If you’re operating your business in multiple states—or are contemplating putting down roots in another state—tax policies and obligations are probably already top of mind.

Businesses can easily get bogged down in property tax data. County addresses, deadlines, valuation methods, depreciation tables, tax ratios… there are too many data types to list. And while there are common pieces of information people look for, the options are limited when it comes to places to look. That’s because a good chunk of this data varies by jurisdiction. So instead of having central repositories for “property tax information,” a single county website may be your only option. And even finding that isn’t quite as easy as it seems (we’ll get to that later).

Without a doubt, all tax departments—income, sales and use, and property tax—make a unique contribution to a company’s bottom line. But as a former director of property tax at a large corporation, I can also attest to the fact that all corporate tax functions are interrelated. In fact, I’d argue that joint strategizing between all tax departments can actually have a greater impact on profitability than any one single tax department can make on its own.

Business personal property tax is no simple matter—certainly not one that can be covered by a single blog post. There’s always more to learn and do in order to improve your compliance processes and make sure you’re paying the right amount. (Check out our blog for a ton of information on those topics.) But at a foundational level, personal property tax compliance hinges on a few important basics. Get these pieces right and you can feel confident you’re fulfilling the requirements correctly.

Tax research is a very important part of a property tax professional’s agenda. Knowing which tools to use will improve your process, and staying up to date with the industry’s new tools is beneficial. However, some resources are better than others. The more research you do, the better you’ll get at determining which ones work for you and your specific cases—this is key to streamlining your practice and enhancing your work product.

The concepts of an assessment and property tax have proven to be a point of confusion for some business owners—are they one and the same, or two different things? In fact, assessment is an integral function of the tax cycle, but taxation and assessment are two distinct things. The rationale behind the separation: It protects property owners from possible unfair treatment. As a taxpayer, that’s good for you, but there’s more you need to know to ensure you’re being taxed fairly.

For oil and gas companies across the spectrum—upstream, midstream, and downstream—valuation of assets and the property tax process can be highly complex. By nature, several of the tasks involved are routine and mathematics-based—exactly the kind of tasks that computers excel at and, thanks to advanced technology, can do faster (and more accurately) than humans.

Whether you’re considering transitioning to new property tax management software or you’re a first-time user, the road to implementing a new property tax tool can be a long one. No matter what software you end up transitioning to, though, one thing is certain: You’ll only get the full benefit of the software if the data you put into it is clean and accurate.

“Simplified workflows”

“Fewer clicks”

“Intuitive design”

These are all terms that have been used to describe TotalPropertyTax (TPT), the most advanced property tax software in the industry. But what, exactly, do those terms mean as applied to daily use, and how do they impact the user experience?

Like every industry, property tax has its share of conferences. Whatever you’d like to know more about, whether it’s real estate, personal property, business valuation, compliance, depreciation, tax technology, or anything else, there’s probably a conference that covers it. You’ll also find conferences that specialize in certain industries (like the Broadband Tax Institute’s annual conference for internet and cable companies) and ones that focus on taxation in certain regions (like the Texas Association of Assessing Officers conference). There’s no shortage of learning opportunities for those looking to expand their knowledge and skills.