Streamlining Tax Management Processes and Empowering Businesses
Konsise, a South African-developed tax management and tax compliance platform, hosted a highly informative webinar on 9th May 2023, where they introduced an exciting update to their user interface and demonstrated enhanced functionality and capabilities for efficient company tax management.
Refreshed User Interface for Enhanced User Experience
Konsise strategically upgraded its user interface to align with industry best practices observed in leading software platforms such as Salesforce and Monday.com. The new interface features a visually appealing darker theme and a simplified navigation system that utilises the entire page width. The left-hand bar has been replaced with a top-pane navigation bar, allowing users to conveniently access different sections and pages.
Noteworthy navigation changes include adding a “Dashboard” section, enabling users to create and view multiple dashboards for different data representations. Reports have been categorised into “Trackers” and “Reports,” with the submission tracker, payment tracker, and audit and verification tracker now under the tracker section. The compliance and corporate income tax summary reports have been moved to the reports section. Furthermore, users can now manage SARS integrations under the settings section, while the entity management section has been introduced to facilitate the management of multiple entity types.
The user interface presentation was followed by a poll conducted by Product Manager Farnaaz Gaffoor, where most attendees expressed positive feedback and appreciation for the updated design.
Enhancements in Tax Management Capabilities
The webinar also showcased enhancements to tax management capabilities. A critical update included the introduction of an edit button for VAT submissions, allowing users to modify pre-populated contact information on tax filings before submission. A print PDF button was added to the determinations tab, enabling users to generate PDF versions of VAT submissions for offline approval.
In the ITR14 tax type, Konsise introduced the assessment tab, displaying a summary of the latest ITA34C assessment information. Multiple versions of ITA34C correspondence can now be accessed and downloaded directly from Konsise. Konsise introduced the corporate income tax summary report to provide comprehensive tax oversight derived from ITA34C documents. This report allows users to filter and export information, enabling a holistic view of assessment information across all organisations.
The webinar also highlighted Konsise’s SARS integrations, which enable users to submit VAT201, IRP6, and ITR14 through the system. Correspondence retrieval and high-level compliance checks are also available for VAT201, IRP6, ITR14, and EMP201. Employee and individual/trust taxes will be included in a future release.
Security Enhancements
There are also upgrades to its software’s authentication layer, highlighting the company’s unwavering dedication to robust security measures. During the announcement, Kieron Lister, the Head of Development, presented several improvements to the software, including custom password length functionality. This feature allows administrators to set a specific password length to enhance security. Additionally, password expiry functionality has been added, allowing administrators to set the number of days between password expiry prompts to adhere to varying security policies across different companies.
Additionally, Konsise implemented two-factor authentication (2FA) as an optional security measure. Users can enable 2FA by installing an authenticator application on their mobile devices. This additional layer of security ensures unauthorised access is prevented even if a password is compromised.
Roadmap 2023/2024
One highly anticipated addition is the ability to perform ITR14 submissions directly within Konsise to provide a seamless experience that mirrors the eFiling process, enabling users to prepare, save, track changes, and submit their ITR14 directly through Konsise.
There are also plans to introduce a Task Manager feature to address users’ challenges with audits and verifications. This functionality will allow users to create events and activities related to their tax filing preparation.
Konsise is working on a new Auditor Portal feature to simplify the auditing process. This feature will give auditors read-only access within Konsise, where all the required information will be conveniently organised and readily accessible. This will save users time and streamline the auditing process.
Other upcoming features include the addition of graphs and charts to reports and trackers, providing visual representations of data for better analysis and reporting. Konsise aims to offer a comprehensive solution that streamlines workflows, enhances oversight, and simplifies auditing processes.
While Konsise has an extensive roadmap for 2023/24, they are actively engaging with the SARS eFiling team to enable additional functionalities, including payment initiation directly within Konsise and automatic retrieval of Statements of Account (SOAs) for ITR14s and EMP201s.
In conclusion, unveiling the new user interface and tax management enhancements represents a significant milestone in the company’s commitment to staying at the forefront of tax management software. With the updated interface and improved capabilities, Konsise aims to streamline tax management processes, enhance user experience, and empower businesses to quickly complex tax requirements easily.
