MBT- 5347: TAX TECHNOLOGY AND DATA ANALYTICS FUNDAMENTALS
Spring 2016
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Day and Time: Wednesdays from 5:45–9:05
Location:
Carlson School of Management, L-1xx
Todd Dannenfelser
Lecturer, Adjunct Professor
Phone: xxx-xxx-xxxx
* E-Mail TBD
* Preferred method of contact
Office Hours (CSOM 4-xxxx)
Wednesdays from 4:30 to 5:30
(Available by appointment for other times as well)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Tax Technology and Data Analytics is transforming the way tax departments are doing business in many
amazing ways. Both public accounting firms and businesses are investing in people, process, data and
technology at a rapid pace. This course provides the student with relevant background on current
technologies and associated challenges, managerial approaches, systems design, process, data
challenges and risk assessment methods that are specific to the tax technology arena. Additionally, it
will focus on the fundamental concepts of project management, business requirements, data analytics,
implementation choices and the necessary business cases that are being conducted in both the public
and private sector. Students engage in experiential learning and obtain real world exposure from guest
speakers who will demo current software and capability. Students will then have an opportunity to
develop a 3-year technology roadmap for their example company and make choices on what to invest in
via a business case presentation. A course group project is required. MBT 5347 is taught as an 8-week
semester course at 2 credits.
OBJECTIVES
This course prepares students to begin to understand and harness the power of Tax Technology, Data
Analytics and Tax Transformation in the tax and accounting functions of modern organizations. The
course will focus on six key underlying aspects:
(1) Comprehend and apply the basic concepts of project management.
(2) Understand End User Computing Applications (EUCA’s) such as Microsoft Excel and Access and
how to establish governance, process, people and technology to minimize risks of EUCA’s.
(3) Understand how Tax Technology can be an enabler across all tax processes and fully appreciate the
Tax Lifecycle and be in a position to talk to IT and Finance leadership.
(4) Understand Data Analytics for tax and how hindsight, foresight and predictive analytics can work in a
tax context and what the business case is for analytics.
(5) Understand the purpose and importance of Tax Governance/related frameworks.
MBT 5347 – Syllabus
(6) Develop technology business requirements, work plans and business case documents to support the
goals and objections of an organization.
(7) Understand software selection, implementation options, cloud vs. on premise technology choices and
the considerations that a tax department must consider in making tax technology choices over the
long term.
The above objectives will be viewed from both the public accounting service provider perspective as well
as the user and buyer in the corporate marketplace. The primary focus of the curriculum is to provide tax,
accounting and management professionals with the background and skills to meet the changing demands
of a marketplace that has a high emphasis on the tax technology-based capabilities ingrained in the
business. A secondary focus is on training students to seek out high quality information for business
decisions via the appropriate and available sources. Another significant focus is to provide students with
an understanding of the considerations and alternatives in the marketplace around various technology
solutions.
GRADING POLICY
This class will have four primary methods of evaluation: class participation, quizzes, paper and group
projects. Carlson School grading policy will be followed – course median is a B+.
Late Work: Because of the timely nature of the course and the need to stay current, late projects, papers
and quizzes will not be accepted. If you see a problem or have any extenuating circumstances where a
deadline cannot be met, notify the instructor as soon as possible.
Overall Grading Scheme
The overall grading scheme for the course is as follows:
Group Projects:
Class Participation:
Quizzes:
Papers:
20%
20%
30%
30%
COURSE MATERIALS

PIMBOK-Guide to project management

Predictive Analytics-Eric Siegel

Microsoft office 2013 professional plus

Additional materials may be assigned during the course. Topical readings for each week, including
from the resource above, will be posted to the course Moodle site prior to the in-class coverage.
MBT 5347 – Syllabus
COURSE SCHEUDLE AND ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES
Week
1
Topic
Due
Introduction to project management for tax
technology professionals
Advanced project management topics needed for
multi-year tax technology roadmaps, planning and
the need for project management
2
Tax Transformation and the tax executive’s role.
The tax lifecycle and its impact on tax technology
choices. Business Requirements, User Stories,
Vision Documents and meeting facilitation
Quiz 1-Project Management Concepts
Tax department assessments and transformations
3
End User Computing Applications (EUCA’s)
EUCA analysis and Presentations
4
5
Portals-document management, workflow, calendar
and tasks
Quiz 2-Advanced Project Management
Topics
Quiz 3-Tax Transformation, Assessments,
Lifecycle and Requirements
Project: EUC Analysis and Presentation
Portals-document management, workflow, calendar
and tasks continued
Preparing Tax for ERP discussions, data
blueprinting and Data warehousing concepts
6
Data Analytics-visualization, data, insight and
foresight-Data management and data input.
Finding the answer and solving the issue.
Delivering and understanding results.
-Direct Tax Analytics, Tax Planning and
Controversy
-Finding and organizing the data
First draft of Final Paper Due- Vision,
Technology Roadmap and Business Case
Data Analytics-visualization, data, insight and
foresight-Impact for tax and business case
7
-Indirect Tax Analytics
-Transfer Pricing, Business Traveler, BEPS
Country by Country
Cloud vs. on premise technology choices
8
Direct tax software selection and implementation
options. Direct Tax Compliance and Provision
Survey-Vendor Discussions (e.g. Corptax,
OneSource). Tax Provision Software and
Considerations-Provision Survey-Vendor
Discussions (e.g. HTP, Longview)
Quiz 4- Data Analytics-visualization, data, insight
and foresight
Indirect Tax Software and Considerations
End
Paper submission
Final Paper Due- Vision, Technology Roadmap
and Business Case
MBT 5347 – Syllabus
MBT 5347 – Syllabus