How ProSlide Sports handled multi-state sales tax while growing
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After a slide into second base tore up his leg, Matt Rosenthal decided to create protective sports gear that actually worked. He grew ProSlide Sports part-time alongside a corporate career of more than 10 years. When sales started crossing thresholds in more states, filing sales tax himself stopped making sense. A year after handing it to TaxCloud, ProSlide has grown from selling in four states to nearly nationwide, and sales tax no longer takes up space in Matt’s head.
- 4 states to nearly nationwide
- ProSlide's footprint one year in, with no added sales tax work for Matt
- 3 to 4 months
- How long it took, by Matt's estimate, to stop thinking about sales tax
- Industry
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Sports equipment (protective gear)
- Location
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Long Island, New York
- Website
- Integration
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Shopify
Introduction
After a series of sports injuries, Matt made the gear he’d been missing.
Matt Rosenthal has played sports “since coming out of the womb, basically.” He started baseball and softball at three and played some college ball, then kept playing in rec leagues throughout his corporate career. Along the way he collected scrapes on his knees, shins, and elbows.
In 2020, a slide into second base during a softball game tore up his leg, even through knee-high socks, a slide pad, and thick sweatpants. It took three months to heal.
“I tried all the products out there and kept getting hurt. And that’s when I said, you know what, screw it, it’s time to make something that works for me, and I’m confident that it will work for others.”
Matt launched ProSlide Sports on Shopify in fall 2023. Today, the company makes protective gear for athletes who slide and dive, across multiple sports. ProSlide sells mostly direct to consumers, with a small but growing wholesale business.
For the first couple of years, ProSlide was a part-time project. When growth picked up, Matt left his corporate job to run the business full time, and more states started expecting sales tax returns.
“I was always trying to find an out to the corporate life: how can I make something that works for me, that works for everyone.”
Challenge
Keeping score across multiple states
ProSlide is based in New York, so that was Matt’s first sales tax return. He handled it himself, with his own research and tips from friends who are accountants.
“I don’t think it’s rocket science to do one, truthfully. It’s just the amount of work and brain power that’s required to keep up with all the deadlines.”
For a while, filing sales tax himself in a single state worked. Then sales started crossing economic nexus thresholds in more states, and the work started piling up. Matt was working two full-time jobs at the time, and his thinking was simple: “[Sales tax] is not my full-time job. I can’t be doing this.”
The mental load wore on him: tracking filing deadlines with phone reminders, worrying about penalties, and doing the kind of task “you constantly push aside because no one’s ever excited to do this.”
By then, ProSlide was already registered in several states, and Shopify’s nexus threshold tracker showed other states would soon be added to the list. Rather than wait, he decided to get ahead of the curve.
“I know my strengths and weaknesses, and I can tell you that tax is not my favorite part of running a business.”
Solution
A trusted team behind every filing
Matt’s accountant friends had pointed him to other sales tax apps in the Shopify App Store. He read the reviews and talked to other owners, but never got “the warm fuzzy feeling” from any of them.
Then he came across TaxCloud, and after a couple of calls with the team, “everything just made sense.” The pricing, based on yearly order volume, worked well for a business about to add states.
Those calls also introduced him to Streamlined Sales Tax (SST). As an SST Certified Service Provider, TaxCloud offers free registration and filing to eligible remote sellers in the 24 SST member states.
Matt decided to try TaxCloud for a year and see how it went.
A few months in, Matt noticed the state filing payments coming out of his account and realized he hadn’t thought about sales tax once. “I think that’s when I realized you guys were doing your job.”
“Okay, these guys are good, and now I don’t have to worry about tax.”
Results
Nationwide growth without the sales tax worries
A year into working with TaxCloud, here’s what’s changed:
ProSlide has grown, but Matt’s compliance to-do list hasn’t. “We’re pretty much nationwide. So it’s been really nice to not have to worry about that front when it comes to sales tax.”
Matt no longer worries about missing a filing deadline. “The biggest difference is really not having sales tax tasks on my mind and knowing [every filing is] getting done.”
The TaxCloud team has his back. Matt signed up for tax software that files returns. He didn’t expect a team that cares about ProSlide’s growth, too. When he’s needed a connection, a conversation with another business owner, or a seat at an industry event, the TaxCloud team has gone out of its way to help.
“They really are good people. At the end of the day, they’re there to help you.”
Looking ahead
What’s next for ProSlide
Matt’s game plan for ProSlide is steady growth: new markets, more athletes and pro players, and protective gear that’s “not clunky and bulky and slows you down.” Giving back also stays part of the mission, with $1 from every order going to Every Kid Sports, a nonprofit that funds youth sports for kids from income-restricted families.
His advice to fellow founders: once you start crossing thresholds in multiple states, hand sales tax off.
“These tasks when it comes to sales tax are important, but you’re not gonna get rich off of filing your tax return on time. Go spend your time doing other things.”
