Press Release 

Avalara Ships MAS 500 Interface

SMB’s Most Effective Sales Tax Solution Now Market-Ready for Sage MAS 500 Users

SAAS On-Demand Sales Tax Rate Calculation Means No More Costly Sales Tax Software
Headaches for MAS 500 Users

Bainbridge Island, Washington, March 9, 2006:  Avalara (http://www.avalara.com) has announced that an interface of their innovative AvaTax™ with Sage Software’s MAS 500 ERP – developed by Sage MAS 500 Master Developer, Baker Consulting LLC – is now shipping. This integration is now available for users of Sage’s award-winning Sage MAS 500 accounting software package.  This interface joins other already-deployed Avalara/Sage interfaces, including – Sage Software’s Sage MAS 90 ERP, Sage MAS 200 ERP and Sage Accpac ERP. Avalara is the nation’s only on-demand SMB sales tax solution provider.

“Sage Software produces some of the most effective accounting-software packages designed for the small and mid-sized business market,” according to Jared Vogt, Chairman and CEO of Avalara.  “Because we exclusively serve the SMB market, it has always been part of our business plan to integrate fully with Sage’s range of accounting systems.  This, however, is the first edition of AvaTax Connect™ - our custom linkage system between AvaTax and an accounting software package – to be developed by a third-party integrator. It is also the first AvaTax Connect developed using AvaTax SDK™ Avalara's software developers' kit.  We count ourselves fortunate to have an industry leader like Danny Baker break new ground with development of our first third-party-developed integration, and to have him focus on the exceptional Sage MAS 500 accounting package.”

“Providing Sage’s MAS 500 users with a new time-saving tool for their accounting procedures enables us to better serve our clients and assist in their continued growth,” said Danny Baker, Principal of Baker Consulting.  “The reason this integration is important is that the AvaTax Connect linkage we created allows Sage MAS 500 users to increase efficiency and reduce audit risk, while freeing up their accounting staff to focus on other initiatives.  With such clear-cut benefits to the accounting and operational aspects of business, and with Avalara’s highly competitive pricing in mind, making the investment in bringing this product to market was a no-brainer. With our development of the Sage MAS 500 link to AvaTax, we have enabled a new class of companies to enjoy an extremely affordable solution for their sales and use tax calculations, not only within our client base, but nationally as well.”

Creation of this interface was made possible through AvaTax SDK, a software developer’s kit initially used primarily by clients who needed to have AvaTax’s distinctive functionality built into their e-commerce transaction engines.  Early innovators to use this SDK feature include USA Today Online, Wayport and Lehi Roller Mills.

“Our SDK was developed in response to client demands,” Vogt explained, “but as soon as we were able to put it out on the market, we began discussions with leaders among third-party accounting software developers, seeking to create integrations such as the elegant solution Danny Baker developed for the AvaTax/Sage MAS 500 interface.  With this success as our model, we are actively working with other third-party developers to create new market-ready, fully-licensed accounting software integrations.”

”Our first Sage software integrations were market-ready in July, 2004,” Vogt explained, “and with the shipping of Danny Baker’s AvaTax/Sage MAS 500 interface, we have completed the process of integrating with each of Sage’s SMB-market ‘Sage MAS ERP’ accounting packages.”

About AvaTax™
An SMB market-leading, Web-service-based sales tax solution, AvaTax instantly and accurately calculates sales tax for clients in any of the more than 8,000 taxing jurisdictions in North America. AvaTax provides detailed, real-time reporting and automatically generates pre-populated sales tax returns.  Currently, more than 2,000 licensed AvaTax users run more than 4.5 sales tax calculation transactions per second.

AvaTax is the most comprehensive, full-service, automated sales tax solution available to the SMB market space, eliminating forever the need for Avalara’s clients to do rate lookups, tax detail research and tax schedule creation. AvaTax makes the hassle of filing returns and remittances go away too.   AvaTax performs all of these tasks, and does so more affordably than any other solution on the market today. AvaTax  comes integrated with SMB financial applications serving more businesses than any other solution on the market today, including Intuit’s QuickBooks, Sage Software’s Sage MAS 90 ERP, Sage MAS 200 ERP, Sage MAS 500 ERP and Sage Accpac ERP; Epicor’s iScala; and Microsoft Dynamics™ GP (formerly Great Plains) and Microsoft Dynamics™ NAV (formerly Navision), both from Microsoft Business Solutions.  Additionally, with AvaTax On-Demand™ developers can integrate Avalara’s sales tax Web service with any e-commerce, third party or custom-build solution with use of a comprehensive Software Developer’s Kit (SDK). 

About Avalara
Headquartered on Bainbridge Island near Seattle, Washington, Avalara is changing the sales tax landscape by delivering innovative and affordable solutions to small and mid-sized businesses. Avalara’s mission is to transform the tax process for our clients by creating cost-effective, state-of-the-art solutions. Avalara does so through integrated on-demand, Web-based services that provide transparent transactions, accurate tax compliance, painless administration and effortless reporting. 

For more information about Avalara, contact:

Ned Barnett, ned@barnettmarcom.com, 702-696-1200
Daryl Toor, dtoor@attentiongroup.com, 770-777-9489