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Kelley Birrell

LedgerGurus expert

Kelley Birrell

Marketing Manager

Turns ecommerce accounting expertise into clear, easy-to-follow content

About Kelley

With six years of experience leading marketing efforts at LedgerGurus, Kelley Birrell specializes in understanding the challenges ecommerce business owners face and connecting them with the information and solutions they need. She leads the company's marketing strategy, including educational content, campaigns, website development, and helping the right clients find LedgerGurus.

Over the years, Kelley has learned that most ecommerce sellers are great at running their businesses, but understanding their finances doesn't always come naturally. They often know their sales numbers but aren't sure whether they're actually making money or even what questions they should be asking.

She's passionate about helping sellers connect the dots between what's happening in their businesses and what their numbers are telling them. She's especially proud of the educational resources LedgerGurus has built over the years and recently led a complete website rebuild focused on helping ecommerce sellers find solutions to their biggest challenges.

Get to know Kelley

What have you learned about ecommerce sellers that has changed how you approach marketing?

I've learned that ecommerce sellers often know something isn't quite right with their finances, but they don't necessarily know what's causing the problem or even what questions to ask. A big part of my job is figuring out what they're struggling with and helping them find answers in language that actually makes sense to them.

What's a project you've worked on that you're especially proud of?

I'm really proud of the educational resources we've built at LedgerGurus over the years. We've created a huge library of videos, articles, and other resources that help ecommerce sellers understand their finances, whether they're ready to hire us or not. I'm also excited about our website rebuild, where we're completely rethinking how we organize information to make it easier for sellers to find what they need.

What's something you wish more people understood about marketing?

Good marketing isn't just about getting people's attention. It's about understanding what they need, earning their trust, and helping them make good decisions. I think the best marketing happens when you're genuinely trying to help people, even when they may never become customers.

What's something about you that might surprise people?

My dad was in the military when I was a kid, and we lived in Germany when I was a toddler and in Saudi Arabia when I was a young teenager. Our family had the very cool opportunity to travel extensively, and I've been to countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The world is a beautiful place full of beautiful people.

Areas of expertise

  • Digital marketing strategy
  • Ecommerce buyer behavior
  • Content marketing & education
  • Website strategy & conversion optimization
  • SEO & AI search optimization

Published content

Articles

Videos

  • Video

    Texas Franchise Tax Filing Guide: 2024 UPDATE

    Texas franchise tax is a privilege tax on gross revenue, not a sales tax and not an income tax, and it applies to any business with nexus in Texas regardless of sales channel. As of January 1, 2024 the threshold rose from $1.18 million to $2.47 million and the No Tax Due Report was scrapped. Kelley Birrell covers what changed, which form applies at which revenue level, and walks both forms line by line.

    Kelley Birrell8 min
  • Video

    Amazon & Shopify Sales Tax: What Ecommerce Sellers Get Wrong

    Sellers turn on Shopify tax collection, sell on Amazon, and assume compliance is handled. This walks through the gaps that assumption leaves behind. Amazon remits under marketplace facilitator laws but never registers you, and FBA inventory creates physical nexus in every state it sits in. Shopify collects nothing on its own. You also get the difference between collecting without remitting and never collecting at all, plus a five step cleanup plan.

    Kelley BirrellMay 20, 202615 min
  • Video

    What Ignoring Sales Tax is Actually Costing You

    Every month you put off sales tax, your exposure grows. Interest runs from the day the tax was due, and states will not waive it. Penalties range from 10% to 50%, and most states waive them through a voluntary disclosure agreement (VDA), but only if you come forward before a state contacts you. Kelley Birrell explains why never filing brings a longer lookback than filing late, and what shifts the moment a state's letter arrives.

    Kelley BirrellApr 8, 20269 min
  • Video

    Why Your Inventory Reports Don't Match Reality

    A $5 million seller got handed a $300,000 inventory adjustment at year end and spent the night trying to work out where it went. This video explains why that happens: roughly 20 points between a purchase order and your P&L where reality and your reports can separate. You get two tests for whether your numbers hold up, a gross margin consistency check and a 10% adjustment threshold, plus three things you can run this week.

    Kelley BirrellFeb 11, 20269 min
  • Video

    Revenue Growing but Profit Shrinking? Here's Why

    Buy $100,000 of inventory in January, expense it all at once, and January shows a loss while February and March look spectacular. That works until you are running multiple suppliers, varying freight, and returns. Kelley Birrell explains why growth does not break your COGS, it exposes the method you were already using, and walks the accrual approach: inventory sits on the balance sheet as an asset and moves into COGS as it sells.

    Kelley BirrellJan 14, 20265 min
  • Video

    FREE Inventory Forecasting Template: How to Avoid Stockouts + Overbuying

    Guessing at reorder timing is how sellers end up either out of stock or sitting on cash they cannot touch. This walkthrough sets up a free forecasting spreadsheet with one SKU per row, adds cost per unit and lead time, then projects this year's demand from last year's sales and a growth percentage. You learn to read the red cells that signal a coming stockout, and to work backwards from lead time to the month you actually need to order.

    Kelley BirrellSep 10, 202514 min
  • Video

    FIFO, LIFO, and Average Cost: Which method is best?

    Pick the wrong inventory costing method and you either overstate profit or hand the IRS more than you owe. Kelley Birrell runs the same 300 shirt example through all three methods, average cost, FIFO, and LIFO, and shows your COGS (cost of goods sold) landing at $975, $900, or $1,125 on identical sales. You get the tradeoffs behind each one, the three mistakes sellers make most often, and a scorecard for matching a method to how your business runs.

    Kelley BirrellAug 13, 20255 min
  • Video

    Stop Overpaying Sales Tax in These States (MTC Resale Certificate Tutorial)

    Your vendor charges you sales tax in a state where you have no nexus, and you pay it because nobody told you there was another option. The Multistate Tax Commission (MTC) resale certificate is accepted in over 30 states, and it is your next best option when a state is outside the streamlined sales tax group. Kelley Birrell walks through each field on the form and the footnotes that decide whether a state will accept it.

    Kelley BirrellJul 30, 20253 min
  • Video

    Sales Tax Holidays 2025 Explained: What’s Exempt, When, and Where

    Charge tax on an exempt item during a sales tax holiday and you have overcharged a customer and fallen out of compliance. Over 20 states ran holidays in August 2025 alone. Kelley Birrell covers the four main types of holidays, real 2025 examples from Texas, Florida, Ohio, and Virginia, and the details that trip sellers up, like price caps, shipping, and time zones. She also compares switching tax settings by hand with letting software like Avalara or Shopify Tax do it.

    Kelley BirrellJul 23, 20257 min
  • Video

    Stop Paying Sales Tax with This One Form (Streamlined Sales Tax Resale Certificate Tutorial)

    Your supplier adds sales tax to your dropshipped orders and you pay it, even in states where you have no permit. One streamlined sales tax (SST) exemption certificate is accepted in all 24 streamlined states, and you do not need to be registered there to use it. Kelley Birrell fills out the form box by box, then covers what to do when a state is not on the list.

    Kelley BirrellJul 16, 20253 min
  • Video

    Cut Business Costs the Smart Way: What to Slash, What to Keep

    A $5 million business with healthy margins can flip to a loss on a 30% tariff increase, which is why blanket cuts are the wrong reflex. Kelley Birrell walks four steps: kill low impact spend, optimize fulfillment and marketing before slashing them, question fixed overhead including rent and payroll structure, then fix contribution margin at the product level. Plus three quick wins, including a bonded warehouse that delays your duty hit.

    Kelley BirrellJul 9, 20259 min
  • Video

    How to Create a SKU System That Actually Makes Sense (and Scales With You)

    SKU001 tells you nothing, and once you have a few hundred of them, matching products across your store, warehouse, and accounting system turns into manual work. This walkthrough gives you a three step formula: a category identifier, the traits that make each version unique, then optional batch or version detail. You also get the rules that keep it usable, meaning eight to 12 characters, no leading zeros, no lookalike characters, and one structure for every SKU in the catalog.

    Kelley BirrellJul 2, 20256 min
  • Video

    Where Do You Owe Sales Tax? The 4 Questions Every Seller Must Ask

    Having nexus in a state does not always mean you collect there. Your products are not taxable everywhere, and marketplaces already remit for you in most states. Kelley Birrell runs the four questions LedgerGurus asks for every state. She works a case where $85,000 on Amazon plus $20,000 on Shopify puts you at $105,000 into Illinois, over the threshold, and the Shopify sales become yours to collect on.

    Kelley BirrellJun 25, 20257 min
  • Video

    3 Sales Tax Questions Every Ecommerce Business Needs to Answer

    A letter from a state is how most sellers find out they had a sales tax problem. This video reduces the whole subject to three questions: where you're selling, which determines nexus, who you're selling to, which determines exemptions, and what you're selling, since groceries, clothing, and supplements are taxed differently state by state. It closes with the mistake that causes the most cleanup work, collecting tax before you register.

    Kelley BirrellJun 4, 20255 min
  • Video

    The Smart Way to Start Cutting Costs in Ecommerce (Without Regrets)

    Slash marketing, drop your best tools, gut fulfillment, and then wonder why sales stalled. Kelley Birrell gives the benchmark ranges first, fulfillment at 10 to 15% of revenue, marketing 10 to 20%, payroll 10 to 15%, so you know whether you actually have a problem. Then the precision cuts: packaging dimensions, campaign audits, duplicate software, renegotiated 3PL terms, and two fast wins including a product redesign that doubles as a sustainability story.

    Kelley BirrellMay 21, 20257 min
  • Video

    5 Things You Need to Know About Sales Tax

    States are buying seller data to find businesses that never registered, so waiting to be contacted is a losing strategy. This video covers five things: where you have nexus and when registration is required, the where, who, and what that decide taxability, how to handle exemption certificates, what to do when a business activity questionnaire arrives, and the options available if you have already fallen behind.

    Kelley BirrellMar 26, 20257 min
  • Video

    The Secret to Surviving a Sales Tax Audit (Without Losing Your Mind)

    States are getting more aggressive with online sellers, so plan on an audit notice arriving at some point. Waiting until it shows up leaves you scrambling for records you should already have. Kelley Birrell covers the ongoing practices that keep you ready, then the four steps to take once the notice lands: gather sales data from every channel, get your returns and exemption certificates in order, prepare to respond, and bring in help.

    Kelley BirrellNov 26, 20245 min
  • Video

    3 Sales Tax Audit Trends Every Ecommerce Sellers Should Know

    Six years after Wayfair, the leniency states showed online sellers is gone. This video covers three audit trends: states funding dedicated audit task forces in California, Florida, and Washington, mailing business activity questionnaires that ask for three years of sales data, and sharing what they find with each other through a multi-state commission. You also get what puts you on a state's radar, and why Washington's penalties reach 39% of the tax owed.

    Kelley BirrellNov 20, 20245 min
  • Video

    How to Use a VDA to Wipe Out Sales Tax Liabilities

    You missed collecting sales tax in a state, and an audit could reach back a decade. A voluntary disclosure agreement (VDA) lets you come forward first in exchange for lower penalties, a shorter lookback, and audit protection. Kelley Birrell covers the three conditions that decide whether you still qualify and the three step process from first contact through payment. She also gives the honest counterargument: if your exposure is smaller than the professional fees, just register and pay.

    Kelley BirrellSep 24, 20245 min
  • Video

    Navigating Pre-Audit Questionnaires: The New Sales Tax Challenge for Online Sellers

    A letter from the state asks for your sales data going back to October 2018. That is a business activity questionnaire, and more states are sending them. Kelley Birrell explains what states are looking for: sellers who had nexus before they registered. She covers why registered and unregistered sellers both get these forms, what ignoring one costs, and why a voluntary disclosure agreement (VDA) has to happen before a notice arrives.

    Kelley BirrellAug 6, 20244 min
  • Video

    Minnesota Retail Delivery Fee: Everything You Need to Know

    If you sold $1 million or more into Minnesota last year, your checkout needs a new line item. Starting July 1, 2024, Minnesota followed Colorado with a retail delivery fee of 50 cents per transaction on orders of $100 or more. Kelley Birrell covers which sales the fee applies to, how it has to appear on the receipt, and where to add it in Shopify.

    Kelley BirrellJul 9, 20243 min
  • Video

    Sales Tax Compliance: 8 Essential Tips to Protect Your Online Business

    States are getting seller lists from Amazon, buying and sharing lists, and in Illinois, auditing back to 2018. Registering late, collecting before you register, or missing an exemption certificate can each leave you paying out of pocket. Kelley Birrell walks through eight compliance areas that catch online sellers: nexus footprint, voluntary disclosure agreements (VDAs), product taxability, exemption certificates, use tax, retail delivery fees, aggressive states, and sales tax holidays.

    Kelley BirrellJun 5, 202412 min
  • Video

    How to EASILY Get a Resale Certificate for Drop Shipping

    Your drop shipper is right to charge you sales tax where they have nexus, unless you hand them an exemption certificate. Kelley Birrell shows how the SST and MTC forms let you cover 35 of the 45 sales tax states without registering in a single one of them. She also covers what to send when a drop shipper refuses to accept the SST form, which happens often enough to have a standard fix.

    Kelley BirrellFeb 14, 20244 min
  • Video

    Ecommerce Sales Tax: When Do Sellers Need to Collect?

    You do not owe sales tax in a state until you have nexus, a connection strong enough to create a sales tax obligation. Physical presence comes from people and property, including inventory you own sitting in a 3PL. Economic nexus comes from how much you sell, usually 200 transactions or $100,000, with bigger states like New York, Texas, and California at $500,000. Kelley Birrell explains both, and when the obligation actually starts.

    Kelley BirrellDec 6, 20233 min
  • Video

    Inventory Landed Costs Explained | What's Included and How to Calculate It

    Your supplier quotes $100 a unit, you price off that number, and later you wonder where the margin went. Kelley Birrell separates buy cost, which is the price tag from your supplier, from landed cost, which is what the product costs once it reaches your warehouse. She then follows a gadget shipment through inland transport, two rounds of customs, ocean freight, and warehouse receiving, adding roughly $10,000 to a $10,000 order.

    Kelley BirrellNov 15, 20234 min
  • Video

    How to Register for Sales Tax | Complete Massachusetts Walkthrough

    This started as internal training for the LedgerGurus registrations team, which is why it goes screen by screen rather than skimming. Heidi walks the full MassTaxConnect application for a remote seller: which NAICS code to try first and what to fall back on, how to verify addresses, which date to enter for your registration requirement, and how Massachusetts uses your estimated annual tax to assign your filing frequency.

    Kelley BirrellMay 11, 202314 min
  • Video

    A2X/QBO Setup & Consulting | How to Make Huge Changes in Your Business

    Returns, fees, advertising, warehousing, and sales tax come out of gross sales inside your channels before anything reaches your bank, so the bank feed alone hides most of your business. Syncing every channel transaction into QuickBooks Online buries you in detail instead. Kelley Birrell explains how A2X sorts channel activity into buckets and delivers one monthly journal entry, why your chart of accounts has to line up with those buckets, and what the LedgerGurus setup service covers.

    Kelley BirrellNov 16, 20227 min

Podcasts

  • Podcast

    Grading Our 2025 Ecommerce Financial Forecast

    A year on from the first episode, Stephen Brown grades his own 2025 predictions with Kelley Birrell holding him to it. Ecommerce retail share hit 16.3%, matching the 2020 peak, which he scores an A. Tariffs get a C, because he saw them coming but nothing like the scale. AI gets an A, but for reasons he didn't anticipate. He also covers the de minimis wind-down, why specialist lenders never passed on rate cuts, and what still hasn't dented Meta and Amazon.

    Stephen BrownDec 23, 202523 min
  • Podcast

    How to Calculate the Real Impact of Tariffs on Your Business

    A tariff lands on your customs value, which is most of your cost of goods sold. Stephen Brown works the arithmetic with Kelley Birrell: a 10% tariff costs two points of margin on a 20% COGS business and six points on a 60% one. The harder question is whether to absorb it, pass it on, or split it. Passing it on runs into price elasticity, and he walks the tariff impact calculator through three scenarios to show why raising prices can land you barely ahead of absorbing the cost.

    Stephen BrownFeb 19, 202537 min
  • Podcast

    2025 Ecommerce Trends & Financial Implications

    Stephen Brown opens the Ecommerce Finance Podcast with ten trends heading into 2025 and what each one does to your numbers. Ecommerce is back above its COVID peak as a share of retail, which supports a bullish forecast. Marketing efficiency is still broken four years after iOS 14.5. Tariffs, the de minimis rule, a possible TikTok ban, and a paused port strike all carry real cost implications. Kelley Birrell joins for the conversation.

    Stephen BrownJan 1, 202541 min

Webinars

  • Webinar · On demand

    5 Reasons Profit Lies Hidden in Inventory (Why Profitable Brands Still Feel Cash-Poor)

    Sales are growing, the P&L says you're profitable, and cash still feels tight. Karlie from LedgerGurus and Madison Kishen from Finale walk through five places profit hides inside inventory: unexplained margin swings, landed costs that never make it into product cost, spreadsheets that quietly break, nobody owning the numbers, and no monthly check. Then a three-step fix, and how each operational action turns into a financial entry.

    Mar 25, 202659 min
  • Webinar · On demand

    Sales Tax 101 with Avalara

    Forty-five states rely on sales tax as their single biggest revenue stream, which is why they keep hiring auditors and lowering thresholds. Christopher and Kevin from Avalara walk through the five steps of compliance, from working out where you have nexus to remitting the returns. Along the way: why New York taxes tacos but not burritos, why one neighbour gets all the packages, and what a VDA does to a Texas look-back period.

    Kelley BirrellOct 31, 202457 min
  • Webinar · On demand

    The Uncomplicated Truth about Sales Tax | Online Sales Tax Explained

    Some sellers are worrying about sales tax when they do not have to, and others are ignoring an obligation that could wipe out their profits. Brittany Brown and Kexin Smith separate the two, then lay out the three guideposts: work out your nexus, decide where to register, and collect and remit. They close with the three setup mistakes clients pay thousands to unravel.

    Brittany BrownNov 2, 202247 min

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