Clearwater Analytics, a Boise, Idaho-based provider of SaaS/web-based investment accounting and reporting solutions for insurers, corporations, and asset managers, today announced the availability of several new features and reports designed to simplify complex investment portfolio tax filing processes. To bolster what the vendor calls an already robust multi-basis GAAP, statutory (STAT), and tax reporting solution, Clearwater has released a new wash sale report, GAAP/STAT basis comparison reports, tax roll forward reports, and intercompany deferred gains and losses reports to help clients prepare accurate and timely annual tax filings.

“With the release of the new functionality, a lot of time will be saved during our quarterly tax provisions, and at year end,” said Thomas Correa, Jr., a senior investment accountant at The Warranty Group, Inc. “The new reports the platform offers can help us accurately track our inter-company transfers, wash sale activity, and provide for accurate Schedule M calculations.”

Preparing quarterly estimates and year-end filings has long been a struggle for many organizations because there are few solutions specifically designed to handle complex IRS guidance, asserts Rhead Hatch, Tax Accounting Specialist at Clearwater. “Tax accountants have typically relied on manual processes and spreadsheets to prepare the filings and tax-related GAAP or STAT requirements. When organizations use Clearwater, the pain of preparing these filings diminishes greatly.”

Clearwater says that its investment accounting solution is specifically designed to treat tax as a complete basis to ensure accuracy according to tax guidance. The vendor reports having always provided an equity dividend report, income-based reports, holdings-based reports, and roll-forward reports that it says make tax reporting easier. New tax accounting and reporting functionality associated with the present announcement, include the following, according to the vendor:

• A wash sale report that allows companies to identify transactions involved in wash sales and confirm the subsequent tax accounting treatment (e.g., amount of loss deferred);
• Tax-to-GAAP and tax-to-STAT comparison reports to compare the accounting values between the tax basis and GAAP or STAT bases, including identification of which components of the value might be different;
• Intercompany deferred gains or losses reports that show the gain or loss deferred on inter-company transfers (as well as the previously deferred amounts now recognized during any given period).

“Tax reporting has long been viewed as an afterthought for institutional investors. Not at Clearwater. We think it’s a vital component of investment accounting and reporting,” says Scott Erickson, Clearwater’s Director of Client Services and Product Management. “That’s why we’re the only integrated, multi-basis investment portfolio accounting and reporting provider that offers extensive functionality specifically for tax reporting purposes. Our clients have the tools necessary to provide accurate and timely reporting, and the confidence that our solution is tailored for all their investment accounting needs.”