Sitka is a unified city-borough on Baranof Island - one government, one seasonal sales tax that changes twice a year, and an economy built on fish, ships, and a regional hospital. Tides keeps the books clean. 100% remote.
No setup fees · Cancel anytime · 100% Remote
The City and Borough of Sitka is a unified city-borough - one government covering the city and the surrounding borough on Baranof Island. It is one of the largest municipalities in the United States by land area and one of the smallest by population, which tells you most of what you need to know about Southeast Alaska.
Sitka was the capital of Russian America, and the handover ceremony that transferred Alaska to the United States happened here on Castle Hill in 1867. The Russian legacy is still visible - St. Michael's Cathedral sits in the middle of the main street - and it is a genuine driver of the visitor economy.
The working economy is built on three things: commercial fishing and seafood processing, healthcare (SEARHC is the largest employer), and a fast-growing cruise tourism trade. There is no road connection to anywhere - you arrive by plane or ferry, and so does everything you sell.
Wherever your business sits, we serve the whole area with the same level of service. We are 100% remote, so your exact location does not change anything about how we work.
Because Sitka is a unified city-borough, the city and the borough are one jurisdiction - a single government, a single seasonal sales tax, and one set of local filings.
St. Michael's Cathedral, Castle Hill, the harbor, and the retail and restaurant strip that fills with cruise passengers from spring through early fall.
The processing plants, cold storage, and marine services - the year-round industrial base that keeps Sitka working when the ships are gone.
The airport, Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, Mt. Edgecumbe, and the SEARHC medical center - the borough's largest employer sits across the bridge.
North out of town to the Sitka Sound cruise terminal - the dock that turned Sitka into a serious cruise port and reshaped the summer economy.
Baranof Island, Kruzof Island, and the surrounding waters - one of the largest municipalities in the U.S. by area, with a road system fourteen miles long.
Serving Sitka means knowing a place with a sales tax that changes with the season, a fourteen-mile road system, and a hospital that employs more people than anything else on the island.
Sitka - or New Archangel, as the Russians called it - was the capital of Russian America and, in its day, one of the busiest ports on the Pacific coast. On October 18, 1867, the Russian flag came down on Castle Hill and the American flag went up, and Alaska changed hands. Sitka stayed the capital until 1906, when the seat of government moved to Juneau.
The Tlingit were here long before either, and the Battle of Sitka in 1804 - fought where Sitka National Historical Park now stands - was one of the last major armed resistances by Alaska Natives to Russian colonization. That history is not a museum exhibit here; it is the living identity of the community.
The modern economy rests on three pillars. Seafood - Sitka is a major salmon, halibut, black cod, and herring port, with processors and cold storage that run year-round. Healthcare - SEARHC, the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, operates the Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center and is by a wide margin the largest employer in the borough. And tourism, which changed character dramatically when the Sitka Sound cruise terminal opened up the town to large ships. That last shift is why the seasonal sales tax matters so much more than it used to.
Alaska has no state sales tax and no state personal income tax — which is exactly why so many business owners get Alaska tax wrong. More than 100 local jurisdictions levy their own sales tax, and the rules change borough by borough and city by city.
Sitka has one of the trickiest sales tax rules in Alaska: the rate changes twice a year. If your point-of-sale system is not set to flip on the right dates, you are either over-collecting or under-collecting for six months at a stretch.
Rates shown are as of 2026 and can change. Always confirm the current rate with the taxing jurisdiction before you rely on it. Tides keeps your books tax-ready and works alongside your CPA — we do not file returns for you.
Seven core services, all delivered remotely. Everything your business needs to stay financially clean and tax-ready year-round.
Our flagship service. Every transaction categorized, every account reconciled, and clean financial reports delivered to your inbox each month — without you lifting a finger. The financial foundation every Alaska business deserves.
Behind on your books? We clean up any backlog — whether it is 3 months or 3 years — so you can move forward with accurate, up-to-date records.
New business or inherited a mess? We configure QuickBooks, connect your accounts, and build a chart of accounts that actually makes sense for your industry — including landed cost and job costing where Alaska demands it.
Monthly reconciliation of every bank account and credit card — ensuring your books match your statements and no transactions fall through the cracks.
P&L statements, balance sheets, and cash flow reports delivered monthly in a format you can actually understand and act on.
We keep your AP and AR organized so you always know what is coming in, what is going out, and what is overdue.
We make sure your payroll expenses hit your books correctly and stay in sync with your payroll processor every pay period — including seasonal crews.
We understand the financial patterns of the industries that actually drive this economy — not a generic list copied from somewhere in the Lower 48.
Fish tickets, crew shares, IFQ costs, fisheries tax
Inventory, cold storage, seasonal labor, landed cost
Cruise contracts, deferred revenue, a five-month season
Insurance billing coordination, payroll, SEARHC referrals
Barge freight in landed cost, a rate that flips twice a year
COGS, tip payroll, seasonal staffing, seasonal tax rate
Barged materials, short season, sales tax on services
Sales tax plus bed tax, cruise-season pricing
"Nobody told me the sales tax rate changes in April and October. I ran my whole first cruise season at 5% and had to eat the difference out of my own pocket. Tides caught it, got us set up so the register flips automatically, and cleaned up two years of books. They also finally showed me what my mugs actually cost once you count the barge freight - which was a rough conversation but the right one."
Sitka runs a seasonal sales tax. The rate is 6% from April 1 through September 30 and 5% from October 1 through March 31 - higher during the cruise season, lower in winter. If your point-of-sale system does not flip on those dates, you will be off for six months at a time. Rates are as of 2026; confirm the current rates with the City and Borough of Sitka Finance Department.
No. Sitka is a unified city-borough, so the city and the borough are the same government. One sales tax, one filing, one set of local rules. That is considerably simpler than the Kenai Peninsula, where a borough rate stacks on top of a separate city rate.
As part of your landed cost, not as a stray operating expense. Sitka has no road connection, so every item you sell arrived by barge or plane. If freight is buried in a general expense account, your gross margin is wrong - sometimes badly wrong. We structure the chart of accounts so freight and handling sit against the goods they belong to and you can see your real margin per product.
Yes, and it is one of the more specialized areas of Alaska bookkeeping. Fish tickets, crew shares, IFQ and permit costs, gear depreciation, and the state fisheries business tax are not things a typical Lower 48 bookkeeper has ever encountered. We keep the records clean and organized and work alongside your CPA on the filings.
No. If you do not have QuickBooks Online, we set it up as part of onboarding. If you already have an account, we connect to it and clean it up as needed. We also connect Puzzle.io for real-time dashboards and an instant snapshot of your books before regular monthly service begins.
Pricing is based on your monthly transaction volume, not your zip code. Most small businesses land between $395 and $895 per month. You get an exact quote during your free consultation - no guesswork, no setup fees.
Alaska does not border another state, so we do not pretend to serve one. We serve Alaska — from Southeast to the Interior to the Y-K Delta.
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation. Tell us about your business and we will give you a clear picture of where your books stand - seasonal tax rate included.
No setup fees · Cancel anytime · First month guaranteed
Official government resources for registering, filing, and staying compliant. Tides handles your books; these help with the rest.