In some ways, Tax 2.0 is for anyone who has some stake in how effectively a corporate tax department operates, and who wants their tax department to perform better. So that would probably include the people who pull all of the data together and do the planning, or the provision, or prepare the returns, or manage the audits. Depending on the size of your company and your tax department, that could be just one person, or it could be north of 100 – and all of them will be valued members of Tax 2.0.
But the person, or the role, that the new Tax 2.0 is really centered on is the Tax Operations Leader in your company. There may not be anyone who has that specific job title, but there is probably someone who has the most responsibility for how effectively the department does its job – returns filed on time, estimates bear some resemblance to actuals, material weaknesses gone or being addressed, offshoring/outsourcing programs defined, systems are up and available, departmental customers are getting what they need, staff members are growing their skills, etc. etc.
The Tax Operations Leader (TOL) may not be the most senior person in the department or the person responsible for tax policy or tax strategy (though in some companies those roles are combined ). When they are separate people, that Chief Tax Officer role can often be pretty disconnected from the day-to-day operations of the department. So it falls to the TOL to focus on performance.
Tax 2.0 was formed to help Tax Operations Leaders lead. There aren’t many resources out there helping you build and run a world class tax department. Most TOL’s got to their position by being very sharp at tax – not necessarily by virtue of their expertise on improving the overall performance of the department. This is the space where Tax 2.0 hopes to serve.
To support the TOL’s leadership, Tax 2.0 developed a corporate membership model instead of traditional individual membership. When you join Tax 2.0, you automatically get five named “seat licenses” for your department, as well as a private company “home page” where you can share information among team members. (You can get more than five seats if you have a larger department and/or want to invite colleagues outside the tax department.)
We’ve also developed our Tax 2.0 tools in a way that fosters teamwork and collaboration within the tax department and even the broader organization. When you take your initial “Total Tax Transformation” assessment, you’ll see not just how your answers compare to the general population of Tax 2.0 members, but how your answers compare to your own colleagues. We believe that one of the most powerful experiences that a TOL can have is to work with your colleagues to discuss the differences in your opinions and develop a shared view of how things are now, and how you would like them to be in the future.
So if you’re reading this and you are a Tax Operations Leader, we hope you’ll bring your team into the Tax 2.0 community as we re-launch the site. And if you’re not a TOL but you know one, we hope you’ll forward this on to him/her for consideration.
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