To manage this sales tax challenge, Robin and the VARC team have been recommending Avalara to their clients. Through its partnership with Avalara for Accountants, VARC Solutions can provide referral services to help clients adopt the right tax technologies for minimizing risk and increasing efficiency.
The VARC team has become Avalara Certified Implementers and is now qualified to implement Avalara software directly for clients.
Most of VARC’s clients are smaller businesses that may not know they’re at risk, or are just starting to realize it, perhaps after receiving a notice from a state agency. The VARC team usually starts with a sales tax risk assessment.
“When clients come to us needing help with bookkeeping or invoicing or payroll, we also guide the discussion through other critical areas of their business operations, and that increasingly includes sales tax compliance,” she says. “So many businesses are still noncompliant and would be hit hard by a sales tax audit. When they realize this, most are ready to take action. I think proactively helping clients with their sales tax needs will be a big part of our ongoing growth.”
Robin adds that when consulting with existing clients — especially when they’re expanding into new states — the reporting capabilities in the Avalara AvaTax application easily underscore the advantages of automated sales tax compliance.
“It’s so affordable to just let Avalara take over,” she says. “It’s seamless with the accounting programs; easy to set up; and handles state, local, and even special jurisdiction taxes. If it takes you an hour to do your sales taxes, with Avalara it will take about five minutes. If it takes you two days, how about one hour with Avalara?”
And that’s what Robin loves most: Referrals to Avalara allow her clients to get back to doing the work that moves their business forward, rather than devoting time to tax compliance.
“Avalara reduces your workload and dramatically decreases your risk,” she explains. “With Avalara’s proven integration with QuickBooks, it’s just a natural fit. Partnering with Avalara allows us to be a one-stop tax compliance shop for our clients, and I know that my dedicated account manager is always there for me.”
