When Your Sales Tax Software Quits, You Need People

Their Sales Tax Software Quit. The Problems Didn't.

In 2020, Volcom's sales tax software provider stopped delivering. Missing capabilities, no customer support, returns backing up. For a company operating across brick and mortar, ecommerce, and wholesale distribution with multiple entities and a global footprint, that's not a minor inconvenience. That's compounding liability.

Alyssa Dao and Amy Dietrich, who run accounting and finance at Volcom, knew they needed to fix it fast. The longer bad software stayed in place, the bigger the cleanup would be. Back returns were piling up. Rate calculations were off, meaning tax collection was wrong. And with several acquisitions on the horizon, they needed a compliance partner they could actually trust, not another tool that would leave them stranded.

How Two Returns Turned Into a Four-Year Partnership

Volcom didn't hand us everything on day one. That's not how trust works, especially with taxes.

We started with Canadian returns and Colorado local filings. Small scope, fast turnaround, no dropped balls. Alyssa and Amy felt the difference immediately. Responsive, experienced, and flexible in a way that software never could be. They brought us further in.

120+ Returns. 4 Mergers. Zero Dropped Balls.

We started with a full diagnostic of where things stood: what had been filed incorrectly, what was missing, and where the rate calculation software was producing wrong results.

From there we got to work across every layer:

• We cleaned up 120+ back and amended returns that had accumulated under the previous provider, eliminating the liability that had been building.
• We reconfigured their rate calculation software so taxability results were accurate and tax collection was correct going forward.
• We rebuilt their monthly reporting so the data Alyssa and Amy were working from was actually reliable.
• We took over state account management entirely, handling notices, letters, and correspondence so Volcom's team never had to.

Then the acquisitions started. Over four years, Volcom went through multiple mergers and acquisitions. We handled sales tax compliance for every single one, start to finish, without pulling their internal team into the weeds.

More Time. Zero Sales Tax Problems.

Four years in, Volcom's finance team has their time back. No more chasing down notices. No more reconciling bad data. No more scrambling through an acquisition trying to figure out what states they just inherited liability in.

Alyssa and Amy can focus on running the finances of a global brand. That's exactly what they should be doing.

If you're a multi-entity brand dealing with a software provider that isn't cutting it, or heading into an acquisition and worried about what's hiding in the sales tax, this is exactly the kind of work we do.

Schedule your call. It's free.