sales tax management strategies · 2019-06-06 · industry sectors responders represent a wide...
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Summary Results | May 2017
Sales Tax Management Strategies
Summary Results | May 2017
Copyright ©2017 Gatepoint Research. All rights reserved. This report is the sole property of Gatepoint Research and may not be used, reproduced or redistributed in any form including, but not limited to, print & digital form without express written consent of Gatepoint Research.
Survey Summary ▶ Between February and April 2017, Gatepoint Research invited selected finance
executives to participate in a survey themed Sales Tax Management Strategies.
▶ Candidates were invited via email and 100 executives have participated to date.
▶ Management levels represented are predominantly senior decision makers: 11% hold the title CxO, 33% are VPs, 22% are Directors, and 34% are Managers.
▶ Survey participants represent firms from a wide variety of industries including business services, financial services, healthcare, consumer services, high tech, general, and primary manufacturing; transportation, retail trade, and wholesale trade.
▶ Responders work for firms with a wide range of revenue levels: § 16% work in Fortune 1000 companies with revenues over $1.5 billion; § 10% work in Large firms whose revenues are between $500 million and $1.5
billion; § 7% work in Mid-Market firms with $250 million to $500 million in revenues; § 67% work in Small companies with less than $250 million in revenues.
▶ 100% of responders participated voluntarily; none were engaged using telemarketing.
Summary Results | May 2017
Copyright ©2017 Gatepoint Research. All rights reserved. This report is the sole property of Gatepoint Research and may not be used, reproduced or redistributed in any form including, but not limited to, print & digital form without express written consent of Gatepoint Research.
Executive Overview Many organizations have taken the major step of automating their sales and use tax calculation. But what about the next hurdle: managing tax collection and remitting in all pertinent geographies, while remaining compliant with changing sales tax legislation and product taxability rules? This survey asks respondents to report: ▶ How many sales transactions do they perform monthly? How often do they file taxes?
▶ Do they have difficulty managing indirect taxes? Are they confident they are collecting and remitting taxes properly in all geographies they are obliged to?
▶ Is their company growing? If so, in what aspects?
▶ Are changes in tax rules making your job easier or harder? ▶ What aspects of sales tax management would they like to do better or more easily?
Summary Results | May 2017
Copyright ©2017 Gatepoint Research. All rights reserved. This report is the sole property of Gatepoint Research and may not be used, reproduced or redistributed in any form including, but not limited to, print & digital form without express written consent of Gatepoint Research.
How many sales transactions does your company perform monthly?
Ranked by transactions, respondents’ organizations vary dramatically in size, from less than 100 to more than 10,000 sales per month.
14%
26%
18%17%
25%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Lessthan100 100to1,000 1,000to5,000 5,000to10,000 Morethan10,000
Summary Results | May 2017
Copyright ©2017 Gatepoint Research. All rights reserved. This report is the sole property of Gatepoint Research and may not be used, reproduced or redistributed in any form including, but not limited to, print & digital form without express written consent of Gatepoint Research.
How many times do you file taxes per quarter?
More than 2/3 of respondents report filing taxes less than 5 times per quarter. 15% file more than 21 times quarterly.
64%
12%9%
15%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Lessthan5 5to10 11to20 21ormore
Summary Results | May 2017
Copyright ©2017 Gatepoint Research. All rights reserved. This report is the sole property of Gatepoint Research and may not be used, reproduced or redistributed in any form including, but not limited to, print & digital form without express written consent of Gatepoint Research.
Have you ever been found non-compliant as the result of an audit?
15% of respondents have been discovered non-compliant by audit. Another 15% are not sure of their status.
No 66%
Yes 15%
I'm not sure 15%
We have not been audited
4%
Summary Results | May 2017
Copyright ©2017 Gatepoint Research. All rights reserved. This report is the sole property of Gatepoint Research and may not be used, reproduced or redistributed in any form including, but not limited to, print & digital form without express written consent of Gatepoint Research.
Do you find it difficult to manage indirect taxes, e.g., sales tax and use tax?
Although 64% of respondents are not challenged by it, 21% find managing sales and use tax difficult.
No 64%
Yes 21%
I'm not sure 15%
Summary Results | May 2017
Copyright ©2017 Gatepoint Research. All rights reserved. This report is the sole property of Gatepoint Research and may not be used, reproduced or redistributed in any form including, but not limited to, print & digital form without express written consent of Gatepoint Research.
How have changes to sales tax legislation and product taxability rules affected your job?
A resounding 69% of respondent agree: changes in sales tax legislation and product taxability has made their job harder, not easier.
30%
69%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
The changes have made my job easier
The changes have made my job harder
Summary Results | May 2017
Copyright ©2017 Gatepoint Research. All rights reserved. This report is the sole property of Gatepoint Research and may not be used, reproduced or redistributed in any form including, but not limited to, print & digital form without express written consent of Gatepoint Research.
Are you confident you are collecting and remitting sales tax in all geographies that you are obliged to?
Respondents are generally confident they are correctly collecting and remitting sales tax in all their operating geographies, but 19% express doubts they are in full compliance.
Yes 81%
No 19%
Summary Results | May 2017
Copyright ©2017 Gatepoint Research. All rights reserved. This report is the sole property of Gatepoint Research and may not be used, reproduced or redistributed in any form including, but not limited to, print & digital form without express written consent of Gatepoint Research.
In what area(s) is your business growing?
More than half of survey respondents (51%) report their business is expanding geographically. In addition, high numbers report adding to their headcount (44%) and introducing new products/services (38%).
51%
44%
38%
32%
19%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Expanding geographic footprint
Adding employees or contractors
Introducing new products and services
Adding offices, warehouses or facilities
Selling more online
Summary Results | May 2017
Copyright ©2017 Gatepoint Research. All rights reserved. This report is the sole property of Gatepoint Research and may not be used, reproduced or redistributed in any form including, but not limited to, print & digital form without express written consent of Gatepoint Research.
Which ERP or financial accounting system(s) do you use to track sales transactions?
Among respondents the top three financial accounting systems currently used to track sales are Oracle (21%), QuickBooks (15%), and Microsoft Dynamics (14%).
21%
15%
14%
8%
8%
6%
2%
1%
1%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%
Oracle
QuickBooks
Microsoft Dynamics
Sage
SAP
NetSuite
Intacct
Epicor
Infor Syteline
Summary Results | May 2017
Copyright ©2017 Gatepoint Research. All rights reserved. This report is the sole property of Gatepoint Research and may not be used, reproduced or redistributed in any form including, but not limited to, print & digital form without express written consent of Gatepoint Research.
Which e-commerce platform(s) do you use?
71% of those surveyed do not yet use an e-commerce platform.
5%
1%
1%
1%
14%
71%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Shopify
Magento
ShopSite
BigCommerce
OTHER
We don't have an e-commerce platform
Summary Results | May 2017
Copyright ©2017 Gatepoint Research. All rights reserved. This report is the sole property of Gatepoint Research and may not be used, reproduced or redistributed in any form including, but not limited to, print & digital form without express written consent of Gatepoint Research.
What do you wish you could do better or more easily regarding managing sales tax?
The toughest challenge cited by respondents regarding sales tax management is keeping up with changes in tax rules, rates, and filing schedules (51%). This concern far outstrips the problem of maintaining audit-ready records (32%) or assessing taxability (27%).
51%
32%
27%
24%
24%
23%
19%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Keep up with tax rules, rates, and filing schedules in multiple states
Maintain audit-ready records of transactions and filings
Assess product/service taxability
Manage exemption certificates for yourself or customers
Manage/assess use tax requirements
Have consistent tax information across multiple systems
Prepare and file returns on time with the correct tax authorities
Summary Results | May 2017
Copyright ©2017 Gatepoint Research. All rights reserved. This report is the sole property of Gatepoint Research and may not be used, reproduced or redistributed in any form including, but not limited to, print & digital form without express written consent of Gatepoint Research.
Profile of Responders: Industry Sectors
Responders represent a wide variety of industries.
Business Services 20% Financial Services
19%
Healthcare 12%
Consumer Services 11%
Mfg - High Tech 7%
Transportation 6%
Retail Trade
5%
Mfg - General 4% Wholesale Trade
4%
Mfg - Primary 3%
Construction 2%
Media 2%
Mining 2%
Public Administration
2%
Education 1%
Other 9%
Summary Results | May 2017
Copyright ©2017 Gatepoint Research. All rights reserved. This report is the sole property of Gatepoint Research and may not be used, reproduced or redistributed in any form including, but not limited to, print & digital form without express written consent of Gatepoint Research.
Profile of Responders: Revenue
Two thirds of those responding to the survey work in small organizations with less than $250 million in revenue.
>$1.5billion 16%
$500 million - $1.5 billion
10%
$250 - 500 million 7%
<$250 million 67%
Summary Results | May 2017
Copyright ©2017 Gatepoint Research. All rights reserved. This report is the sole property of Gatepoint Research and may not be used, reproduced or redistributed in any form including, but not limited to, print & digital form without express written consent of Gatepoint Research.
Profile of Responders: Job Level
66% of those surveyed old executive level positions within their organizations.
Manager,14%
Director,17%
VP,21%
CxO11%
Summary Results | May 2017
Copyright ©2017 Gatepoint Research. All rights reserved. This report is the sole property of Gatepoint Research and may not be used, reproduced or redistributed in any form including, but not limited to, print & digital form without express written consent of Gatepoint Research.
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