Not terrible, work elsewhere if you can - Anonymous employee Avalara Employee Review

2.0
Sep 28, 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

BBQs during the summer, subsided bus passes, nice coworkers (obviously depends which department you work), easy work and very laid back environment. Stock options are a nice bonus. Unless you're in a department like sales/account management where you have to hit certain goals, you pretty much have to be a complete moron to get fired (this can be a con also).

Cons

Benefits and pay are below industry standards. No 401k match. Stock options take forever to vest, if you are lucky enough to receive them. Most departments do not receive bonuses or pay raises (I know one employee who has been with the company for 8+ years and has had the same salary for 4+ years), and performance reviews are a joke. Nepotism is rampant. Upper management will pick favorites and then continually promote those people, despite the fact that they are completely unsuited for the roles. Relatives and friends are also hired and given preferential treatment. For the majority of employees, you'll be working on Bainbridge Island, which adds an hour each way to your commute. I know quite a few people that want to transfer to the Seattle office, but space is limited and most end up stuck on Bainbridge. Middle management, while nice people for the most part, are generally unsuited for their roles. This goes back to the nepotism comment above. Your coworkers are typically just there to get a paycheck and/or experience, and most are looking for better jobs. Avalara asks hew hires to write them favorable reviews on Glassdoor, which is why most of the reviews here are quite positive. If you are thinking of working at Avalara, I would definitely take time to read through the reviews, it should be pretty easy to recognize which ones were written by people that literally just started working here. Before HR started asking new hires to do so, the company's ratings were considerably worse (which is why HR started asking in the first place).

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Avalara Response
11y
I am sorry that you did not have a good experience with us. I did want to clear up some inconsistencies in your email and our practices. We do have an annual review process and merit is based on performance. We encourage all of our employees to share their feedback on Glassdoor because so many of our new hires tell us that they found it helpful. We want people to have a realist view of our company and our employees can provide that…this is what we encourage. Based on internal survey results and our thriving culture, most employees truly enjoy working here. Lastly, our strongest referrals come from our employees and we do encourage that, whether they are friends, former co-workers, relatives or neighbors. First and foremost, we look for people that will thrive and contribute to our culture. There is a reason our employees wear Orange with pride and make the commute to Bainbridge Island every day to be part of our Company. We do wish you well in your future employment.

Explore other reviews about Avalara

5.0
Jun 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good org Solid product Good middle mgmt.

Cons

Like every SaaS org direction as a whole is a bit turbulent Needs to figure out how to properly lean into Enterprise

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Avalara Response
4w
Thank you for sharing your experience at Avalara. We appreciate your perspective and are glad to hear you’ve had a positive experience with the team and the work. We also value your thoughtful feedback as we continue to improve and grow. We’re grateful to have you on our orange team.
4.0
Jul 17, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Is Avalara a great place to work? It depends on the team you are on. Pros: - I love my team. I have great co-workers. I feel like leadership to the VP level understands the value we bring and advocates for our work throughout the company - I like being able to go into the office and see people and bounce ideas around - My manager is always pushing me to learn new things and get out of my comfort zone - We just got a new CEO and I am super excited about him and his vision. Everyone who has actually been in meetings with him is excited too.

Cons

It depends on the team you are on. Cons: - Some teams are not as curious/helpful as others. I often have to check and recheck the work they do, after I have chased them multiple times to even complete the work - The layoff fear is real, the idea that at any point your position could be eliminated because they want to keep that revenue per headcount KPI down is everywhere

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