Tax and finance leaders to up investment in digital transformation

Both tax and finance leaders are set to increase investment in digital transformation, said Thomson Reuters recently when releasing a report titled Digital Agendas: How Tax Compliance and Finance Leaders are Preparing for 2024. 

The report draws on quantitative insights from a survey of 257 C-suite and tax compliance and finance leaders from Australia, India, Japan, Middle East & North Africa, and Southeast Asia earlier this year, according to the company.

Most decision-makers surveyed (84%) expect to increase their company’s technology investment by 10% or more in the next 12 months, survey results indicated. 

Of those expecting to increase their investments, 17% of all respondents said they would increase their investment by more than 50%, while 67% said they expect increases between 10% and 50%, the firm noted. 

The two-thirds of respondents making modest increases signal that companies may need fewer upgrades to their existing systems to meet today’s requirements or are taking a more cautious approach to implementation, the firm added.

Survey highlights

• In the next 12 months, 62% of decision-makers plan to invest in purpose-built tax technology with API functionality. 
• 40% of tax and finance leaders’ digital roadmaps include migration from on-premises software to cloud-based alternatives. 
• Additionally, 30% of respondents plan to spend on in-house tax technology; 30% on upgrading their native ERP systems; and 28% on experimenting with smart tech, automation, and generative AI.
• Over a quarter of respondents (26%) foresee restructuring their tax teams in the coming 12 months. This move signals a desire to reduce costs while shifting the department’s efforts to more strategic, high-value activities assisted by the latest tools and technologies.
• Decision makers’ five-year plans and digital transformation ambitions appear to be equally restrained with investments in the coming year. 
• 59% of respondents are satisfied with their tax and reporting functions to be compliant enough and maintain their company’s reputation. 
• This is nearly twice the amount (32%) who target as much automation and centralisation as possible.
• Additionally, nearly half of all respondents (49%) said the opportunity they are focused on capturing is leading in tax transparency and reporting compared to other possible motives, including finding the right combination of technology and talent, leveraging data for savings or strengthening their ESG leadership.