The value of a unified tech stack

A unified tax and finance stack may seem like a large undertaking, especially if your business is on the smaller side, but the benefits often outweigh the costs. First and foremost, such a stack will ensure cleaner compliance and decreased error rates. Having disparate data sources can lead to data mismatches, including missed invoices, double counting, and incorrect treatment of taxes overall.

A unified system with real-time data flow that reduces the amount of manual reconciliation involved can address this. Additionally, integrated stacks can help finance teams make forecasts more precisely by automating much of the preliminary data gathering, helping with cash flow, tax provisioning, and strategic investments. 

Considering that 74% of respondents in the Thomson Reuters 2025 Corporate Tax Department Technology Report found that automating processes that can be repeated was a medium or high priority, the value there is clear. On top of all this, a unified tech stack simply is more defensible when audit trails come into question. Factors such as when the tax was calculated, which jurisdictions, and which tax codes will be centralized, which creates good data lineage. 

Finally, a unified tax and finance tech stack assists companies with scalability. As a company grows, more customers, jurisdictions, products, and more will enter the fold. This will create tax complications, but a unified tech stack is better equipped to tackle the issue of scale because of the centralization of data. 

Understanding key integration technologies

The beneficial integration that a unified stack offers doesn’t just come out of nowhere. Rather, a slew of useful technologies makes it all possible. The most commonly seen technologies utilized in a stack include the following five:

1. Account APIs and ERP integrations: Accounting APIs are interfaces that allow software to essentially speak to the ERP system of your choice. Posting journal entries, updating invoices, pulling reports, and more all become possible. The 2025 Developer Guide to Accounting API Integration by Open Ledger found that modern APIs can assist with reducing development time by 70%, demonstrating their effectiveness. 
2. Tax automation and compliance platforms: Tools that are specifically focused on sales and use tax, VAT, filing and remittance, and other topics related to taxes can be overwhelming. Making use of tax automation and compliance platforms allows access to regulatory content and deadlines, and they can even connect directly to billing and payments platforms. 
3. Payment and billing system integrations: Platforms including Stripe, Shopify, Magento are commonly used billing tools. If there is any tax data collected at the point of sale, yet this data isn’t reconciled with the ERP or tax systems, discrepancies with manual collection can arise. Integrations between tax automation and billing systems can reduce this risk. 
4. Data normalization software: Often, different systems use differing names for tax codes, currencies, classifications for products, and more. By integrating a middle layer that maps and normalizes the data, it can be recorded consistently across different systems. This helps to reduce incorrect categorizations of data, which can be an issue in audits. 
5. Artificial intelligence and machine learning monitoring: 2025 has seen an increase in AI and ML monitoring services. Yet in the Thomas Reuters report, only 6% of respondents said they actively utilize generative artificial intelligence, but there is widespread agreement that this technology will play an increasingly important role in the future. 

All of the above are just a sample of the common integrations seen today. They are by no means the only options your business can use. 

Real-world use cases of finance-tax integration

Reading about the benefits of a finance-tax stack integration is one thing, but understanding the real-world benefit is another. Below are some common use scenarios that highlight the crucial role of these integrations.

SaaS company with subscription billing

Any type of subscription billing model that is usage-based can create unique tax challenges based on when the billing occurs and when the service is used. Additionally, in the modern hybrid work environment, remote employees at these companies can exacerbate the issue of having employees across state lines with different tax legislations. 

An integrated stack could look like using a billing service for the actual billing, an ERP system that acts as a general ledger, and automated state legislation monitoring. This can result in stronger compliance, fewer surprises in tax exposure, and more accurate forecasts for state-specific tax liabilities. 

Company selling physical goods or digital services

Those companies that have a hybrid product mix may come across the issue of having goods that incur different tax treatment and classifications. By integrating point-of-sale systems, supply chain systems, ERP platforms, and tax determination platforms all into one stack, a business can enjoy cleaner reconciliation and reduced variance between what is collected and what’s in the books. 

E-commerce company with global VAT obligations 

For any organization that sells to multiple countries, international tax obligations will come into play. Having an automated VAT system on digital goods, tracking VAT collected, and being able to file returns in multiple jurisdictions is crucial. An integrated tech stack that makes use of a billing platform in conjunction with a tax compliance platform can streamline information. 

Along the same line of thinking, potentially integrating multiple payment gateways aggregated into one silo after the payment is made can streamline the collection process across borders. 

The integration roadmap: Step-by-step

Integrating your tax and finance stacks isn’t going to be a simple process, but the arduous effort of doing it will pay dividends for years to come. With the global tax technology market set to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 12% through 2033, now is the time to make a change. There are seven key steps to the integration roadmap that can help your business successfully set up an all-in-one stack.

1. Audit your current tax and finance technology.

The first step in any major business change is to audit the existing infrastructure. For data integration, consider mapping where every finance or tax data piece currently lives. This means taking a look at ERP platforms, payment processors, e-commerce platforms, expense tools, and more. 

When looking at each system, make a note of exactly what is captured, how it updates, when it’s captured, and who owns the data. Your ultimate goal is to find where the data flow stops or where manual handoffs occur. 

‍2. Define your company goals and use cases.

Every company is different and you should take the time to state the concrete outcomes you are hoping to achieve. Rank potential integration projects by their expected impact in relation to those goals, and take into account the difficulty of each project. This allows you to gain a sense of how you should plan the integrations. 

3. Select the right tools for your business.

Opt for accounting and ERP systems that feature excellent APIs and select tax compliance platforms that have proven connectors to your specific billing platforms. This means that you’ll need to take the time to determine if you’ll rely on vendor pre-built connections, middleware, or custom integrations. ‍

4. Build-out integrations and APIs.

Once the right tools have been selected, it’ll be time to set up the integrations and any corresponding APIs. Implement or configure connectors so that anything that happens in one system can be captured in a tax system, as well as your general ledger, in real time. 

5. Test the stack thoroughly.

Once all integrations are implemented, you need to test the stack to ensure that data flow is cohesive across systems. Execute end-to-end tests that send data across the entire stack and ensure all parts of that data make it to the other side. Reconcile tax calculations, currency conversions, chargebacks, and anything else your business may utilize to be sure information is whole. 

As a note, many businesses don’t have the infrastructure required to implement a new data stack all on their own. Investing in your intangible capital expenditures by hiring professionals who can build out this stack on your behalf may be worth the additional cost if it’s in the budget. 

Timeline and implementation tips: What to expect

Implementing an entire unified tax and financial stack won’t be an instantaneous project. The total time to implement will vary depending on the size of your company, the existing technology you have, the number of jurisdictions and systems that need to be implemented, and numerous other factors. 

For perspective, an accounts payable software integration by itself could take two to four weeks to implement for the average business. This means implementing the entire rollout, including four to five more financial functions, could add three to six months to the timeline. For large companies with more complex jurisdictions, the time to implement could be even longer. Some quick tips to consider during the integration include:

• Conduct stakeholder interviews to determine the best areas of the business to automate.
• Avoid having decision paralysis and delaying projects. 
• Develop an understanding of API limitations to avoid mismatches with technology.
• Find use cases applicable to your business and model your stack after those.
• Alert any impacted vendors of your upcoming project to avoid difficulties. 
• Periodically review the status of implementations to keep the schedule on track. 

Expert commentary: 2025 industry perspectives

Experts across the industry have varying thoughts on the state of the tax and financial field. Above all else, artificial intelligence and machine learning have been the dominant points of conversation. The 2024 NVIDIA State of AI in Financial Services report found that 91% of financial service companies are either assessing or already using AI in production. 

From automating document analysis, detecting anomalies in data, classifying data, and more, experts agree that AI is only going to become more prevalent in business operations in the field. In the Thomas Reuters Tax Department Technology report, 94% of respondents indicated hopefulness or excitement about the future of tax technology. This bodes well for sentiments on shifting technologies. 

That same report outlines, however, that many tax departments are still under-resourced from both a budget and change-management standpoint. By integrating stacks and automating workflows, perhaps some of this pressure can be alleviated in your own business. Overall, expert commentary casts a hopeful yet apprehensive light on the future of the industry. 

Building a resilient, modern tax operation

Integrating both tax and finance technology can be more than just a project. It can transform your business. A disconnected system opens the door to data inaccuracy, audit exposures, forecasting blind spots, and other inefficiencies. Don’t allow this to occur, and instead invest in an integrated tech stack that is anchored by strong APIs, tax compliance platforms, and integrated billing processes. 

Start by monitoring the visibility you currently have into your own system, pick the best use case for your business, and deploy the necessary tools to create a tech stack that serves your business for years to come.