{"id":1736,"date":"2025-02-03T16:51:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T16:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gtmtax.com\/?post_type=insight&p=1736"},"modified":"2025-11-18T20:21:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T20:21:27","slug":"sonepar-usa-reduces-exposure-risk-saves-weeks-of-provision-prep-and-review-time-by-automating-the-tax-provision-process","status":"publish","type":"insight","link":"https:\/\/gtmtax.com\/insight\/sonepar-usa-reduces-exposure-risk-saves-weeks-of-provision-prep-and-review-time-by-automating-the-tax-provision-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Sonepar USA Reduces Exposure Risk & Saves Weeks of Provision Prep and Review Time by Automating the Tax Provision Process"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

\u201cAutomating the provision\u00a0process has saved Sonepar USA\u2019s\u00a0tax team upwards of 120 hours\u00a0(in aggregate) for the 2017\u00a0tax-year alone. The GTM team facilitated a smooth transition\u00a0from our manual Excel approach\u00a0to take immediate advantage of\u00a0ONESOURCE Tax Provision (OTP)\u00a0software. Our new provision\u00a0process has been recognized\u00a0positively up to the senior\u00a0finance executives, raising the\u00a0visibility and value of our tax\u00a0department\u2019s contributions to the\u00a0bottom line.\u201d
\n~ Nick Vanderlyke, Senior Manager, Income Tax, Sonepar USA<\/em><\/p>\n

Client<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sonepar USA (\u201cSonepar\u201d), headquartered\u00a0in Paris, France, is an\u00a0independent family-owned company\u00a0with global market leadership in\u00a0B-to-B distribution of electrical\u00a0products and related services. Today,\u00a0the Sonepar Group is represented by\u00a0167 operating companies spanning\u00a044 countries on five continents. In\u00a0the USA, Sonepar is represented by 15 locally managed electrical and\u00a0industrial distributors with over 700\u00a0locations and coverage in all 50 states.<\/p>\n

Challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sonepar\u2019s small tax team has the challenge of completing the time sensitive recurring task of\u00a0income tax provision preparation and review, coupled with an acquisition strategy that brings\u00a0new entities into its portfolio on a regular basis. Its income tax department has approximately\u00a02 1\/2 weeks to complete the entire provision, including tax entries and tax footnotes, making\u00a0it difficult to meet deadlines and concentrate on quality review and other tax deliverables.\u00a0After spending too much time on rolling over and linking Excel schedules and facing increased\u00a0pressure from audit risk, Sonepar made the decision to break away from Excel and find an automated solution that is more effective and efficient.<\/p>\n

Solution<\/strong><\/p>\n

After deciding on Thomson Reuters ONESOURCE Tax Provision (OTP) as the automation tool, Sonepar sought an implementation partner and collected repeated referrals for GTM from their peers. They engaged GTM to help lead and manage the OTP software implementation. GTM\u2019s implementation plan included a phased approach for Integration, Journal Entry, Workpapers, Training and Documentation, Hard Close \u2018Parallel\u2019 Support, and Year-End \u2018Go-Live\u2019 Support.<\/p>\n

Effective implementation of OTP allowed Sonepar\u2019s acquisitive business to\u00a0scale without incurring more non-value add tax department time.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

\n\n
\n
\n
\n

Results: Following a 100% seamless implementation, Sonepar USA achieved significant estimated time savings<\/h3>\n <\/header>\n
\n