Technology

Tax Leaders Face a Generational Reckoning
Success calls for new tax technology talent and tools

The Who’s 1965 anthem furiously announced the arrival of a new generation whose values differed markedly from those of its predecessors. If current tax function leaders tune in to the thirty- and forty-somethings in their ranks, they’ll hear about similarly dramatic changes regarding the technology tools the function will soon… Read more »

How Adobe Streamlined Tax to Scale Its Business
Dramatic shift in online purchasing has ripple effect

Some of the statistics about consumption in the United States are truly jarring. There are more than three shopping centers for every high school, according to industry data and the Department of Education. For each person, forty-eight square feet of retail capacity exists, CNBC reported earlier this year. The average… Read more »

Your Tax Data Is Ripe for Artificial Intelligence. Are You Prepared?
AI is still evolving, but machine learning is already here

Entrepreneur and Tesla cofounder Elon Musk recently sparked controversy when he labeled artificial intelligence (AI) the “biggest existential threat” to humanity. On the flip side, according to Sandhya Venkatachalam of Centerview Capital Technology, AI can be used to fundamentally rethink how we solve the world’s problems and has the potential… Read more »

Best Practices in Tax Compliance Outsourcing
Start the journey with a well-designed RFP

Tax compliance isn’t for the faint of heart these days. Proper execution can directly affect cash flow, the defensibility of tax return positions, risk management, and ultimately the public’s perception of your company as a responsible taxpayer. In the face of these concerns, as well as ever-changing tax laws and… Read more »

Bots, Natural Language Processing, and Machine Learning
Yes, these will impact your tax practice, but when and how much are still unclear

Tax professionals in all industries run into a common problem: the constant confrontation with rapidly changing technology that is camouflaged by overly complicated terminology, with few people explaining things in language that laypeople can understand. Such is the problem when you start a conversation on, say, robotic process automation or… Read more »

Playbook for a Successful Tax Technology Solution
Key to success: Engage tax technology and IT resources early and ensure continued involvement

The business and tax environments are changing rapidly, significantly affecting how corporate tax functions leverage technology, engage with their information technology (IT) departments, and execute technology projects. To adapt to challenging times, tax needs to reevaluate how it exploits data and technology and reconsider the skill sets needed to transform… Read more »

Reimagining the Future of Work
Talent-first strategy positions your people for unpredictable journeys

Recently, business media coverage has shifted from a heavy focus on the effectiveness of new technologies to a growing emphasis on the qualifications of the people who will use those tools most effectively. The lens has been recalibrated—away from which products, platforms, and algorithms make artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent… Read more »

The Internet, ‘Fake News,’ and Tax Research
Yes, they really do affect your bottom line

Before the days of the internet, tax research was conducted by tax professionals with access to information not readily available to the general public and followed high editorial standards. Corporate tax executives might have challenged the conclusions of the research, but they did not have to think twice about the… Read more »

TEI Roundtable No. 9: Technology Standards & the Tax Function
Hosting issues, cloud-based data aggregation, and cybersecurity protection — mixed in with corporate tax requirements — are among the key concerns.

As technology standards continue to change, so do their impact on the tax function and corporate tax professionals. Tax Executive convened a roundtable to discuss the burgeoning relationship among technology standards, tax requirements, and the changing dynamics of tax professionals. Kelly Necessary, senior director of tax at Time Warner Cable;… Read more »

Forging Forward — But How Fast and in Which Direction?
Data rules the tax technology roost, elevating professionals who embrace its potential, but the “new normal” is not without its pitfalls

In the world of real estate, it’s all about location, location, and location. In the tax world, it is becoming all about data, data, and data. And whatever facet of tax technology you’re talking about—whether it’s hardware, software, Big Data, the cloud, data storage, or cybersecurity—the data are the key drivers.… Read more »