Success Story - Reynolds Consumer Products

Challenge

Established in 2020 after a spinoff, the still-new Reynolds Consumer Products team managed tax deliverables and special projects for their large, publicly held organization.

After successfully implementing Corptax the prior year, the four-member tax team found themselves down a person. They were still navigating the system, and management’s expectations were high: looking to them for information, participation in business decisions, and risk management.

One key area needing improvement: the team’s overlapping compliance and Q3 provision processes. Constantly switching back and forth cost the team valuable time and took them down to the wire.

Reynolds needed a way to maintain their standards with 25% fewer resources—while preserving as much work-life balance as they could.

Solution

Reynolds knew Corptax was the way to get more work done with a smaller staff. They resolved to use the system in new ways to drive productivity, support planning, and lay the groundwork for future efficiencies.

Reynolds calls Corptax its single source of truth, aptly naming it The Library. So, with that in mind, Reynolds identified four key areas to better leverage data in the Library:

1. In the past, the team automated adjustments within Corptax and tested them against their own calculations. With many successful audits under their belt, they wanted to increase reliance on Corptax computations. That would eliminate a huge volume of redundant offline workpapers and time spent calculating and populating.
2. They wanted to leverage data and computed amounts stored in Corptax for as many processes as possible vs. building workpapers from scratch. For example, pulling tax due by state as a starting point for estimates and extensions.
3. They wanted to build space into year-end provision to dig deeper into the numbers. A more thoughtful approach to provision estimates would shorten the compliance process and minimize any return-to-provision adjustments.
4. Knowing they could run scenarios in Corptax, and with Corptax data available for every year, they set up planning cases for items such as testing apportionment or filing changes … or whether to check a box on an entity. Come time for compliance season, they would better understand results and know what to expect.

Results

Overlapping compliance and provision processes are no longer an issue. The team filed compliance a full 15 days sooner than prior year allowing them to turn their attention in October solely to Q3—and with one less staff member to boot.

Centralized data gives them a full view of their federal and state return-to-provision as early as July, enabling them to review and communicate any noteworthy items to management with a long lead time. And because provision is prepared with compliance in mind, RTP adjustments are virtually immaterial.

Now the team:

• Uses 95% fewer offline workpapers
• Directly extracts estimate and extension payments with provision and payment data already in the system.
• Earns back time and control with multi-year RTP and the ability to turn RTP on and off with a click. For example, they turn on Canada in Q2 and the US in Q4, allowing them to simplify the process and ease administrative work.
• Prepares ahead for upcoming ASC 740 changes in state disclosures using the robust, detailed state ‘current and deferred’ provision module. As a result, they have line-of-sight to each state’s current and deferred impact on their tax rate well in advance.

Despite their reduced size, the team came through with high-quality and audit-passed work and gave leadership solid input — while maintaining the work-life balance they previously enjoyed.

Next up for Reynolds: looking at the CSC Corptax^® Connector for Alteryx to eliminate even more workpapers.