How EBY Eliminated Sales Tax Risk and Gained Peace of Mind with Bookkeep

When a series of unauthorized filings and misdirected funds left EBY exposed, they made the switch to Bookkeep. Today, their sales tax compliance is fully managed by Bookkeep, powered by Avalara — with accurate filings, proactive support, and $67,000 in prevented overpayments to show for it.

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Everything you need for accounting automation and Sales Tax Compliance

How EBY Eliminated Sales Tax Risk and Gained Peace of Mind with Bookkeep

EBY's high-level sales tax results with Bookkeep

About EBY

EBY (join-eby.com) is a direct-to-consumer e-commerce brand selling premium women’s underwear, co-founded by Renata M. Black and Sofia Vergara. Operating primarily through Shopify, EBY manages a high volume of transactions across multiple U.S. states, making accurate sales tax compliance a critical operational requirement. EBY's bookkeeping is managed by Ottit, a modern accounting firm that uses Bookkeep to automate and maintain clean, reliable financials. Separately, Bookkeep directly manages EBY's end-to-end sales tax compliance, using Avalara as its filing platform — ensuring that obligations across all states are calculated, filed, and reconciled accurately.

The Breaking Point: When a Provider Uses Your Money to Pay Someone Else's Taxes

EBY's decision to switch providers wasn't a gradual drift — it was triggered by a serious breach of trust. Their previous provider mistakenly used funds from EBY's bank account to pay another company's sales tax returns. EBY's money was pulled and applied to a completely unrelated business's tax obligations.

For any finance team, discovering that a third-party provider has misdirected funds from your account is an immediate red flag. It raised serious questions about controls, oversight, and accountability — and made it clear that staying was not an option. EBY began looking for a provider they could actually trust with their money and their compliance.

What followed only reinforced that decision. Even after EBY moved to close their account, the problems continued:

Additional failures from the previous provider:

• Unauthorized filings in California after the account was supposed to be closed, creating a $67,000 overpayment risk.
• Unauthorized filings in North Dakota, resulting in a $1,000 overpayment.
• Ongoing filing errors in Michigan and Florida.
• No defined off-boarding process — accounts left open, filings continuing without authorization.
• Unresponsive customer service, with no meaningful escalation path even to the provider's own founders.
• Zero proactive communication — EBY had to discover problems themselves rather than being notified.

"The peace of mind and the ability to get quick answers to questions — that's what matters most in sales tax management. We weren't getting that before."

— Janice, EBY eCommerce Controller

The Solution: Bookkeep's Sales Tax Service, Powered by Avalara

EBY transitioned to Bookkeep to directly manage their sales tax compliance end-to-end. Bookkeep uses Avalara as its filing platform — handling all state registrations, filing frequency tracking, calculations, and remittances on EBY's behalf. On the bookkeeping side, EBY's accounting firm Ottit separately uses Bookkeep to keep their financials automated and accurate. The two services together give EBY a fully integrated financial operation with a single trusted partner at the center.

A Smooth Migration with No Disruption

Switching sales tax providers mid-operation can feel like changing tires on a moving car — but EBY's migration to Bookkeep was seamless. Bookkeep's team handled the onboarding process end-to-end, getting EBY's state registrations, filing schedules, and Avalara integrations configured quickly and correctly. Where the previous provider had left a trail of loose ends — open accounts, unfiled periods, and unresolved state issues — Bookkeep came in, took stock of the situation, and cleaned it up. EBY's team felt supported from day one, with clear communication at every step rather than being left to figure things out on their own.

Top-Tier Support That Actually Responds

For EBY, the quality of support isn't a nice-to-have — it's the whole game. With their previous provider, getting a response was a struggle, even when significant errors had occurred. Bookkeep was a night-and-day difference. Lisa and Fernando on the Bookkeep team are responsive, knowledgeable, and proactive. When a potential $67,000 double-payment to California emerged — caused by the previous provider continuing to file after EBY's account was closed — Bookkeep stepped in immediately, canceling the duplicate Avalara pull before it could process. No chasing, no waiting, no escalating. Just a problem spotted and solved.

Lisa's ability to clearly explain state-specific requirements has given EBY's finance team real confidence in their compliance posture.

Accurate Filings Across Every State

Since moving to Bookkeep, EBY's filings have been accurate, timely, and fully reconciled against their Shopify data through Avalara. The errors that defined their previous provider experience — unauthorized filings, overpayments, missed state-specific rules — have been eliminated. Bookkeep's team also proactively identified a technical issue with the SST system in North Carolina that had gone undetected, further demonstrating the level of diligence EBY can now count on. When discrepancies do arise during monthly reconciliation, they are minor and resolved quickly — a far cry from the surprise $67,000 and $1,000 overpayments EBY experienced before.

The Results

Looking Ahead

EBY's partnership with Bookkeep continues to deliver. With sales tax compliance fully managed by Bookkeep and powered by Avalara, EBY's finance team no longer spends time chasing filing errors, reconciling unauthorized payments, or waiting on unresponsive support. State registrations are current, filings are accurate, and any issues that arise are handled quickly and transparently — giving EBY the confidence to scale into new markets without compliance becoming a bottleneck.

On the accounting side, Ottit manages EBY's books using Bookkeep, ensuring their financials are automated, accurate, and optimized. Together, the two pillars — Bookkeep-managed sales tax compliance and Ottit-managed accounting via Bookkeep — give EBY a financial operation built for growth, not one that has to be constantly managed around.

For a fast-moving DTC brand like EBY, that peace of mind isn't just a nice-to-have. It's what allows the team to stay focused on the business.

Janice Burtt

eCommerce Controller, EBY

"Bookkeep's partnership and communication have been excellent. Lisa and Fernando are always there to explain the process and sort things out quickly. That makes all the difference."