Data analytics is a hot topic in various industries as businesses begin to take ownership of their data and figure out ways to leverage it to increase revenue, streamline their workflow, and prevent problems that may arise in the future. While many industries are beginning to embrace data analytics with open arms, some are slow on the uptake. Companies that seek to take control of their data and look to understand it are the ones that will thrive in the increasingly digital future. With various powerful programs targeting different needs, there are a plethora of options to choose from. While these options are out there, a big question remains with business owners – what is data analytics and why is it important?

To answer the first part, data analytics is capturing relevant data and exploring it to gain a deeper insight into the processes and health of your business. Such data analytics can help you analyze trends in your business or industry, standardize processes to reduce errors, or even track the impact of change control initiatives to drive greater efficiencies. 

Within the tax department, data analytics can really help keep your business compliant with federal, international, and state tax regulations.  Below are three common ways data analytical software has shown to speed up compliance and/or mitigate risk:

1. Data Standardization and Cleaning

Data analytical software can help to cleanse your data. You can use it to detect, correct, and/or remove records that are either incomplete, corrupt, or inaccurate.  Not only will this help to improve your overall audit trail, but it will also allow for proper standardization with other data sets within a system

2. Efficiency

Data analytical software can also aggregate and sort your data so there is no need for a treasure-hunt through a data-dense spreadsheet. With little effort, your information can also be easily accessible, reducing the time it takes to find the data and giving you more time to learn from it.  This often promotes more confident decision-making, because you are certain in what you know and your ability to access or understand the information that has been collected.

3. Trend-Spotting

Data analytical software can also present trends in an easy-to-understand way, mainly utilizing data visualization strategies. Instead of looking at cells upon cells of information in Microsoft Excel, you’ll be able to see your data in graphs and charts, making it more impactful and meaningful.  Once hidden business trends can become so apparent they almost jump off the paper.

Per a study done by Deloitte, over 50% of companies still rely on spreadsheets for data capturing and analysis, with an additional 8% still using hard copy lists.  Think how much money these companies are losing due to inefficiency alone. How many employees are needed to maintain these lists? Not to mention, with more hands physically touching the data, there’s a much more chance of error!

Utilizing tax and data analytics software can save you money from multiple angles – elimination of non-compliance, reduction in redundant staffing, streamlining of information, trend-spotting, and quicker, more reliable error identification.

From a transaction tax standpoint, an excellent option for analytical software that can keep small to medium business up-to-date and use tax compliant is TaxView Express. It’s easy to set up and doesn’t require integration with other financial or enterprise resource planning software.  In fact, most users can be up and running in a couple of weeks!

TaxView also has an added advantage of being integrated with CCH, which allows users to stay up-to-date on both legislative and tax rate changes.  That, coupled with its 30+ standard “one-click” analytic reports, really make paying the correct amount of tax on every purchase very easy! With truly unmatched data visibility, users can quickly and efficiently identify and fix all vendor and/or accrual error that exists.  You won’t have to guess whether you’re getting it right, because you’ll get to see the actual results of how much is being saved each month with TaxView.