After five years in the consulting game, Jonathan Peters knew he was ready to build something of his own. He had always been drawn to the consumer space and saw an opportunity to shake up the stale world of men's dress shoes.

"I had this idea that men's dress shoes were an old, traditional category that wasn't fun or exciting. I wanted to build a modern, cool brand in this space," said Jonathan Peters, Founder of Amberjack.

In 2019, Jonathan left his cushy job and launched Amberjack—a mission-driven brand offering stylish, comfortable dress shoes for young professionals. Made with modern materials and focused on quality craftsmanship, Amberjack was Jonathan's vision to bring excitement back to timeless footwear.

Available exclusively online, Amberjack has seen rapid growth since its launch, as its shoes resonated with style-conscious yet comfort-minded shoppers. However, this expansion came with complex sales tax compliance needs, slowing the business down.

Challenge: Avalara's inaccurate system bogged down Amberjack's growth

As Amberjack expanded into more states, managing sales tax compliance in-house became challenging to scale. Jonathan decided to automate filings through Avalara. Unfortunately, this solution ended up causing more headaches than it solved.

Right off the bat, Avalara's tax remittances had concerning inaccuracies.

"The amounts were wrong… and there were multiple issues connecting Shopify and Avalara to get the right data," Jonathan explained.

He desperately tried fixing these problems himself, burning hours in an attempt to make Avalara work. But with their hands-off approach, it was entirely on Amberjack to resolve the issues.

"Avalara sees themselves as just a connection or bridge between the company and the states. So if anything went wrong with our taxes, they would not take any responsibility and left it for us to figure things out," said Jonathan.

Rather than simplifying compliance, Avalara created more work.

"I was putting more time into fixing issues with Avalara than I would have, filing it myself," he continued.

All this back-and-forth meant less time focused on Amberjack's core business. With sales tax becoming a daily distraction, growth stalled. Jonathan knew Avalara’s dysfunctional sales tax filing had to go so Amberjack could get back on track. 

Solution: Switching to Numeral for hands-off sales tax management

After hitting peak frustration with Avalara, Jonathan discovered Numeral—a white-glove, done-for-you sales tax service that leveraged technology instead of relying on it. He realized Numeral offered exactly what Amberjack needed.

"Numeral came along at the perfect time. I was completely fed up and frustrated with Avalara, and Numeral had the right mix of full service and great pricing. It was an obvious choice," said Jonathan.

With Numeral, Amberjack gained a proper hands-off solution. Key features include:

• White glove service: Numeral provides customized end-to-end tax filing and support for Amberjack.
• Proactive communication: The Numeral team scans, reads, and responds to any vital state mail without extra charges, keeping Jonathan informed.
• Ownership of compliance: Numeral also promised to take full responsibility for filing taxes accurately, and on time across all the jurisdictions Amberjack catered to.
• Saved hours: By leveraging technology to automate compliance, Numeral frees Jonathan's time to focus on Amberjack's growth.

With Numeral's full-service approach, Amberjack no longer had to worry about changing regulations and filings. He was not wasting hours on fixing someone else’s tax mistakes. The Numeral team took complete ownership of tax management, and Amberjack could return to rapid business expansion.

Impact: 20+ hours saved every month with timely and accurate tax filing

Since switching to Numeral, Jonathan has seen tremendous time savings and peace of mind regarding sales tax. Offloading this huge pain point has allowed him to focus on growing Amberjack's business.

"Rather than fielding notices and issues myself, I can simply pass details to the Numeral team and I know they'll handle it without a hitch," he added.

This full-service approach provides confidence that taxes are filed accurately and on time.

By the numbers

• Hours saved per month managing sales tax: 20+
• Months with on-time filing records: 12+
• Accuracy of tax remittances: 100%
• Late filing penalties incurred: $0

With Numeral eliminating his sales tax headache, Jonathan can pour his energy into Amberjack's core mission—providing stylish, comfortable dress shoes to young professionals nationwide.

Want to take back control of your time? Try Numeral—the stress-free sales tax solution obsessively focused on your success. Our full-service approach means you focus on business growth while we handle compliance from A to Z.

Book a demo today to see how Numeral can completely manage your sales tax needs. With Numeral as your trusted partner, say goodbye to tax filing frustrations.