1 – Introduction: SPED data as a source of information in advanced analytical solutions
Companies in Brazil invest significant financial amounts every year to meet the requirements of federal and state government tax collection and inspection bodies. This information, passed to the tax authorities in the form of text files with a standard structure defined by these bodies, is part of the called Public System of Digital Bookkeeping (SPED) and is essential for the full exercise of their functions.
However, for almost all companies that periodically generate SPED data in its various editions (e.g., Fiscal, Contributions), the content of these files is completely ignored after their transmission to official institutions. This content includes data related to all their registrations and transactions related to taxable events. Usually, SPED files are the result of complex data integration processes from various sources that go through (or should go through) rigorous consistency tests and internal auditing before being electronically submitted to inspection entities.
In this sense, it would be extremely opportune to use these files as a data source in business intelligence analytical solutions to support companies in decision-making. In fact, SPED Fiscal and EFD-Contribuições data, with the use of appropriate tools and technology, represent a very rich basis of information for visualization and advanced analysis of corporate data. Through the use of analytical platforms, executives, analysts, and consultants could extract extremely valuable insights from this base to guide decisions at all levels and in all processes of the organization.
2 – What are analytical platforms and business intelligence systems? How are they related to SPED? How can they improve company performance?
Analytical solutions are software systems designed to improve the decision-making process at any level within organizations. Gartner Group, a global leader in information technology research and consulting, defines four stages or levels of maturity regarding the use of analytical solutions in general within an organization. At the most basic level, known as descriptive analysis, companies seek to answer questions related to the past (question: what happened?).
At a second level of maturity, companies must be able to diagnose any aspect related to the results of their operations (question: why did it happen?). This type of analysis is essential for improving the performance of an organization's processes, and various tools are available on the market that enable answers to these questions with high productivity and low cost.
At the higher and more complex levels of analysis, according to Gartner Group's classification, are the processes of predictive analysis (question: what will happen?) and prescriptive analysis (question: what should I do?). Indeed, much of society's attention and interest in big data is related to extremely successful applications of predictive analysis in private and governmental institutions operating in areas as varied as public health, retail, financial institutions, electoral marketing, etc. If having a clear vision of the past and accurately diagnosing to avoid errors and replicate positive experiences is fundamental for efficient management of any business, anticipating the future represents an extraordinary gain in competitiveness for the vast majority of organizations, considering the current evolution of analytical solutions and the availability of data from the most varied sources.
At the most advanced stage, prescriptive analysis seeks to automate decision-making processes and make them more effective through simulation and optimization models. These models help companies obtain answers about what to do in the future (prescription) to achieve the best possible results based on assumptions and constraints imposed by reality or expectations. Still few companies have reached levels of excellence in all these stages, especially the more complex ones with higher return on investment. However, demand is growing rapidly, and opportunities are enormous for companies and professionals.
3 – How to use SPED file data to immediately leverage analytical solutions? If SPED files have a standard structure and data are consistent, why not use them directly as a data source in a business intelligence platform?
Indeed, new data visualization platforms are increasingly bringing analytical solutions closer to business areas. However, to take advantage of these systems within an analytical context conventionally called data discovery, directly exploring SPED data, it is necessary to prepare and, eventually, merge this data with external sources to obtain valuable insights into the past, present, and future of companies.
Contrary to what might initially be imagined, SPED data is not useful only for tax analysis and fiscal auditing. It can be effectively used primarily in corporate management processes. To do this, simply use the appropriate tools and methods for analyzing this data.
These new tools combined with data discovery solutions have an enormous advantage over traditional systems: there is no need for prior knowledge of complex ERP management systems and/or fiscal modules' architecture and data models (most of the time, undocumented). Analyses can be made based on a standard structure (SPED) that is public domain and well-documented. Furthermore, companies and transactional systems have been well-adapted to the file generation procedures for a long time, which creates a greater expectation of information consistency and, consequently, less demand for data cleaning and quality verification.
To freely explore SPED data, using an application available on a cloud platform, simply access http://gallery.alteryx.com (content in English) and click SPED in the search box. Among the available options are applications that allow generating bases for visualization in Tableau Data Extract (TDE) format and audit reports in PDF format. Further details on the use of these applications and data analysis and business intelligence technologies applied to SPED can also be obtained from the website of Conjecto, a Brazilian company specializing in advanced analytical solutions.
Source: http://blog.opovo.com.br/bigdata/2015/12/17/como-tirar-proveito-das-informacoes-fiscais-sped/