Transforming Healthcare Tax Compliance: A Modernization Blueprint

Healthcare tax compliance is uniquely demanding. Definition-driven tax rules, razor-thin margins, and a maze of exemptions make indirect tax one of the most complex challenges in the industry. Vertex's healthcare tax compliance solutions support more than 30 taxability categories for catheters alone, a sign of just how intricate these determinations can be.

Why healthcare tax complexity keeps growing

Beyond the rules themselves, operational pressures compound the problem. Talent shortages, rising operating costs, and frequent changes to sales and use tax rates create ripple effects across tax operations, leading to determination errors, audit risks, and inefficient exemption management. A shortage of tax professionals ranked as the top indirect tax pain point among healthcare tax, finance, and IT professionals surveyed for this white paper.

Building a business case for tax modernization

This white paper outlines five considerations for building a compelling case to implement or upgrade a tax engine within the Workday environment. These include recovering tax overpayments (in some cases as much as $250,000 over a three-year period), reducing time spent on month-end close, mitigating audit penalties, eliminating technical debt from legacy systems, and gaining access to AI-powered features that accelerate invoice processing and tax categorization.

Five leading practices from hundreds of implementations

Drawing on experience across hundreds of healthcare ERP and tax engine projects, experts from Vertex, Workday, and KPMG share practical guidance for a successful deployment. Key recommendations include involving the tax group early in ERP implementation planning, conducting a thorough review of applicable exemptions, and testing a wide range of tax scenarios, including complex and outlying cases, before go-live.

A real-world efficiency gain of 75%

One healthcare organization was spending five to six days each month on indirect tax compliance work. After KPMG performed a diagnostic and upgraded the organization's Vertex O Series configuration, integrated with Workday Financial Management, month-end close dropped to an average of 1.5 days. That represents an annual efficiency gain of 45 to 50 days, freeing the tax team to focus on higher-value work.

For healthcare finance, tax, and IT teams looking to reduce compliance risk, control costs, and modernize operations, this white paper offers a practical blueprint backed by real outcomes and grounded in the combined expertise of Vertex, Workday, and KPMG.