Safaris are Great in Africa, but not for your Workpaper Management Process!

Tax Managers are faced with constant change. That’s why it’s important to remember tips to save time with your workpaper management process to achieve all that needs to be done. Today’s corporate tax and accounting departments are on a Safari of their own. They seek to manage, update, and secure workpapers and their corresponding binders as efficiently and effectively as possible. It is important to first be aware of the most common obstacles preventing these outcomes:

1. The inability to align and synchronize staff
2. Difficulty managing and keeping up with workpaper data
3. Security gaps
4. Workpaper tools don’t integrate with tax or other parts of the process

Have a workpaper management plan and stick to it

Inability to align your staff reminds me of a South African trip to Krueger Park I took a couple of years ago. The Safari Guide says everyday, “We leave for Safari every day at 6:00 AM, so meet me by the safari truck, in front of camp with all your safari gear.”

Day one, my plan was to get all the safari gear set out on the bench for the family. That is SUPER early especially when you are still trying to get in the time zone. This is an extra challenge for multiple people that live in different time zones. So, all we needed to do was grab and go, as they say. I mean you are going to see the BIG FIVE, right?

So, I did just that, I thought I had everything checked twice, but in the back of my mind I felt like I was missing something. Ever feel that way?

Fast forward to the next day. Someone arrives at our tent for an escort to breakfast before Safari. (It isn’t safe to walk around on your own there at 5:00AM.) Soon thereafter, I remembered what I forgot: my husband’s gear! I hadn’t unpacked all of our suitcases… So I went into high gear panic mode. I had my sister help me, while we all took turns finishing brushing teeth etc. Not exactly as efficient as I thought this would go, though everyone was running around like mice, trying to help get everything he needed. That is what I equate with inability to align and synchronize staff and difficulty managing workpaper data while trying to stay in compliance.

Expect the unexpected

While being in a tent in Krueger park, one thing I didn’t know is that you have monkey and baboon visitors that tend to also like to use your tent as a trampoline. So it’s a little noisy at times, and both my husband and I are light sleepers. And lack of sleep can lead to accidently leaving your doors open or unlocked. Letting them invite themselves right on in. And, that is one messy and dangerous security gap. Much like living in the wild, the wrong system for your process can cause unnecessary risk to your business.

The office can sometimes feel like you are on a Safari, managing staff, looking for the right workpapers and making sure you don’t have any security gaps. Protecting your business is making sure you have the right integrated tools in place. And with the right workpaper management tools, working together with your team is like seeing the BIG FIVE for the first time in the wild– mind-blowing.

JIM FIORENZA, Tax Manager, at Tidewater Inc. says it best,“The combination of CCH® tax compliance software and CCH® ProSystem fx® Workpaper Manager makes mapping our G/L effortless, one easy motion and you’re done! With CCH® ProSystem fx® Workpaper Manager, we’ve made all of our accounting processes and files paperless. No more misplaced and worn documents! It’s just so much faster — now just click a button, it’s there. “

Such as:

• Binders Rolling Forward
• Importing into Tax automatically
• Consolidations

It is time for you too to stop the Safari, get your workpaper management and tax process integrated, more efficient with CCH ProSystem fx® Workpaper Manager!