Transforming the tax function is easy. Just gotta dive right in. The dive

Change, (trade) war, economic downturn. The need for an efficient and effective tax function has never been higher. Gone are the days of tax being a downstream department, operating low-key, in silence, hidden away…

🦸‍♀️ Tax should more than ever play its spider-in-the-web role, closely connected to legal, finance, treasury and HR, and being the strategic business partner of choice. The CFO wants every department to be hyper-performant these days, also tax.

The only way of achieving that is continuously doubling down on the transformation of the tax function. Indeed, continuously, it will always be a work in progress.

But here is the problem.

Many tax leaders are stuck in analysis paralysis. They have cold feet. They procrastinate and kick the can down the road. Normal. I have been in that situation. And let’s be honest, the transformation of the tax function is such an ill-defined concept…

Secondly, they have difficulties breaking up with old habits: spreadsheet-based ways of working, ad hoc data consumption, inbox madness, manual processes, …

Here is how you can break down the transformation of the tax function to get started with it tomorrow:

1️⃣Tax is a people game. Focus on them first. You know what is required in order to build a dream team. If not, lmk, we have a great cheat sheet for this

2️⃣People require strong relationships. Based on solid relations, effective collaboration will happen. Invest in building relationships. See these local teams. Attend business meetings. Present to the ExCo.

3️⃣Processes are the next logical step. Continuously iterate on them. There is a definition for this: process excellence. It will pay off.

4️⃣Now we can think about automation. Or not, wait. One more step. Data. Double down on solid levels of data readiness. Have your data centrally stored, structured, in an opinionated repository.

5️⃣Ok, now we can come to what we all want: automation. Technology. AI. Yup. Very crucial. But you cannot cut the above corners. Work on a taxtech roadmap. Start small, start now. Keep it flexible. Keep it scaleable.

Voila. That’s a very good first step to get rid of any cold feet.

Good luck!