Case Study: SchoolKidz (school supply kit provider) achieves automated, accurate sales tax compliance with Vertex Inc.'s tax engine

School supply business improves sales tax compliance with Vertex

SchoolKidz, a Woodridge, IL–based supplier of customized school kits serving 3,000+ schools, faced an extremely cyclical business with a 2,000% spike in transaction volume during back-to-school months and no in-house tax expertise. To address manual, error-prone sales tax calculation across Microsoft Dynamics GP and its e-commerce platform, SchoolKidz engaged Vertex and implemented the Vertex tax engine (with DMA handling integration) to automate tax determination and exemption handling.

DMA integrated the cloud-hosted Vertex tax engine into both the ERP and e-commerce systems, enabling real-time, consistent tax calculation from quote through invoice and automated tax-content updates. As a result of Vertex, SchoolKidz eliminated manual rate updates, centralized tax processes and exemption certificate storage, reduced audit risk and IT support needs, improved tax accuracy and reporting, and freed finance staff to focus on higher‑value work while scaling to handle peak season volume.

SchoolKidz

Joe Grlica

Director of IT