CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business — ZIPSales Returns

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From the August 2007 Review of Sales & Use Tax Systems

Through its Sales Tax Solutions line, CCH offers several sales and use tax programs, including the CertiTax suite, a high-end, web-based system that integrates with a business’ financial and sales applications to provide instant address validation and tax calculations based on a database that includes all taxing jurisdictions throughout the United States, including those with special tax rules for specific products and service types. CCH also offers various industry-specific sales and use tax systems, along with products designed for businesses with less robust needs. The ZIPSales Returns system reviewed here is a single-business product that integrates with the CertiTax web-based sales tax platform and/or a businesses accounting system to automatically retrieve sales data from the business and applies the appropriate sales tax rates and rules to then automatically populate signature-ready returns for all jurisdictions when their filing period requires. Since the sales tax tables are web-based, all updates are maintained by CCH. Pricing for the ZIPSales Returns system is based upon transaction volume but starts around $2,900 annually.

Navigation & Data Entry -- 5 Stars
CCH ZIPSales Returns integrates with a business’ sales system, automatically identifying sales tax jurisdictions as sales orders or estimates are processed and applying the applicable tax rates when the transactions are posted. The initial setup of the system can be somewhat complex, depending upon the accounting systems in use by the business, but CCH provides assistance with mapping of GL accounts and the ZIPSales system. The program offers integration with Microsoft Dynamics AX, GP and SL. This is not an after-the-fact system and therefore is not intended for manual data entry. However, data can be manually changed or edited by authorized management users.

After the initial setup, the system is nearly hands-off, working in conjunction with the business’ sales and accounting system to automatically apply and post sales tax collections to appropriate accounts, generating period-end reports, prompting the administrator for batch or individual approval of forms and remittances, and generating signature-ready forms that can be printed or submitted to taxing authorities electronically. Additional functions are available for authorized users, including overrides of calculations, administrative reporting, banking functions and other utilities. The system maintains an audit trail that tracks transactions and edits and keeps archived returns, allowing management to view historical tax data. Since the tax component of the system is web-based, management can also access various reports and data from any location through a secure online connection.

Filing, Electronic Compliance & Payment -- 5 Stars
ZIPSales Returns pulls the appropriate sales data from the business’ financial system and automatically populates all components of forms for any state, municipal or other entity for which sales taxes have been collected and need to be remitted. The forms are ready for review at this point and are signature-ready fileable replicas. The system also keeps track of all filing instructions and deadlines, automatically preparing the returns and notifying the administrator when periods close so as to help avoid penalties. ZIPSales Returns offers e-filing to those jurisdictions that support it, as well as EFT options for remitting collections. Forms and reports can also be output to PDF format.

Rate Updates -- 5 Stars
As previously noted, the tax tables in ZIPSales Returns are web-based, with updates for all U.S. jurisdictions managed by CCH staff. Likewise, program up-dates are automatically implemented.

Help/Training -- 5 Stars
After initial setup, the program is about as hands-off as anything can be, automating all of the processes and providing review-ready forms and reports. The program’s interface provides access to managerial reporting functions, as well as a Help feature, form filing instructions and CCH’s online support center. Support is included in the pricing, and a variety of training options and tutorials are available. A trial version of the system is available at www.eSalesTax.com.