Process simplification and automation for National Board of Revenue

The objective of the Tax Automation and Process Simplification consulting firm, is to support the NBR VAT Wing, and the NBR IT System Team).  Such support is the SPEMP DRM sub-Task’s response, to the demand of the Government-led reform activities, which include:

1. Evaluate the Interoperability and Usability of the Integrated VAT Administration System (IVAS);
2. Conduct quality control of taxpayer registry in NBR;
3. Conduct process mapping of core business areas;
4. Assess needs and develop action plan to establish a SAP Competencies Center (SAP-CC); and
5. Provide training on QA systems and testing, and systems knowledge transfer.

Our team has executed the activities below:

1. Carried out a system functional review, focusing on: (i) Interoperability; (ii) Technical gaps ; (iii) Usability; and (iv) how VOP needs to better manage its vendor to properly implement the IVAS. Based on the results of the system functional review, our experts formulated short, medium and long term recommendations on how to improve the system, the management structure of the IT team, IT governance practices and vendor management.
2. Conduct quality control of taxpayer registry in NBR where we reviewed a statistically significant sample of the taxpayer registry to identified y errors, gaps and deviations, and the most significant classes of problems with the taxpayer registry.
3. Based on the taxpayer registry review, our experts formulated actionable recommendations on potential solutions to improve the taxpayer registry, including training a core group on “learning by doing basis”.
4. Conducted process mapping of core business areas focusing on: (i) linkages between business needs and the IVAS system; (ii) functional gaps; and (iii) recommendations to improve and simplify procedures, forms and steps. Functional gap analysis involves the comparison of actual performance with potential or desired performance, which is expected, along with estimated time and cost saving as a result of the recommendation;
5. Assess needs and develop a Reform Action Plan to establish a SAP Competencies Center (SAP-CC) to assist NBR in its efforts to establish a SAP Competencies Center within the ICT Department. The SAP-CC will handle activities related to maintenance, growth and changes of the IVAS system (including business processes), human resource issues to engage IT professionals and competitive remuneration. The assessment focused on: (i) the overall IT NBR architecture, including the IVAS system, and (ii) gaps in institutional and human skills and capacity. Our experts formulated recommendations to establish a SAP-CC with short, medium, and long term measures; and a Reform Action Plan with actions, responsible, current status, timeline, and success indicators.
6. Provided training on QA systems and testing, and systems knowledge transfer: focusing on: (i) Integration Testing; (ii) Black/White Box Testing; (iii) Stress Testing; (iv) Penetration Testing; and (v) Other business needs. Similarly, conduct a workshop on systems knowledge transfer. The workshop should include at least cover (i) Technical Documentation; (ii) Source code documentation; (iii) Security Protocols; (iv) Technical SOPs; (v) Back-up documentation; (vi) Licensing documentation; (vii) Hardware and software contracts; and (viii) Standard Level Agreements (SLAs).