SmartLabels makes QR code labels that turn storage bins, moving boxes, and closets into a searchable digital inventory through its free mobile app. As the company scaled across Shopify, Amazon, and Walmart, founder and CEO David Hewlett ran into a problem no QR code could solve: sales tax.
An impactful holiday sales tax spike
SmartLabels' busiest stretch runs from December through February, when New Year organization goals send a surge of customers to the business. That seasonal spike helped trigger the company's first economic nexus obligations.
"I got notified that we had nexus in Michigan, and needed to start collecting sales tax."
David registered in Michigan and soon got another notice, this time for Illinois. It became clear quickly that keeping up state by state would be hard to sustain without help.
Registering in Michigan alone took hours, plus a call with an accountant to avoid choosing the wrong option on the state portal. One early answer caused a costly mistake: David entered the date of SmartLabels' first Michigan sale instead of the date the business crossed the taxable threshold. That answer triggered roughly two years of back-tax exposure, forced him to cancel the account, and required the registration to be started again from scratch.
"There are so many ways to mess this up that cause so much more work for me."
Searching for a solution
Facing a second state and the likelihood of many more, David evaluated both accounting firms and other sales tax software.
Some options still seemed to require too much manual work to stay useful day to day. Kintsugi stood out because it promised end-to-end automation:
"Kintsugi signs up for all the states that we need to register in, then processes everything automatically. It's pretty amazing."
Cost mattered too. After researching what outside accounting help would cost, David concluded Kintsugi came in below that at a fair price for the time it would save.
Streamlined setup
David connected SmartLabels' Shopify, QuickBooks, Amazon, and Walmart accounts largely on his own.
"I'm reasonably tech savvy, but at the same time it wasn't difficult."
When questions came up, or when an integration briefly disconnected, Kintsugi's support team responded quickly and kept the issue moving:
"The customer service that you guys provide is also amazing. Your team gets back to me quickly. Your team has a solution. If they don't have the solution right away, they will continue to update me and say, 'we're still working on this, don't worry, we haven't forgotten about you,' which gives me peace of mind knowing I don't have to worry about it."
Immediate time savings with Kintsugi
The contrast with the earlier manual registration work was substantial. Registering one state took a couple of hours of research, accountant coordination, and state follow-up. Today, David spends about ten minutes a month in Kintsugi.
"To approve a filing, or fix an address that didn't get captured, or approve a new state, you click the button from the email, look at it, and hit 'approve.' It's that simple."
SmartLabels is now registered and filing across multiple US states, with additional exposure in Canada and the UK.
Sales tax compliance that scales
David's takeaway from the switch is now something he shares with other founders and bookkeepers:
"Whenever I talk to bookkeepers or other founders, I'm like, 'have you heard of Kintsugi? You need to check this out. It's the easiest system.' There are so many mistakes you could make with sales tax across the country - and the world - and Kintsugi handles it all, exactly the way it needs to be managed. They know the pitfalls, so you don't have to."