How we'd approach a problem you don't have yet.
Worked examples, written from the filing rules and the software rather than from a client file — a way to see the method before you are a client. None of these 42 is a client engagement; the 7 real engagements we have run are published separately, below.
Worked examples, not a client roster.
Scenario — an illustrative example of how Salt approaches this problem. Not a description of a specific client engagement.
Each one starts from a business shape we see often — a Dutch BV crossing the OSS threshold, a US SaaS company tripping economic nexus in eleven states, a UK agency two years behind on its bookkeeping — and works through it against the actual filing rules and deadlines. No client sat on the other side of any of these. Where we have done comparable real work, it is published separately, under a client's own written permission, at /case-studies.
42
Scenarios published
Illustrative examples, labelled on every card and at the top of every page.
0
Scenarios presented as clients
Not on this page, not on a service page, and not in the structured data.
7
Real client engagements, published separately
Anonymised, written from the file, and kept at their own address.
13
Sectors covered
SaaS · Agencies · E-commerce · Accounting firms · Professional services · Real estate · Insurance · Construction & trades · Health & wellness · Legal · Recruitment · Creative services · IT services
42 worked examples.
🇺🇸 SaaS
How multi-state sales tax nexus is remediated before diligence
Unregistered economic nexus is remediated state by state, by dating each threshold crossing from raw transaction data and then choosing, per state, between a voluntary disclosure agreement and a standard back registration. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches that work, using a Series A SaaS company as the profile.
Scenario covers
Multi-state sales tax nexus review, retrospective registration and back filing, with bookkeeping and controller support
Read the scenario🇬🇧 Agencies
How a two-year UK bookkeeping backlog is sequenced and cleared
A multi-year UK backlog is cleared by deadline, not by chronology: Companies House first because that penalty escalates on a fixed schedule, then the VAT quarters oldest first, then the director's loan account. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches a catch-up of that size, using an 18-person London agency as the profile.
Scenario covers
Catch-up bookkeeping and cleanup, with overdue VAT returns and statutory accounts brought current
Read the scenario🇳🇿 SaaS
How a startup runway model is rebuilt to include provisional tax
A runway model becomes wrong in two specific places: it reads cash received for annual contracts as revenue earned, and it provisions provisional tax on last year's much smaller liability. Fixing both usually shortens the runway. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches virtual CFO work, using a pre-Series A New Zealand SaaS company as the profile.
Scenario covers
Virtual CFO: runway and cash forecasting, provisional tax provisioning, board reporting
Read the scenario🇦🇺 E-commerce
Overdue BAS and unpaid super: which one is sequenced first
Superannuation is remediated before BAS, because late super loses its deductibility permanently and triggers the Superannuation Guarantee Charge, while a late BAS accrues a penalty that stops the day it is lodged. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches an Australian catch-up, using an 11-person Melbourne e-commerce brand as the profile.
Scenario covers
Catch-up bookkeeping, superannuation review and preparation of overdue BAS to lodgement-ready state
Read the scenario🇦🇺 Accounting firms
How white-label bookkeeping capacity works inside an accounting practice
White-label delivery works by standardising the workpaper and file-naming convention first, then preparing files inside the firm's own practice environment under the firm's client codes, with lodgement staying with the firm's registered agent. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches white-label capacity, using a six-partner Australian practice as the profile.
Scenario covers
White-label bookkeeping and BAS preparation for an accounting practice, delivered to the firm's review queue
Read the scenario🇺🇸 🇩🇪 SaaS
Why there is no German VAT threshold for a non-established business
A business with no establishment in Germany has no registration threshold: the obligation runs from the first taxable supply, because the small-business relief that people find when they search for a threshold applies only to businesses established in Germany. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches a non-established VAT position, using a US SaaS company selling into Germany as the profile.
Scenario covers
German VAT position review and quantification, registration, voluntary disclosure and ongoing monthly filing, with bookkeeping support
Read the scenario🇸🇬 Professional services
How a group chart of accounts is designed across three entities
Group consolidation starts with a single chart of accounts that each entity maps onto without breaking what that entity still has to file locally, followed by intercompany matching run before the close rather than after it. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches multi-entity close, using a Singapore holding company with three regional subsidiaries as the profile.
Scenario covers
Group consolidation, monthly close and outsourced controller support across three entities, with tax filing data prepared
Read the scenario🇬🇧 E-commerce
What breaks the MTD digital link in multi-channel e-commerce
Typing a figure from a spreadsheet into a VAT return breaks the Making Tax Digital digital link, even when the figure is correct: the requirement is that data moves between systems without manual re-keying, from the transaction record through to the return. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches multi-channel VAT, using a four-channel UK seller as the profile.
Scenario covers
Multi-channel bookkeeping and VAT return preparation under Making Tax Digital
Read the scenario🇺🇸 Agencies
Why agency profit looks wrong when retainers are recognised on invoice
An agency that bills annual retainers up front and recognises them on invoice reports profit that follows its billing calendar rather than its delivery, which makes early periods look strong, later periods look weak, and cash look unrelated to either. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches agency revenue recognition, using a 24-person US creative agency as the profile.
Scenario covers
Outsourced controller: revenue recognition, work-in-progress tracking and rolling cash forecasting
Read the scenario🇨🇦 Professional services
How GST, HST and PST are separated across Canadian provinces
Canadian sales tax cannot be posted to one account at one blended rate, because the rate is set by the place-of-supply rules for each customer and the recoverability of the tax paid differs between the federal and provincial components. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches multi-province indirect tax, using a 14-person Canadian professional services firm as the profile.
Scenario covers
Chart of accounts rebuild, sales tax restatement and amended filings across three provinces, with ongoing bookkeeping
Read the scenario🇩🇪 SaaS
DATEV export and GoBD: why a cloud ledger fails German year end
A German year-end handover fails for two separate reasons that get confused with each other: the ledger produces no DATEV-compatible export, and corrections are made by editing original entries, which does not meet the GoBD unalterability requirement. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches German bookkeeping process, using a Berlin GmbH on an international cloud ledger as the profile.
Scenario covers
Bookkeeping process rework and DATEV export setup, with GoBD-compliant record-keeping and OSS reporting brought into the monthly cycle
Read the scenario🇳🇿 Accounting firms
How a small practice adds capacity before the GST peak
Adding preparation capacity to a small practice only works if client intake and workpaper structure are standardised first, because extra hands applied to files that each arrive in a different state make review slower rather than faster. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches white-label capacity, using a four-person New Zealand practice as the profile.
Scenario covers
White-label bookkeeping and GST preparation for an accounting practice, with client intake and workpapers standardised first
Read the scenario🇦🇪 E-commerce
UAE free-zone status removes the rate, not the filing obligation
A free-zone company still registers for UAE corporate tax and still files a return; what free-zone status can remove is the rate on qualifying income, and only for a company that meets the qualifying conditions and can evidence the split. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches UAE corporate tax readiness, using a Dubai free-zone trading company as the profile.
Scenario covers
Bookkeeping rebuilt to corporate tax filing standard, with qualifying income separated and the corporate tax return prepared
Read the scenario🇺🇸 SaaS
How SaaS metrics are reconciled to the ledger before diligence
Deck metrics and statutory financials disagree because they are built by two different processes from two different systems, and the fix is to define each metric explicitly and then derive it from the ledger, so the two reconcile by construction rather than by explanation. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches fundraise preparation, using a US SaaS startup between seed and Series A as the profile.
Scenario covers
Fundraise preparation: metric definition, billing-to-ledger reconciliation and data room assembly, with controller support
Read the scenario🇬🇧 Accounting firms
Removing the single point of failure in a payroll bureau
A payroll bureau that depends on one person fails on the day that person is unavailable, because RTI requires a Full Payment Submission on or before every payday and the knowledge needed to run each client sits in one head. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches payroll capacity, using a UK practice running around 140 payrolls as the profile.
Scenario covers
White-label payroll processing and RTI submission cover
Read the scenario🇳🇱 E-commerce
Why OSS does not cover domestic Dutch supplies
The One Stop Shop covers cross-border B2C supplies to consumers in other EU member states and nothing else, so domestic supplies in the country of establishment stay on the domestic VAT return and reporting them through OSS puts both returns wrong at once. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches EU VAT reporting, using an Amsterdam BV selling across the EU as the profile.
Scenario covers
Bookkeeping, BTW and OSS reconciliation, correction of filed returns
Read the scenario🇫🇷 Agencies
Why French hiring budgets built on gross salary are always short
A French hiring budget built on gross salary understates the cost of the hire, because employer social contributions are a substantial separate layer on top of gross and the reductions that apply at lower salaries taper away as pay rises. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches French payroll and cost modelling, using a 12-person Paris digital agency as the profile.
Scenario covers
Bookkeeping and payroll support, DSN preparation and TVA preparation
Read the scenario🇺🇸 Real estate
Standardising bookkeeping across a portfolio of SPV entities
Assets held in separate SPVs cannot be compared until they share one chart of accounts and one written capitalisation policy, because the same category of spend capitalised in one entity and expensed in another produces returns that differ for accounting reasons rather than operating ones. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches multi-entity property accounting, using a US operator with 14 SPVs as the profile.
Scenario covers
Multi-entity bookkeeping standardisation and investor reporting
Read the scenario🇦🇺 SaaS
Substantiating an R&D tax incentive claim with contemporaneous records
The Australian R&D tax incentive is substantiated by records created while the work happens, not by an allocation performed after year end, which means the split between eligible and ineligible activity has to be captured in the payroll and ledger coding throughout the year. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches R&D substantiation, using a 16-person Sydney SaaS company as the profile.
Scenario covers
Bookkeeping and controller support for R&D claim substantiation, aligned to the quarterly BAS cycle
Read the scenario🇬🇧 SaaS
Building a bridge from ARR to billings to recognised revenue
ARR and statutory revenue are supposed to differ, because ARR annualises committed subscriptions at a point in time while statutory revenue recognises what was delivered in the period, so the answer is a standing bridge between them rather than an attempt to make the two numbers agree. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches SaaS reporting, using a UK subscription business on annual and monthly plans as the profile.
Scenario covers
Bookkeeping, revenue recognition and monthly board reporting
Read the scenario🇸🇬 SaaS
A Singapore company's first-year filing deadlines, mapped
A Singapore company's first year carries three separate deadlines on two different clocks: ECI to IRAS within three months of financial year end, the ACRA annual return within seven months for a non-listed company, and the corporate tax return by 30 November. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches first-year compliance, using a Singapore startup as the profile.
Scenario covers
Move from spreadsheets to a ledger, compliance calendar and first-year filings
Read the scenario🇺🇸 E-commerce
Why e-commerce margin is wrong when COGS is a percentage estimate
Cost of goods sold booked as a percentage estimate produces a margin figure that cannot be used to make ad spend decisions, because the estimate hides both the freight and duty that belong in landed cost and the difference between ledger stock and what is physically in the warehouse. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches e-commerce inventory accounting, using a US brand across three warehouses as the profile.
Scenario covers
Bookkeeping, inventory reconciliation and per-SKU margin reporting
Read the scenario🇬🇧 Professional services
How LLP partner current accounts and drawings are controlled
Partner drawings outrun profit invisibly when drawings are fixed annually and profit varies monthly, because nothing in the ordinary management accounts shows the cumulative position of each partner's current account until the year end. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches LLP reporting, using a five-partner UK professional services firm as the profile.
Scenario covers
Bookkeeping, partner current account reconstruction and monthly drawings reporting
Read the scenario🇺🇸 🇬🇧 🇩🇪 🇸🇬 🇦🇺 SaaS
Consolidating bookkeeping across five countries onto one close
A group running a separate local bookkeeper in each country has no single view of indirect tax, because each provider sees only their own entity and a registration obligation created by group-level activity is invisible from inside any one of them. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches multi-country consolidation, using a SaaS group with entities in five countries as the profile.
Scenario covers
Group bookkeeping consolidation, close management and indirect tax review
Read the scenario🇺🇸 Professional services
Moving restricted fund tracking out of a spreadsheet and into the ledger
Restricted grant funds have to be tracked as a property of each transaction in the ledger rather than in a parallel spreadsheet, because a spreadsheet cannot demonstrate that a specific dollar was spent on a specific restricted purpose. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches non-profit fund accounting, using a US organisation holding several restricted grants as the profile.
Scenario covers
Fund accounting setup, bookkeeping and grant reporting
Read the scenario🇦🇺 Agencies
Building project profitability reporting in a creative agency
Project-level profitability depends entirely on time capture, because staff cost is the largest cost in an agency and it cannot be allocated to a project that nobody recorded time against. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches agency profitability reporting, using a 20-person Australian creative agency as the profile.
Scenario covers
Bookkeeping and controller reporting on project and service-line profitability
Read the scenario🇬🇧 SaaS
Choosing a conversion balance date in an accounting migration
The decisive judgement in an accounting system migration is what not to bring across: the conversion balance is set at the last date the figures genuinely tie to bank statements and supporting documents, and earlier history is archived with a documented explanation rather than imported. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches migrations, using a UK startup moving from spreadsheets to Xero as the profile.
Scenario covers
Accounting system migration and ongoing bookkeeping
Read the scenario🇳🇿 E-commerce
Zero-rated versus exempt supplies, and why the difference is money
Zero-rated and exempt supplies are not interchangeable: a zero-rated supply is taxable at 0% and the input tax on related costs is recoverable, while an exempt supply is outside the charge and that input tax generally is not. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches a GST classification review, using a New Zealand e-commerce exporter as the profile.
Scenario covers
Bookkeeping, GST review and correction of filed returns
Read the scenario🇺🇸 Accounting firms
How a tax-focused firm launches a CAS line without hiring first
A client accounting services line is launched by packaging the scope into a small number of fixed-price tiers before selling anything, then using white-label delivery capacity so the firm can prove demand before committing to headcount. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches CAS launch support, using a tax-focused US firm as the profile.
Scenario covers
White-label bookkeeping delivery and CAS service design
Read the scenario🇩🇪 SaaS
Building a German payroll calendar backwards from the filing deadline
A German payroll calendar has to be built backwards from the Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung deadline on the 10th of the following month, not forwards from the pay date, because a payroll finalised late leaves no working days to prepare and submit the declaration. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches payroll process, using a 22-employee Berlin startup as the profile.
Scenario covers
Monthly payroll processing support, Lohnsteuer filing discipline and bookkeeping
Read the scenario🇬🇧 Agencies
Accounts payable control across a multi-entity group
Duplicate payments across a group happen when the same supplier invoices more than one entity and approval runs by email, because no single record exists showing which entity paid what, and supplier statement reconciliation is the only routine that reliably finds them. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches accounts payable control, using a three-entity UK agency group as the profile.
Scenario covers
Accounts payable process, supplier statement reconciliation and bookkeeping across three entities
Read the scenario🇦🇺 Professional services
Designing a collections process for a professional services firm
Collections work when the follow-up sequence starts before the due date rather than after it, and when standing disputes are cleared first, because a chase applied over an unresolved dispute annoys the one client who has a legitimate reason not to pay. This is an illustrative example of how Salt approaches receivables control, using an Australian consultancy on 30-day terms as the profile.
Scenario covers
Outsourced collections and receivables control
Read the scenario🇺🇸 Insurance
Reconciling commission when forty carriers pay forty ways
Carrier commission is reconciled by building an expected figure from the policy book and testing every statement against it, because booking whatever the deposit was makes an underpayment indistinguishable from revenue. This is an illustrative example set in a brokerage holding around forty carrier appointments.
Scenario covers
Bookkeeping and monthly carrier commission reconciliation
Read the scenario🇺🇸 Construction & trades
How job costing works in a residential contracting business
Job costing works when every material purchase and every crew hour is coded to a job at the moment it is recorded, not reallocated at month-end, because a contractor quoting from an assumed margin has no way to test whether that margin exists. This is an illustrative example set in a remodeler running six crews with twenty to thirty jobs open at a time.
Scenario covers
Bookkeeping with job costing and per-job margin reporting
Read the scenario🇬🇧 Health & wellness
VAT when treatment income is exempt and product sales are not
The UK VAT registration threshold is measured on taxable turnover rather than total turnover, so a practice whose treatment income is largely exempt can still be required to register on its retail product sales alone. This is an illustrative example set in a health and wellness practice running both streams through one till.
Scenario covers
Bookkeeping, VAT registration and partial exemption calculations
Read the scenario🇬🇧 Legal
How a law firm client account reconciliation is rebuilt
A drifted client account reconciliation is rebuilt matter by matter from the last date on which the three-way reconciliation genuinely agreed, because an unexplained difference cannot be carried forward or netted off against another matter. This is an illustrative example set in a small firm regulated by the SRA in England and Wales.
Scenario covers
Client account reconciliation, bookkeeping and month-end controls
Read the scenario🇺🇸 Real estate
Commission splits and 1099-NEC reporting in a brokerage
1099-NEC reporting for commission-split agents works when the split tier and any broker-paid cost are recorded against each transaction during the year, rather than reconstructed from bank payments in January. This is an illustrative example set in a brokerage with twelve agents paid as independent contractors.
Scenario covers
Bookkeeping, per-agent commission ledger and 1099 preparation
Read the scenario🇬🇧 Recruitment
Funding the gap between weekly contractor pay and monthly billing
The funding gap on a contract desk is closed by shortening the cycle rather than by chasing the debt: a weekly timesheet cut-off, weekly invoicing in arrears, and a working capital figure modelled per placement before the placement is made. This is an illustrative example set in a UK agency running a permanent book and a contract book side by side.
Scenario covers
Contractor payroll, client invoicing and working capital modelling
Read the scenario🇺🇸 Creative services
Getting the books ready for an S corporation election
An S corporation election needs three things the sole proprietorship never had: business and personal transactions separated on evidence, a payroll running a documented reasonable salary, and an accountable plan for home office and vehicle costs. This is an illustrative example set in a US photographer who has run four years through one bank account.
Scenario covers
Books cleanup, separation of personal and business transactions, and S-corp readiness support
Read the scenario🇬🇧 IT services
Deferred revenue and contract margin in a managed IT business
A support contract billed twelve months in advance is recognised across the twelve months it covers, with the unearned portion held as deferred income, while the VAT on it falls due by reference to the invoice date instead. This is an illustrative example set in a UK managed service provider billing annual support contracts.
Scenario covers
Bookkeeping with deferred revenue and contract-level profitability reporting
Read the scenario🇺🇸 Construction & trades
Managing seasonal cash flow in a trades business
Seasonal cash flow is managed by ring-fencing the trough months' fixed costs during the peak season, which means knowing the monthly fixed cost base, the owner's draw, the debt service and the tax instalments before the peak begins. This is an illustrative example set in a US landscaping business with six vans and a heavy seasonal swing.
Scenario covers
Bookkeeping, seasonal cash flow modelling and reserve planning
Read the scenario🇺🇸 Health & wellness
Making insurance denials visible in a practice's books
Denials only become visible when a practice records billed charges and a receivable rather than recording revenue when cash arrives, because a denial written off on a cash basis never appears anywhere in the accounts at all. This is an illustrative example set in a US chiropractic practice with a mix of insurance and cash-pay patients.
Scenario covers
Bookkeeping, receivables tracking and denial follow-up
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