For shops, boutiques and stores with a till. Your books done the day you upload your statements, checked against your bank, for $79 a month.
Free to join. The first 1,000 in get their catch-up free.
Sales tax
Alabama's sales tax is 4%, and cities and counties add their own, about 9.46% in all on average. If what you sell is taxable, you collect it and file returns with the state.
State income tax
Alabama taxes income at 2% to 5% in 2026, including the profit from your business.
Local tax
Birmingham charges a 1% occupational tax on wages and business profit.
Federal tax
Working for yourself, you pay 15.3% self-employment tax on most of your profit, plus federal income tax, usually in four estimated payments: April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15.
Contractors
Paid a contractor $2,000 or more in 2026? Send them a 1099-NEC by January 31.
What every business in Birmingham (about 200,000 people) keeps track of in 2026. Rates change, so check with your accountant before you file.
Retail stores in Birmingham, by the numbers
Jefferson County, home to Birmingham, has 2,489 stores with employees (Census Bureau, 2023).
That's 4% fewer than in 2018 (2,591).
Another 3,834 are run by one person with no employees, mostly self-employed owners.
Across Alabama there are 17,877 with employees, so about 14% are in Jefferson County.
Every one of them has books to keep: sales to match to the bank, costs to sort and tax to work out.
Why retail stores need different books
Stock bought before it sells, a point of sale with every sale on it, cash and cards and gift cards, sales tax on most of it, and counts that never quite match. A store's real profit depends on knowing what the stock cost.
What a bookkeeper for retail stores in Birmingham keeps track of
Daily sales from your point of sale
Stock bought, sold and counted
Sales tax collected
Cash counted against the till
Card fees
Taxes for retail stores in Alabama
Most goods in Alabama are taxed at 4% plus local tax, about 9.46% in all on average.
You collect sales tax on taxable goods and file returns with the state, monthly, quarterly or yearly.
Stock counts at year end set your cost of goods sold.
Card processors send a 1099-K for what they paid you.
What SumSwift does for shop owners, for $79 a month
Point of sale reports read and booked day by day
Stock kept item by item with barcode scanning, counts and purchase orders
Till counts with over or short
Sales tax or GST/HST and PST worked out from the real sales
Every statement checked against the balances your bank printed, to the cent, with personal spending kept off your profit
Receipts snapped with your phone or forwarded by email are read and matched to the charge
Up to 3 accounts included. Prices in USD. Your accountant still files your tax return, with clean books and free access.
Questions.
How much does a bookkeeper for retail stores cost in Birmingham?
Published price guides put most small businesses at $300 to $1,500 a month for a bookkeeper, more when the books are busy, as they often are for retail stores. SumSwift does the monthly work for $79 a month, the day you upload your statements.
Does SumSwift track inventory?
Yes, item by item, first in first out or average cost, with counts, purchase orders and barcode scanning on your phone.
Can it read my point of sale?
It reads daily reports from Square, Shopify, Clover, Lightspeed, Toast and others.
Does SumSwift know Alabama's tax rules?
Most goods in Alabama are taxed at 4% plus local tax, about 9.46% in all on average. You collect sales tax on taxable goods and file returns with the state, monthly, quarterly or yearly.
Behind on my books. Can you catch me up?
Yes. A catch-up of up to 12 months is $599, once, checked against your bank to the cent.