Retail Scoop: Behind the Scenes with Celebrities…and Vertex?

Who said what  backstage at the Oscars? What really happens on set once the Today Show cameras stop rolling? How does Vertex quietly but diligently help set technology standards in the retail industry?

Granted, it’s pretty easy to identify which of those questions doesn’t belong. It’s also safe to say that most people love to know what goes on behind the scenes. Although Vertex’s behind-the-scenes work in the retail industry doesn’t make the celebrity-gossip pages, it’s certainly worth a brief report.
 
Here’s the scoop: For the past eight years Vertex Principal Architect John Glaubitz, has represented Vertex on the Association of Retail Technology Standards (ARTS). ARTS is a division of the National Retail Federation (NRF), and its purpose is to helps retailers implement new technology as swiftly, securely and cost-effectively as possible. Glaubitz currently serves as the chair of ARTS’ Data Subcommittee. The group’s mission includes developing best practices, technology standards and educational programs that enable retailers, their vendors and suppliers to conduct business efficiently and on a global scale. That means the subcommittee works hard to make sure that retail technology works as well as possible.

Why is this of interest to tax professionals in the retail industry? Peace of mind, really. ARTS works diligently to make sure there are set standards for how tax information is communicated between a company’s tax engine and the information systems performing the point-of-sale transactions. These standards ensure that retail tax professionals get consistent, correct answers when using tax automation to address complex business issues.

So, Vertex’s behind-the-scenes work in the retail industry may not generate much gossip or make it on to "Entertainment Tonight, " but it certainly helps create a significant amount of practical guidance in the form of white papers, schemas, business process models and more.  (This information is available to members free of charge and to nonmembers for a nominal fee.)