Customer Success Story: Honeywell Replaces Spreadsheets with BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer
Challenge:
Enable Honeywell to automate and document, especially in audit situations, complex tax computations with accuracy and ease.
Solution:
BNA Corporate Tax™ Analyzer
Results:
Dramatic time savings by eliminating the effort to monitor tax law changes, modify spreadsheet calculations, and test spreadsheets; peace of mind knowing that BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer is up to date and accurate; 20 years of historical data and documentation; and a collaborative, quicker IRS exam process.
Honeywell Replaces Spreadsheets with BNA Corporate Tax Analzer Software for Complex Tax Computations, Federal Audit Analysis & Planning
Honeywell is a technology and manufacturing leader, with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; automotive products; turbochargers; and specialty materials. It's no surprise then that handling federal audits and 1120 filings for this $28 billion enterprise, with operations in 100 countries, is no small task.
Increasingly Complex Federal Tax Issues
From oft-occurring IRS audits to complex tax preparation, Honeywell's 65-person tax department tackles it all while keeping a keen eye on the effective tax rate and cash flow. As part of the Federal Income Tax group at Honeywell, Maggie Walsh, Senior Tax Analyst, is heavily involved in federal tax audits, federal tax preparation, and tax planning. Her primary tool was Excel, in which she created models to calculate corporate income tax for Honeywell. This meant keeping abreast of the latest changes, interpreting them, and manually updating intricate calculations - a time consuming process that was difficult to check for accuracy.
As it became apparent that net operating loss (NOL) carrybacks and carryforwards, along with Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) would start coming into play for Honeywell, Walsh decided that maintaining spreadsheets for the increasingly complex tax attributes was no longer feasible.
BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer Is an Instant Hit
When Walsh discovered BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer, she knew it would be a tremendous help to the department. This powerful tax audit analysis and planning solution from BNA Software performs and documents the complex tax calculations needed for Honeywell's federal domestic income taxes. "There are some very complex sections related to AMT, FTC, repatriation, and NOLs with charitable contributions. We switched to BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer just in time - before the NOLs kicked in."
Now Walsh uses BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer to analyze the impact of proposed IRS adjustments during audits, calculate and manage carrybacks and carryovers of net operating losses and credits, prepare amended returns (1120X), and run multi-year projections for tax planning. "With BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer, at the touch of a button, very complicated calculations are done for you. The software allows me to be more productive and efficient," explained Walsh.
BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer Saves Time and Delivers Peace of Mind
Honeywell no longer uses Excel for tax calculations and the time savings has been significant. "We had a 5-year carryback net operating loss and a 10-year carryback specified liability loss that would have been very complicated and time-consuming to do in Excel with all the credit interactions. I would have had to go back to 1992 and manually do all the calculations," stated Walsh.
And there's no need for Walsh to second-guess results anymore. "I don't have to worry about the sequence of how credits are used or carryback rules - it's all been incorporated into the software," said Walsh.
With BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer, Honeywell has realized:
- Significant time savings by eliminating manual efforts
- Peace of mind - BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer is always up to date and accurate
- The ability to store 20 years of data and documentation
- Access to BNA Software tax experts who understand complex tax issues
Clear Picture of the Impact of IRS Adjustments
"We use BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer to perform calculations to ensure that tax and interest payments/refunds are correct," stated Walsh. During audits, when the IRS agent proposes adjustments, Walsh runs those figures through BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer to see what the impact will be for Honeywell over multiple years. This gives her the information and reports she needs during the audit process.
Complements Tax Preparation Software and Simplifies Planning
For tax return preparation, Walsh uses BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer to check Honeywell's 1120 returns for accuracy, and handle carryover and carryback calculations that are not supported by the company's tax preparation software. "We enter the results from BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer into Corp Tax to complete the 1120 returns," explained Walsh.
BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer is also a key tool for Honeywell's tax planning efforts. BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer determines what the cash or credit impact is for different scenarios. "It's a major benefit to be able to clearly see the impact on our tax position. For instance, we were in a position where we didn't know if we were going to lose credits," said Walsh, "and BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer allowed us to plan accordingly and realize the credits."
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About BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer
Top corporations such as Alcatel-Lucent, Honeywell, Northrop Grumman, Sun Microsystems, and Western Refining, as well as the IRS, trust BNA Corporate Tax™ Analyzer. It’s the only software that automates the calculation and tracking of carryforwards and carrybacks of NOLs, FTCs, AMT, GBCs, charitable contributions, and more over multiple years. With its comprehensive set of calculations, compliance, reporting and analysis, planning, and audit capabilities, BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer can enhance or replace risky, time-consuming spreadsheets, saving tax departments hundreds of hours of time and effort every year.
Learn more about BNA Corporate Tax Analyzer »
About BNA Software
Founded in 1983, BNA Software develops professional software solutions for tax, accounting, and financial planning professionals. With category-standard software including BNA Corporate Tax™ Analyzer, BNA Income Tax™ Planner, and BNA Fixed Assets™ Software, BNA Software is the solution of choice for accounting, law, and financial planning firms, as well as corporations of every size. More than 60,000 customers including the IRS, depend upon BNA Software for the highest degree of tax, regulatory, and compliance expertise available in the market.
