2012 Review of CCH CorpSystem Sales Tax SaaS PRO

by Isaac M. O'Bannon, Editor
Created:

CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business – CCH CorpSystem Sales Tax SaaS PRO
www.salestax.com
866-513-CORP

 From the Apriil 2012 Review of Sales & Use Tax Systems.


Best Fit: Firms or managers overseeing the transaction tax needs and compliance of multiple businesses and who want rates integrated live into the business’ accounting systems. The system is also suited to those with increasingly complex reporting requirements in many locations.

Strengths:

  • Rates, rules, and calculations are integrated in real time with sales transactions
  • Compliance and remittance with full transparency back to calculations
  • Approval processes with routing and electronic sign-off
  • Alerts and reminders of due dates and tasks
  • Multi-entity management with PRO version
  • Comprehensive coverage and updates for jurisdictions throughout U.S. and Canada

Potential Limitations:

  • Does not offer direct e-filing/payment to state taxation agencies

CCH purchased SpeedTax in 2011, and has since merged its offerings with CCH’s existing sales tax products onto a single platform. CorpSystem Sales Tax SaaS is available in three versions: CORE, PLUS and PRO, with the last being designed specifically for accounting or tax professionals managing the sales and use tax compliance of multiple client entities. The CORE system provides the automated and integrated sales tax rate system, while the PLUS system adds additional functionality, most significantly automated return filing and remittance, which is handled as an outsourced service by CCH.

Basic System Functions - 4.75 Stars 

Initial setup of CorpSystem Sales Tax SaaS requires configuring the web-based tax calculation system (CORE) to work with the business’ accounting, sales or ERP application. The SaaS application provides instant rate lookup while transactions or estimates are being processed, with the tax engine verifying address, taxability and rates based on, nexus, specific geographic information and ZIP Code data. Because implementation can be somewhat technical, CCH staff aid in this setup.

For most day-to-day purposes, users aren’t required to have much interaction with the system. The software works in the background to automatically search for and calculate the appropriate rates for a transaction, then inserts the tax liability into the transaction. This works for both locally-installed or SaaS sales and accounting applications, as well as e-commerce systems. The CORE tax engine is designed to be used by a single business entity with any number of locations and subsidiary units. The system’s reporting engine provides web-based dashboards available for management, as well as reports on exemptions, transactions and other information.

For sales and use tax return filing, users can add the PLUS suite, which includes automatically populated print-ready forms. Organizations can also opt to have the filing of all returns and remittances for all jurisdictions managed by CCH staff, thus relieving the business of the headaches associated with keeping up with hundreds or more filing deadlines and jurisdictional rules.

The PRO version allows an accounting firm to have a single login to oversee the sales tax processes of multiple client businesses. Customization is available in all of the versions and modules. Firms can set user-level access to specific features, configure the approval process, and task and filing deadline alerts that can be sent via email.

Compliance Capabilities - 4.75 Stars

The CORE calculation engine includes constantly updated rates for more than 14,000 U.S. and Canadian sales taxing jurisdictions, as well as special taxability rules and date-based rules for items that are treated differently in various states, plus sales tax holiday information and maximum taxes. The system includes a calendar of taxation due dates and rules, such as requirements for zero-sum reporting.

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