Sales Tax | Returns
Ten states, ten return shapes, one set of books.
Taxable, exempt and out-of-state sales split per jurisdiction and drafted into the shape each state asks for, including the local breakdowns some of them require. Every figure drills back to the invoices that produced it, so the person signing can check the number rather than trust it.
What the system does
Capability, input, output.
| Capability | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Draft per state | Invoices for the period, sourced per state | A return draft in that state's shape, with gross, exempt and taxable split |
| Local breakdown | Sales by county, city or special district | The local schedules for states that require them, from the same data |
| Exempt substantiation | Exempt sales for the period | Each one tied to the certificate covering it, with uncovered sales flagged first |
| Marketplace deduction | Facilitated sales settled by a marketplace | Reported and deducted where the state requires it, rather than omitted |
| Use tax line | Accruals for the period | The use tax figure carried onto the same return, traceable to the bills |
| Review and sign-off | A completed draft | A reviewer record against the period, kept with the filing confirmation |
| Amendments | A correction after filing | The amended position and the original, both kept, with the reason recorded |
-
Draft per state
- Input
- Invoices for the period, sourced per state
- Output
- A return draft in that state's shape, with gross, exempt and taxable split
-
Local breakdown
- Input
- Sales by county, city or special district
- Output
- The local schedules for states that require them, from the same data
-
Exempt substantiation
- Input
- Exempt sales for the period
- Output
- Each one tied to the certificate covering it, with uncovered sales flagged first
-
Marketplace deduction
- Input
- Facilitated sales settled by a marketplace
- Output
- Reported and deducted where the state requires it, rather than omitted
-
Use tax line
- Input
- Accruals for the period
- Output
- The use tax figure carried onto the same return, traceable to the bills
-
Review and sign-off
- Input
- A completed draft
- Output
- A reviewer record against the period, kept with the filing confirmation
-
Amendments
- Input
- A correction after filing
- Output
- The amended position and the original, both kept, with the reason recorded
Filing FAQ
What buyers ask.
Do you submit the return to the state for us?
We draft it, evidence it and hold the sign-off. Submission routes vary by state and several of our customers already use a filing service or their accountant for that step, so we do not require you to change it. Where a filing is submitted elsewhere, the confirmation is recorded back against the period so the record stays complete.
Some of our states want county and city detail. Is that covered?
Yes, and it is the part hand-built spreadsheets fail on. Local breakdowns come from the same sourced invoice data as the state total, which means the schedules reconcile to the summary by construction rather than by someone checking that they do.
What happens when a figure looks wrong?
You click it. Every number on a draft is a link back to the invoices behind it, so a variance is investigated in the return rather than in a separate query against the ledger. That is the difference between a draft you can sign and a number you have to trust.
How are credits and returned goods handled?
Credit notes reduce the period they belong to, and where a credit relates to a sale in an earlier filed period, the treatment is surfaced rather than silently netted. States differ on whether that is a current-period adjustment or an amendment, which is a decision your advisor should make with the facts in front of them.
We file in one state today and expect to file in twelve. Does the work scale?
That is the case this is built for. The drafting is the same work regardless of count, because it comes from the invoices. What does not scale is the spreadsheet approach, which is roughly linear in states and is where most teams find the wall.
See your next state return drafted from your books.
Connect your books, free. The return drafts from what you have already posted, with every figure traceable to the invoices behind it.