We are happy to announce our 19 year anniversary this month! It seems like just yesterday when we left Big 4 public accounting! The firm was founded in March of 2002, when two state tax consultants got the entrepreneurial itch and decided that we could build a practice to better serve clients by focusing on their needs, being cost effective, and offering unwavering client service! And I believe that in the last 19 years we’ve done that most of the time!
In traipsing down Memory Lane a bit this month, I decided to Google which other companies were founded in 2002, and one specifically caught my eye and made me smile. The consumer products company, Wayfair, is also 19 years old in 2021! Of course, our readers know that we talk a lot about Wayfair – not just because they share our anniversary year and sell some cool products. In 2018, the United States Supreme Court ruled on the concept of economic nexus in its ruling in South Dakota v. Wayfair, and it’s safe to say that life hasn’t been the same in the world of state tax consulting ever since. In the last three years, we’ve helped countless companies determine where and when they’ve created economic nexus and then how to come into compliance. And I don’t think we’re done yet!
So, in context of waxing poetic, some deep thoughts…
What have we learned?
Education is such a huge part of our business. It’s part of our technical skillset – being educated and up to par technically, of course. But also educating our clients. We deal with the laws (and related statutes, regulations, rulings, etc.) of 50 states in working with multi-state companies. We focus on sales tax and also income tax, gross receipts tax and the occasional questions about credits and incentives, property tax, escheat, and even employment taxes. And we’ve learned that some of those things are best referred to our partners!
We’ve also learned that if we write a lot of good, educational content on our blogs and in our newsletters, that people find us and often want to hire us! Social media has become a friend, and that friendship, like so many others, doesn’t occur overnight and needs continual commitment!
And we learned that we can build a team and keep a team during a worldwide pandemic. Our team was mostly virtual before Covid-19, and now we are fully virtual. At some point, some of us are likely to go back to the office. Maybe! We were “Zoom-users” before it was cool, and have evolved to using it every day for almost every call. I wonder if we say “Zoom” or “Wayfair” more often? Hmmm!
Who have we served?
In 19 years, we’ve worked with Fortune 100 clients, Fortune 1000 clients, and sole proprietors – and everything in between. We’ve served technology companies, utilities, e-commerce clients, construction companies, interior designers, and consultants (in various fields), to name a few. Our clients have had issues ranging from nexus (both physical presence and economic nexus), determination of taxability, to marketplace facilitator concerns, to taxability issues. We’ve assisted with audits (controversy work) in states across the country. We work with companies in merger/acquisition situations before, during and after due diligence. We’ve handled reverse audits and other refund requests and assisted clients with enterprise zone consulting. And notices? Yes, we’ve helped clients respond to lots of notices. Oftentimes, that’s a first contact for us.
What’s next?
We look forward to our 20th year, which has officially started! We anticipate continuing to assist clients with nexus and taxability. And we figure there will continue to be increased scrutiny on companies operating as marketplaces and those dealing in digital goods. Many of our clients operate in this space already. We’ll be ready for more audit defense and compliance. And, we’ll be ready for the next new thing – and share it with our readers when it hits!
As a team, the Miles Consulting gang and their families plan to welcome at least one grandchild, and engage in a couple (or three) weddings in 2021. We will have at least one graduation in our extended family, and likely a CPA candidate! We are hoping to be able to send our folks off on vacation this year – because 2020 was the year of the Stay-cation – and our team really does like to travel! So, stay tuned for some pictures of exotic locations…once we all get vaccinated!
Thank you!
We couldn’t have achieved 19 years without the support of our whole team (and prior team members who joined us along the journey and have moved on), our families (who get to see a lot more of us lately – and also get to hear “Wayfair” and “Zoom” on a daily basis), professional colleagues and vendors, and, of course, our clients! Thank you to all of you who have been a part of our extended Miles Consulting family over the years. We appreciate you and look forward to working with you in the upcoming year!
Fondly,
Monika, Bill and the entire MCG team!
