FrontStream initially relied on manual, Excel-based processes to manage sales tax compliance. However, as the company grew and expanded its presence across states, compliance became increasingly complex. At first, the company attempted to address this with a tax automation solution. But the solution it selected created major inefficiencies in certificate management and system performance, generating more work for the finance team rather than less.
Thanh Nguyen, Senior Accounting Manager, saw firsthand how the clunky interface and unreliable functionality of that system delayed operations, reduced efficiency, and introduced risk, particularly in managing exemption certificates. “We would upload tax certificates from our customers into our tax automation solution,” Thanh explained. “And sometimes they’d upload correctly, but other times they wouldn’t. The system was clunky and prone to errors — it slowed us down instead of helping.” Within a single year, Thanh led the implementation of two tax solutions — first with that vendor, and then quickly pivoting to Avalara when it became clear the original solution couldn’t deliver on exemption certificate management.
