In this episode of the SALTovation podcast, we speak with Maria Tringali, who is in new business sales at Avalara focusing on CertCapture and API integrations, and our very own Judy Vorndran. Maria talks about the benefits of technology and how it can meet the needs for businesses. She also discusses the problems she has seen with businesses in regards to technology and how she helps them adapt. Listen to what challenges she sees are coming for taxpayers in 2021.
Questions asked and answered in this Episode:
- How did Maria Tringali end up at Avalara?
- What problems have Maria seen with businesses in regards to technology?
- How does she help people overcome these problems?
- How do you streamline automating exemptions certificates?
- How do you reconcile old processes and new technologies?
- How did she get success in getting companies to buy in the certificate product?
- How do they respond to those who don’t want to register and be exposed to sales tax?
- What challenges does Maria see for taxpayers in 2021?
What You Will Discover:
- [00:44] How Maria Tringali end up at Avalara
- [02:49] The technology problems Maria has seen business struggle with
- [05:42] Who she is talking to in the organization to get the information
- [11:48] How they use software to help facilitate exemptions
- [14:34] How to streamline automating exemptions certificates
- [19:43] One advantage of CertCapture
- [24:17] How to reconcile old processes and new technologies
- [26:47] How she got businesses to buy into the certificate product
- [34:33] How they respond to people who don’t want to register
- [37:37] The effects of the Wayfair decision
- [40:11] The challenges Maria sees for taxpayers in 2021
- [47:18] Some fun facts about Maria
Quotables:
- “Another thing that we get is that people only want to automate part. They don’t want to automate everything. They only want help with this one little thing that’s bugging them and so it’s our job as salespeople and consultants and also as CPAs to say ‘but we need to look at the whole umbrella here.’” - Maria Tringali [05:07]
- “What I want to get the sales people to realize is it’s all money to the business, which is all money to share to make the business better, to be more successful.” - Judy Vorndran [20:54]
- “In general, automation is not going to be so strict that you won’t be able to also leverage some of your favorite, or whatever, workarounds or unique situations that you need to.” - Maria Tringali [25:39]
- “I think that’s where the stress is, right? Can we actually do this ourselves or are we out of our knowledge? Can my credit manager actually know how to do this and have the time to do this?” - Maria Tringali [29:03]
- “To me, I would mitigate risk by filing, doing it correctly as fast as you can. Never going to get 100%, but you can get close, and then you can just sleep at night.” - Judy Vorndran [34:54]
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