There’s some news regarding Opti.Tax: the first new features will be available in the cloud as early as mid-April. This will make it even easier for tax advisers to work with their clients to draw up procedural documentation – together and fully digitalised. And: the hsp Community will soon be available as an app.
In the „hsp live at 11“ livestream last Friday, Managing Director Paul Liese provided an overview of the most important new features from hsp. Opti.Tax Cloud and Release 21.0 are due to be launched shortly. This will make work even easier for many tax advisers from mid-April onwards – particularly as the cloud platform is responsive, meaning it can be accessed via a browser, smartphone or tablet.
In the cloud, the first feature available to advisers is the enhanced task management system. Until now, the software has provided a standard interview template that users can follow to create procedural documentation, enabling them to record all the company’s data and processes. Release 21.0 now offers dynamic interviews that can be customised. Each taxonomy item can be selected and added individually, enabling tax advisers to create their own templates for each sector and an interview tailored to their clients’ needs.
However, clients are not always able to answer the questions themselves. In such cases, they can either forward the task assigned to them internally to the relevant person or – via the cloud – invite external parties, such as the IT service provider who is best placed to answer questions about the system themselves. This way, the information comes directly from the source.
Document management is now also available in the Opti.Tax Cloud. Documents such as procedural documentation or tax compliance management reports can be uploaded to the cloud for clients, who can then view, review, comment on and return them there.
Visualising and optimising processes
A further feature will then be made available in the cloud this summer: all processes previously recorded in Live-Chart can then be visualised in the cloud. In addition, individual steps in the workflow can be described in more detail with specific information: what happens in this step, and who is responsible? Every person involved can also immediately suggest ways in which the process could be improved. If clients make the change, their tax advisers will see it straight away and can step in to offer advice if necessary.
A visualisation of the processes of this kind as part of the procedural documentation is a major advantage for the organisations themselves: on the one hand, because processes that have been made visible are easier to review and adapt where necessary; on the other hand, because the entire workflow is transparent, which, for example, simplifies and speeds up the induction of new team members.
Signing documents in the cloud
Also available from this summer is the digital signature, which makes it possible to sign documents digitally. Approval of procedural documentation, the power of attorney for submitting applications to the BAFA – none of this will need to be downloaded, signed and uploaded again. Signatures are added directly in the cloud – this simplifies collaboration and saves time.
In the winter of 2021/2022, all process documentation is then to be created in the cloud.
Incidentally, the introduction of the cloud will not, for the time being, result in a change of system. Tax advisers serve Opti.Tax It can still be accessed from within the Windows application, whilst clients can use the interface via their browser. Anyone wishing to take a look at the cloud before the release should mark 16 April in their diary: the Opti.Tax Cloud will be presented for the first time via livestream at 11.00 am.
hsp Community App with lots of features
There is also news from the HSP Community. In a few weeks’ time, it will no longer be accessible via a web browser alone; the app will be available to download from Google Play and the Apple App Store. Launched last autumn, many users have already connected with one another and are in direct contact with the hsp support team.
The hsp Community offers some interesting features: under „Change & Feature Request“, for example, users can submit ideas for improving Opti.Tax, comment on others’ ideas, vote on them and thus have a direct influence on the software’s development. Every week, the blog features written summaries of the Clubhouse Talk (Wednesdays, 8 pm) and the livestream (Fridays, 11 am), which are available to read. There are also various e-learning modules that enable tax advisers to train as digitalisation consultants. These modules are developed in collaboration with external lecturers and include both theoretical content and live sessions. There are currently modules on the topics of GoBD, data protection, sales (convincing clients of the value of procedural documentation), BAFA, processes, and internal control systems (ICS) and technology. The course culminates in the „Live“ module, in which participants put what they have learnt into practice. However, tax advisers are not simply thrown in at the deep end here; instead, they carry out one or two projects in collaboration with hsp. Those who then become digitalisation consultants can go on to secure further clients and persuade existing ones to create their procedural documentation digitally – a benefit for both parties.
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