Drop, an Italian technology company, has signed up to with Avalara’s core software solutions for tax calculations and returns. The Italy-based company has been helping retailers sell for 20 years. Drop’s customers’ products are shipped to buyers around the world, including Australia, Canada, Singapore, the UK, and the US. Avalara is a provider of cloud-based tax compliance automation for businesses of all sizes. Drop expects the Avalara’s software will improve compliance and save time.
Prior to automating its tax processes, Drop operated in the eCommerce space and calculated sales and use tax, VAT, and GST manually. The company found this a heavily manual process and a headache for Drop’s team, accuracy was also an ongoing issue. In 2022, Drop received notification that it exceeded tax thresholds in Canada and the US. The company was required to register to collect tax within certain Canadian provinces and US states. The company researched for internet for tax compliance providers and asked partners for recommendations.
“We sought a tax compliance provider that integrated with our internal software and major eCommerce platforms in the market. We leverage all of the major platforms to run our business. So, Avalara was the clear choice for our tax compliance needs,” said Stefano De Angelis, Project Manager at Drop. “Since implementing Avalara software, Drop has reduced the time we spend on tax compliance. This has been reduced from two business weeks a month to three to four days a month. This is a 65% gain in efficiency for our global business!”
Supporting global tax compliance
Drop calculates tax on nearly 10,000 transactions a year using Avalara AvaTax. The company files more than 150 returns annually using Avalara Returns. One of the top benefits of using Avalara Returns is Drop’s ability to make a single payment each filing period. This is required to remit tax in the 22 US states where it sells and another for Canada.
“Companies, like Drop, who are growing globally trigger new tax compliance obligations by simply expanding into new countries and channels,” said Liz Armbruester, EVP of Customer and Compliance Operations at Avalara. “Avalara’s specialised tax compliance solutions support a company’s growth and are available in more than 75 countries. With our robust partner integrations, AvaTax, our core product, seamlessly plugs into existing platforms. This automates day-to-day compliance for tens of thousands of companies around the world. As a result, making compliance faster and easier.”
Enterprise Times: What this means for businesses
Avalara is one of those companies that has quietly been perfecting its solution. Tax compliance is one of the most challenging activities US enterprises or businesses selling into the US. Activities such as calculating tax rates across the US states and even separate tax requirements for counties within a state is hard work. Filing accurate returns demand meticulous attention. Any mistake or error can result in compliance issues, financial consequences, and intensive audits. Avalara has been successfully building its business, winning contracts across various industries and sectors. In addition, getting its solutions embedded into a variety of financial tools such as Xero and Sage. So, it appears upwards and onwards for Avalara.