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Automate tax processes to increase compliance of firms and efficiency
Wednesday September 13 2023
In an age of globalisation and digitisation, tax professionals must actively engage rather than passively observe. PHOTO | SHUTTERSTOCK
In an age of globalisation and digitisation, tax professionals must actively engage rather than passively observe. The complex tax regulations require experts to comply while ensuring accuracy and timelessness.
The manual nature of traditional tax processes often leads to inefficiencies and increased chances of errors. Tax process automation has emerged as a game-changer, revolutionising the way taxes are managed and filed.
Automation increases efficiency by freeing tax professionals from repetitive manual tasks, such as data entry and calculations.
Robotic Process Automation can be leveraged to schedule repetitive tasks to prevent missing deadlines.
As a result, operations relating to taxes are completed faster and with increased accuracy, leaving tax experts to channel their expertise toward strategic planning, analysis, and providing invaluable insights.
Manual tax preparation involves a risk of human error, but automation significantly reduces this risk.
Automated systems perform accurate data entry and error-free computations, lowering the risks of violations and fines and ensuring regulatory compliance.
Machine learning can be leveraged to classify data faster, more accurately, and with clear audit trails for data sets.
Blockchain technology has the potential to improve transparency by streamlining the tracking of financial transactions and ensuring precise real-time taxes.
It can be difficult for firms to stay current with tax standards because they are always changing. To navigate this dynamic landscape, businesses can strategically harness the power of automation to integrate built-in compliance checks.
By doing so, they ensure adherence to the latest tax rules and regulations, offering a proactive approach that safeguards against compliance risks.
However, embracing tax process automation doesn’t come without its share of challenges. Implementing automated operations can be difficult.
To guarantee seamless integration and acceptance, businesses must invest in training programmes and change management initiatives.
Further, data security and privacy considerations are critical as sensitive financial information is contained in tax data.
Adopting automation technologies requires ensuring strong security protocols and compliance with data privacy laws.
And as tax rules and regulations continue to evolve, automation systems must be updated frequently to stay compliant.
The writer is a tax advisor with KPMG Advisory Services Limited.
