As cliche as it may sound, we’re probably all in agreement that time is money.
When the Tax Advisory and Compliance Service (TACS) team took on the ADEA innovation challenge, this was the guiding principle on which they built their ideas. Now, through their creativity, hard work, and dedication, they have taken great strides in protecting and optimizing this immense valuable resource.
The TACS team explored using technology to automate repetitive processes and the practice of forecasting to reduce the lead time for completion of processes such as the generation of compliance reports, and the consolidation of documents for a BIR audit.
In compliance with the BIR requirement that tax and accounting records are to be kept in digital copies for a period of 10 years, the team has started using the automation features of OmniDocs, and the use of Google Sheets for compliance monitoring reducing the 30-minute preparation time per report, to just 5 minutes. This will increase the level of availability and accuracy of data.
BIR audits are regularly conducted, with a long checklist of documents often required from taxpayers to submit. The process begins with a Letter of Authority (LOA) given by the BIR to the concerned party, with the list of requirements. Currently, the requirements have to be generated from an ERP which causes a delay in the submission, and quite often, a request for extension as the current process takes 20 days, while the mandate provides a lead time of only 10 days for completion.
To address this, the team focused on the business units that are most likely to receive LOAs, and have secured all the common documents that will be required based on the checklist.This is stored in a central repository, and monitored via Google Sheets with links to each document’s location. Compliance level as since the implementation of this feature is at 100%! This foresight and preparation will surely aid in the expeditious conduct of the audit when that LOA comes.
