Gopuff says its stop work order was just ‘an accounting discrepancy’

Gopuff’s short-lived discrepancy with the Philadelphia Department of Revenue has come to an end. 

A stop work order posted on the company’s HQ by the local tax authority, which started making the rounds on social media over the weekend, had been taken down by Tuesday night, Technical.ly confirmed with a visit to the Northern Liberties building. 

Removal of the sign indicates the delivery giant has settled with the city, according to government officials.

“This was simply the result of an accounting discrepancy that we have been working closely with the city to address,” a Gopuff spokesperson told Technical.ly. “We take our corporate obligations very seriously and expect to resolve the issue soon.”

Because it came from the Department of Revenue, not the Department of Licenses and Inspections, the order against the Philly-based startup had to do with something tax-related. 

“The city pursues license revocation when a business is physically located in the city and is either unregistered or has delinquent tax balance and/or unfiled returns,” said agency spokesperson Christian Crespo. “Its removal generally indicates that the business has come into compliance.”

It can sometimes even come down to a miscommunication in filing documents, Crespo said, but the agency could not give any details on Gopuff’s case, or why it received the order, and there are no public records detailing the case.

The department did, however, point out that these orders are usually brief. “Most businesses that receive notices comply prior to revocation or shortly thereafter,” Crespo told Technical.ly.

Stop work orders in Philadelphia more commonly come from the Department of License and Inspection. Those usually have to do with building or construction issues, like unsafe structures, lack of permits or a missing site safety review. Records show no open violations against the headquarters building at 537 N. 3rd Street, and L&I confirmed to Technical.ly that it did not have an open violation against Gopuff. 

A fired CTO and layoff-driven path to profitability 

While Gopuff has overcome its Department of Revenue hurdle, it still could face fallout from a recent C-suite departure.

The company last week fired Chief Technology Officer Sree Kotay after his June arrest for drug possession came to light, a Gopuff spokesperson confirmed Monday morning, corroborating internal emails and court records viewed by Technical.ly.

Gopuff would not give additional details on how it’s managing the CTO gap. It’s on an uphill battle toward profitability, marked by cycles of layoffs. 

In May, the company laid off about 6% of its 10,000-member staff, to put the company on track toward profitability in the next two years. Last year, Gopuff laid off 2% of its workforce and in 2022, Gopuff held three rounds of layoffs and closed some of its warehouses.

Startup turmoil has become widespread throughout the market since 2020, as VCs turn away from high-risk investments and companies reconsidered bold financial moves in favor of staying afloat. 

That’s especially clear for Gopuff, once valued at $15 billion in 2021, which has since turned away from its goals to IPO.