SWOT for Tax Six Steps to Help Plan Your Attack! (1 hour) To - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

SWOT for Tax – Six Steps to Help Plan Your Attack! (1 hour)

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Presented by: Kelley Lear

Paul Mattiola Verizon Communications ACT Vice President Introduction

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ACT website: www.taxACT.org RedMoon website: www.redmoonsolutions.com

SWOT Overview Six Steps to Plan your Attack! Discussion On

• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats

After your SWOT

E mba rk on a mission with us…

Wha t is SWOT ?? NOT SWAT … SWOT !

What is a SWOT

SWOT is an extremely useful tool for understanding and decision- making for all sorts of situations in business. SWOT is an acronym for Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.

NOT just for Marketing!!

SWOT is a “process” and/or analysis methodology that can help you to easily get your team to analyze a piece of your tax lifecycle or the entire process It opens up team member thoughts and allows them to brainstorm freely and without fear! Brings good ideas to the table and lifts up areas for change and opportunities to excel.

A SWOT analysis can offer helpful perspectives at any stage of an effort. You might use it to:

– Explore possibilities for new ways to communicate with Finance and Accounting to get the data you need – Make decisions about the process and solutions with respect to FIN 48 and provision – Lift up manual processes associated with apportionment – Identify manual processes and risks associated with fixed asset management data and processes

How is a SWOT He lpful?

You might use it to:

– Identify best practice procedures and create checklists – Lift up the need for using a tax portal for collaboration and workflow in tax – Identify the need to improve your audit through appeals processes – Simply to determine where change is possible… How is a SWOT He lpful?

How is a SWOT He lpful?

• A SWOT analysis generates

information that is helpful in matching an organization’s goals, programs and capacities to the social and business environment in which it operates.

“Instead of worrying about the future, let us labor to create it.”

Hubert Humphrey

F

• ur Ke y E

le me nts…

F

• ur Ke y E

le me nts…

• Define scope
• Define process

– Workshop process – Ground rules – Expected outcomes

• Setup room for workshop

– Flip charts – White boards – Scribe/recorder

Identify what creates value. A strength is something that makes your process valuable, what sets it apart from other processes. Divide the strengths into categories. They can be listed as assets, resources and specialized skills that your process or staff have available. Assess the specialized skills within your staff.

Ste p 2: Stre ng ths – Skill and/or knowledge of tax department resources – Communication with finance – Tax sensitized data – Tax technology resource – Excel or database skills – Part of process – FAS 109/FIN 48 – Relationships within the company

Analyze weak points of your process from an internal perspective. Where can you improve data quality or acquire the expertise that creates value? Identify weak points from a manual process, data integrity or knowledge point of view. Reasons why you might end up with an answer that has not had much review or analysis. Be sure to include things related to staff, missing or incorrect data, lacking skills, tax and technology resources.

Ste p 3: We a kne sse s – Turnover or retiring employees – No knowledgeable tax accounting resource – Communication with finance and IT – No tax sensitized data – Manual processes – Poor teamwork – Lack of time

Identify external factors that may positively effect the programs. These could be IT initiatives, Finance Initiatives, Tax Incentive Programs, Regulatory Reform, Staff Training… Identify realistic concepts that may stimulate growth or efficiencies in your process Identify new technologies to improve processes

Ste p 4: Opportunitie s

• IFRS or UTP may provide

a valid “argument” or ROI for budget

• Business restructuring
• ERP upgrade
• Industry organizations
• Enterprise systems used

in other departments

Identify external obstacles that may negatively impact the programs such as regulatory reform. Identify weaknesses that threaten your program? Divide the threats into categories. They can be listed as current

• r future.

Ste p 5: T hre a ts

• IFRS, UTP or other

regulatory changes

• Business restructuring
• Heightened cross border

audit activity

• Retiring employees
• States hungry for $$$

Ste p 6: AF T E R T HE SWOT … Prioritie s a nd Pla nning

Knowledge is indeed power, and knowing what the positives and negatives of your process puts you in a more powerful position for action. While a SWOT analysis is not in itself action, it can be a "support team" to help you:

• Identify the issues or problems you intend to change
• Set or reaffirm goals
• Conduct a more in-depth

process map

• Create an action plan based
• n findings!!

Q A

Ke lle y L e a r

Ke lle y.L e ar @Re dMoonSolutions.c om

941- 379- 7108 T ha nks!

Paul Mattiola ACT Vice President Verizon Communications

Upc oming ACT E ve nts

Upc oming ACT E ve nts

Bi – Monthly Webinar Series – Next Webinar February 15, 2011 2:00p.m. EST Utilizing Technology to Drive Business Processes Hosted by Deloitte. 2011 Annual Conference June 20-22, 2011 Loews Coronado Bay Resort, San Diego, CA Registration will open later this month

T ha nk you for a tte nding !

The Association for Computers & Taxation and Red Moon Solutions appreciate the opportunity to spend time with you today and hope you found the presentation interesting and informative. If you desire more information about Red Moon Solutions, please call Kelley Lear @941-379-7108 or visit www.redmoonsolutions.com. OR If you are interested in joining ACT or finding out more information about the organization, please visit www.taxACT.org or contact Brenda Jameson at: bjameson@taxact.org

Thanks again for joining us!