Given the opportunity to invest in bitcoins, German state bonds or Taxnology (Tax technology), some of you would instinctively put their money on bitcoins. After all, the extreme value fluctuations offer the opportunity to hit the jackpot. Or end up bankrupt. When the IT budget is at stake, no Tax Manager we know would to take this kind of risk.
On to German state bonds. Solid as a rock but no significant ROI and a bit like a football player who is considered a fixture in his team. It sounds reassuring but what does that mean in terms of his specific contribution to the team achievements? In other words: what does that qualification tell us about his added value to the team?
‘Taxnology’
Admittedly, the dilemma presented in the header is one that Tax Managers are not likely to be faced with. We chose this odd header to make a point. When asked by clients to support them in defining their business case, no one ever really asks for a fair risk assessment. Instead, they generally prefer to focus exclusively on the ROI. With a more balanced approach, the outcome may be both surprising and favorable.
So what about Taxnology? Surely not the first thing that comes to mind when allocating your IT budget. But then again, neither was cloud computing a decade ago and those who stepped in at the right time are none the worse for that.
Dodgy raft
The way we see it, many if not most companies are still struggling with Excel spreadsheets to account for their VAT returns. But what if the employee involved falls seriously ill, or worse. Who will know exactly what the figures represent, if all relevant reporting is recovered at all. The same goes for VAT reconciliation. Who can achieve this with one single mouse click and without substantial correctional measures before submission to the tax authorities?
VAT reconciliation is like crossing a river. Many organizations build a dodgy raft of some kind to get the job done, year after year. Eventually they will reach the other side, often with a wet suit.
itax4apps
Using itax4apps, however, there will be no need to change clothes. Nor will there be any reason to build a new raft next month or next year. You can cross the river using the solid bridge in the form of an effective VAT automation tool. Especially since it includes an audit trail for accounting purposes. The only ‘drilling’ needed is the automated drilling down to transaction level and/or the root cause.
The real gain is in identifying mistakes at an early stage without the need for time-consuming correctional measures for compliance later on. On top of that, unlike itax4apps, Excel does not take the ever changing legal requirements into consideration.
To wrap it up, applying the right Taxnology offers Tax Managers high ROI in terms of significant cost savings with no risk involved. For more information you can contact us. Or send an email directly to Henk Tiesma at h.tiesma@4apps.com. He may even have some bitcoins or German state bonds for sale…
