Stabilizing Multi-State Payroll Compliance
Case Study: Xenon Ventures & TaxStudio
The Challenge
When Xenon acquired a SaaS company, payroll compliance quickly became more complicated than expected.
“When purchasing a small SaaS IT company, some state payroll taxes related information is not transferred (either lost or not properly maintained). Help needed to fix some state payroll taxes issues when transferring from one payroll provider to another (PEO).”
With employees across multiple U.S. states, Xenon faced a fragmented payroll tax landscape—different agencies, different systems, and inconsistent historical records.
Xenon operates with a small team and without dedicated HR; creating potential risk of not seeing or knowing about unresolved payroll tax issues.
From our Payroll Team’s perspective, this engagement required deep investigation and persistence. Brittney Packard, Senior Analyst and Payroll Lead at TaxStudio, describes the undertaking:
“The biggest hurdle was figuring out what was needed for each state. Some states we can easily create an online account and close up tax accounts in seconds. Others require forms, phone calls, which then may result in needing a power of attorney on file which slows down the process.”
Our Approach
Xenon engaged TaxStudio’s Payroll Team to untangle existing payroll tax issues and bring all state accounts back into good standing despite having limited information to start. Thomas Dupuy, Operations Manager at Xenon Partners, reflects on the challenges that emerged:
“Even with little information to work with, TaxStudio was able to help us address all our state payroll taxes issues and helped us navigate the complexities of the fragmented U.S. state payroll taxes system (several states + several agencies + different processes).”
Internally at TaxStudio, this meant hours of hands-on work: tracking down state agencies, identifying missing registrations or closures, placing follow-up calls, and determining the exact procedural path for each jurisdiction.
“Most issues were solved by a phone call to the state to find out what exactly we needed to do. While it may seem simple enough, many hours were spent on hold for a question that was answered in a few minutes.” - Brittney Packard.
Persistence matters deeply in this line of work. The team often had to try multiple approaches to resolve the same issue, which takes more time that owners simply don’t have. As Thomas notes, what made this engagement a success were three things:
Being able to work with barely any information.
Doing regular follow-ups with the agencies
Trying several ways to address a problem
This led to a solid impact in getting Xenon back into good standing.
The Results
The impact was immediate. Thomas notes that engaging TaxStudio has been:
“Extremely impactful - Saving a lot of time and peace of mind.
TaxStudio is providing clear guidance and taking most of the workload regarding tax issues. We are also sleeping well knowing that TaxStudio is on top of everything tax related. Our business operations have greatly improved. As a small customer with no dedicated HR department, TaxStudio is helping us focus on our core business. We have some time back, less stress and more mental bandwidth."
This was the exact effect our team strives to create for each of our clients’ businesses. Brittney notes, “Any time we successfully close a tax account or get someone back into good standing, it's a win and feels so good at the end to let the client know all the actions that needed to be taken had been taken.”
With state payroll tax issues addressed and processes stabilized, Xenon is now operating with greater clarity, confidence, and focus.
Quick Facts
Client Engagement Rating: 10/10
Timeline: Project Scope → Q2 2024 → Q4 2025
Key services: Payroll
Biggest win: Strong communication and peace of mind.