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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    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

    Intuit Lacerte

    Score9.4 out of 10
    N/AIntuit Lacerte is an Income Tax Compliance system, providing forms, tax planning support, as well as document management and document storage.

    $400

    Pricing
    AvalaraIntuit Lacerte
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Lacerte REP (Fast Path Only)
    $400
    Lacerte 200 - Federal 1040
    Contact for pricing
    Lacerte Unlimited Modules
    Contact for pricing
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    AvalaraIntuit Lacerte
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    AvalaraIntuit Lacerte
    Considered Both Products
    Avalara
    No answer on this topic
    Intuit
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    91%
    Would buy again
    152 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    87%
    Delivers good value for the price
    121 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    91%
    Happy with the feature set
    156 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    81%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    93 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    73%
    Implementation went as expected
    96 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    AvalaraIntuit Lacerte
    Type of tax
    Comparison of Type of tax features of Avalara and Intuit Lacerte
    Feature
    Avalara
    7.4
    339 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Intuit Lacerte
    8.5
    2 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Sales and Use Taxes9.1332 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Cross-border Taxes7.471 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    VAT / GST Taxes5.960 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Energy and Fuel Taxes7.426 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Tax Reporting & Compliance
    Comparison of Tax Reporting & Compliance features of Avalara and Intuit Lacerte
    Feature
    Avalara
    8.5
    317 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Intuit Lacerte
    9.7
    3 Ratings
    21% above category average
    Geolocation for Tax Assessment9.3191 Ratings9.92 Ratings
    3rd-Party Software Integrations7.6253 Ratings7.93 Ratings
    Tax Data Reporting8.8283 Ratings10.03 Ratings
    Compliance Administration Management9.2216 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Tax Exemption Processing8.4229 Ratings10.03 Ratings
    Tax Document Management8.1219 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Complex Tax Scenario Management8.3151 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    AvalaraIntuit Lacerte
    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
    AvalaraIntuit Lacerte
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.3
    (451 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (30 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.9
    (443 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    8.0
    (9 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    8.0
    (9 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    3.1
    (21 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.0
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (198 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    9.0
    (12 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    10.0
    (8 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    7.5
    (9 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.0
    (9 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    AvalaraIntuit Lacerte
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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
    Intuit
    This software is great for a tax preparer that wants the whole package from organizers to customer returns with letters and invoices. This is the best software with everything combined together. For new tax preparers looking for expensive software and are willing to some items (invoices) organizers, scheduling) through other means, Intuit Lacerte might be too expensive. But once the practice grows the time saved having all the “bells and whistles “ is worth every penny!
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    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
    Intuit
    • K-1 transfer capability
    • Supports more than 5,700 tax forms - federal and all state forms
    • Year-round e-filing
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    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
    Intuit
    • Technical glitches
    • Frequent software updates
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    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
    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    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
    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Reliability and Availability
    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
    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    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
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    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    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
    Intuit
    Lacerte customer service has been great. They are very knowledgeable about the product and can help resolve problems quickly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Avalara
    I wasn't here when they first started with Avalara.
    Incentivized
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    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    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
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    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    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
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    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    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
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    Intuit
    I’ve heard other tax preparers talk about their software and their likes and dislikes. When I offer to show them Intuit Lacerte most are blown away by what it does. One preparer used ProConnrct online tax (also by Intuit), and she loves how easy Intuit Lacerteis to use. She said having live support (not chat) to actually be able to show issues and work through them was great. Both programs use the same calculations, but the extras (trial balance, organizers with prior year data, invoicing, scheduling, filters, etc) are what makes Intuit Lacerte the best!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    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
    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    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
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    Intuit
    • Able to process client requirements faster
    • Docusign feature a big plus
    • Lacerte Diamond Passport fees is highly priced at 17.5K USD + fastpath additional per user. They could consider to bring down the cost so that it works out lucratively.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Avalara Screenshots

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