Transforming the Tax Function Through Technology
In the past few years, the digital wave has become stronger, and the business case for the implementation of new technologies in the tax function has gained momentum. Digital tax administration has evolved as one of the biggest drivers of tax function transformation. Digital technologies are radically changing business and operating models, resulting in value creation for businesses.
Tax authorities around the world are introducing newer tax laws to deal with these digital models. Tax functions, therefore, require to be ready to deal with the digital disruption wave, which needs them to be closer to their stakeholders and data and address the changing demands and expectations of businesses and tax administrations with improved accuracy and efficiency.
Top tax technology companies
The tax technology landscape is fast maturing and is now shared by several solution providers and products. For most tax functions, the complexity today is deciding their requirements, tax technology strategy, and resources to run the strategy rather than the availability of platforms. With the advent of cloud-based offerings, the cost of implementation and maintenance of large applications has come down dramatically, the cost of compliance is becoming steeper, transparency and data sharing with tax authorities is becoming significant, and tax authorities are asking informed questions.
Tax technologies make it possible to remediate the mandates of the global digital economy with changing tax data flows, data analytics, and data demands. The latest digital tax function might evolve at an increased pace to become a strategic component of enterprise transformation. Tax authorities are becoming digital and getting closer to the source data to better understand taxpayer trends and make sure better compliance.
Therefore, tax functions cannot continue to remain blindfolded because of the lack of access to and visibility on their source data and potential to assess trends accessible to tax authorities. Hence, there is a demand for the tax functions to undertake timely and accurate compliance and go digital to undertake more value-adding functions for the business.
The Evolution of Tax Workflow: Cognitive Capabilities Define Latest Era
In today’s global tax landscape, the challenges of complying with constantly evolving regulations are becoming more and more complex. For tax professionals, the way work is routed, standardized, and streamlined is critical in remaining compliant, meeting filing deadlines, and minimizing tax exposure. Whether it’s a CPA in a small to mid-sized accounting firm, an accountant at one of the Big 4, or an analyst within a multinational corporate tax department, an efficient and effective way to route tasks and automate repetitive processes is of the utmost importance — especially during tax season.
Over the years, major advances in technology have significantly improved the daily workflow of tax professionals. Ten years ago, “paperless” trends in tax were everywhere. The move away from manual processes (like binders filled with tasks that were passed from person to person) to managing documents electronically transformed the way tax professionals worked. Slowly but surely, papers, pens and filing cabinets were replaced with electronic inputs and computerized document management systems.
A few years later, web-based workflow offerings took hold, creating even more efficiencies in terms of access, collaboration, and automation. From online portals to automatic tax rate updates, tax professionals could manage provision, compliance, and reporting processes like never before. And, staying up-to-date with the latest research and guidance became light years easier as the latest tax regulation information was available 24/7. The most beneficial outcome of web-based workflow offerings, however, was the ability to collaborate simultaneously with clients and team members, no matter where they were located.
While the past 15 years or so has brought tremendous advances, the latest era of tax workflow is perhaps the most exciting yet. Cognitive capabilities are enabling today’s tax professionals to gain understanding of their data like never before. Tax workflow systems can now interpret patterns and generate reports in real-time by marrying content and data together as one. These predictive engines produce much more consistent and reliable outputs — and provide clients and stakeholders with detailed tax insight that can aid in strategic planning and analysis. This ability is invaluable for tax teams looking to up their game with high-value clients and senior management teams.
“Workflow is much more than just routine work. It’s about truly understanding your processes, gaining insight about them”
