An old, veteran salesman used to tell me stories about the good ol’ days of enterprise technology sales from back in the late 1970’s.
He spoke of the fierce competition that existed between his company and a few others--all of which would one day become multi-billion dollar global giants. He described how in those days, before computers were commonly used in the workplace, everyone used to track their sales prospects data on paper or on white boards.
When Big 4 staple Deloitte comes out with a list of the top RegTech companies, it’s a sure sign that this emerging tech sector has arrived.
We may be wary of another tech buzzword given how much hype, and at times hyperbole, past buzzwords have received. But how many fads have been based on a topic so practical and operationally based like RegTech?
The client on the phone had a desperate tone in his voice as he said he needed help. He said the CEO was breathing down his neck. His company had not seen a dime on two of their government incentives for the last few years. On the other end of the phone, Scott Nelson, a Big Six government incentives consultant, had an “aha moment”.
It’s no surprise that no one is talking about a new Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) pronouncement on government incentives that’s coming down the pike. For years, major corporations have been burying how they account for government incentives on their balance sheets & footnotes to their financial statements under some random line item like “Other Assets”.
The concept of accountability isn’t new — especially when discussing taxpayer dollars and where they are spent by government agencies. Governments are under constant scrutiny regarding tax revenue and expenditures from their constituents, the media, and the public as a whole. However, there has been an increasing call for accountability when it comes to corporate tax credits and incentives for economic development.