How HTP Energy Automated a Manual Tax Determination Process

The challenge

HTP Energy, a nationwide energy provider, files 170 excise tax returns monthly in 40 states between four tax team members.

They used an excise tax provider to calculate taxes and generate their returns, but the process was clunky and inefficient. They could only calculate taxes in 9 of the states they did business with, or 22% of all the states they filed in.

“The rest of the states we had to calculate manually; it wasn’t flexible,” said Allan Hanson, Tax Manager in the Motor Fuels Division at HTP Energy.

As HTP Energy expanded into more states, they knew automation was the answer but needed a cost-effective solution.

With a fast-approaching renewal date, HTP Energy knew a more advanced and economical technology had to be available.

The solution

HTP Energy partnered with IGEN to digitally transform its tax compliance process. They’ve automated tax determination, data preparation, and form generation with ComplyIQ powered by IGEN.

“IGEN was the best fit for us, the solution fits our business model and scales with us as we expand,” said Hanson. “It doesn’t matter if it’s Alabama or Wisconsin; we’re doing things the same way, and that’s lessened the burden of adding more states to our business.”

The results

“Being able to calculate the taxes on all 40 states without touching them is huge; it’s sped up our process tremendously,” said Hanson. “In addition, the data prep and form generation capabilities probably save us 40 hours a month in filing.”

With a week of saved time each month, HTP Energy’s team can elevate their team members to other value-added work within the business.

With digital transformation, HTP Energy:

• Saves 40 hours a month filing their 170 reports for 40 states
• Stopped manually calculating 77.5% of states they do business in to automatically calculating taxes in all 40 states in real-time
• Prioritizes team time to focus on risk management tactics such as defending audits and completing licensing projects from other verticals of the business
• Digitally transformed their previous process from rigid and unaffordable to personalized and efficient