About Hay Chix
Livestock is notorious for creating waste as far as hay is concerned. No matter where you’re located, each region brings its own challenges ranging from drought to high winds. For instance, sticking a round bale of hay in a windy area can cause half of it to blow away, resulting in inefficiencies and wasted resources.
Before launching Hay Chix in 2010, owner Kristine (Kris) Jacobsen was using custom made hay square feeders for horses and livestock. After experiencing a night and day difference, she thought, how could she not share this with others? Fourteen years later, Hay Chix has changed the way people feed their horses and cemented themselves as a leader in the equestrian market.
Having worked closely with the University of Minnesota and River Falls Johnson, she and her team have been able to prove out how Hay Chix products not only slow down consumption, but also reduce waste. Originally based out of Minnesota, Kris moved the business down to Texas in recent years, which is where her sales tax tale begins.
Challenges
A successful online business and company relocation resulted in major sales tax headaches.
Kris inherited sales tax management from her prior business partner, which meant she had to take on a whole new layer of responsibilities. After moving the company to Texas, she started digging into reports from their previous sales tax provider. Something didn’t seem right.
Her stomach sank when she realized they were paying double what they should have been in sales taxes. Immediately, she called the states to figure out a solution, but this left her with an uneasy feeling—what else was messed up that she didn’t know about yet?
For a while, she was spending up to 30 hours a week trying to resolve issues and not getting the communication she needed. In her search for a new provider, she continually encountered a lack of personal customer service, waiting days to hear back.
Fortunately, she came across a joint webinar between bookkeeping service, Bookskeep, and Zamp. After hearing about Zamp’s managed solution approach, her sales tax prayers were answered.
I just get a headache since it's one more thing to account for. I like to not have that stress in my life, and trust that at the end of the month I get what I need.
Solution
Sales tax no longer keeps Kris up at night, allowing her and the team to experience 3 key benefits:
Benefit #1: Hassle-free sales tax compliance
With Zamp by her side, sales tax fears don't get in the way of Kris’s slumber. The Zamp team proactively manages all Hay Chix’s sales tax needs from start to finish, and all she has to do is approve an email once a month.
Being able to sleep at the end of the night knowing that you're covered is super important to me.
Benefit #2: Face-to-face communication with actual human sales tax experts
Instead of waiting days to get a generic response, Kris receives prompt responses to her sales tax questions and actually gets to meet with sales tax experts face-to-face.
It was very good communication through Matt and Gabrielle. It was just so much easier than anything I had done before and it was really nice to be able to meet and do meetings. Just to be able to talk to somebody face-to-face...I can reach out to an actual human.
Benefit #3: Unmatched ROI with a fully managed sales tax solution
All Kris had to do to get started was:
- 1. Meet with Zamp to get set up and grant access to Hay Chix’s transactional data.
- 2. Zamp determined her sales tax needs.
- 3. Zamp handles everything sales tax-related going forward, and is always readily available by phone or email.
I get an email once a month that explains what I need to pay. I transfer money into that account for that amount and honestly, I just send that same email over to my bookkeeper. She cross-checks what came in and out and that's all I do.
Results
Sales tax is no longer a burden for Hay Chix.
See how Kris’s sales tax requirements have been taken care of since partnering with Zamp:
- 6 months of accurate and timely filing
- 32 registrations completed
- 32 state accounts configured
Anybody in business these days would know that their time is valuable. If you put an hourly wage on yourself as a business owner and compare it to what we're getting charged, it's very fair as to how much time this would be taking me.
With freedom from sales tax, Kris and her team at Hay Chix can carry on revolutionizing the equestrian space with a better way to feed livestock, without the dreaded sales tax scaries keeping her up at night.
Here’s her advice to anyone considering Zamp:
Time is money. Your time is so much better spent doing your job and what you're great at versus trying to do sales tax.
Running an online business is a lot of work. Why not focus on what you’re great at, rather than losing valuable time trying to figure out sales tax?
With Zamp as your sales tax partner, you can rest easy while staying compliant.
Get in touch to see how we can help.
