This blog was last updated on January 23, 2024

It’s no secret 2020 was a year of personal and professional disruption, requiring rapid adaptation. So long, office happy hour. Hello Zoom quarantinis!

Of course, businesses have been adapting just like each of us.

You may have been growing your online sales… perhaps quickly. Maybe you’re selling into states you’ve never done business in before or are selling products you never stocked prior to COVID-19.

Change can be great, but it can come with a cost: As online sales go up and your inventory expands, the complexity of your sales and use tax rises, too. When your business shifts quickly, sales and use tax can quickly become hard to manage.

Combining rapid business growth with a sales tax solution that doesn’t have your back when you need it to — that’s when the unpleasant surprises can really start adding up.

Surprise!

What kind of frustrating surprises do companies find lurking in their sales and use tax filing process?

Well, let’s just say if it’s not one thing, it’s another, even when you’re using a cloud-based solution that supposedly has all the bases covered. Any of these surprises sound all-too familiar?

• Unaccounted-for changes in sales tax rates
• Lack of visibility into the data behind each determination
• Inexplicable jumps in subscription costs
• Add-on costs for routine services
• Throttled customer service
• Sluggish follow-up
• Technical glitches
• Out-of-date forms

Not only might you be unpleasantly surprised by these problems, you may end up spending so much time on ensuring accurate tax filings, despite the automation, that you can’t focus on other aspects of the business — or take time for yourself.

You shouldn’t have to put up with all that.

You deserve to eat lunch without simultaneously searching for sales tax filing forms. You should be able to do a yoga session that isn’t accompanied by technical support hold music. You should be able to sign off on your sales tax determination without needing a nap afterward.

What your SUT solution should do for you

Here’s a pleasant surprise: It doesn’t have to be like that.

Modern sales and use tax filing should — and can — be robust, streamlined, and error-free. The results you receive should be data-rich and transparent, so you can trace each determination back to its source. Billing should be consistent and customer service on-point.

You can start with filing as a way to manage many of the surprises. But you don’t have to stop there: You could grow from filing to a complete solution that incorporates determination, continuous transaction controls (CTC) compliance, and tax reporting. It should maintain up-to-the-minute compliance and integrate with your entire financial software ecosystem.

A solution like this would eliminate all the unpleasant surprises that too often crop up during your sales and use tax processing, and allow you to grow and expand with confidence.

Sales and use tax filing can be no problem in 2021

Your growing business needs to be able to comply with the many applicable tax laws related to your expansion. Perhaps you suddenly have nexus in several new states. Maybe you’re selling a new product that is taxed differently in various states. Or maybe you’re moving into B2B sales and have to handle exemption certificates in bulk.

These are all signs of exciting shifts in your enterprise, but they are also triggers for new complications in your sales and use tax compliance. But with a tax solution that really works for your business, you’ll be able to take on all that growth without a hiccup.

Seriously, sales and use tax filing can be no problem, no matter how fast you grow. You just need a platform that has your back.

Download our guide to learn what it looks like to avoid unpleasant and all-too common sales and use tax surprises.