Keeping up with taxability codes and legislative changes when trying to run a business is no small feat. And many organizations are still relying on manual sales tax processes that increase compliance risks and audits. To help free yourself from the financial risk and manual effort, you should consider tax automation technology.
One of the most common tax compliance solutions for JD Edwards is Vertex, but selecting what you need from their different product offerings can be just as complicated as keeping up with tax laws.
Let’s break down the differences between Vertex L Series, Q Series, and O Series.
Deployment Options Overview
One of the key differences between the older versions—L Series and Q Series—and the newer version—O Series—is their architecture. Vertex has evolved their products along with the technology as we’ve moved from mainframes to PCs and now to the cloud.
Vertex L Series
L Series is the oldest version of the tax software and is deployed on your mainframe servers. It’s important to note that L Series is slowly being phased out as more and more companies move to cloud-based solutions. Q Series and O Series are now the most-commonly used versions, so the decision usually comes down to one of them.
Vertex Q Series
Q Series can be installed either on your mainframe servers (on-prem) or in the cloud (SaaS). The cloud option is a remotely hosted, internet-delivered solution. Many companies like this option because it eliminates the need for server and storage administration, as well as hardware.
Vertex O Series
The newest offering, O Series is only deployed in the cloud as an internet-delivered solution.
O vs Q: Feature Breakdown
What are the Vertex O Series Features?
- Current tax rates and taxability rules are provided in a monthly update
- Contains an extensive number of input parameters that can be used to drive tax decisions that provides ultimate flexibility to handle complex transactions and offers functionality to manage apportionment
- TaxGIS component identifies the appropriate taxing jurisdictions on each transaction from the state, county, and city, as well as all the way down to low-level districts such as mass transit authorities
- Integrations for most ERP and financial systems and utilizes open, web-oriented technologies (e.g., J2EE, JSP, HTML, XML, SOAP) to maximize flexibility, interoperability, and portability
- Both input and output VAT taxes for 150+ countries are fully supported
- Standard and custom reporting for compliance, audit, and reconciliations
What are the Vertex Q Series Features?
- Supports sales, use, and consumer use transactions, as well as VAT transactions
- Uses GeoCoder, a jurisdiction code methodology which identifies zip codes within multiple counties and/or cities, and recognizes those outside city limits
- Tax Decision Maker (TDM) can be used to support and define taxability by product, customer, jurisdiction, or any combination of these criteria
- While tax content is user-defined, rates and jurisdiction codes are updated monthly
- Standard reporting
- Limited data elements for tax decision-making
Price Points and Implementation
The most significant difference between Q and O Series is the price point. Vertex Q Series not only costs about a third of the price of O Series, it also requires less implementation time because the product doesn’t have as many customization options.
O Series is the most robust offering by Vertex (which is why it’s more expensive), so if you’re in need of all the bells and whistles, that’s the option for you.
Choosing the Best Vertex Series for Your Company
The best way to decide which version makes the most sense for your business is to bring in a consultant who knows all the options and can work with your individual situation. Our JD Edwards Tax Compliance consultants can identify your pain points and go through your entire compliance process to help you select the right option for your business needs. In many cases, our consultants have helped companies save money and cut down on implementation time. Let our experts help you streamline your taxes, so you can get back to growing your business.
