Industries
Retail Sales Tax Help
Seller’s permit, sales tax, and bookkeeping support for California retail businesses.
Retail shops need a seller’s permit when they sell taxable goods, plus sales-tax filings and books that match the register. We help with those filings from the reports you export.
The two offices are San Pablo and Concord, by appointment only. Remote appointments cover the rest of California.
Services that usually fit
Documents to start
- Register or ecommerce sales reports
- Seller’s permit
- Purchase invoices for resale goods
- Bank statements
- Payroll reports if you have staff
Your chart of accounts, built for retail
Stanza creates and maintains a chart of accounts so the deductions you are allowed to claim are identified and documented.
We set up income, cost of goods or job costs, and expense accounts organized around this industry’s deductible categories and the tax form lines they map to (Schedule C, or Form 1065 or Form 1120-S when the business files as a partnership or an S corporation). Sub-accounts separate items with a special tax treatment, so a repair is not mixed with a capital purchase and a liability is not booked as an expense.
Inventory and cost of goods
Goods you buy to resell belong in inventory and cost of goods, not in office supplies. The method you use has to match the return.
Merchant fees
Card-processing fees are an expense. Keeping them out of the sales account shows the gross receipts and the fee separately.
Shrinkage
Shrinkage is inventory you no longer have because of theft, damage, or a count difference. It belongs with cost of goods, and it still needs a count or other record.
Sales tax payable
Sales tax you collect is a liability, not an expense and not income. It is remitted to the state.
Freight in
Freight to bring inventory to you is part of the cost of the goods. It is not the delivery cost of orders you ship out.
Packaging and store supplies
Bags, boxes, and store supplies are operating expenses. They stay apart from merchandise you sell.
Returns and allowances
Customer returns reduce sales. A separate account keeps them from looking like a new expense category.
Fixtures
Store fixtures are often capital assets. Small display items may be supplies. The split matters for depreciation.
How it is managed
- Each month we categorize transactions and reconcile the accounts to the bank.
- Receipts and mileage stay with the transactions they support.
- Personal spending stays out of the business accounts.
- Capital purchases are reviewed against repairs before anything is expensed.
- Vendors are tracked so a Form 1099 can be prepared when a form is required.
- A quarterly review of profit can be used to adjust estimated tax payments when those payments apply.
- At year end we review the accounts with the preparer so deductions are captured and the records support them.
Whether a deduction is allowed depends on your facts and on IRS and FTB rules. We help you claim what you are entitled to and keep records that support it. We do not guarantee savings or a dollar amount.
Book bookkeeping and QuickBooks setup with Lucia Leiva, Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisorCommon questions
- We help you prepare the application from your facts. The agency decides whether to issue it.
- No. Citywide rates are a starting point. The CDTFA address lookup is the check for a specific location.
- Yes, as part of bookkeeping, using the statements and register reports you provide.
- Goods you buy to resell are cost of goods sold, not supplies. Shrinkage and merchant fees need their own accounts so the return can show gross profit and the fees separately. Sales tax you collect stays a liability. The result still depends on your counts and on the inventory method you use.
Offices in San Pablo (510-778-1579) and Concord (925-349-6924). Remote work is available in California.
Ready when you are
Ready to get organized? Book an appointment today.
Pick a time that works for you — in person at San Pablo or Concord, or fully remote.