Exemption Certificate Management (ECM) collects, validates, organizes, and maintains your customers' sales tax exemption and resale certificates. Upload certificates to Numeral and we handle classification, matching, monitoring, and renewals from there.
What we handle for you
🟢 Certificate processing — Upload certificates individually or in bulk. We read and classify each one, match it to the right customer, and validate it against that state's requirements.
🟢 Certificate monitoring — Track certificate status, expiration dates, and compliance issues from the Exemptions tab in your dashboard.
🟢 Renewal reminders — We send renewal requests to your customers automatically, starting 90 days before a certificate expires.
🟡 Manual review — Certificates that need extra review are flagged for our team, and can take a little longer to show as approved in your dashboard.
Why did an exempt customer get charged sales tax?
The most common reason: we don't have a valid exemption or resale certificate on file for them yet. Without one, a sale is taxed by default, the same as any other transaction. The sections below cover where to add a certificate, what we handle automatically, and how to keep certificates current so this doesn't keep happening.
Where to add a certificate
Upload certificates from the Exemptions tab in your dashboard:
Drag and drop a file, or upload from Google Drive or your device.
Bulk-upload with a CSV template, or sync customer and certificate data automatically through a connected integration — NetSuite, Shopify, Stripe, or QuickBooks.
Each certificate gets linked to the customer it covers, across all of their sales channels — so one certificate covers every platform they buy from, not just the one it came in on. Once uploaded, a certificate sits in Pending while we read it, validate it against the relevant state's requirements, and flag anything high-risk for manual review (see "Manual review" above).
🔴 Be sure to add the certificate before the exempt sale happens, not after. Tax is calculated at the time of the transaction, so a certificate added later doesn't change tax that's already been charged on a past sale.
Renewals
We send renewal reminders to your customer automatically, starting 90 days before a certificate expires — you don't have to track expiration dates yourself.
🟡 Exemption Certificate Management isn't on for every account by default. If you don't see the Exemptions tab in your dashboard, message your team — we'll get you set up and answer any pricing questions.
If tax was already collected
If a certificate gets added after we've already collected tax on a sale, message your team with the order details. What applies next depends on the jurisdiction, and we'll walk you through it for your specific situation.
Quick How-To Guide: Getting Started with ECM
Step 1: Upload Exempt Customer Information
Navigate to the Exemptions tab in your Numeral dashboard.
Configure integrations (NetSuite, Shopify, Stripe, QuickBooks)
Or, bulk upload customer data by clicking the "+ Add" button on the Exemptions Overview page and following the prompts
Resolve any data validation or completeness issues before the next step
Review suggested customer linkages to prevent duplicates or cross-platform coverage gaps
Step 2: Upload Certificates
Navigate to the Exemptions tab in your Numeral dashboard.
Choose the most appropriate method for adding your certificates:
Select files or folders available on your device
Directly link a Google Drive folder to extract the files
Drag and drop files onto the overview page
Monitor the status of the uploads and resolve any errors or warnings.
Step 3: Monitor Certificate Processing
Certificates remain in Pending until they are approved.
Check Exemptions Overview to track overall status.
The Customer & Certificate Health Dashboard shows your compliance status at both customer and certificate levels.
Quickly spot expiring or missing certificates.
Step 4: Set Up Automatic Renewals
ECM automatically sends renewal requests to customers 90 days before certificate expiration.
Customers can manage submissions directly through their unique portal.
If you don't see this option or haven't used ECM yet, our team can enable it for you.
💬 Questions? Reach out to our team anytime via the messaging widget in your Numeral dashboard.