How an investment firm optimized tax depreciation

Challenge

A multi-billion-dollar investment firm was acquiring and selling a high volume of real estate — but it needed help to efficiently optimize tax depreciation. The firm had tight deadlines for quarterly and year-end reporting, so it needed to quickly calculate, track and forecast tax depreciation with precise accuracy. The firm wanted a way to further develop its proactive tax planning for fixed assets and accelerate deductions. That kind of planning was hard to accomplish when employees faced a high volume of constant work and deadlines.

The investment firm needed a more efficient way to calculate tax depreciation, so it could save time, accelerate deductions and plan proactively.

Solution

Grant Thornton specialists worked with the firm to understand the relevant accounting process, timelines, availability of information and ultimate goals. Then, the Grant Thornton team collaborated with the firm to create a specialized solution. The new solution incorporates real-time analysis on all current-year fixed asset activity with the power of fa.x to drive real-time quarterly and year-end reporting. After the team implemented the solution, it studied results to capture any deductions that were previously missed.