My roots in accounting started when I became a bookkeeper for my family’s business. Among other traditional duties, I began filing multi-state sales and use tax returns in what was the “Age Before the Internet”, (which some people reading this might not even have experienced, and now I feel old). It was during this family job I realized—with some surprise—that I liked accounting. So, I took the next logical step: getting my degree.

After several more bookkeeping jobs and many a late night studying, I finished an associate degree in business from Salt Lake Community College in 1997. I then applied for a position with a direct seller of decorative rubber stamps. Fancy, I know. It was a $45 million sales company and growing and, frankly, I got the job because I was the only one among five other candidates with any multi-state sales tax experience.

The company had to file sales tax returns in every jurisdiction in the U.S.—cities in Arizona and Colorado, counties in Alabama, parishes in Louisiana, as well as every other state with sales tax—which were mostly filed via paper and mail-in checks. Few states had online portals that were slow and difficult to use.

I was in this position for six years, during which I prepared or supervised the filing of over 18,000 returns, designed and implemented an entire inhouse sales tax system, handled a dozen audits, and registered the company (and filed returns) for Canadian GST/PST—the equivalent of U.S. sales tax. It was also during this time that I received my bachelor’s in accounting. My future looked bright, my plans aligning.

I anticipated that I would replace my current job with a more focused, managerial accounting position and become a CPA. So, I said farewell to a company doing a quarter million in sales for an accounting manager position at a business providing mobile electronic insurance replacements for car audio systems. Apparently, there are enough people that break into cars and steal sound systems to warrant an industry for that type of thing

It turned out the job wasn’t what was advertised, nor was the new company in a solid financial position. Though my title was accounting manager, I ended up splitting duties between accounting and, lo and behold, sales tax. And the sales tax hurdles were enormous. Before I was brought on, the company had paid a lesser-known national accounting firm more than $12,000 up-front to provide answers to whether they had nexus in any of the states. For the full price of $24,000, the answer to that question was a meager, “It depends.”

To add more insult to injury, they were, in a way, correct; it does depend, and it is complex. The answer to the question, “When does a mobile electronic insurance replacement company establish nexus?”, isn’t obvious by looking at the regulations and laws of any given jurisdiction. Neither is, “Do I have nexus?” For an accounting firm that rarely deals in these kind of issues—and many accounting firms have limited experience in sales tax—answering vague inquiries about nexus isn’t their forte, not even for $24,000.

The same couldn’t be said for me. I had years of sales tax experience under my belt, so I waded through the muck and jumped the hurdles. I registered the company in different states and set up procedures to collect the correct amount of tax based on a unique industry.

Unfortunately, after operating primarily in the intermountain region with efforts to go national, the company was in too much financial distress to continue. After 16 months, I was laid off.

The timing was nothing short of terrible. Just two months prior, I had purchased a nice condominium centrally located in the Salt Lake Valley. I was laid off days before I was to have surgery on a deviated septum. In a desperate attempt to get back on my feet, I took a job through a temp agency the following week but had to leave after two days due to bleeding issues. After getting an earful from the recruiter the next morning who was unconcerned that blood was gushing from my nose like Moses’ Red Sea, I decided to take some time off.

I did some reflecting during that time, and realized a few things:

1. Although I really liked accounting, I was much better at solving sales tax problems, making sales tax systems better, and filing returns.
2. I was being exploited by my employers.
3. Many companies out there are also being exploited by accounting firms and other outsourcing tax agencies that are more worried about billable hours than finding solutions.

Bingo. I decided then to offer affordable sales tax solutions to companies that need help. I would answer those difficult questions about nexus, handle registrations, and file returns without the runaround or thousands of dollars of up-front costs.

I had the idea, I’d done the research, I had the experience, but then came the next big decision: what was I going to call it? My inspiration appeared in the form of the beagle I’d adopted in my senior year of high school. Boswick. He had all the characteristics I wanted to apply to the business; loyalty, friendliness, was service-oriented, and always ready to put his nose to the ground, get a scent, and follow it. That was when Boswick Enterprises, LLC, DBA SalesTaxSolutions.US was born.

Since its inception in 2005, SalesTaxSolutions.US has cultivated a small, dedicated team working with over 100 companies and individuals around the world. We have filed over 60,000 returns and have brewed an obscene amount of coffee. Regardless of struggles and stumbling blocks, we’re always reminded of the tenacious Boswick and follow his merry example: embrace challenges, explore new opportunities, and, ultimately, keep our nose to the ground.

100+ Companies Around the World.

Meet our Fantastic Team

Meet our Fantastic Team

Tori Durrant

Junior Associate

Stephanie Gallegos

Associate

Key Qualities