Twelve years ago, on a boat in Santa Barbara Harbor, Brian Hahn met Noah, a visionary with a prototype for a game-changing product—a credit card-sized cable that fits in your wallet for emergencies. The concept resonated with Brian, who quickly joined forces with Noah to bring the idea to life.

"I do remember. In the beginning, I was living on a boat in the Santa Barbara Harbor, and I met Noah, and he had this idea for a charge card, and he had a simple prototype," Brian recalls. "I wasn't even involved in anything else, but I just made the video for Kickstarter."

From these humble beginnings—with Brian on his boat in the harbor and Noah in his grandma's basement—Nomad Goods was born. The Kickstarter campaign was a resounding success, forcing Brian to move off the boat and into the basement, where they worked tirelessly to learn the ins and outs of product development.

"It was a pretty wild, the whole ride," Brian reflects on their early days. "We lived in my parents' house; we lived in the office”

Nomad Goods has grown exponentially over the past 12 years, offering over 700 products and shipping worldwide. However, as the company expanded, the challenges of managing sales tax across multiple states and countries became increasingly complex.

Challenge

As Nomad Goods' reach extended across the United States and globally, the intricacies of sales tax compliance began to drain the company's resources and time. Brian and his team initially relied on TaxJar, an affordable and seemingly reliable solution, to handle their sales tax needs.

"Before, we were using TaxJar, which is a pretty cool service; it's affordable and works well," Brian explains. "But they had a major issue where our credit card expired, and they kept filing but doing zero-dollar filings, and we just didn't notice for six months."

This oversight led to a nightmare scenario for Nomad Goods, with a backlog of zero-dollar filings that must be rectified. The accounting team spent excessive time resolving the issue, often more than all other accounting tasks combined.

The Nomad Goods accounting team spent more time resolving the sales tax issues than on all other accounting tasks combined. TaxJar's lack of support in solving the problem left the company searching for a more hands-on solution that could handle its complex situation.

"We were trying to do it ourselves, going into log into Idaho and try to figure it out, but it was taking a lot of time for our accounting team... We were spending way more time on that than we're doing all of the rest of accounting put together," Brian shares.

The potential financial impact of the misfiling was staggering, with Brian estimating a possible loss of at least $100,000. The company realized it needed a partner to solve its existing problems and keep it informed of the ever-changing sales tax landscape.

"Cheap, like you know, did not end up being cheap.", Brian mentions.

Desperate for a solution, Brian began searching for alternatives, realizing there had to be a better way to manage sales tax compliance. He knew he needed a partner who could resolve the existing issues and provide proactive support to navigate the ever-changing sales tax landscape.

Solution

Brian searched for a comprehensive sales tax solution and stumbled upon Numeral. 

The fact that Numeral was backed by Y Combinator, a respected startup accelerator, caught his attention and instilled confidence in the company's ability to tackle the complex world of sales tax.

"When I found Numeral, and the fact that it was Y Combinator, which I respect a lot, it seemed like a pretty obvious fit," Brian explains. "I looked around to a few other ones, but you guys seemed like the one with the best fundamentals to really move this forward because this is sort of like a five to 10-year kind of thing."

Brian was impressed by Numeral's unique approach, combining powerful software with a human touch to provide a comprehensive solution. 

"I was really impressed with how deep into the weeds Numeral was able to get and the attempt to try to automate as much as possible is really impressive," Brian notes. "Like down to being able to share scanned inboxes is really amazing, you know, we're getting all this physical mail all the time, and it's a nightmare, but the fact that we set up a scanned physical address that we share was just genius."

The platform's ability to automate much of the sales tax process while offering hands-on support for more complex situations was a critical factor in his decision to choose Numeral.

"If someone is going to solve it, I feel like a group of Y Combinator people are probably going to figure it out," Brian states confidently.

Some of the standout features that attracted Brian to Numeral include:

• Integration with Shopify's native tax engine for seamless tax calculation
• Automated filing capabilities, ensuring compliance even if a client forgets to approve a filing
• Shared access to a scanned physical address for managing tax-related mail
• Modern communication methods, such as Slack integration, for real-time support

"I think something that really stands out to me is actually just an adoption of modern communication methods, like we're on Slack with the team and that helps our workflow ton and being able to just respond to people kind of a real-time directly is something I kind of really appreciate and require for high touch vendors," Brian praises.

Impact

Since partnering with Numeral, Nomad Goods has significantly reduced the time and resources spent managing sales tax compliance. The company no longer has to worry about keeping up with changing tax regulations or risking falling behind on filings.

"The main thing is you ideally don't spend almost any time doing sales tax. And Numeral does require almost no time, and that's exactly what we want," Brian emphasizes.

Beyond the time savings, Brian appreciates Numeral's proactive approach to identifying areas for improvement and reaching out with suggestions. This level of support has allowed Nomad Goods to focus on growing their business while leaving the complexities of sales tax in Numeral's capable hands.

"Here with Numeral, we're able to just ask a question, and often Numeral actually reaches out to us with a way to do things better," Brian shares. "And I literally think about sales tax zero now, because I know it's in good hands."

Choosing Numeral has been a game-changer for Nomad Goods. Brian estimates that the partnership has saved the company around 700 hours of work that would have been spent resolving the issues caused by their previous sales tax provider.

"Numeral's hopefully going to save us 700 hours of work," Brian states. "We all definitely try to do that."

Numbers

While the exact growth numbers were not discussed in the conversation, the impact of Numeral on Nomad Goods can be summarized as follows:

• Potential savings of 700 hours of work in resolving back-filing issues
• Minimal time spent on sales tax compliance, allowing the company to focus on its core business
• Proactive support and guidance from Numeral in navigating the changing tax landscape

Spend less than 5 minutes on sales tax compliance with Numeral

As your ecommerce business grows, handling sales tax compliance can quickly consume your valuable time and resources. Numeral provides a comprehensive, white-glove service that removes the stress of sales tax, allowing you to focus on what matters most: growing your business.

By partnering with Numeral, you'll experience the same benefits Nomad Goods and countless other ecommerce businesses have enjoyed. Our team of experts will guide you through the entire process, from monitoring your sales and registering your company in the necessary states to collecting the right tax rates and remitting payments on your behalf.

Don't let sales tax compliance prevent you from reaching your full potential. 

Book a demo with Numeral today and discover how our solution can help you achieve similar growth and success while spending less than five minutes monthly on sales tax.