Sales tax compliance
Nexus analysis, state registration support, filing-ready monthly schedules, exemption certificates, and audit support — for e-commerce, SaaS, and service businesses with multi-state exposure. Post-Wayfair, it’s no longer optional. Delivered by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, on your QuickBooks data.
Intuit certifications
Every engagement is reviewed by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor (QuickBooks Online Level 2, Payroll) — verification on request. Intuit’s ProAdvisor program becomes ProPartner Accountants in early 2027; the certifications continue.
Sales tax compliance is the recurring operational work of determining where you owe (economic + physical nexus), registering with each state, collecting at the right rates, filing on each state’s schedule, remitting, managing exemption certificates, and answering notices and audits. TechBrot runs the records side, led by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and reconciled to your QuickBooks data: We keep the sales-tax records, reconciliations and schedules your tax professional needs to file; we do not file returns. $250–$1,500+/month by state count.
Sales tax compliance is the ongoing operational work of determining where a business owes sales tax (economic and physical nexus analysis), registering with each state and local jurisdiction, collecting tax at the right rates, filing returns on each state’s schedule, remitting collected tax, managing exemption certificates, and responding to state notices and audits.
The 2018 South Dakota v. Wayfair ruling created economic-nexus rules — most states now require collection once a business exceeds thresholds like $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions (specifics vary). Most multi-state U.S. small businesses, e-commerce sellers, and SaaS companies now have obligations they didn’t have before. TechBrot delivers the records side of compliance as a recurring engagement — we keep the sales-tax records, reconciliations and schedules your tax professional needs to file; we do not file returns — $250–$1,500+/month by state count and complexity — integrated with monthly bookkeeping for clean transaction-level data. Initial nexus analysis and registration are quoted as one-time engagements.
Multi-state · all 50 states + local jurisdictions · coordinated with tax counsel when required. Not affiliated with Intuit Inc.
Direct online sales hit economic-nexus thresholds in 5–15 states within 1–2 years for most growing brands. Unlike marketplace sales, marketplace-facilitator laws don’t apply — you collect and remit directly.
Marketplace-facilitator laws shift most collection to the marketplace — but FBA inventory creates physical nexus in storage states, and direct sales outside the marketplace still trigger your own compliance. A common confusion zone.
SaaS taxability varies wildly — some states fully tax, some fully exempt, some apply conditional rules. A multi-state SaaS company typically needs jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction taxability analysis to know where collection is required.
Once a business has customers across more than 10 states, the probability of economic-nexus exposure approaches certainty. The question becomes which states — not whether.
State sales-tax notices are routine outreach, not adversarial — but ignoring them compounds the problem. A notice typically means the state believes you have nexus and wants registration to begin.
Sales-tax exposure is one of the first things diligence teams examine in M&A and capital events. Unreported liability can materially affect valuation or kill deals. Quantifying exposure before diligence beats during.
Your tax professional files and remits. We keep the sales-tax records, reconciliations and schedules your tax professional needs to file; we do not file returns. The records side is run by a named operator on a team led by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor with multi-state sales-tax experience, under firm-level quality review. For VDAs, audits with significant exposure, or tax-position disputes we coordinate with state-specific sales-tax counsel — operational compliance is ours; legal representation runs through licensed professionals.
On each state’s own due date, by your tax professional. Our monthly cadence feeds it: data capture & reconciliation (days 1–7), return schedules prepared (days 7–15), filing-ready handoff to your tax professional ahead of each state’s schedule (days 15–25), then notices & nexus monitoring (days 25–31). We keep the sales-tax records, reconciliations and schedules your tax professional needs to file; we do not file returns.
Yes — and it has to. Filings are only as accurate as the transaction data underneath. Sales-by-state flows from your QuickBooks file (plus Shopify/Amazon) into the return schedules your tax professional files from and reconciles to the books monthly, which is why running it with our monthly bookkeeping removes the reconciliation gap entirely.
Three places: Amazon FBA inventory (creates physical nexus in storage states even when the marketplace collects), expired or missing exemption certificates (B2B sales become taxable retroactively in audit), and mixed revenue streams (product + SaaS + marketplace each taxed differently per state).
A state-by-state taxability map for your specific revenue mix — where you have nexus, where you must register, and what each state taxes. It usually takes 1–2 weeks and is a one-time engagement ($500–$3,000) separate from the monthly retainer.
Before 2018, sales-tax obligations followed physical presence — a business owed sales tax in a state only if it had a location, employees, or inventory there. Out-of-state e-commerce sellers had no general obligation where they had no physical footprint.
In June 2018, the Supreme Court’s decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. overturned that physical-presence standard, allowing states to impose obligations based on economic nexus — sales volume or transaction count alone. Within months, most U.S. states adopted economic-nexus rules, typically pegged to thresholds like $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions in a calendar year (specifics vary and have shifted).
The practical result: most U.S. small businesses operating across state lines now have multi-state sales-tax obligations they didn’t have before 2018 — and most haven’t caught up. Quantifying exposure is the first step; compliance going forward is the second. A nexus review usually takes 1–2 weeks and produces a state-by-state map of where you stand.
The post-Wayfair nexus framework: before 2018, sales-tax obligations followed physical presence — a location, employees, or inventory in a state. South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. (June 2018) replaced that with economic nexus: a state can require you to collect once you exceed its threshold — typically $100,000 in sales OR 200 transactions in a calendar year (specifics vary by state and have shifted). Layer on marketplace-facilitator laws (the platform collects on marketplace sales, but FBA inventory still creates physical nexus) and most multi-state small businesses now have obligations they didn’t have before 2018 — and most haven’t caught up.
General guidance — specific taxability depends on each state’s rules, your revenue mix, and customer location. The nexus review produces a state-by-state map for your situation.
Compliance load: High. Direct sales mean you collect and remit in every nexus state — no marketplace-facilitator coverage. Economic nexus typically triggers in 5–15 states within 12–24 months.
Watch for: Sales through your own site vs. marketplace platforms run on different rules — track both streams from day one.
Compliance load: Moderate. Marketplace-facilitator laws shift collection to the platform, but you still register in physical-nexus states, report marketplace sales in some states, and handle direct-sale compliance.
Watch for: FBA inventory in a state typically creates physical nexus — independent of economic nexus — even when the marketplace collects.
Compliance load: Highly variable. Taxability differs more by state for SaaS than any other category. Jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction analysis required — some states fully tax, some exempt, some condition on B2B/B2C or hosted/downloaded.
Watch for: SaaS taxability rules change more often than physical goods — annual review is part of standard SaaS compliance.
Compliance load: Lower, rising. Many states tax specific services (digital services, data processing, advertising) even when general services are exempt. Taxability is state- and category-specific.
Watch for: States are progressively expanding service taxation — what’s exempt today may be taxable in 2–3 years.
Compliance load: Moderate. Most B2B sales are exempt with proper exemption-certificate management — but the certificate work itself is operational overhead. Storage and inventory locations create physical nexus.
Watch for: Exemption-certificate management is the largest operational risk in B2B — missing or expired certificates create taxable transactions retroactively in audit.
Compliance load: High. Businesses combining product sales, service revenue, SaaS, and marketplace sales need each stream analyzed separately — different taxability rules in each state.
Watch for: Mixed businesses are where most sales-tax exposure hides. Stream-by-stream analysis is essential.
Prior-month sales pulled from QuickBooks, Shopify, Amazon, and other platforms. Sales by state and jurisdiction reconciled. Marketplace-facilitator transactions separated from direct sales. Tax-collected vs. tax-due variances identified.
Return schedules prepared for each state with filings due that month. Local jurisdiction breakdowns calculated. Exemption certificates verified for any non-taxed transactions. Threshold tracking updated.
Schedules and reconciliations handed to your tax professional ahead of each state’s required schedule; they file and remit. Filing confirmations stored with the books. State-specific issues (rate updates, schema changes) handled.
State notices reviewed and responded to within service windows. Economic-nexus thresholds monitored across all states. New nexus warnings flagged. Monthly compliance summary delivered.
Sales-tax filings are only as accurate as the transaction data underneath them. When compliance runs separately from bookkeeping, the same problem recurs: sales-by-state in QuickBooks doesn’t match sales-by-state in the filing system. Reconciliation gaps multiply each month, filings end up wrong, notices arrive, and audits find variances.
When TechBrot delivers both monthly bookkeeping and sales tax compliance, the integration is built in: transaction-level data flows from QuickBooks into the return schedules your tax professional files from, those schedules reconcile to the books monthly, and year-end packages flow to your CPA without rework. We keep the sales-tax records, reconciliations and schedules your tax professional needs to file; we do not file returns. The combined cost is materially lower — not because either is cheaper in isolation, but because the reconciliation cost disappears.
One-time work (a nexus review at $500–$3,000; state registration, SaaS taxability, and VDA coordination per exposure, each as one fixed fee scoped in writing) is quoted separately; filing software passes through at vendor pricing.
Fixed fee, scoped in writing
For: 1–3 state compliance, single revenue stream, no marketplace complexity, simple products or services.
Most common
Fixed fee, scoped in writing
For: 4–15 state compliance, multi-channel e-commerce, marketplace + direct sales, service businesses with multi-state exposure, growing SaaS.
Fixed fee, scoped in writing
For: 15+ state compliance, complex multi-stream businesses, SaaS with full taxability mapping, B2B with significant certificate work, regulated products.
Every TechBrot sales tax compliance engagement is led by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor with multi-state experience and delivered directly by TechBrot, in your own QuickBooks file. For engagements involving Voluntary Disclosure Agreements, audits with significant exposure, or tax-position disputes, we coordinate with state-specific sales-tax counsel or CPAs. TechBrot’s role is operational compliance and documentation; legal representation and tax-position defense run through licensed professionals. The split is clean and stated up front.
“They took something that felt overwhelming to me as a first-year business owner and made it simple.”Verified client review · Food & Beverage · Verified Clutch engagement
The standard, every file
The natural pair. Sales-tax returns depend on accurate transaction data — integrated bookkeeping + sales tax eliminates the reconciliation gap.
Multi-state payroll pairs naturally with multi-state sales tax — the same nexus analysis informs both. A common bundle for e-commerce and SaaS.
Sales-tax configuration is part of every setup — multi-state nexus and rate management are designed during setup, not bolted on later.
For growth-stage businesses, sales-tax exposure is a CFO-level concern — affecting M&A diligence, margin reporting, and capital-event readiness.
Nexus, registration, collection, and filing — the whole cycle, and where QuickBooks tracking goes wrong.
Every state’s economic-nexus threshold against your own sales, so you know where you owe before a notice tells you.
280E, cash handling and inventory in a business banks will not always touch.
Register to deposit, shrinkage, and inventory that has to agree with the books.
Settlement reports as the source document, not the bank deposit.
Payouts net of fees, refunds and marketplace tax — recorded so the margin is real.
The same engagement, written for the state’s own rules — sales-tax, payroll and registration wrinkles included. Delivered remotely in your own QuickBooks file; every state is served from the state directory.
By industry:Saas · Agency · Retail · not sure where your file stands? Start with the free QuickBooks file review.
Talk to a ProAdvisor
No sales script. You speak with a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor who has looked at files like yours — and you get a written fixed-fee scope within three business days.
Tell us what’s wrong with the books. We’ll tell you whether cleanup, catch-up or monthly bookkeeping fits.
Call (877) 751-5575. If we miss you, a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor returns your call within one business day. Written fixed-fee scope within 3 business days. No hourly billing.
Send a few details and a Certified ProAdvisor replies within one business day. Or just call (877) 751-5575.
A free 30-minute call, then a nexus review that produces a state-by-state map of where you stand — in writing, with a fixed-fee scope for compliance going forward, before any work begins.
Tell us what’s wrong with the books. We’ll tell you whether cleanup, catch-up or monthly bookkeeping fits.
Call (877) 751-5575. If we miss you, a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor returns your call within one business day. Written fixed-fee scope within 3 business days. No hourly billing.