The Challenge
Expanding into the United States is rarely a single problem to solve. For CloudSEK, a Singapore-headquartered cybersecurity company with the majority of its operations based in India and an expanding global presence, entering the U.S. market meant navigating a web of interconnected challenges: incorporating the right legal entity, staying on top of a fragmented and ever-changing state-by-state sales tax landscape, and making strategic structural decisions as the business evolved.
The typical approach for a company in CloudSEK’s position would be to engage multiple vendors – a law firm for incorporation, a separate tax advisor for compliance, a CA for cross-border structuring, and so on. The result is fragmented advice, coordination overhead, and no single party accountable for the full picture. CloudSEK needed something different: one partner who could own the entire U.S. journey end-to-end, from day one of incorporation through to ongoing compliance and strategic counsel as circumstances changed.
The Solution
Commenda became that partner. Since 2023, Commenda has served as CloudSEK’s single point of contact for everything U.S.-related – handling entity setup, managing ongoing sales tax compliance across multiple states, and providing real-time strategic guidance whenever new challenges arose.
Entity Incorporation
Commenda guided CloudSEK through the incorporation of its U.S. entity, handling the necessary filings and structuring decisions so the CloudSEK team could focus on building their business rather than navigating U.S. corporate law from India.
Corporate Tax
Commenda manages CloudSEK’s ongoing U.S. corporate tax obligations – covering federal and state-level filings – ensuring the company meets its statutory requirements without having to engage a separate accountant or tax advisor. This sits alongside the sales tax and entity work as part of a fully integrated service, with one team holding the complete picture of CloudSEK’s U.S. tax position.
Sales Tax Compliance
As CloudSEK’s U.S. revenue grew, so did its sales tax obligations. With 50 states each carrying their own thresholds, exemptions, and filing requirements, managing this manually was neither scalable nor safe. Commenda built a proactive workflow with CloudSEK’s finance team: every incoming purchase order is now sent to Commenda’s compliance team before the invoice is issued, to confirm whether a registration threshold has been crossed and what tax rate applies. This means CloudSEK’s proposals and contracts always go out with the right tax language in place – protecting the company from absorbing unexpected tax liabilities on its P&L. CloudSEK currently has registrations in three states and is on track to expand to six or seven within a few months.
Strategic Counsel When It Mattered Most
When CloudSEK secured a landmark investment from Connecticut Innovations – a U.S. state-backed venture fund – a key condition was demonstrating economic activity in Connecticut. CloudSEK already had a Delaware entity, and the finance team was weighing three options: dissolve the Delaware entity and reincorporate in Connecticut, set up a Connecticut branch, or maintain both structures in parallel. All three paths were costly, time-consuming, or operationally burdensome. Commenda’s platform facilitated advice that led to CloudSEK identifying the best approach and implementing it, avoiding thousands in legal fees.
The Outcome
Two years in, CloudSEK’s U.S. presence is compliant, cost-efficient, and built for scale – and it has been managed entirely through one partner. Rather than coordinating across lawyers, accountants, and tax advisors, Kalyan’s finance team has a single team to call. Entity obligations are handled. Corporate tax filings are on time. Every sales tax obligation is monitored before it becomes a liability. Every strategic question has a knowledgeable counterpart on the other end. And as CloudSEK grows – with new states coming online and a potential Dubai engagement on the horizon – Commenda remains the constant.
Before and After Commenda
| Before Commenda | After Commenda | |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Setup | No U.S. entity; complex cross-border structuring | Entity incorporated and fully structured by Commenda from day one |
| Corporate Tax | No dedicated U.S. tax advisor; filings at risk | Federal and state corporate tax filings managed end-to-end by Commenda |
| Partners | Multiple fragmented vendors across legal, tax, and accounting | Single point of contact for all U.S. entity and compliance needs |
| Sales Tax | Manual research per PO; reactive and unscalable | Proactive – every PO validated before invoicing; zero missed obligations |
| Invoicing | Risk of absorbing sales tax as a P&L hit post-invoice | All proposals structured with correct tax language from the outset |
| Strategy | No integrated advisor; structural decisions made in isolation | Real-time counsel – e.g., Connecticut expansion handled without a redundant entity |