The CRUSH Files: Concur & Avalara — Partnering for Customer Success

For CRUSH AUSTIN 2017, Avalara’s national tax compliance conference May 2–3 in Austin, Texas, we sat down with Michael Lynd, director of channel marketing at Concur, a CRUSH Gold Sponsor and leading provider of easy-to-use business travel and expense management software. During the conversation, we found out about Concur’s connection to sales tax, a new trend in cloud-based technology, and why the company is sponsoring this year’s conference.

Companies want to meet their sales tax reporting and compliance requirements in as few clicks as possible. How is Concur making that happen, and what is unique about your product or service?

We’ve already made that happen by partnering with Avalara to create AvaTax for Concur, a cloud-based consumer use tax automation solution that automatically verifies taxes charged in invoices and calculates use taxes that are due. This is a great example of product integrations we undertake with leading business automation providers to offer our customers additional capabilities to manage their business beyond our core expense management solutions.

Tell us about a trend you’re seeing in cloud-based technology that is advancing the way we work.

There’s another shift coming, and that’s from cloud computing to microservices. For example, when you send over an email invitation to attend CRUSH and provide the dates, Concur can automatically decide from that thread to book travel out to Austin in order for me to participate in the conference. So, I don't have to personally go into Concur to book that trip — I simply have to authorize the travel details. I just go about my normal daily routine and the applications begin to act on my behalf, seamlessly.

Why did you sponsor CRUSH AUSTIN 2017, and what do you hope to get out of the conference?

Concur is participating to highlight our great partnership with Avalara and help customers pursue a common goal of making accounts payable automation and tax compliance less taxing.

Join Concur and other sponsors for CRUSH AUSTIN 2017, May 2–3 in Austin, Texas. Visit our website that includes all sponsors, conference sessions, speaker bios, location information, after-hours activities, and more!

Concur takes companies of all sizes and stages beyond automation to a completely connected spend management solution encompassing travel, expense, invoice compliance, and risk. Their global expertise, industry-leading innovation, and dynamic ecosystem of diverse partners and applications unlock powerful insights that help businesses reduce complexity and see spending clearly, so they can manage it proactively.