19MAY 2025CFO TECH OUTLOOKPeople in the tax industry frequently make the statement that they are expected to increase their productivity while simultaneously decreasing their budgetview tax as a cost tend to give it minimal leeway and budget because they are constantly seeking to reduce expenses. And companies that view taxes as a value driver focus on the return that a well-structured tax department will give to the organization as a whole. Therefore, it is always good to work for a company that views tax as a cost because unless you're attempting to deploy technology that helps you comply with the law or meet all compliance standards, you won't receive much attention from your IT department, CIO, or CFO. These are the types of businesses that are more likely to make a commitment to supporting a global tax department through the use of technology because they consider a return on investment. Moreover, this enables you to manage all of these risks, the primary hazards about which we all worry in the tax department. Such as handling the scheduling and resource management of resource restrictions for information roles. It also assists you in safeguarding future investments so that you can keep up with software updates.What are some of the essential elements that each tax department needs to have?In most of the tax departments, we focus on five key workstreams-- compliance, provision planning, merger and acquisitions, and finally, audits and controversy. Each of these work streams presents unique difficulties that can be helped or hindered by automation. For instance, compliance encompasses not just state and local compliance but also federal compliance, in addition to property tax compliance, sales and use tax compliance and other types of tax compliance. And each of these distinct spheres necessitates a certain kind of technological advancement in order to become more automated and productive. So whether we are using the Vertex software package for sales tax or using an Ultrax model for state apportionment, it is important to know how more quickly and accurately we can obtain information and put it on a piece of paper.What would be your piece of advice for budding professionals in the field?It is important for leaders to consider tax as a partner to finance, similar to how the majority of people view their CFO as a partner to the business. Tax is a service that exists to serve a business, so in order to run a successful business, we must understand how taxes affect the Company at the end of the day. Therefore, while incentives are what they are, a well-run firm should examine its after-tax return, not its before-tax return. If executives keep this in mind, I believe they will give tax the priority and resources it needs to be effective in a well-run organization.
< Page 9 | Page 11 >