Tax season is in full throttle, and that means you and your business need to be prepared and compliant for your 2019 taxes. To offer a robust tax solution for our clients, CQL often partners with third-party sales tax providers, including TaxJar. TaxJar is a tax solution for sellers and merchants that automates sales tax calculations, reporting, and filings. TaxJar easily integrates with some of our premier commerce platforms partners, such as Magento and Shopify Plus. Whether you’re looking to start on a new platform or need a tax solution for your existing website, this third-party integration will set your business up for success. In this post, TaxJar professionals will outline the things you should consider when choosing a sales tax solution for your ecommerce platform.
TaxJar Breaks Down the Reasons to Outsource a Sales Tax Solution
Sales tax is typically not the first reason entrepreneurs tend to go into business for themselves, and once an ecommerce storefront is up and running, sales tax continues to be one of those burdens that no one wants to manage. That’s why it makes sense to outsource sales tax to a trusted provider and get back to managing your own business. While it might sound easy to just pick a sales tax software provider from a list, there are several things to consider, similar to implementing any other new technology.
Conduct an Internal Audit of Your Existing Ecommerce Platform
Before you choose an ecommerce sales tax solution, like with any integration, you’ll want to make sure you’re satisfied with your ecommerce platform and that it meets your current and future needs. To begin, perform an internal audit and consider the following questions:
- Where do you sell your products (online only, brick and mortar and online, marketplaces, etc.)?
- What operating platform(s) do you use, including what third party products integrate with this platform in order for you to conduct sales?
- Are you looking for an all-in-one solution, such as an ERP, to manage inventory and sales fulfillment?
- Do you plan to stay on your current ecommerce platform long term, migrate to a more advanced provider, or are you unsure?
All of these questions will help you when you begin evaluating ecommerce sales tax software, as well as for deciding which platform makes the best sense for your online business. Keep in mind that the experts at CQL can help you evaluate your current platform, and make suggestions on integrations for your sales tax needs.
Considering An All-in-One Solution is Ideal for Seamless Sales Tax Software Integration
If you’re choosing to upgrade or migrate, then you can choose between several ecommerce platforms that integrate with industry-leading merchants and allow you to operate a multi-channel business across multiple marketplaces. If you’re migrating and want maximum exposure combined with simplicity, you’ll want to make sure the solution you choose has integrations with the partners you currently use or plan to use. With CQL, this task is simplified as they integrate with multiple sales tax solutions on a variety of platforms such as Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Workarea, Magento, and Shopify Plus. If an all-in-one solution is not possible, conducting business is more difficult without software integrations directly built into the programs and systems you rely on for daily functions.
Ideally, having an all-in-one solution that lets you connect your marketplaces and storefronts with a sales tax calculator and reporting tool at checkout will provide a seamless experience for both the merchant and customer.
Evaluating Sales Tax Providers for Your Ecommerce Platform & Business
After you’ve identified your current needs and determined the right platform for your business, then you can begin to evaluate sales tax providers. TaxJar makes it easy to connect your store to marketplaces as well as import sales across the multiple channels where you sell. Their 30+ ecommerce sales tax integrations feature one-click integrations with the top ecommerce platforms and solutions. Customers are set up in minutes and automate all of their sales tax management, from calculations to reporting within their preferred platform.
Determining Where You Have Nexus Status with TaxJar
Next, you’ll want to make sure you take nexus into consideration. With 46+ states and districts enforcing sales tax and 41 with their own nexus laws, sales tax can be tricky from one state to the next. Although nexus is just a fancy word for declaring economic or physical activity within the state, it’s a complicated term that often wreaks havoc for remote sellers.
Determining where you have nexus will tell you where you have a sales tax responsibility. Choosing a sales tax partner that can manage your nexus status, alert you when you’re getting close to triggering nexus, and tell you where and how much sales tax you need to collect is a vital step in deciding the right sales tax provider. TaxJar’s Economic Insights allow you to import your sales tax history and immediately learn where you have nexus and a need to file sales taxes.
Auto-Filing Takes the Headache and Time out of Manually Filing Sales Tax
If the thought of keeping up with sales tax overwhelms you, you’re not alone. Automating and outsourcing sales tax collection is easy with software that will generate and file state reports for you. Saving you a minimum of five hours per state return, AutoFile from TaxJar allows remote sellers to focus on running their business and generating revenue while leaving sales tax to the experts. With some states having an average of 100+ pages in their returns, and as high as 10% late fee charges, automating sales tax collection is an easy decision. Customers can set-it-and-forget-it, ensuring their sales taxes are filed on time and accurately, every time.
TaxJar’s Dedicated Support Team Assists with Sales Tax Collection
Finally, TaxJar simplifies the migration process one step further with dedicated onboarding support. Because sales tax is not inherently familiar to most ecommerce sellers, TaxJar provides leading educational resources, customer support, and demos to guide customers through the process. As a result, businesses can seamlessly execute a heightened experience for their customers that simplifies the checkout process with accurate sales tax collection. TaxJar also makes it easy with simple, straight-forward pricing.
Contact CQL for Information on Implementing TaxJar with Your Ecommerce Platform
Much like TaxJar’s theory on automating your taxes, integrating your platform with a sales tax solution doesn’t need to be manual and difficult for your technical team(s) – or you as a business owner. The ecommerce development experts at CQL are well versed in implementing third-party integrations like TaxJar and are here to help integrate your sales tax solution on our premier ecommerce platforms. For more information on how to integrate TaxJar with your platform, contact CQL today.
