Highlights
- Connected tax data ecosystems enable validation, reconciliation, and traceability across processes.
- ONESOURCE customers reduced tax preparation time by 50% through automation and integration.
- Centralized platforms deliver 148% ROI with payback in under six months.
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How a connected process and data ecosystem increases the value of tax data
How does a connected process and data ecosystem work?
Benefits of a centralized connected platform
Extract more value from your tax data with the right architecture
How Thomson Reuters ONESOURCE adds value to your tax data
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How a connected process and data ecosystem increases the value of tax data
Do you have confidence in your data? Fully leveraging a connected process and data ecosystem provides that level of ownership – you know where every number came from, who touched it, and whether it reconciled across each step of the tax lifecycle. This data becomes a valuable asset as it can be validated, reconciled, and traceable across each different required tax process.
According to the Thomson Reuters Institute’s 2026 Corporate Tax Department Technology Report, nearly two-thirds of corporate tax departments are still operating in the reactive phase of technological development — meaning some processes are automated, but not enough to support truly proactive, strategic tax work.
Many organizations continue to struggle with fundamental challenges around capturing, integrating, and analyzing the data needed to complete their tax computations. Source data is typically stored in multiple enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems — and some of that data may be missing. Tax teams may also use manual processes and spreadsheets to collect and analyze data.
At a tactical level, these challenges can lead to hours wasted, repetitive data entry and manipulation work, and errors that can cascade across calculations. At a strategic level, they mean that global tax departments lack confidence in the data they need to do their jobs — leaving them out of step with enterprise business strategies and making it difficult to communicate the value they provide. A connected process and data ecosystem can help you overcome these challenges.
How does a connected process and data ecosystem work?
ONESOURCE solutions — including DataFlow, Data Hub, General Ledger Manager, and Workpapers — bring data into a pipeline of systems where it can be cleaned, validated, and enhanced. Each time that data is validated by a different system, it gains value and accuracy, and is progressively aggregated toward a single global tax repository and fed into your broader tax technology strategy and road map.
As a result, your tax team can trust and understand your data. Not only does this make it easier for you to defend it in an audit, but you can confidently use that data for risk planning and advice to your organization, making your team a valued partner in the business.
Benefits of a centralized connected platform
You can achieve the following benefits of a connected process and data ecosystem:
Increased efficiency: According to a November 2025 Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Thomson Reuters, participating Thomson Reuters ONESOURCE Direct Tax customers reduced tax preparation time by 50% by automating routine tasks and eliminating manual data entry. That time goes back to your team for analytics, planning, and higher-value advisory work.
Better data: Provide the business and your tax team with transparency around processes and a single version of data truth they can use to make informed decisions.
Improved controls: Leverage standardized processes and automation to reduce duplicative work, error, and risk. Get the right level of data you need for tax planning and forecasting faster and more easily.
A scalable solution: Harness the principles of data lakes, warehouses, and marts to scale with your growth. A scalable solution lets you accept large volumes of data in myriad formats, begin applying validations, and then zero in on the strategy that works for that data type, increasing your flexibility.
Reduced costs: The same Forrester study found a 148% ROI over three years with payback in under six months. A composite organization based on participating customers who use ONESOURCE Direct Tax solutions avoided $275,000 per year in late filing penalties, error remediation, and consulting fees — savings that compound as the business grows and expands into new jurisdictions.
Accelerated cycle times: By centralizing and automating tax management across jurisdictions, the composite organization based on ONESOURCE direct tax customers interviewed in the Forrester study eliminated the need to hire two additional resources annually despite growing operations — handling more with less and matching pace with digital business and regulatory change.
Extract more value from your tax data with the right architecture
Achieving this state takes time, a solid strategy, and a phased approach. An experienced partner can help you capture more value from tax data by implementing a scalable, connected platform architecture. The right partner will work with you to:
Review the current state of your architecture. First, it’s important to fully understand the current state of your tax department’s technology architecture, the tools you use, current pain points, objectives, and requirements.
Design the tax architecture you envision for the future. Your partner will help you design a solution that enhances your performance by connecting all your data sources, processes, and people. Connectivity to third-party analytical and visualization tools is also important, so you can build a process to suit the needs of your organization.
Find the right tax data management software. A good tax data management software solution, such as ONESOURCE DataFlow, helps you standardize, organize, and optimize your data at every step. The solution should give you greater visibility and control of your existing tax packages, offer structured and scalable cloud-based storage, and enable your team, clients, and partners to enter tax data through a familiar Excel interface — or directly from any browser, with no desktop setup or IT involvement required.
Manage your processes with ONESOURCE Workflow. ONESOURCE Workflow helps to standardize your processes, streamline task and due date management, integrate process controls, and allow for effective collaboration.
Build your own tax data repository. Core to this process is developing a centralized global tax repository that serves as a single version of truth for all your tax data — including both the data you bring in and the calculated values generated by your tax products. ONESOURCE Data Hub provides a broker capability within your platform to ingest, classify, validate, store, and access all of your data across multiple tax years and processes. ONESOURCE Data Query Reporting also gives your team on-demand access to that stored data for reporting and analysis.
How Thomson Reuters ONESOURCE adds value to your tax data
ONESOURCE DataFlow gives tax teams a familiar, Excel-based interface with the security and control their data demands — letting you build standardized templates that distribute, collect, track, store, and retrieve data from a centralized cloud repository, without sacrificing the flexibility your team already relies on. DataFlow also offers a browser-based option, meaning requests can be accessed and completed from any device — no PC, local installation, or IT involvement required.
Data lives in the cloud rather than in local files or email chains, making it easy to repurpose across processes. Changes made to one tax package propagate to others, even active ones, keeping data and workflows consistent across your organization. Role-based access controls give you precise governance over who can view, enter, or approve data — a capability tax leaders consistently cite as among the most impactful in practice.
Paired with built-in status management and real-time tracking, you always know where data stands and who is responsible, eliminating the manual Outlook-chasing that consumes hours before every close. DataFlow’s rollover capabilities carry that standardized foundation forward into the next quarter or year, so your team starts ahead rather than from scratch. DataFlow integrates directly with ONESOURCE Income Tax, Tax Provision, and Data Hub, so your validated data flows seamlessly across your compliance and reporting processes without manual re-entry.
When you adopt a stable, trusted, connected process, you not only accelerate data collection and tax workflows — you increase their value. Tap your greatest resource with confidence to drive change, scale tax operations, and be a better partner to your business. Start today by learning more about data management software for corporate tax businesses.
