Always up to date with the fynax tax consultants from Plan12

Buying theater tickets on the go and ordering dinner at the same time - everything is possible and should ideally work within a few clicks. And yet you still take receipts, invoices and receipts to the tax office in a shoebox? Let's be honest: such analog paperwork really doesn't fit into our colorful, digital world anymore and somehow seems out of place - even in tax consultancy! This is also the opinion of fynax tax consultant and Managing Director Torsten Ziegs of the Dresden-based law firm Plan12.

Finding technical solutions so that both employees and clients no longer have to sit there for days on end to insert invoices into a spreadsheet; this is what Torsten Ziegs finds particularly exciting in the field of e-commerce. You have to imagine, explains Ziegs, that accountants used to type in figures from, for example, bank statements that had already been created by a computer - only to type them in again! This simply no longer makes sense in today's world. "We want to have and process the data records immediately. In order to be able to work quickly and with high quality at all times, we use intelligent software tools that automate and therefore simplify many accounting processes - a development that is constantly growing."

Passing on the baton to young, tech-savvy tax advisors

Torsten Ziegs and his Dresden-based tax consultancy firm Plan12 GmbH, formerly Dr. Leonhardt, Falke, Ziegs & Kollegen GmbH, can draw on over 30 years of consulting experience. With his team of over 30 people, including four tax consultants and one lawyer, he stands out for his expertise in e-commerce in addition to his comprehensive consulting services for financial accounting, payroll accounting, annual financial statements and tax returns.

As the law firm gained more and more e-commerce clients at the turn of 2020, it became apparent that the industry was struggling with other problems in terms of accounting and annual financial statements. According to Ziegs, these are industry-specific tax law challenges that cannot be dealt with in a standardized way. This requires special knowledge, but also the mindset to want to face these challenges. You have to enjoy solving tricky problems. This is why the young tax advisors in his firm have taken on responsibility for e-commerce. They have an affinity for technology and no longer want to go through tables by hand with colored pens. This is no longer "state of the art", says Ziegs.

Goodbye to paperwork

With the right system, all relevant data is available to entrepreneurs at all times. With API interfaces, i.e. pre-interfaces, invoices and payments can be read out automatically without clients having to do anything. This is because many clients find it difficult to collate the data for accounting and provide them with regular data and facts, explains Ziegs. "In some cases, we still receive all the documents in a file folder," he says with a smile. All this paperwork has to be worked through first. If, on the other hand, time-consuming processes are automated, accountants have more time to analyze and evaluate the data. The data records can be used to identify conspicuous patterns and uncover future trends. "We only have to monitor a certain level of data quality," says Ziegs. And this is precisely what is neglected in day-to-day work.  

Always one step ahead: providing forecasts and benchmarking

In this way, tax advisors can once again take on an important advisory role. They not only analyze and interpret, but must also be able to process their findings in a meaningful way and communicate them in an understandable way. Companies therefore benefit from financial analyses that are carried out with accounting conscientiousness and an eye for risk avoidance. Based on these analyses, decisions can be made that focus on sustainable profitability and stable growth. This way of working motivates young employees in particular, says Ziegs. "They no longer want to type everything in and reconcile bank statements. They want to work effectively."

Tax advice at the cutting edge

The days when a monthly report on sales figures or inventory levels was enough are over. Online retailers need to know how their company is doing on a daily basis: "What is the profit margin, how do I offer my products?" Price adjustments made too late could be fatal. In future, Plan12 clients will therefore be provided with a weekly report. Online retailers benefit from the best expertise and know-how in the e-commerce sector as well as many years of experience in operational consulting.