How Rae works
Rae matches the documents in your vault to what each vendor needs in the states you ship to, then keeps track of the dates.
Upload once
- Files
- PDF, JPG or PNG, up to 20 MB each
- Earlier versions
- All kept
Everything a vendor might ask for goes into the vault once: a resale certificate for each state, your seller’s permit, business license, EIN letter, W-9, certificate of insurance, and your association memberships and certifications.
You type the dates printed on each upload; where no expiry is printed, Rae works it out from the state’s rule. Nothing counts until you’ve confirmed it.
Multistate certificates, the MTC uniform certificate and the Streamlined Sales Tax certificate, list the states they cover. Each one counts only in the states that accept it.
When you renew a document, upload the new one in its place. The earlier versions stay in the vault, so you can see what a vendor was sent.
Sixteen kinds, and room for anything else
Resale and sales tax
- State resale / exemption certificate (blanket)
- Follows the state’s rule
- Single-purchase resale certificate
- No expiry (single use)
- State-issued resale certificate or reseller permit (FL DR-13, LA R-1064, WA reseller permit, TN, NM NTTC)
- Printed expiry (required)
- MTC Uniform Sales & Use Tax Resale Certificate (multistate)
- Until cancelled; each covered state’s rule still applies
- Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption (F0003)
- Until revoked; check your registration each year
- Seller’s permit / sales tax registration / vendor’s license
- Per state (OH until cancelled, PA every 5 years, WA 4 years); else printed or none
Business
- Business license
- Printed expiry (often annual)
- IRS EIN confirmation (CP 575 / 147C)
- No expiry
- IRS Form W-9
- No expiry; regenerate when your business details change
- Articles of organization / incorporation, DBA
- No expiry
- Certificate of insurance
- Printed policy expiry
Professional
- Association membership (ASID, IIDA, NKBA, IDS, IDC, NEWH, AIA)
- Printed expiry (typically annual)
- NCIDQ / CCIDC certification
- Printed expiry
- State interior design registration or license
- Printed expiry
Supporting documents
- Website, business card, portfolio
- No expiry; worth checking your links each quarter
- Trade references / credit application
- No expiry
And any other document you add yourself.
Add your vendors
- Trade programs
- 60 in Rae’s list, or your own
- Requirements
- From the vendor’s own pages, where checked
- Each document
- On file, expiring or missing
Choose vendors from Rae’s list of 60 trade programs (Kravet, Thibaut, Arteriors, Visual Comfort, RH Trade, the Williams-Sonoma B2B program and more) or add your own. Then tell Rae which states each account ships to.
For 18 of these programs, Rae has checked what each asks for against the vendor’s own pages. Kravet wants your resale number and three current trade references. RH Trade wants a design-association membership, a certification or a business license, plus a signed resale certificate for each delivery state. The Williams-Sonoma B2B program takes any two proofs of business, and its membership itself expires.
For each account you see the documents it needs, state by state, each marked on file, expiring or missing. Where Rae hasn’t yet checked a vendor’s requirements against its own pages, the vendor’s page says so (“Requirements not yet verified”) and you can fill them in for your studio.
Get reminded in time
- Reminders
- 60, 30 and 7 days ahead, and on the day
- Weekly summary
- The next 90 days, and your open tasks
Certificates follow their state’s rule; licenses and memberships follow the date printed on them. Rae tells you 60, 30 and 7 days before a vendor is due, and on the day, in the app and by email, with a summary once a week.
A document’s expiry comes from what’s printed on it, or, when nothing is printed, from its state’s rule. Here are a few of the rules Rae applies.
| State | Certificate | Rule Rae applies |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | DR-13 | Expires every December 31 |
| Illinois | CRT-61 | Renew every 3 years |
| Michigan | Form 3372 | Renew every 4 years |
| Ohio | STEC B | No fixed expiry |
| California | CDTFA-230 | No fixed expiry |
| Texas | 01-339 | No fixed expiryRule unverified, review yearly |
| New York | ST-120 | No fixed expiryRule unverified, review yearly |
Where the sources for a state are thin, Rae doesn’t guess: it reminds you every year and marks the rule unverified. Where they disagree, it takes the shorter period, so you renew early rather than late.
Each vendor account gets a due date: the earliest of its documents’ expiries, any membership expiry, and the vendor’s own renewal schedule. Its status follows from that date. An account is due soon within 60 days, at risk when a document is missing or expires within 30 days, and overdue or lapsed after that.
The weekly summary goes out on the day you choose. It lists what’s due in the next 90 days and your open tasks.
When a vendor’s schedule is unknown
Some vendors never say when they re-check certificates. For those, the vendor’s page shows “Renewal schedule unknown” and one action, Ask the vendor. Choose it, and Rae drafts a short email asking what they keep on file, for which states, and when they need updates. Approve it, and Rae sends it the same way as a renewal email. When they reply, you note their answer in a short form, and Rae schedules the account from there.
Approve or auto-renew
- Ways to send
- A packet, or an email Rae sends for you
- Auto-renew
- After 3 approved renewals without changes
- Follow-up
- 14 days after it goes out
When a renewal comes due, Rae first checks that each document it needs is in the vault and current. If one is missing, it asks you for it before going further.
Two ways to send
- A packet, for vendors who take documents through a portal, a sales rep, fax or in store: one PDF with a cover page (your studio, the vendor, your account number, what’s enclosed), your documents, and a checklist with the vendor’s contact and how they take submissions.
- An email, for vendors with a tax inbox: addressed, written, with the certificates attached. When you approve it, Rae sends it from your Gmail if you’ve connected it, or from Rae’s own address with replies coming to you. Rae can send as you. It can’t read your inbox.
Group renewals
When you upload a new version of a certificate several vendors rely on, such as next year’s Florida DR-13, Rae proposes a group renewal: every vendor that needs it, and how each one takes documents. Leave any vendor out, then choose Approve all. Each vendor gets its own renewal and its own evidence, and the group’s page shows who has confirmed. From October 1, your dashboard reminds you that next year’s DR-13 is coming.
Assisted, then auto-renew
Each vendor starts assisted: Rae shows you the full packet or email and waits for your approval. Once you’ve approved three renewals for a vendor without changes, you can switch it to auto-renew: Rae prepares its renewals and sends the emails without asking first. If a renewal for that vendor ever goes unconfirmed, it moves back to assisted, and Rae tells you why.
After it goes out
When Rae sends an email for you, it marks the renewal as sent. For a packet, choose Mark as sent once you’ve submitted it. When the vendor confirms, choose Mark confirmed, with their reply if you have it. The packet or email stays with the renewal as evidence, and the due date moves forward. If nothing comes back in 14 days, Rae reminds you to follow up; after another 14, it flags the renewal and says what to do next.
What Rae doesn’t do yet
- Fill in state resale certificate forms. You upload the certificates you have.
- Log in to vendor portals or fill in their web forms. Rae prepares the packet and a checklist; you submit it.
- Read your inbox.
- Import your vendor list. You add vendors one at a time.
- Add your team. It’s one designer per studio for now.
- Give tax advice. Before a large order, confirm a date with the vendor or your tax advisor.
Free during the pilot. Rae asks for no payment details.