Avalara acquires developer of CertCapture Exemption Certificate Management System

Avalara has acquired Tax Technology Services (TTS), a provider of cloud-hosted, sales tax exemption certificate management technologies. The acquisition fits with Avalara’s existing products, which include automated online sales tax management and compliance systems.

Before the acquisition, Avalara was already a leading provider of certificate management systems and with today’s announcement, the company will significantly enhance its share of the market.

TTS is the developer of CertCapture, which acquires, maintains, and retains exemption and resale certificates, use tax certificates, W-9s, excise tax, and other time sensitive documents. With databases that scale into the millions, CertCapture integrates with virtually any Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), tax decision software, or custom-developed business system to provide customer exemption status in real time.

The CertCapture technology and customer base will augment Avalara’s own offering. It is the most comprehensive solution available for certificate management and is widely used by businesses of every size, from Fortune 500 enterprises and multi-level corporations to small and mid-size companies throughout the U.S.

“Our aim is to be the clear leader in every market we enter,” said Avalara CEO Scott McFarlane. “We already had a preeminent position in certificate management, taking on more new customers every year than the rest of the market combined. The addition of TTS, with its excellent technology, strong customer base, and leading experts in the industry extends our lead and solidifies our position.”

Avalara’s purchase of TTS comes on the heels of recent acquisitions designed to accelerate the company’s drive to become the undisputed leader in sales tax content. Last month, Avalara purchased UPC Matrix Master, the world’s largest product taxability database, as well as tens of thousands of fully researched and maintained product tax codes from leading industry partners.

“Avalara is building an amazing set of cloud solutions that serve the compliance needs of a broad band of America’s commercial enterprise,” said Silvia Aguirre, TTS Principal. “We are thrilled to join them and believe our technologies and expertise are a perfect fit. We’re set to dominate this arena in the same way Avalara already leads the sales and use tax market.”

Pat Falle, Avalara’s SVP of Sales, agrees. “Avalara pioneered the service-based platform for sales tax automation and we’ve spent the last eight years perfecting the fastest, easiest, most accurate and affordable way to manage indirect taxes,” said Falle. “Avalara is establishing a new standard for exemption certificate management, while raising the bar for the entire compliance and automation industry in the coming years.”

As a result of this acquisition, all 25 former TTS employees will join Avalara’s team and will continue to work from offices in Raleigh, North Carolina.

In addition to retaining this office, Avalara currently has offices in Bainbridge Island, WA, Seattle, WA; Irvine, San Diego and Rocklin, CA; Falls Church, VA; Raleigh, NC; Harrisburg, PA; and Pune, India. The company’s products support taxation laws in 72 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific Rim. It serves tens of thousands of registered users globally and calculates VAT, sales and use taxes on one billion transactions annually.