A Press Release From - Barnett Marketing Communications

For Immediate Release 

Atlanta's Macdonald Consulting Group Forms Strategic Partnership

Sales Tax Service Provider Avalara Allies with MCG to Better Serve Small and Medium Businesses
  
Atlanta, Georgia, September 1, 2005 Macdonald Consulting Group (MCG), an Atlanta-based financial and business management software provider, has formed a strategic partnership with Avalara, the Web-service-based sales tax solution company. "We've carefully evaluated the sales tax management options available, and have selected Avalara to be our exclusive provider based on its ease of use, completeness, and ability to generate a rapid return on investment for our clients, according to Alicia Anderson, MCG's Client Relations Manager.

Explains Jared Vogt, Chief Executive Officer for Avalara, "MCG has extensive experience assisting small and medium businesses (SMBs) with their financial and tax management needs. They are a highly professional group of consultants with the knowledge and tools to help their clients deal with the onerous problems of researching sales tax jurisdictions and rates for cross-jurisdiction sales, as well as compulsory sales and use tax reporting, reconciliation, compliance and returns."

Simplifying Sales Tax Management

Avalara's sales tax service, AvaTax ST", is currently integrated with a spectrum of accounting systems commonly used by SMBs, including Intuit's QuickBooks®, Sage Software's MAS 90® and MAS 200®, ACCPAC International's Advantage Series", Epicor's iScala, Microsoft's Great Plains, Navision®, and MS Small Business Financials.  A Web-service-based solution, AvaTax ST instantly and accurately calculates sales tax in any of the more than 8,000 taxing jurisdictions in the U.S.; provides detailed, real-time reporting; and automatically generates pre-populated returns. Avalara also offers its partners and clients a Software Developer's Kit that enables the service to work with any e-commerce, third party or custom-built accounting system.

"Avalara is the first company to market that addresses the requirement that even SMBs must track and apply the hundreds of new sales tax regulations and changes that are enacted yearly, or risk a sales tax audit," said MCG's Anderson. "Unlike other software-based tax solutions, Avalara is low maintenance and does not require a significant IT investment. It's affordable, integrates with our clients' accounting applications, and does not impact their workflow."

Multiple, Complex Sales Tax Requirements

Avalara's Vogt agrees, "Factors such as product taxability, exemptions, amnesties and a myriad of statutory regulations, which vary from state to state, must be taken into account in the sales tax management process. For a growing company with a legal presence in multiple counties or states, sales tax quickly becomes highly complex and costly to manage." The ability to choose a real-time, Web-based-service like Avalara's means that successful companies no longer need to redirect their accounting resources away from growing and running a profitable business to focus on sales tax management and reporting.

Chip Schooler, Avalara's Regional Business Manager in Atlanta, adds, "As our business partner, MCG is responsible for working directly with clients and prospective end-users to ensure they receive the on-demand sales tax calculation services necessary to maximize their own business opportunities."

About Avalara

Headquartered on Bainbridge Island near Seattle, Washington, Avalara is changing the sales and use tax landscape by delivering innovative and affordable solutions to small and medium businesses. Led by a team of industry experts in sales and use tax, and security and information technology, Avalara is focused on providing the easiest, most accurate and affordable way for businesses to address all their statutory sales and use tax requirements. (www.avalara.com)

About Macdonald Consulting Group

MCG, with offices in Atlanta , Tampa, and Nashville, uses industry-leading technologies to deliver integrated financial solutions for its clients. MCG is also a dedicated partner of Sage Software, and was awarded "Sage Software Business Partner of the Year" in 2004.  Through in-depth assessment, planning and implementation, MCG works to ensure its clients receive the best tools, capabilities, and knowledge to compete in today's rapidly evolving business world. (www.mcginc.com)

SOURCE: Avalara

For more information, contact:
Daryl Toor, dtoor@attentiongroup.com, 770-777-9489