Boy Scouts of America
Results
Increased compliance
Managed exemptions
Improved processes
Cost savings
Summary
Results
- Increased compliance
- Managed exemptions
- Integrated systems
- Improved processes
- Cost savings
Tax challenges
- Compliance risk
- Process inefficiency
- Disparate systems
- Exemption management
Products used
Avalara AvaTax
Dynamically delivers sales and use tax calculations, based on the latest rules and rates in our tax engine, to a shopping cart or invoicing system at the time of purchase.
Avalara Returns
Automatically gathers data from AvaTax to prepare and file sales and use tax returns and remit payments across multiple jurisdictions every filing cycle.
Avalara CertCapture helps businesses collect, store, track, and utilize exemption certificates.
Benefits
- Simplified tax calculation and filing
- Eliminated significant effort
- Peace of mind with compliance
Industry type
Company overview
Customer
Boy Scouts of America
Industry
Non profit
Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) continues to educate and develop leadership qualities in youth with an emphasis on outdoor skills and character. Its staff of about 250 people design and create programs that are rolled out by councils and volunteers nationwide.
Everything the councils and their scouts need — books, badges, uniforms, and gear — are available for sale online at www.scouting.org.
Tax challenges
Boy Scouts of America used two different tax compliance systems, one tied to a point-of-sale system for external sales, and the other tied to a point-of-sale system for internal sales.
The compliance system tied to external sales was particularly problematic. “I was really unhappy with how it worked,” says Marnie Harris, who has led the organization’s tax team for nearly 40 years. I spent lots of time every month reconciling issues.”
“I’d have to pull out boxes, download reports, and collect data from disparate systems,” she says.
“In 2011, I started looking for a better system. When I found Avalara, I fell in love with the product.”
Why Avalara?
Marnie was impressed by AvaTax’s reliable calculations, and its ability to accommodate special exceptions, like GSC codes, for nonprofits. The reporting was detailed and easy to understand. At the same time, BSA was in the process of migrating to a new point-of-sale system - Mi9 Retail. Mi9 is a partner of Avalara, which Marnie saw as an additional selling point. They were also able to utilize AvaTax for their ecommerce sales using Magento 2 and for the national camps using Big Commerce software.
Customer
Boy Scouts of America
Industry
Non profit
Tax type
Sales and use
Integration
- Mi9 Retail
- Magento 2
- PeopleSoft
- BigCommerce
Tax challenges
- Compliance risk
- Process inefficiency
- Disparate systems
- Exemption management
Products used
Avalara AvaTax
Dynamically delivers sales and use tax calculations, based on the latest rules and rates in our tax engine, to a shopping cart or invoicing system at the time of purchase.
Avalara Returns
Automatically gathers data from AvaTax to prepare and file sales and use tax returns and remit payments across multiple jurisdictions every filing cycle.
Avalara CertCapture helps businesses collect, store, track, and utilize exemption certificates.
Benefits
- Simplified tax calculation and filing
- Eliminated significant effort
- Peace of mind with compliance
Industry type
Non profit
“Reports that used to run for four days now take less than a day, so there’s a minimum savings of three days every month.”
—Marnie Harris
Tax Team Lead
“Reports that used to run for four days now take less than a day, so there’s a minimum savings of three days every month.”
—Marnie Harris
Tax Team Lead
Results
Since implementing AvaTax and CertCapture, Marnie reports that participating in audits has become much easier. “The reports I need are saved, so I just pull the periods needed,” she explains. “All of our certificates are online. Everything is in one place.”
Along with the increased ease, Marnie says that in a recent audit, BSA did not owe a penny.
“Month in and month out, I’m saving tons of time,” she adds. “Reports that used to run for four days now take less than a day, so there’s a minimum savings of three days every month. My deadline is the fourth day of every month, and I used to push that to the last hour. Now I’m done on the second day.”
