Stealth Fitness, a fitness equipment and mobile app seller operating in 50 states, was struggling to find a trustworthy and cost-effective solution to sales tax.
After trying DIY software that left his team doing most of the work, David Augustine, Co-founder and CEO of Stealth Fitness, decided to use TaxValet.
By making the switch, David fully offloaded the entire workload and gained a dedicated team to clarify complex product taxability and manage his business’s nexus.
As David explains, “It would cost thousands and thousands of dollars more to use a CPA or even a bookkeeping service, and they're not really equipped with the expertise. It's… saved us, over time, tens of thousands of dollars using TaxValet, at least.”
$10,000+ Saved |
Countless Hours Reclaimed |
100% Workload Offloaded |
| Saved “tens of thousands of dollars” over time by avoiding hidden DIY software fees and the “incredibly expensive” route of using a traditional CPA. | TaxValet saved the accounting team hours on tax admin, letting them focus on growing the 10-year-old business. | DIY software claims to automate sales tax but still forces you to figure it out for yourself. TaxValet fully manages their sales tax end-to-end. |
| Organization | Stealth Fitness |
| Sector | Fitness equipment/electronics/mobile app |
| Location | United States |
| Size | 1 - 10 employees Over 500,000+ hardware units sold worldwide |
| Previous solution | TaxJar (software-only sales tax platform) |
“You're still left at the mercy of the software, and you have to figure it out for yourself how to plug it in which states.”
— David Augustine, Co-founder and CEO, Stealth Fitness
David also mentions how the immense workload of managing it internally is too much for any founder or finance team to handle alone. It’s an intricate web of timing, admin, tracking, and more.
“Sales tax compliance, frankly, it's a nightmare if you're not using TaxValet... You're dealing with 50 different states, all different laws, all different requirements. There's so much to keep track of that would make your head spin.”
— David Augustine, Co-founder and CEO, Stealth Fitness
For David, the highest value of moving to TaxValet is that, no matter what he needs, he always has his own dedicated team of experts to talk with.
“If there's something that I'm even thinking about, I reach out to TaxValet. I get responses within less than 24 hours. Incredible.”
— David Augustine, Co-founder and CEO, Stealth Fitness
Unlike his previous experience with TaxJar, where he had little human support and had to figure everything out on his own, David now enjoys a completely hands-off process. TaxValet runs quietly in the background, managing the nuanced work that automated software simply can't handle accurately, like clarifying Stealth Fitness's product taxability across different states.
“We sell both a software product and a hard good product, and there are different rules for software products and for hard good products... TaxValet is there to help you figure out whether your product should be collecting sales tax or not.”
— David Augustine, Co-founder and CEO, Stealth Fitness
Beyond just handling the day-to-day admin, TaxValet conducts nexus evaluations to assess his nexus footprint and automatically closes unnecessary permits.
When businesses with revenue over $5M decide to get help with their sales tax, they usually have three options: a fully managed service, DIY software, or a traditional CPA.
Having explored all of these options in various ways, David warns that software and CPA routes are traps.
“First of all, you're not going to use your CPA to do this. It would just be incredibly expensive... you'd be paying for something where they are not really experts at doing this.”
— David Augustine, Co-founder and CEO, Stealth Fitness
On the flip side, many founders assume DIY software is the budget-friendly route. David busts that myth quickly.
“If you're thinking about using a software package and just running it through TaxJar, it's just as expensive," David explains. "It's not a cheaper deal to go use TaxJar... By filing with TaxValet, you're getting competitive pricing and you're getting it with real people.”
— David Augustine, Co-founder and CEO, Stealth Fitness
After years of trying to manage it via DIY software, David’s final verdict on TaxValet comes down to one simple thing:
“Sleep better at night; don't need to worry about sales tax. TaxValet has my back. I don't have to think about it.”
— David Augustine, Co-founder and CEO, Stealth Fitness
No more manual legwork, guessing games, or soaring costs; just the freedom to know it’s done right.
Stop paying for expensive solutions or software that leaves your team doing the work and your company at risk.
Book a call to learn more about the TaxValet solution.