AkuCert Frequently Asked Questions

AkuCert works with nearly every ERP system we’ve encountered.  If your ERP accepts API, then we can offer powerful integration into your ERP.

Yes.

Depending on your ERP and the size of your data, we can implement in as fast as a few days.

Our tax professionals are happy to answer your questions and will typically do so within 1 business day. Technology is great but sometimes the expert human touch is what we need. We understand that.

Unfortunately, that’s not entirely accurate. While you’re not required to “verify” their information such as their identity, etc., you are required by the State to “validate” the certificate, meaning that the certificate is on the proper form, all required fields are fully completed, it meets state specific guidelines, etc. The State expects you to act on their behalf in this role. Should you be audited, the State will be fining YOU for the sales tax liability. While you could go back to your customer and attempt to collect that unpaid sales tax, it’s a significant challenge to do so for a number of reasons.

We allow an unlimited number of users with our software license of AkuCert.

Our team is the key to our software.  Our tax professionals, specializing in exemption certificates, are well versed in the complexities of certificate validation; keeping up to date with the ever-changing rules and regulations that vary widely between states.  Our team of experts constantly researches and updates the criteria for our validation standards to ensure the highest level of compliance.  Simply upload your documents into AkuCert and leave it to us!

Yes. There are 7 to 12 aspects on each certificate that you need to be certain are correct.  There are also more than 12,000 different jurisdictions to adhere to and each state has a myriad of documents, so be sure that each customer of yours is using the proper document as well. 

Yes! We can validate your certificates to help reduce your exposure under audit and costs related to certificate maintenance.

The AkuCert validation services cost JUST $5 per certificate.

There are 3 basic criteria that qualifies a customer for exemption: 1) If the entity is sales tax exempt, they may use an exemption certificate, 2) if the product or service will be used in a sales tax exempt manner, or 3) if the buyer has a Direct Pay agreement with the state.

AkuCert is backed by a team of tax professionals and mounds of research. It’s designed to help your business reduce its sales tax audit liability, give you peace of mind that it’s all done correctly to the letter of the law, and give you the best value for your money.

AkuCert fully automates this process. It sends automatic notifications to your customers 30, 60, and 90 days prior to a certificate expiring. If there is ever an issue with an email reaching its intended destination, those notifications are forwarded to you. Additionally, AkuCert has a robust reporting system to help manage any potential status changes on a certificate such as expirations.

If you are audited, the hard copy method will be cumbersome and arduous, and it will frustrate your auditor. A frustrated auditor isn’t usually a friendly auditor. Secondly, when documents are only available in hard copy formats, it’s difficult to stay on top of the expiration dates, changing form requirements in the various states, etc. Our experience has proven that the most mistakes happen when the hard copy method of management is used.

Programs such as Excel still require man hours to manage the data. AkuCert is so much more than a glorified spreadsheet. It’s intuitive and customizable in ways that your spreadsheet is not. By automating the communications with your customers, it ensures that no expiration dates will be missed. AkuCert also keeps the image of the certificate with the line item of data, meaning that if an audit happens, with a couple of clicks you can export the data and associated pdfs to send to the auditor; quick and simple!

We understand that the drawback of most resale exemption certificate management software on the market is PRICE. AkuCert is priced significantly less than the industry standard, provides so many additional features, AND saves a significant amount of man hours. We do this because we want to give a quality product that is truly helpful to businesses in all stages of growth. Whether you’re a small office with only a few team members or a national brand, we want you to have access to the best product possible.

We use the same security protocols that Amazon does for their own server. Your data is secure and is backed up daily by a state-of-the-art secure data center like the banks use.

Our team of experts work to keep up with the ever-changing rules and updated forms in every jurisdiction throughout the U.S. and Canada.  We then push the pertinent updates to your AkuCert Message Center on the Dashboard.  Stay in the know just by logging in!

We have the most complete library of state certificates available to you in our AkuCert software.

Our web-hosted API will smoothly integrate with your CRM, ERP, in-house solution, or tax determination software, so no additional equipment is needed.

We provide a secure upload link for your customers to use. Just scan and upload instantaneously. It’s even mobile friendly! The certificates are then mapped to the customer’s accounts.

Our software is so intuitive that we’ve found that it only requires about 15-30 minutes of training. Additionally, AkuCert has a Help section with “How To” manuals for the commonly used features.

Typically, certificates are validated within 24-48 hours. However, if a faster validation is required, our team is available from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. EST. With one quick email or phone call, you can have a certificate validated within the same business day, if not a couple of minutes where possible.

Our tiered pricing is based on the number of exemption certificates (resale certificates) that you would need to manage. Please contact us for specific pricing for your unique needs. But this we can share with you: in most cases, we are significantly less expensive than our competitors.

Simplicity is our goal. AkuCert’s reporting module is intuitive and nearly every line item of data, including images and PDFs of certificates, is fully exportable making data collection almost instantaneous for those dreaded audits.

All our calls are answered by tax professionals on a U.S. based team. If your call cannot be answered immediately, then we return all calls within 24-48 hours.

Polling and marketing research experts have discovered that half of all audit exposure was the result of missing or incorrect exemption certificates.

Even with good processes in place to collect certificates at the point of sale, maintenance is often lacking, creating potential audit liabilities. Additionally, we’ve found that on average between 25-50% of on-hand certificates collected are invalid.

Experience has shown us that when it comes to maintenance automation is the key to success. Expiration dates require constant attention and Invalid certificates may need multiple follow ups. AkuCert can track those with ease and automatically notify your customers.

Polling and marketing research experts have found that exemption certificates (resale certificates) are amongst the most time-consuming and costly challenges facing tax, finance, and IT teams today.

There’s no way around it, Exemption Certificate Management is a HUGE job! It requires a lot of time and resources from your team, that in today’s climate is likely already stretched thin. Our tax professionals have the training and resources to remove this burden, allowing your internal team to get back to what they’re best at. Ultimately, not only will AkuCert save them time, but it will also save your business from incurring unnecessary audit liability. AkuCert gives you the best of both worlds; a team of experts who are only an email or phone call away and automated maintenance which gives you the peace of mind that comes from knowing nothing is being missed!

Not only do we provide rapid implementation of our AkuCert software, but we make our tech support readily available to you. We also provide a simple-to-use resource guide within the software itself for all users to access. Our AkuCert software is very user-friendly. The user interface is designed with simplicity and accessibility in mind.