In-house tax and other stakeholders

Tax has an incredible amount of stakeholders to manage. Think about it. The business. Finance. Management. Advisors. Tax authorities. Statutory auditors. Investors. NGOs. The public. And I probably forget a couple of them. It is not only the high amount of partners but also the complexity of the workstreams that make it extremely daunting.

When I was in-house, stakeholder management consumed a lot of my precious time. Sure, it is maybe the most important part of our job. I admit. But still, endlessly chasing stakeholders to get things done, receive input or provide data? I can vividly remember the frustration, anger and despair this triggered inside.

The domain and context in which we operate is not really “nice-to-have”. We have hard deadlines, embedded in legislation. We need to comply with complex obligations globally. We need to analyze precisely every envisaged business decision. If not, we all know what will happen. And for this, we rely on all these stakeholders.

Managing all these stakeholders accurately is key. This is about building relationships, ensuring smooth collaboration, and getting things done. This is also about clear communication while cutting out noise (jargon included). This is about installing structured and repeatable processes, with proper controls and the right levels of governance. This is about understanding, before being understood. Obtaining buy-in to get sh*t done.

Never forget that tax is and will be a people business. They need us, and we need them. Invest in it.