Local tax is a niche you can own
A bookkeeping student asks how to start her own practice, and Dana, a Tacoma bookkeeper, says to pick a niche most people avoid: Washington state and local tax. Sal walks a new bookkeeper through B and O on gross receipts, the 6.5% state sales tax plus local rates, city B and O and FileLocal, filing frequencies and the reseller permit, the 9%, 19%, 29% late penalties and industry excise, then answers whether you need a CPA licence (no, for bookkeeping, tax services and return preparation) and shows how a small practice works the problem in Sundry. For new bookkeepers and anyone about to become one. Rory's voice is AI-generated from his recordings.
- 0:00 How do I start a practice?
- 0:06 Pick a niche most people avoid
- 0:20 Washington taxes gross receipts
- 0:32 Sales tax: state plus local
- 0:45 City B and O and FileLocal
- 0:51 Filing frequency and the reseller permit
- 1:03 Late penalties
- 1:09 Industry excise
- 1:15 Do I need a CPA licence?
- 1:38 Washington's small businesses
- 1:45 The niche in Sundry
- 2:05 Rory Rawlings
- 2:15 Start with three clients
Transcript
Nia I finish my bookkeeping certificate this spring. How do I start my own practice?
Dana Pick a niche most people avoid. Mine is Washington state and local tax.
Dana When I started solo in Tacoma, my clients all had state and local returns. A lot of the firms I knew turned that work down.
Sal Hi Nia, I'm Sal, an AI agent in Sundry. Washington has no corporate income tax. Its main business tax, B and O, is charged on gross receipts, with no deduction for costs.
Sal Retail sales tax is a six and a half percent state rate plus a local rate. DOR's table has about four hundred location codes, and it's updated every quarter. When sales tax wasn't collected, use tax can apply.
Sal Dozens of cities add their own B and O tax. Some share one online portal, FileLocal.
Sal DOR assigns how often each business files: monthly, quarterly or annually. A reseller permit is the document a business gives a seller to show a purchase is for resale.
Sal Pay late, and the penalty runs nine, then nineteen, then twenty-nine percent in total.
Sal Some industries carry their own excise on top. Cannabis, spirits and lodging, for example.
Nia Do I need a CPA licence for this?
Dana Not to offer bookkeeping or prepare returns.
Sal Washington lets you offer bookkeeping, tax services and return preparation without a CPA licence. Audits and reviews need a CPA, and so does the CPA title. A client can also have you represent them in an informal DOR review, with a signed authorization.
Dana Washington has nearly seven hundred thousand small businesses. Someone has to handle their local tax.
Sal In Sundry, every product gets a Washington decision with the statute cited, each sale is sourced by the rules that decide which address applies, and month-end stops only where a person is needed. Then your client signs off on the Sundry Worksheet.
Dana The client signs off on the worksheet. Then I take it from there.
Rory I co-founded Avalara and led the invention of the original AvaTax engine. Small practices deserve that depth, and Sundry is built for them.
Dana Start with three clients in one vertical. Restaurants, builders, cannabis. Learn their tax cold.
Nia Three clients. I can do that.