Snowflake streamlines global tax with Avalara
Results
Better compliance
Efficiency gains
Reduced costs
Summary
Results
- Better compliance
- Efficiency gains
- Reduced costs
Tax challenges
- Compliance risk
- Tax complexity
- Manual costs
Products used
Company overview
Customer
Snowflake Inc.
Industry
Technology services
Tax type
Sales and use
Integrations
Avalara Connector for Workday
The Snowflake Inc. Data Cloud solution enables organizations to unite siloed data, securely share data, and power data applications for diverse AI/ML and analytic workloads. Wherever data or users live, Snowflake delivers a single data experience that spans multiple clouds and geographies.
Tax challenges
Snowflake faced significant challenges with its previous tax compliance provider as it expanded globally. The system was plagued by high error rates due to inaccurate address validation and inefficiencies. This task was time-consuming for the Snowflake billing team to fix. Ricardo Rodriguez, Senior Manager of Indirect Tax at Snowflake, explains, “We realized that our billing team was maintaining our tax engine and conducting research and mapping far outside their primary scope.” This misallocation of responsibility for managing and correcting errors led to compliance risks and inefficiencies, prompting a need for change.
As global operations grew, the existing setup struggled with the complexity of diverse tax regulations across multiple jurisdictions. Snowflake recognized the urgent need for a more robust, streamlined, and scalable tax solution that would save them time, prevent operational bottlenecks, and maintain compliance effectively.
Why Avalara?
Snowflake turned to Avalara for answers. Riaan du Preez, Senior Director of Financial Systems, says, “[We needed a solution] that supported Snowflake’s internally developed tax web services without the need for customizations or significant custom rules or overrides.”
Highlighting the technical integration into their existing back-office systems, Riaan notes, “Utilizing the Workday Tax Framework, Avalara developed a real-time integration (with the v5 connector) that supports both goods and services.” This enhances accuracy in tax calculations, boosting operational efficiency.
The partnership with Avalara strengthens client relationships for Snowflake by increasing trust and satisfaction through reliable and accurate tax handling, essential for business growth.
Customer
Snowflake Inc.
Industry
Technology services
Tax type
Sales and use
Integration
Avalara Connector for Workday
Tax challenges
- Compliance risk
- Tax complexity
- Manual costs
Products used
“Avalara has significantly reduced manual tasks, errors, and custom, complex regulations for us, minimizing the time our team spends maintaining data workflows.”
—Ricardo Rodriguez,
Senior Manager of Indirect Tax
“Avalara has significantly reduced manual tasks, errors, and custom, complex regulations for us, minimizing the time our team spends maintaining data workflows.”
—Ricardo Rodriguez,
Senior Manager of Indirect Tax
Results
Avalara’s integration has streamlined Snowflake’s processes by automating tax calculations and updating invoices in real time, improving efficiency and compliance across multiple jurisdictions. This automation supports Snowflake’s expansion without adding risk.
Ricardo adds, “Avalara has significantly reduced manual tasks, errors, and custom, complex regulations for us, minimizing the time our team spends maintaining data workflows.” Initially expecting implementation to take a year, Snowflake was pleased that it was accomplished in just six months. Then, they were able to roll out the integration to three countries much sooner.
Avalara has bolstered Snowflake’s client relationships by ensuring accurate and dependable tax handling that encompasses comprehensive reporting and filing tools. With detailed tax performance and compliance analytics, Snowflake makes well-informed decisions. The marked improvements in process efficiency, compliance accuracy, and user satisfaction underscore the value of Avalara’s solutions in handling complex tax requirements for global enterprises like Snowflake.
