Manage multijurisdictional tax and finance processes

Introduction A number of organizations are pursuing greater reach and growth of their businesses. This means that finance managers, tax managers and other top finance executives now have expanded roles. In certain instances, the finance manager oversees both financial and tax reporting responsibilities. Furthermore, many organizations have operations in multiple locations and countries giving rise to several tax reporting obligations.

Tax and regulatory authorities have increased requirements for reporting and compliance. Managers now face the challenge of reporting to many stakeholders in these jurisdictions. For instance, a senior bank executive in Kenya will need to report to the Board, shareholders, the Kenya Revenue Authority, Central Bank of Kenya and other statutory bodies such as National Hospital Insurance Fund, etc.

These complex reporting obligations with many components, interactions and actors require innovative and efficient ways to achieve high quality financial reporting and full compliance with tax and regulatory authorities. Tax authorities are ramping up their collection efforts and expanding the tax base by introducing more tax obligations. Organizations face the challenge of complying with these tax obligations and within set timelines.

The major challenge becomes, how do these executives meet these obligations with reduced exposure to risks?

Use of technology to produce solutions Manual tracking of processes is cumbersome and prone to errors, potentially leading to missed deadlines and fines for non-compliance among other consequences.

Luckily, technology solutions that can be applied to address various challenges efficiently and manage different processes. These solutions range from the use of Google-based products facilitating common access to information by the stakeholders, to more sophisticated tools that are custom-made for particular reporting needs.

Factors to consider when choosing the process management tool Choosing the right process management tool will depend on a number of factors. Some of the factors that will be relevant include:

• The number of processes that one plans to track;
• The nature of the reporting requirements including the location of the stakeholders;
• Flexibility of the tool to accommodate future growth or changes;
• Ease of use of the deployed tool;
• Ability to generate relevant reports in a timely manner and
• Security of the system. The system should have adequate controls to ensure that the information is secure and remains accessible only for those with appropriate levels of access rights.