Avalara Captures Two Stevies in 2016 American Business Awards Competition

CEO Scott McFarlane and Avalara TrustFile Sales Tax Return Service Awarded

Seattle, WA – June 21, 2016 – Avalara, Inc., a leading provider of tax compliance automation for business, was honored with two Stevie® Awards in the 14^th Annual American Business Awards competition held in New York on Monday night.

The American Business Awards are the nation’s premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S. are eligible to submit nominations – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. More than 3,400 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories.

Avalara Founder and CEO Scott McFarlane was named a Silver Stevie Award Winner for Executive of the Year - Computer Services. Avalara’s TrustFile solution won a Bronze Award for New Product or Service of the Year - Software - Cloud Application/Service.

According to panel of judges, McFarlane was selected for his drive, excellent accomplishments, and entrepreneurial spirit. “Automating sales tax, while not flashy, is something so many businesses can benefit from,” commented one panel member.

McFarlane became a successful serial entrepreneur – founding, growing and selling three different businesses over 30 years – by blending strategic vision with rigorous operational discipline to create companies with one-of-a-kind cultures that disrupt the status quo and solve customer problems in large markets with significant unmet demand.

McFarlane co-founded Avalara in 2004 to address a huge need – and changed the nature of transactional tax automation forever – by delivering the first SaaS transactional tax solution for businesses of all sizes.

“It’s an honor for Avalara to be recognized alongside so many outstanding individuals and companies,” said McFarlane. “The Stevie Awards are an exceptional way to recognize those who do what they love – and change the course of business in the process.”

Avalara launched TrustFile Online in 2015 to provide small businesses and ecommerce merchants with a simple, affordable sales tax reporting and filing solution. TrustFile was recognized with a Bronze Stevie Award for New Product or Service of the Year for addressing an overlooked need for small merchants in a growing space.

“Sales tax is a big headache for organizations, especially if they are operating in multiple states,” commented one judge. “Sales tax rules are complex to understand and keep changing from time to time. Avalara TrustFile can take care of an organization’s sales tax-related issues and helps organizations to concentrate their energies on generating sales.”

Organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry submitted more than 3,400 nominations this year for consideration in a wide range of categories. More than 250 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this year’s Stevie Award winners.

“The judges were extremely impressed with the quality of entries we received this year. The competition was intense and every organization that has won should be proud,” said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards.

Details about The American Business Awards and the list of 2016 Stevie winners are available at www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

About Avalara

Avalara helps businesses of all sizes achieve compliance with transactional taxes, including VAT, sales and use, excise, communications, and other tax types by delivering comprehensive, automated, cloud-based solutions that are fast, accurate, and easy to use. Avalara’s Compliance Cloud™ platform helps customers manage complicated and burdensome tax compliance obligations imposed by state, local, and other taxing authorities throughout the world.

Avalara offers hundreds of pre-built connectors into leading accounting, ERP, ecommerce and other business applications. The company processes millions of tax transactions for customers and users every day, files hundreds of thousands of tax compliance documents and tax returns per year, and manages millions of exemption certificates and other compliance related documents.

A privately held company, Avalara’ s venture capital investors include Sageview Capital, Battery Ventures, Warburg Pincus, Technology Crossover Ventures, Arthur Ventures, and other institutional and individual investors. Avalara’s headquarters are in Seattle, WA and it has offices across the U.S. and London, England; Brussels, Belgium; and Pune, India.

About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 60 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.