We’re now in the third week of January, and I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking that the festive break seems like a long time ago already! 2023 is going to be an exciting year for us here at Tax Systems, but before we get too far into it, I wanted to make sure that we gave 2022 the respect it deserves.
Last year we saw some semblance of “normality” begin to creep back in after the Coronavirus Pandemic; people started going back into workplaces more regularly, as all restrictions were gradually lifted. For many organisations, it was almost like coming out of hibernation, as they looked to get back to “business as usual” – though inevitably that now looked very different to what it was before Covid.
Thanks to our investors at Bowmark Capital, we continued to grow during the Pandemic. We invested in our people and our systems, and streamlined our processes – tax is changing, so we needed to make sure we were in the best position to meet those changes and challenges.
2022 was without doubt one of the most transformational in Tax Systems’ history; it marked the start of a new era for us. And considering the company has been around for over 30 years, this is a big deal!
We added over 30 people to our teams, we refreshed our brand and website, we moved offices, we won a Forrester Programme of the Year Award, and we were Tolley’s Taxation Award Finalists! We implemented three releases of Alphatax and two releases of Alphatax Ireland; we expanded the functionality of our gold standard VAT solution, AlphaVAT, to include HMRC recommended data checks. Building out and developing new solutions whilst continuing to support our 1300+ customers on our market leading software can be a difficult balance, but I’m proud to say we managed it – our customer satisfaction score of 9.7 held throughout the year.
My favourite moment of 2022 has been watching our business grow in the way we operate with cross-functional working really coming to the fore, alongside a new brand launch and the excitement of continuing to delight our customers. But I thought I’d ask some of the people in the office with me what they thought too.
Vikki Woodford, Head of Product Operations, joined in 2022 and said that her favourite moment of the year was meeting her new colleagues face to face. Claire Butler, our HR Adviser and Facilities Manager agrees, “One of my favourite moments was coming together in the office and at company parties. It was nice to meet people in person again rather than on Teams”. As did Niall Sweeney, our Tax Technology Director, “My favourite moment was the summer party and seeing familiar faces as well as new ones in person.”
Richard Sampson, Chief Growth Officer also agreed, and added, “Aside from moving to a new office and seeing people in person again after Covid, launching a new brand and website were some of the best moments of 2022.” Our Marketing Director, Joy Ravenhall, echoed this, “One of the highlights of the year from my perspective was outlining our strategic direction, including the new website, rebrand and corporate video.” Garry Young, Head of Product Marketing had similar thoughts, “One of my favourite moments was the new Tax Systems brand and video launch, while another was collecting the Programme of the Year Award on behalf of the company.”
Several of our people here at Tax Systems welcomed new additions to their families, including our Chief Solutions Officer, Russell Gammon, who said, “Without doubt, my favourite moment of 2022 was taking paternity leave.”
So, what about this year?
2023 is all about harnessing that energy gained from the momentum of last year, and really setting about transforming the way that our customers work. We’ll be unveiling new software that we spent the last two years meticulously developing, testing, and working on with a few select customers.
Russell says that this year he’s particularly looking forward to releasing our new products to customers and working with them to build momentum throughout 2023. We have invested so much in carefully re-engineering our well known and well-loved corporation tax product, Alphatax, for the cloud, which is why it is at the forefront of so many people’s minds.
Richard, Garry, Niall and Joy all agree, with Joy saying, “I’m looking forward to building the awareness and excitement for our new solutions, before officially launching them.” And Richard adding he’s looking forward to directly influencing the transformation of a market and improving the working lives of tax professionals. Vikki sums it up nicely by saying, “The launch of our new software represents a lot of hard work and will be a great shift for the company moving a very well-respected product online.”
For me personally, I’m looking forward to delivering the long-awaited cloud platform that will be the bedrock of our future capability. But in general, I’m very excited about the prospects for celebrating ongoing success across our team and customers.
This will be the year that Tax Systems really flourishes – and whilst there will undoubtedly be challenges that test us along the way, we are more than prepared for them.
So let’s go 2023, we’re ready for you.
We are Tax Systems.
