Empowering Tax Leaders: A Checklist for Early Digital Transformation Involvement

As a tax leader, seize the opportunity to shape your organization’s digital transformation from the ground up. By involving your tax department from the very beginning, you can significantly boost the success and efficiency of these initiatives.

This proactive approach fosters a more integrated, compliant, and strategic transformation, ultimately driving greater value for your organization. Leverage this checklist, filled with actionable steps and insights, to navigate the complexities of digital transformation and position your tax department as a strategic partner in this journey. Use it to guide your efforts in securing your department’s early and impactful participation.

1. Align with organizational goals

• • Understand your company’s broader digital transformation vision and align tax department goals with these objectives.
  • Demonstrate how tax planning can enhance strategic planning, minimize compliance risks, and boost profitability.

2. Develop a comprehensive plan

• • Quickly assess and identify tools that support departmental and organizational digital transformation.
  • Evaluate current technology stacks and employee skills to ensure alignment with digital goals.

3. Build strategic partnerships

• • Foster relationships with key decision-makers in finance and IT departments.
  • Initiate conversations to ensure tax department considerations are included from the start in the digital transformation process.

4. Advocate for early involvement

• • Highlight your tax department’s potential contributions to digital transformation to make a compelling case to the C-suite.
  • Emphasize long-term cost savings and compliance benefits of early tax department involvement.

5. Embrace technology and innovation

• • Develop specialized roles that blend technological skills with tax knowledge.
  • Encourage a culture of innovation within your tax team to keep pace with technological advancements.

6. Invest in training and skill development

• • Provide training in new technologies and ongoing education for existing employees.
  • Prepare your team for evolving, technology-centric tax roles and responsibilities.

7. Leverage automation and integration

• • Automate repetitive tasks and integrate tax solutions like ONESOURCE with ERP systems like SAP and Oracle.
  • Use predictive analytics to offer insights for informed decision-making.

8. Secure leadership buy-in

• • Engage leaders by demonstrating potential ROI benefits of technology adoption.
  • Showcase improvements in risk mitigation, cost reduction, and enhanced strategic capabilities.

9. Monitor and evaluate progress

• • Continuously assess the impact of technology on department goals.
  • Use data metrics to access ROI and make adjustments to ensure benefits.

10. Prepare for future challenges

• • Stay informed about evolving tax regulations and global tax structures.
  • Equip your tax department to handle increased complexities and compliance requirements.

Maximize your organizations’ potential ROI

By using this checklist, we hope that tax leaders like you can effectively integrate tax considerations from the start of your organizations’ digital transformation journey and maximize potential ROI.

Dive into our e-book Maximizing ROI: Why early involvement of your tax team is crucial in digital transformation today to learn more.