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CPA & advisory firms
Tax compliance operations
Multi-client, multi-state sales tax on one record. Worksheets fill themselves from client data, variances are flagged, senior review is mandatory, and the audit package builds itself as the cycle closes.
Who this is for. Tax partner or tax manager running sales and use tax or state and local tax for many clients across many states.
The problem today
Sales tax for a book of clients is a coordination problem wearing a technical problem's clothes. The calculation is rarely the hard part. Chasing client data, tracking which client is registered where, remembering which deadlines moved, and getting a senior pair of eyes on each return before it files: that is where the month goes.
Most firms run it on spreadsheets and email. That caps how many clients a preparer can carry, puts the review step wherever there is time rather than where risk is, and leaves an audit trail that has to be reconstructed rather than exported.
What we deliver
A client record with nexus profiles
For each client, the states they are registered in, their filing frequency and their existing registrations, held as a record rather than as institutional memory. Existing client data from your current tools can be exported and mapped in.
A filing calendar covering every state
Deadlines pre-loaded for all fifty states and adjusted for each client's filing frequency, with custom dates where a client needs them. Color-coded by urgency and viewable by staff member so you can see workload as well as deadlines.
A compliance cycle that opens itself
A new cycle opens for every active client at the start of each month and moves through five steps in order: client data intake, reconciliation and preparation, senior review, file and pay, then reconciliation and close. Steps unlock in sequence, so a junior preparer cannot skip ahead.
Worksheets that fill themselves
Client data arrives through a portal under your firm's brand, and the worksheet populates with prior periods, source totals, prepayments and carryforwards. One row per return, grouped by state, with gross, taxable and tax due.
Variance flags for the reviewer
Period over period movements outside the range you set are flagged. Your senior reviewer looks at the flags rather than re-performing the work, and every flag must be acknowledged before sign-off.
Import files for the engine you already run
The workflow generates import files in the format your returns engine expects, and tracks filing and payment status through to confirmation on the other side.
Nexus alerts before an obligation starts
Client activity is monitored against state thresholds, so a client hears about a new obligation before it triggers rather than after they have missed a filing.
Exemption certificates and notices tracked
Certificates tracked per buyer with expiry alerts and audit export. State notices land in one place with their status visible, so clients stop asking by email.
An audit package built as you go
Every decision, override, sign-off and carryforward is logged as the cycle runs, and exports in one step when it closes.
What agents do, and what your team approves
What the agents do
Agents reconcile client data into the worksheet, carry prior periods forward, calculate the variances, prepare the import file, and track filing status to confirmation.
What they never do
The firm signs the returns. Senior review is a mandatory step in the workflow rather than a convention, every variance flag has to be acknowledged before sign-off, and every action is attributed to a person in the audit trail.
Systems we work with
- Vertex
- UltraTax CS
- Excel
- QuickBooks
From past work
What we have built
We built and operate the sales tax practice platform behind this, used by firms running multi-state compliance for a book of clients. It covers unlimited states, pre-loads deadlines for all fifty, and sits alongside the returns engine the firm already pays for rather than replacing it. Separately, we have automated SALT return preparation and tax engine import file preparation for firm clients.
Questions we get
Who signs the returns?
The firm does. Nothing about this moves professional responsibility, and nothing files without a senior reviewer signing off inside the workflow.
Does this replace our returns engine?
No. You keep using your engine for rate calculation and return preparation, and this handles the workflow, the client portal and the practice layer around it. The import file is generated in your engine's format. Native return generation for the highest volume states is on the roadmap, and we will tell you plainly when it is available rather than before.
Which states do you cover?
All of them, with no per-state limit, and filing deadlines are pre-loaded for all fifty. Local and special district jurisdictions follow whatever your returns engine supports, since that is where the rate calculation happens.
How do you handle exceptions?
An exception stops the cycle rather than passing through it. Variance flags have to be acknowledged, missing client data holds the step it belongs to, and both are visible on the practice board so a partner can see which client is blocking.
What if a junior preparer makes a mistake?
The steps unlock in sequence so a preparer cannot skip review, senior sign-off is mandatory, and every action is logged. Mistakes become visible and reversible rather than discovered at audit.
Can clients upload data without another login to manage?
Yes. Per client you choose a full portal login or a passwordless upload link, and both feed the same workflow. The portal carries your firm's brand and sends from your domain.
Related
- Client accounting automationClient bookkeeping and reconciliations run with far less manual work.
- Sales tax complianceMulti-state sales tax filed accurately and on time.
- Indirect tax complianceSales tax and VAT prepared from ERP data and ready for audit.
- All CPA & advisory firms workBusy season runs on overtime and a handful of senior people.
- How we workRead the books, design for agents, ship them, train your operators, then run and improve.