CPA Practice Advisor - 10

REVIEW: SALES TAX SYSTEMS

By Mary Girsch-Bock

The Common Denominator is Sales Tax

ticular jurisdiction. However, if you sell throughout the U.S.
or abroad, your sales tax management just became a lot
more complicated.

AVALARA TRUSTFILE

X

CFS TAX SOFTWARE

*X

EFILESALESTAX.COM

**X

X

D
FOR
M
SUP S
POR
TE

DAT
A
OP T OU T P U
IONS T

T

X

AC C
O
IN T E UN T ING
GR A
T ION

DAT
A
M A N B A SE
AG E
MEN

AFTER-THE-FACT

remittance as well, particularly since
it's been estimated that, currently,
there are more than 12,000 sales and
use tax jurisdictions in the U.S. alone.
To complicate matters, many cities
and states have instituted sales tax
holidays at certain times throughout
the year, not to mention the fact that
tax rates change on a regular basis, so
this needs to be appropriately tracked
as well.
That's why sales and use tax
software has become more popular,

MUL
I
SUP TPLE S
POR TAT E
T ED
S

Tracking sales tax is certainly
not anything new, but the explosion
in online selling platforms such as
eBay, Etsy, and Amazon have made
this once easy process a lot trickier,
with merchants now needing to be
able to collect the appropriate tax
from a customer based on their delivery location; which is why having a
method in place that will calculate the
appropriate tax to be collected is vital.
It can also help if that same system
can assist with tax reporting and

X

X

X

AFTER-THE-FACT
■■ Avalara Trustfile
■■ CFS Tax Software
■■ efileSalesTaxcom

X

X

STA
R
R AT
ING

chances are you only need to track sales tax for that par-

HEL
P
SUP &
POR
T

sales tax. If you sell solely in your city or state of residence,

MUL
T
M A N I-COMP
AG E A N Y
MEN
T

services to your customers, the common denominator is

and more necessary, than ever before.
These products are designed to
minimize the impact that proper tax
collection and remittance has on your
business, with some of the products
even offering overseas tax collection
and filing options.
In this issue, we looked at 9
products, all offering varying levels
of features and functionality, which
have been divided into two categories:
After-the-Fact systems that small
businesses can use to file their taxes,
and Automated systems that integrate
with a business' sales and financial
systems to automatically assign, post
and manage sales taxes on transactions, and prepare returns as needed.

REP
O
OP T RT ING
IONS

IF YOU OWN a business, whether you sell items or provide

4.75

X

X

X

X

X

X

4.25

X

X

X

X

X

4.25

X

X

5

X

X

4.75

X

X

5

X

X

5

X

X

5

X

4.5

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

VERTEX CLOUD

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

CCH SALES TAX OFFICE

*X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

TAXJAR

X

X

X

X

X

X

NOVEMBER 2019 ■

www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

STA
R
R AT
ING

X

ONESOURCE INDIRECT TAX

10

CON
S
TA X UMER
R EP USE
ORT
S
HEL
P

ING
ORT

GR A
T ION

X

X

*With add-on module

X

X

X

CCH SURETAX

X

REP

AVALARA AVATAX

IN T E

AUTOMATED SYSTEMS

AU T
O
FIL IN M AT ED
OP T G / PAY M
IONS EN T
TA X
RUL
DAT
A BA ES &
SE
SAL
ES T
A
E XE
M X
M A N P T ION
AG E
MEN
G EO
T
LO C
CA P AT IO
A BIL N
IT Y
A DD
R
V ER ES S
IFIC
AT IO
N
VAT

*California & New York Only
**California, Colorado, Florida and Illinois Only

X

AUTOMATED SYSTEMS
■■ Avalara AvaTax
■■ CCH Sales Tax Office
■■ Thomson Reuters ONESOURCE
Indirect Tax Compliance
■■ CCH SureTax
■■ TaxJar
■■ Vertex Cloud Indirect Tax

RELATED PRODUCT
■■ Bloomberg Sales and Use Tax Rates
and Forms
A separate chart for each of the
categories is included in the issue,
where we look at the availability of
features including:
■■ Is the sales tax database automatically updated or does it need to be
updated by the user?
■■ What are the integration options?
D o es t he produc t of fer go od
integration options with third-party
accounting applications?
■■ What type of forms are supported by
the application?
■■ Does the product handle multiple
businesses? (a must for accounting
firms that may be handling tax for
a variety of clients).
■■ What kind of reports are available?
■■ Does the product offer electronic
filing or remittance options?
■■ Does the product offer address
verification?
■■ Is sales tax exemption certificate
management available?
Whether you're a retailer looking to get a better handle on your
customer's sale tax, or an accounting
firm looking for a streamlined way
to handle sales tax and remittance
for your clients, the reviews in this
issue can help point you in the right
direction. ■
Mary Girsch-Bock is a freelance writer
specializing in business and technology
issues and is the author of her first book,
several HR handbooks, training manuals,
and other in-house publications. She can
be reached at mary.girschbock@cpapracticeadvisor.com
http://www.EFILESALESTAX.COM http://www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
CPA Practice Advisor

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