Case study
Tax Optimisation for global confectioner
Discover how a global confectioner optimised tax processes with Thomson Reuters ONESOURCE, reducing manual entries and saving time
Introduction: Streamlining compliance for a growing global brand
Offering more than 250 menu items, this global confectioner has been satisfying customers across the globe for over three decades. The Southern California-based corporation is considered an industry leader with more than 260 upscale, casual, and full-service dining restaurants across the United States and over 20 franchisee operations across the Middle East and Asia Pacific.
Despite its impressive growth and global footprint, the company's three-person income tax department faced significant challenges in managing tax compliance efficiently. With operations spanning multiple jurisdictions and a complex tax landscape, the team needed a solution that could keep pace with their expanding business while reducing manual workload and improving accuracy.
Challenge: Balancing provision accuracy with week-long manual processes
One of the challenges facing the 3-person income tax department was the lack of a streamlined compliance process. The team faced several critical pain points:
- Over-dependence on manual data entry: Tax professionals were manually typing disclosure items into tax return software, creating opportunities for errors and consuming valuable time
- Time-consuming balancing processes: Balancing the provision in Microsoft Excel was particularly challenging, often taking up to a week to complete
- Lack of controls: A major drawback of relying entirely on spreadsheets was the lack of controls and the potential for errors, especially when spreadsheets included large, complicated calculations and allowed multiple people to make changes
“Balancing the provision in spreadsheets is usually the cause of all my late nights in January and can take me up to a week. That would save me a week of time during year-end.”
Michelle S.
National Tax Director
Solution: ONESOURCE integration eliminates spreadsheet dependency
When looking to standardize its processes, the company's tax department turned to the Thomson Reuters ONESOURCE suite of tax products. The main decision criteria for choosing ONESOURCE Tax Provision were to automate the process and gain the ability to reuse data in ONESOURCE Corporate Tax, which the company had used for many years.
The tax department opted for an on-site implementation where the Thomson Reuters professional services team could review data and ask questions in person before beginning the bulk of the process. This face-to-face interaction was critical to ensuring an efficient and thorough software setup and getting the implementation done right the first time.
Key integration benefits:
- Workpapers module mapping: Utilizing the Workpapers module directly mapped the tax department's custom calculations into ONESOURCE Tax Provision, saving substantial time on current and deferred items
- Single source of truth: Book-tax differences and adjustments for compliance purposes were already available in ONESOURCE Tax Provision, ensuring one single set of calculations and workpapers for all income tax processes
- Automated true-up and disclosures: Leveraging the ONESOURCE provision and return integration solution saved time on return to provision true-up adjustments, and automatically entered all disclosures in the tax return
National Tax Director Michelle S. explains how she uses ONESOURCE Workpapers: "I have it mapped so that I calculate my current items just like I do for quarterly estimates. Then, I take that spreadsheet, attach it to my mapping tab and load it into ONESOURCE Tax Provision. All my currents are in and my deferred items are calculated!"
Outcomes: Significant time savings and risk reduction achieved
Post-implementation, the tax department has automated a majority of manual processes through the entire tax lifecycle and continues to refine its provision process to become more efficient. This has realized significant reductions in risk from manual entries, as well as man-hours of over a week at year's end, per tax team member.
Key benefits realized:
- Elimination of late nights: The integration between ONESOURCE Tax Provision and ONESOURCE Corporate Tax, coupled with the ability for return to provision true-up posting directly into provision, has been transformative for the small but growing tax department
- Always-balanced provision: According to Michelle S, one of the key benefits of having the provision in the software is the time saved because the provision calculation will always be balanced
- Improved work-life balance: Michelle is looking forward to working normal hours and avoiding heavy reliance on spreadsheets
- Foundation for growth: The implementation of ONESOURCE Tax Provision and enhanced integration with ONESOURCE Corporate Tax has involved training and organizational development, but it has helped the tax compliance department work smarter and faster
The tax department continues to explore additional functionality in ONESOURCE Workpapers and looks forward to learning more about how others in the industry are utilizing it for purposes such as customized tax reporting.
At a glance
Industry
Food & Beverage/Restaurant
HQ region
California, United States
Solutions
ONESOURCE Tax Provision
ONESOURCE Workpapers
ONESOURCE Corporate Tax
Drive accurate and audit-proof results with ONESOURCE
Rely on a cloud-native solution to gain the visibility and clarity needed within complex tax regulatory environments
