From 2 Hours To 2 Minutes: How Obvi Transformed Their Sales Tax Management Experience With Kintsugi

Obvi is a health and wellness company founded in 2019, specializing in collagen-based supplements designed to support various aspects of health, including hair, skin, nails, joints, and gut. The company aims to offer transparent, effective products without compromising on taste.

Obvi helps its customers achieve their beauty goals while maintaining their health. Although the product appeals mainly to women, their supplements work for everyone, including men, because once one reaches their mid-20s, their collagen production drops and that's what Obvi supplements are for.

Obvi has been featured in major outlets, including BuzzFeed, Business Insider, Forbes, and Vogue. It is dubbed the "delicious fountain of Youth."

The company has been operating for five years, and with Obvi's fast and continuous growth, it also faces challenges in handling taxes.

Challenge: Time-consuming sales tax management

According to Ravi Melwani, VP of Finance & Operations at Obvi, in the early years of their operations, they used to manage their sales tax manually. The process was time-consuming because they had to track the sales and records manually, not to mention inconvenient. It took several hours and involved a team of people.

To make the process even more challenging for Obvi, they cater to clients across multiple tax jurisdictions, and sales tax could vary by state. Due to complexities, manual calculations were prone to human errors, and there were times when they could not file sales tax returns on time, subjecting them to penalties.

To help them manage their sales tax, Obvi looked for a sales tax automation tool. They came across Numeral. However, Obvi decided to move on and look for an alternative because they were not aligned.

Solution: Obvi found a partner in Kintsugi

With Obvi wanting to transform their sales tax management, their continued search for a sales tax automation tool led them to Kintsugi. Their partnership with Kintsugi has transformed the company's tax compliance experience significantly.

Among the things they first noticed was how Kintsugi made the whole process fast, significantly cutting the time spent on sales tax management. According to Melwani, they started spending "[from] two hours to two minutes twice a month" on their sales tax management.

Melwani also emphasized Kintsugi's accuracy. He was particularly impressed with how the tool was able to track tax obligations that their former solution had missed, which had reached up to $40,000.

He was also happy with Kintsugi's SKU-level tax management since each product is taxed differently.

When asked what Kintsugi feature they used the most, Melwani said they loved the smart and intuitive design that displays what they needed to see. They were also very happy with Kintsugi's seamless integration with Shopify because the process was effortless.

Impact: Reduce Time and More Savings With Kintsugi

For Melwani, switching to Kintsugi was the right move for Obvi. The company has enjoyed several benefits, from spending fewer hours for tax management compliance to saving thousands of dollars.

Here are the benefits Obvi experienced after using Kintsugi:

• Significantly cuts the time spent on sales tax management: They used to spend 2 hours on sales tax compliance, but that's down to 2 minutes with Kintsugi.
• Saved thousands of dollars. Obvi had to pay penalties and charges before due to late filings, but since Kintsugi automates the process, they were no longer subjected to the same ordeal.
• Guaranteed compliance. Obvi does not need to monitor the changing sales tax or do the state tax because Kintsugi keeps them covered.
• White glove customer support. Obvi is satisfied with Kintsugi's customer support because they are responsive, so they feel supported all the way.

Obvi is excited to grow their business with Kintsugi. They loved Kintsugi, and Melwani has been recommending our sales tax automation tool to others.

About Kintsugi

Based in San Francisco and founded in 2022, Kintsugi is dedicated to taking the stress out of sales tax compliance. Our platform automates the entire process, delivering high performance, reliability, and flexibility as your business scales. Top companies like Alchemy Marketing and Cabi use our app. Sasha Novakovich of Alchemy Cloud just spent three minutes on the platform and understood their sales tax exposure.

We can do the same for you. Sign up or book a demo now.