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Client Stories > Business & Professional Services > Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT)

The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) is the leading body for taxation professionals dealing with all aspects of taxation. Their primary purpose is to promote education in taxation. One of their key aims is to achieve a more efficient and less complex tax system for all. It works closely with a second nonprofit called the Association of Taxation technologynicians (ATT).

Membership of both CIOT and ATT is by examination; thus they are nationally recognized as the gold standard of taxation education. Together both organizations support over 26,000 members and 9,000 students throughout their tax careers, providing assistance through their London-based head office and a worldwide network of 40 branches.

Freeman Clarke were first introduced to the CIOT in 2017 when its then CFO, Paul Davies identified the need for experienced IT and program leadership to develop a governance structure and processes for the IT Department.

One of Freeman Clarke’s team, joined CIOT to oversee all IT, systems and digital leadership. He assisted with the development of an IT Strategy for the two organizations which included new membership, finance, and education systems.  He subsequently led them through scoping and tendering for the new systems and put together a program plan to deliver the new systems.

His role was to reduce systems cost through better integration and use of the cloud; to facilitate the introduction of new flexible ways of working; to reduce the costs of some internal administrative functions; and to improve management information. In addition, the new IT and systems reduce business continuity risk.

CIOT’s new systems are focused on providing better experiences for members, students and volunteers when interacting with the nonprofit and enable “self-service,” which reduces the central overhead.

CIOT and ATT are now completely cloud-based which will give them a totally flexible working environment. When needed they can work from home, on the move, or remotely without interruption or reduction in their effectiveness.

Helen Whiteman, CEO of CIOT, added:

“There has been no better time to test the effectiveness of our IT capabilities than through the sudden arrival of a global pandemic. All teams were able to work remotely in a matter of days enabling us to continue to deliver our business as usual as seamlessly as possible. That was certainly a huge relief! He led and supported us through our IT systems transformation ensuring we now have the right platforms in place to engage with all our stakeholders in a more dynamic, digital environment.”