Apter Streamlines Customer Tax Projects with Alteryx + UiPath

Using data and analytics to replace traditional processes

No one likes tax time, especially when you’re the one trying to process a year’s worth of data on Google Drive—without making a single mistake. That’s what Gustavo Zagato, director of technology and innovation at Apter and his team of tax specialists were tasked with doing.

“When I first started with the company, Apter was using very traditional and labor-intensive processes to gather and analyze data from the Brazilian bookkeeping system, and it seemed that they were slow to adapt to changing technologies. We needed to be able to analyze a year’s worth of customer tax data to send back to local authorities, and this process proved to be challenging, as five to six analysts would spend one to two weeks downloading data files and putting them on Google Drive. They’re also human, so we knew they would be prone to human error such as making typing or grammatical errors on the data files. My job is to use technology to help us find innovative solutions, and I knew there had to be a better way to approach this process.”

Using automation to streamline efficiency

“We started with the implementation of UiPath and their RPA (robotic process automation) solution to reduce human errors like bookkeeping, typing, service tickets and more transactional tasks,” says Zagato. “This helped us avoid the need to hire more specialists to learn and operate our systems, and the robots help us accomplish these tasks without needing to think about them much.”

“We found that the robots were very good at going into our internal portal and grabbing information needed, but we needed a way to process and parse the data files that were in complex SPED (required tax format by Brazilian government) formats more efficiently. A consultant had mentioned Alteryx to us as a possible solution, and within a few weeks we were building out a use case on processing complex files with greater speed, helping us streamline the process.”

Gaining substantial value in speed through analytics

Alteryx + UiPath: Automating End-To-End Processes To Drive Better Business Outcomes

Assigning boring, high-volume, repeatable tasks to a team can introduce errors and other risks. UiPath assigns those tasks to bots instead, allowing analysts to spend time truly analyzing data and creating repeatable, automated workflows that deliver insights into operational systems.

Continuing to focus on customer needs using data

Zagato says that the organization’s focus going forward will be to provide proactive analyses on the ever-increasing complexity of customers’ tax obligations. “We want to present a full picture of the customer’s organization from a tax perspective,” Zagato says. “We want to be more predictive in our approach so that we can help companies avoid strained tax positions with the government. We’ll continue to use RPA combined with Alteryx to help solve problems and gain digital knowledge to avoid complex tax situations.”