On my 32^nd birthday, I was a pallbearer at my grandfather’s funeral.  He was buried with full military honors at Quantico National Cemetery in a very quiet ceremony.  It was a perfect complement to his very humble nature.

Prior to that day, I had a perfect no-cry record at funerals.  My streak stayed intact until one minute before we all went our separate ways that warm September day.

The three military officers that presided over the service folded his burial flag and presented it to our family.  As they handed it over, they expressed their gratitude for my grandfather’s service to the United States of America.

(Cue the lip quiver.)

These three soldiers never met my grandfather, yet their gratitude was very genuine and heartfelt.

That was the very moment that I realized how I failed to express my gratitude to him.  He did a bunch of the typical grandfather type things with me, but there was one inadvertent lesson he taught me that stuck with me (pun intended….you’ll see) and I never got to thank him for it.

When I was about 5 years old, my grandfather took me to the shopping mall near my house.  I remember getting on an escalator that ascended upward toward the second level of the mall.

Within seconds, things got out of hand.

The boy in front of us (who was about my age) started to frantically scream at his mother.  “I’m stuck!”

The boy’s shoelace had come undone and became lodged in the escalator stairs.  His mom panicked and started to pull on the lace.  “It won’t come out!”

By that time, we were coming near the top of the escalator at the second floor.  I started to panic too!  I thought for sure that the boy was going to be sucked into the belly of the escalator.

That was when my grandfather reached up to the boy, grabbed his ankle and pulled his foot out of the shoe that was stuck.

The mother and boy reached the top of the escalator and hurried off.  I wasn’t even involved, but as I got to the crest and walked off, I think my eyes were as big as theirs and my heart was pounding!

I don’t recall what they said to my grandfather, nor do I recall how they got the shoe out of the escalator.  What I do recall was the feeling I got from seeing my grandfather as being cool, calm, and collected throughout the whole ordeal while everyone else was freaking out.  It was poetic!

In business, we all face emergency situations on a regular basis.  In fact, you may have had your fair share of sales tax related emergencies throughout your travels.

I’ve got good news for you!  If you have the right playbook (or the phone number of a sales tax consultant that has the right playbook…Cough Cough!), dealing with sales tax emergencies can be similar to dealing with a shoelace caught in an escalator.  With a level head and a calm demeanor, you can easily yank your foot out of the shoe and glide safely to your destination.

Whether it’s audits, monthly compliance cycles, overpayments, underpayments or any other sales tax “emergency,” we all can take a page from my grandfather’s playbook by staying cool, calm, and collected.

(P.S. – If you’ve committed fraudulent activities with respect to your sales tax compliance responsibilities, you better brace for getting sucked into the belly of the escalator!)

Ah, the second week of January.  A time when gyms are seeing peak attendance.  A time when Cinnabon stores are seeing sharp declines in sales.  (Both of which are temporary, of course!)

I’m sad to report that I’ve already given up on my 2012 New Year’s resolution.  This was going to be the year where I didn’t get stressed out when companies weren’t concerned about sales taxes.

If a CFO was to tell me that sales taxes were immaterial to their company, I was just going to smile.  No stress!

If a Tax Director was to tell me that he/she doesn’t keep track of where their company is doing business, I was just going to nod.  No stress!

If a Project Manager was to tell me that sales taxes aren’t considered when they bid on new projects, I was going to…….AHHH!  (Channeling my inner Sam Kinison!)  I’m getting stressed just role-playing those situations in my mind!

Just because your car’s “Check Engine” light isn’t illuminated, does that mean you shouldn’t do any preventative maintenance (e.g. oil changes)?

Just because you haven’t had a heart attack, does that mean you don’t need to get a physical every year?

What kinds of preventative maintenance can you do to ensure that sales taxes aren’t eroding your profit margins?  Here are three ideas to consider:

1)  Examine your accounts payable functions to ensure proper compliance.  (Click Here)

2)  Examine your nexus footprint to determine where you have a taxable presence.  (Click Here)

3)  Examine the procedures used for bidding on new projects.  (Click Here)

If you drive your car 3,000 miles a month, you’re going to need more regular visits to your mechanic than the person that drives their car 300 miles a month.  The same approach applies to sales tax preventative maintenance; it all depends on your company and it’s operations.

Want more ideas that can help your company get into shape for 2012, let’s meet for lunch and grab a burger (or a salad if your New Year’s resolution wasn’t sales tax related!).