Oracle localisations v globalisations v TMR: What’s right for your business?

When you begin the process of scoping out a tax transformation project, two of the key terms you’re likely to hear plenty about are localisations and globalisations.

Both localisations and globalisations sit within your Oracle ERPEnterprise resource planning (ERP) is a type of software that organisations use to manage main business processes. and are crucial to ensuring your tax data is reported and submitted in accordance with the specific regulations in any jurisdiction across the world.

But how do they differ? Which one is the right choice for your business? And are there any alternatives?

What is a globalisation?

Globalisations are versions of E-Business Suite (EBS) or Oracle Cloud and are included within Oracle Financials to provide functionality for a particular nation or region.

For example, there are globalisations for Oracle Financials for India and Oracle Financials for Latin America, which provide additional regional functionality for TDS and the Latin Tax Engine respectively.

How about a localisation?

A localisation is an optional patch released by Oracle to meet a local requirement that is not already covered by its standard setup.

Localisations can be applied to your ERP to provide specific functionality for reporting on tax and filing tax data in accordance with the minimum legal requirements in a certain jurisdiction.

Sometimes, you’ll find deploying a localisation on top of a globalisation is required; for instance, Poland JPK is a localisation our Delivery Team often deploys in conjunction with the Oracle Financials for Europe globalisation.

Alternatively, the Tax Management Report…

In some cases, localisations may not meet the precise needs of a business. Or it could be that no localisation that is able to deliver the best possible results or maximum efficiency in certain scenarios is available.

There are a small number of interesting alternatives – and one of the most comprehensive is our Tax Management Report (TMR) designed specifically for Oracle EBS users.

The TMR is a global tax preparatory report that replaces the standard Oracle Financial Tax Register. As a result, many users are able to rely on the TMR instead of a specific tax reporting localisation.

What’s the right choice for you?

Localisations and globalisations can be deployed in any Oracle ERP and, depending on the jurisdiction and the processes you already have in place, could provide a solution for effective tax reporting. Some businesses require both, while others will find just one meets their needs.

When considering a localisation, it should be remembered that it is typically up to you to align your processes within Oracle with the specific criteria of a localisation.

If your processes will not work with a certain localisation you can instead implement third-party software – an option that many companies choose, especially for reporting.

A good example of this is the way many of our clients trading in China do not use the country’s Golden Tax Adapter and instead send reports to a third party that files it on their behalf.

And, as I’ve already mentioned, the TMR is another popular and comprehensive tool that is ideal for a large number of companies and can be used to provide a global tax extract that can be loaded into third-party software.

Before committing to any tax technology, we always advise evaluating each of the options on the market and scoring their capabilities against your requirements.

Many clients succeed with localisations and globalisations and they are certainly worthy of evaluation. Alternatively, we are able to support you with the implementation of our TMR, which has evolved over more than 10 years through our work with dozens of global clients.

If you’re at the start of a tax transformation journey we’d be delighted to offer more information and insight into the options available to you and your team, so get in touch with us today.