Labcorp Automates Federal Compliance with Corptax and Alteryx

Labcorp, a global leader in laboratory services and diagnostics testing, operates an extensive network of laboratories across the U.S. and internationally. As a previous winner of the Tax Transformer Awards, Labcorp was recognized for transforming its federal compliance processes. By integrating CSC Corptax^® software and Alteryx to replace manual systems, they achieved significant advancements. Drew Caterinicchio, Tax Manager at Labcorp, discusses the pivotal role technology played in their ongoing success.

Problem: Battling “The Beast”

Fragmented data and manual workflows bogged down Labcorp’s federal compliance process. Managing more than 80 entities by hand in a massive Excel workbook dubbed “The Beast” resulted in inefficiency, inconsistent data, and exhaustive reviews. Further, reliance on independent datasets consumed time, created audit risks, and diverted focus from high-value tax planning strategies and tax data analytics. Labcorp decided their current approach was unsustainable.

Solution: Automating for Efficiency

Labcorp used CSC Corptax’s automated tax compliance software to simplify their processes and leveraged the CSC Corptax^® Connector for Alteryx  to seamlessly integrate Corptax data into their workflows. This allowed the team to pull out Corptax data for calculation and review, move all federal adjustments automatically, and flow calculated data directly into their workpapers and Corptax at the same time. These automations not only ensured accuracy but saved time reconciling data.

Breaking It Down: Key Steps

To achieve their transformation, Labcorp took a strategic, step-by-step approach. Here’s a breakdown of key actions taken to drive efficiency and consistency across federal compliance:

1.  Consistent data: Standardizing workpapers

The team’s first challenge: clean and standardize data. To achieve this, Labcorp developed a uniform template for all workpapers, ensuring consistent formatting across the board. This provided a solid foundation for automating Alteryx workflows.

2. Seamless data transfer: Pushing data into Corptax

Next, Labcorp used the Corptax Connector for Alteryx to automate dataflow directly from Alteryx workflows into Corptax. This integration maintained data consistency across systems and eliminated almost all manual intervention.

3. Efficient review and reconciliation: Ensuring data accuracy

Labcorp’s final goal: use Corptax tax technology to compare taxable income and streamline reconciliation. This step improved the review process, ensuring any discrepancies were caught and corrected early.

Result: Time Savings and Less Stress

Labcorp’s decision to combine Corptax and Alteryx automation for federal compliance reaped significant rewards. Not only does the team eliminate manual movement of federal M adjustments from sources to workpapers and Corptax, they save hundreds of hours of prep and review time. They’re able to focus on tax data analytics, start state tax compliance much earlier, and reduce stress-inducing last-minute work. And instead of 80 overloaded tabs containing entity information, they easily maintain 12 organized tabs.

Best Practices: Lessons Learned

Labcorp’s successful transformation offers valuable lessons for tax teams looking to automate tax preparation and tax reporting. We asked Drew to share some of Labcorp’s top best practices using Alteryx and Corptax.

• Start with clean, uniform data: Standardizing data upfront makes automation far smoother
• Document thoroughly: Well-documented workflows ensure smooth transitions between team members
• Test new processes in parallel: Run new automated workflows alongside previous methods to confirm accuracy before going live
• Break it up: Complex workflows can be unwieldy—break them into smaller, manageable pieces to achieve greater efficiency
• Vary output: Team members and management review tax data differently; provide outputs with varying levels of detail to suit everyone’s needs

Conclusion

Labcorp’s transformation highlights the power of CSC Corptax^® Compliance and Alteryx data processing tools to automate federal compliance workflows. By reducing errors, saving time, and enhancing efficiency, Labcorp demonstrates how modern tax technology drives significant improvements. For tax teams exploring modernization, Labcorp’s story underscores the value of using the right tools to achieve operational excellence.