartCompliance is a tax and regulatory compliance platform for midsize or larger companies using an ERP or non-ADP platform for HR and HRMS services.N/A

    Avalara

    Score8.1 out of 10
    N/AAvalara AvaTax connects to the software that businesses already have and delivers sales tax decisions based on precise geo-location in more than 12,000 taxing jurisdictions in the U.S.N/A
    Pricing
    ADP SmartComplianceAvalara
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    ADP SmartComplianceAvalara
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredOptional
    Additional DetailsPricing varies based upon modules deployed and features enabled.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    ADP SmartComplianceAvalara
    Considered Both Products
    ADP
    No answer on this topic
    Avalara
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    94%
    Would buy again
    77 Answers
    91%
    Would buy again
    152 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    95%
    Delivers good value for the price
    59 Answers
    87%
    Delivers good value for the price
    121 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    79 Answers
    91%
    Happy with the feature set
    156 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    94%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    31 Answers
    81%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    93 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    88%
    Implementation went as expected
    38 Answers
    73%
    Implementation went as expected
    96 Answers
    Features
    ADP SmartComplianceAvalara
    Type of tax
    Comparison of Type of tax features of ADP SmartCompliance and Avalara
    Feature
    ADP SmartCompliance
    8.7
    11 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Avalara
    7.4
    339 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Sales and Use Taxes8.25 Ratings9.1332 Ratings
    Cross-border Taxes8.37 Ratings7.471 Ratings
    VAT / GST Taxes9.11 Ratings5.960 Ratings
    Energy and Fuel Taxes9.11 Ratings7.426 Ratings
    Tax Reporting & Compliance
    Comparison of Tax Reporting & Compliance features of ADP SmartCompliance and Avalara
    Feature
    ADP SmartCompliance
    7.9
    52 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Avalara
    8.5
    317 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Geolocation for Tax Assessment7.213 Ratings9.3191 Ratings
    3rd-Party Software Integrations7.431 Ratings7.6253 Ratings
    Tax Data Reporting8.151 Ratings8.8283 Ratings
    Compliance Administration Management8.742 Ratings9.2216 Ratings
    Tax Exemption Processing7.620 Ratings8.4229 Ratings
    Tax Document Management7.843 Ratings8.1219 Ratings
    Complex Tax Scenario Management8.831 Ratings8.3151 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    ADP SmartComplianceAvalara
    Small Businesses
    TaxJar
    Score8.6 out of 10
    TaxJar
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    LOVAT
    Score10 out of 10
    LOVAT
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    CCH® SureTax®
    Score7.5 out of 10
    CCH® SureTax®
    Score7.5 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    ADP SmartComplianceAvalara
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.7
    (148 ratings)
    8.3
    (451 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.7
    (34 ratings)
    10.0
    (30 ratings)
    Usability
    7.1
    (43 ratings)
    8.9
    (443 ratings)
    Availability
    7.0
    (15 ratings)
    8.0
    (9 ratings)
    Performance
    6.7
    (15 ratings)
    8.0
    (9 ratings)
    Support Rating
    6.9
    (42 ratings)
    3.1
    (21 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.8
    (6 ratings)
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    Online Training
    7.2
    (10 ratings)
    9.0
    (4 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    4.5
    (28 ratings)
    10.0
    (198 ratings)
    Configurability
    6.6
    (13 ratings)
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    6.7
    (12 ratings)
    9.0
    (12 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    7.0
    (14 ratings)
    10.0
    (8 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.5
    (11 ratings)
    7.5
    (9 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.7
    (10 ratings)
    8.0
    (9 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    ADP SmartComplianceAvalara
    Likelihood to Recommend
    ADP
    We love our account manager Joanne Renova who goes above and beyond to make sure that we are well prepared for quarter and year end. She is the reason we are enjoying our experience with ADP thus far. SmartCompliance itself is fairly easy to navigate and has a lot of resources/links available to help & further knowledge.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Avalara
    I find Avalara to work very well if you are using a software system that is integrated with Avalara, and it is set up to calculate the tax and file the returns. It is very streamlined and efficient. It doesn't work as well if the tax is calculated elsewhere and you have Avalara filing your returns; the options for getting the tax info into Avalara are very limited.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    ADP
    • It helps us identify our employees who entered their account information incorrectly and get the payment reissued to them as quickly as possible.
    • It helps us quickly and securely issue payment to employees who terminate.
    • We efficiently get our garnishments processed to remain compliant.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Avalara
    • Sales tax rates at a "roof top" level
    • Has extensive research and documentation on telecommunications industry
    • Research is always up to date
    • The ability to ask questions and get clarification on specific situations with no limit as to how you ask a question and often get the answer the same day
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    ADP
    • ADP should have their SC employees better trained to give consistent answers about how to handle certain tax issues relating to the states. I seem to get a different answer multiple times.
    • It's difficult to distinguish between which cases/letters goes through ADP Workforce Now Service Connect and which cases go through SmartCompliance. I have been told differently on many occasions and will find a case in both places.
    • While many of the agency notices of tax rate changes, etc. are a very quick process and ADP "resolves" the case, I find other notices get lost in the shuffle when it doesn't fit exactly into the rate change bucket or the past due bill that says "Just Pay It". Some letters aren't that straightforward.
    Read full review
    Avalara
    • Avalara needs to be able to provide tax and legal advice, so we don't have to go to an outside source.
    • Some states we file in have more than just sales tax on the return. For example, Washington has B&O tax, tire tax, sales and use tax. It would help a lot if Avalara could report all of these taxes, so we don't have to file manually.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    ADP
    There is no other option on the table for us at the moment to go with a different vendor. We also have had very little issues processing with ADP that would make us want to look for a new vendor.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Avalara
    We need their help with filing and keeping track of things. It is very likely we are in the process of renewing right now. Autumn is our case manager and she has been a great help in keeping us updated on our usage and renewal. I feel we will be using this for a very long time.
    Read full review
    Usability
    ADP
    For the most part, one can get in and learn how to navigate the system by just clicking on one of the suject areas. If you have a good clientrepresentative, they will inform you of new features/functionality and give you a quick demo. This is helpful for one to go back in and navigate to learn how it works and usefulness.
    Read full review
    Avalara
    The UI is simple and straightforward. The site is organized in a manner that is easy to understand for beginners and experts alike. There's also tons of resoruces on Avalara University at your disposal to better understand how Avalara can work best for your business needs. I would recommend Avalara to anyone wanting to investment in the betterment of their business's sales tax function
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    ADP
    Exceptional Services Received during our Build . The teams of ADP Professionals assisted on a daily basis with tight deadlines and testing, each day , each Qtr. and annual processes including setting up local and State agencies for the 50 State we are reporting since our Workday go live 4/1/23. The process was seamless.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Avalara
    I have been using Avalara for years and do not remember ever having an outage during working hours. The service is accurate and dependable.
    Read full review
    Performance
    ADP
    If ADP is having issues, they communicate the problem within the solution once you log in. They also communicate that the issue will be fixed promptly. Reports run efficiently and in a reasonable amount of time. Also, the reports allow for various reporting types to be produced like a PDF or a Microsoft Excel file.
    Read full review
    Avalara
    We do have trouble tying Avalara's reporting back to our POS, but we just got a new POS system and there are bugs we are still trying to work out within the POS system. I do not believe this is an Avalara issue
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    ADP
    As mentioned in the last comment, everyone and everything has been great. However sometimes you get one person that I feel can bring a score down and the current dedicated tax representative I have I do not feel is very supportive.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Avalara
    In my experience, numerous questions, and particularly those regarding billing issues are just ignored, and it is impossible to get to someone to discuss. Your account manager will tell you they are taking care of it and then it just goes into a black hole.
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    ADP
    ADP also provide in person training which can fit into our schedule. The are flexible on timing. We always have a pack schedule and not able to attend training in person if not available. Not sure the in person training with recording that can share with us especially we can review it again and again
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Avalara
    I wasn't here when they first started with Avalara.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    ADP
    They have annual training for Smart Compliance, which is very helpful. We learn the most up to laws for various subject matters, like garnishments, payroll law, child support, state unemployment laws by states. We also earn credit toward certifications. The training is user friendly, and highly recommended. It can be done live or listened to at your own convenience.
    Read full review
    Avalara
    The documentation online we informative and helpful. The videos from the Avalara institute and the help tab if we have any questions and the search too were helpful. We like the ease of using the click here for more information tool about nexus and the information for the ECM Pro training were helpful. Whenever we have a question we normally get an email along with the tool as to where to find our answer. We also like that it shows information about nexus status of the states we maybe approaching and we can look more into it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    ADP
    Exceptional Services Received during our Build . The teams of ADP Professionals assisted on a daily basis with tight deadlines and testing, each day , each Qtr. and annual processes including setting up local and State agencies for the 50 State we are reporting since our Workday go live 4/1/23. The process was seamless.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Avalara
    The implementation team from Avalara was very knowledgable and did a good job of passing along information so that we could maintain the system and be able to make future changes ourselves. We had asked for some custom tax setup and they worked with us to get additional taxes set up that they didn't previously have. They worked with us to pull our documentation on tax rules and make sure those were included. I had hoped more scenarios would be there out of the box to cut down on the configuration time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    ADP
    ADP SmartCompliance was easily integrated with WFN and all of our employee data was in one place. We saw this as an advantage instead of having to log into multiple platforms, everything was quickly accessible to respond to a VOE or claim.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Avalara
    When I first started my position, we were already in the process of going into Avalara. I am unsure why our previous Controller selected Avalara, but I do believe it was because of the ease of use and aiding with determining nexus in states where we ship our products.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    ADP
    ADP has the ability to scale across departments. This was found to be true when we rolled out the wage payment solution. ADP users are able to view their pay stubs on their phones and/or computers. This wage payment portal offers W2 storage and paystub storage for access at any time by an employee.
    Read full review
    Avalara
    There is no change that has to happen as your company grows, Avalara continues to do it's job for any size company
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    ADP
    • The customer service phone service for the ADP Wisely service is very bad. No understanding or a language barrier is a very difficult service to deal with. Also working with them to correct a situation was impossible. It is basically non existent.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Avalara
    • The ROI with Avalara has been significant. We did not have to hire additional staff to manage sales tax. Before Avalara, when we managed taxes in-house, we constantly received late filing notices and paid related penalties. That all stopped once Avalara took over.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    ADP SmartCompliance Screenshots

    Product screenshot

    Avalara Screenshots

    Screenshot of the Avalara portal homepageScreenshot of returns, appearing in the Avalara portalScreenshot of transactionsScreenshot of reportsScreenshot of jurisdiction details