Chief information officers (CIOs) and their information technology (IT) functions are feeling overwhelmed these days. Understanding the source of this frustration can equip chief tax officers (CTOs) and their tax functions with some practical and valuable guidance.
In one of The Wall Street Journal’s recent “CFO Journal” articles, Deloitte Tax LLP Partner Jacien Steele identifies five important questions CFOs should ask their tax executives. According to Steele, "With turnover in tax leadership projected to increase due to retirements and the competitive market demand, CFOs should engage with tax in order to enhance tax literacy and develop future tax leaders."
We hear a lot about “ongoing economic uncertainty” these days, but there’s at least one economic certainty for companies with international operations: global audit activity will continue to increase.
“Chaos was the law of nature; order was the dream of man.”
― Henry Adams, U.S. Historian
Adams’ description of chaos appears in his book, “The Education of Henry Adams,” which he wrote a century ago to describe his attempt to come to terms with the start of the 20th century, a period of rapid change and turmoil. The quote also crystalizes the experience of many tax professionals at the dawn of the 21st Century as they try to make sense of the chaotic jumble of tax-enforcement approaches and increasing use of general anti-avoidance regulations (GAARs) that vary dramatically – and confusingly – from country to country.
This month’s 2014 Oracle HCM conference was inspirational and reassuring. The inspiration came from learning about innovative practices related to attracting, developing and retaining talent; boosting employee productivity and employee engagement; and addressing the talent crunch that affects all of us – tax executives, HR executives and just about every other company leader.
If you've ever driven on an icy road and started to slide, it helps to regain control by steering into the skid. While that guidance sounds counterintuitive, it happens to work quite well.
In my previous post, I described how some leading tax departments are addressing tax data management and achieving their improvement objectives. In this post, I want to share suggestions for how to build a good business case for changes in tax, in a way that strengthens your position internally during budget negotiations and externally for on-time and scope delivery of value from vendors.
I'm going to use a “factors analogy” and focus on the upstream processes around data to illustrate the concepts. However, the approach can be deployed in any area, compliance, provision, etc. First, it pays to be prepared.
At Vertex, we’re mindful of a troubling skills gap, particularly in the U.S. where there’s a growing need to develop science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills in students of all ages. The latest figures from Manpower’s ongoing talent-shortage survey indicates that 39 percent of U.S. employers currently experience difficulty filling jobs – despite relatively high levels of unemployment. The number one reason for this difficulty? A lack of technical competencies. So I decided to see if we could address the need in our own back yard. First, it must be noted that I am a proud Penn State alumni.
Silicon Valley-based Ventana Research recently recognized Vertex Enterprise in the category of Business Innovation for the Office of Finance in the technology research firm’s 2013 Technology Innovation Awards. While we are not big on publicizing accolades, this one is special.
When people ask me about the strategic alliance Vertex and Deloitte Tax entered recently, I reach for my dictionary.
“Alliance,” according to Merriam-Webster’s, means a “bond” or “connection.” That’s fitting: we’ve been connected with Deloitte for years, working side-by-side with their tax experts on numerous large Vertex implementations inside our customers’ organizations. We believe this relationship provides customers with the best tax expertise (Deloitte) and tax technology (Vertex) and our strategic alliance simply formalizes and deepens that longstanding connection.
Last week, I was reflecting on a conference presentation that I was lucky enough to hear earlier in the year. The speaker had some very interesting things to say about the social contract between tax authorities and tax payers. The essence of his point was that tax authorities have an obligation to assist tax payers in making the identification of their liabilities and the payment of their taxes as easy as is reasonably possible. In return, tax payers should remain compliant by accounting for, collecting and paying those taxes that they are required to manage.
In my last post, I discussed how the management of tax data is widely viewed as a root cause of tax process efficiency and effectiveness. I also mentioned Vertex’s recent survey on tax process improvement practices, which includes feedback from over 300 tax professionals.
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