SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO

News Editor

Alphatax has acquired TP Accurate and Intra Pricing Solutions, expanding its transfer pricing software offering.

The acquisitions add two products to the group’s tax technology portfolio. TP Accurate develops software for intra-group financing arrangements, while Intra Pricing Solutions offers TPGenie, a tool that uses automation and artificial intelligence to produce transfer pricing documentation for multinational companies and advisers.

Transfer pricing has become a growing focus for tax departments as regulators increase scrutiny of how multinational groups price transactions between related entities. Companies often manage financing analysis, documentation and compliance through separate systems, leaving tax teams with fragmented processes and greater audit exposure.

The additions broaden Alphatax’s coverage across the transfer pricing workflow. The products are intended to help customers manage compliance more efficiently, strengthen governance and reduce audit risk.

The transactions also form part of a broader platform strategy at the business, previously known as Tax Systems. Alphatax’s long-term goal is to build a single operating system for tax, bringing together compliance areas that have traditionally been managed through standalone tools.

Bruce Martin, Chief Executive Officer of Alphatax, said the deals supported that strategy.

“This is another important step in our growth strategy and reflects our continued investment in creating a more connected future for tax,” said Bruce Martin, Chief Executive Officer, Alphatax.

“Transfer pricing is one of the most complex areas of tax compliance, with increasing regulatory scrutiny and growing demands on tax teams. Bringing TP Accurate and Intra Pricing Solutions into Alphatax adds market-leading capabilities that deliver immediate value for customers while accelerating our vision of the world’s first tax operating system. We’re delighted to welcome both teams to Alphatax,” Martin added.

Product fit

The rationale for the two acquisitions lies in different parts of the transfer pricing process. One addresses financial transactions within corporate groups, including loans, guarantees and other financing arrangements that require detailed pricing analysis. The other focuses on preparing the documentation companies need to support their transfer pricing positions.

For large multinationals, those tasks have become more burdensome as tax authorities demand more detailed support for cross-border arrangements. Software providers have responded by building tools that automate calculations, standardise reporting and help companies maintain records across jurisdictions.

Intra Pricing Solutions’ management said the transaction would allow it to continue developing its software within a larger platform.

“We were looking for a partner that shares our long-term vision for innovation in transfer pricing,” said Arjen Rommens, Co-Founder & CTO, Intra Pricing Solutions.

“In Alphatax, we found exactly that. Together we can invest more, innovate faster and continue supporting our customers for many years to come,” Rommens added.

TP Accurate was founded to address pricing for intercompany financial transactions, a niche but significant part of the market. Such transactions can be difficult to assess because companies must justify the terms applied between related parties as though they had been agreed by independent entities.

Michael Vorndran, Founder of TP Accurate, said that focus would now sit within a larger organisation with a broader customer base.

“I founded TP Accurate to address a longstanding gap in transfer pricing technology: the ability to accurately price intercompany financial transactions, which run into the trillions of dollars annually,” said Michael Vorndran, Founder, TP Accurate.

“Joining Alphatax means many more companies around the world can benefit from our solution and we’re proud to be part of a team like Alphatax,” Vorndran added.

Market position

Alphatax is backed by Providence Equity Partners and sells tax and accounting software to large companies and advisory firms. It says it works with more than 42% of the FTSE 100 and 80% of the top advisory firms, while more than 30,000 tax professionals have been trained to use its software.

The group has operated for more than three decades and has sought to widen its reach across tax compliance functions as companies digitise processes once handled through spreadsheets and localised applications. More than 200,000 submissions are filed each year using its systems, according to the company.

By acquiring specialist providers rather than building every function in-house, Alphatax is following a path taken by many software groups seeking to assemble broader platforms in niche business markets. In tax technology, where rules differ by jurisdiction and compliance demands shift regularly, vendors argue that integrated tools can help companies manage risk more consistently across their operations.

The two acquisitions place greater emphasis on transfer pricing, an area that remains both technically complex and commercially important for multinational groups with cross-border financing and intercompany trading arrangements.

SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO

News Editor

Quadient has supplied a new mail automation system to Send and Receive, expanding a partnership of more than 15 years.

The UK print and mail provider has installed Quadient’s DS-1200 G4iQ folder inserter, Impress software, AIMS automated insertion management system and inline envelope printing to remove production bottlenecks and support new customer growth.

Milton Keynes-based Send and Receive provides print, mailing, postage and digital delivery services. The new setup replaces fragmented processes that had slowed production and limited its ability to add clients.

Before the upgrade, legacy systems were operating at full capacity, restricting growth and making onboarding more difficult. The business also faced limitations with a rival folder inserter, while separate envelope printing and mail insertion workflows added manual handling and reduced efficiency.

The new installation brings those processes into a single workflow. According to the companies, it is designed to reduce manual intervention, increase output and provide closed-loop verification for document accuracy.

That verification is also intended to support GDPR compliance. Integrated checks can confirm that the right documents are inserted and addressed correctly, reducing the risk of errors in customer communications.

Capacity pressure

The investment reflects a broader issue in the print and mail sector, where providers are under pressure to handle rising volumes while meeting tighter compliance requirements. For operators still relying on separate legacy systems, capacity constraints can quickly become a barrier to winning new business.

For Send and Receive, the need for a more integrated production environment became more urgent as demand increased. The company turned to a supplier it had worked with for more than a decade to redesign part of its mail operation.

“As our business has grown, it became clear that our existing infrastructure was holding us back,” said Liam Crane, Director, Send and Receive. “With Quadient’s integrated solution, we have moved to a scalable, efficient production environment. We can now take on new clients with confidence, while maintaining high standards of accuracy and compliance.”

The project forms part of Quadient’s work with print service providers updating production processes to improve efficiency and respond to customer and regulatory demands. The company sells automation systems for business communications, including software and mail handling equipment.

Workflow changes

By combining insertion, software management and envelope printing in one line, the installation removes the need for some standalone systems. That can reduce the number of touchpoints in the production process and simplify job tracking across a mail run.

AIMS, Quadient’s automated insertion management system, monitors mailpiece creation and verification, while Impress manages communication workflows. Together with inline envelope printing, the tools connect stages that had previously been handled separately.

For print and mail providers, these workflow changes can have direct commercial effects. Greater throughput can create room for additional customer work, while fewer manual steps may lower the risk of mistakes that can trigger reprints, delays or compliance concerns.

Quadient described the deployment as an example of how mail operators are balancing output growth with tighter control over accuracy. In regulated communications and customer correspondence, document integrity has become a more visible operational issue as service providers seek to reassure clients on data handling.

Phil Hutchison, Senior VP MRS, UK & Ireland, Quadient, said the company is seeing demand from providers that want to expand without losing oversight of production quality.

“Print service providers need to scale efficiently while maintaining control and accuracy,” said Hutchison. “By combining high-performance hardware with intelligent automation, we help customers modernise production and support sustainable growth.”

BeStreamWise has published research on the use of work phones for illegal streaming in the UK. It found that 68% of people who stream content illegally use a company smartphone for that activity.

The findings highlight a workplace cybersecurity issue linked to unofficial streaming sites and apps. Among illegal streamers aged 18 to 24, 71% said they had used a work smartphone to access sport, films or television from unofficial sources, compared with 62% of those aged 45 to 54.

More than half of illegal streamers using work smartphones, 56%, said their device had been infected with malware in the past 12 months. That compares with a national average of 18%, according to the research.

Some respondents also reported repeated problems. More than a quarter, 27%, said they had experienced malware infections multiple times during the past year.

Phishing was another risk highlighted in the study. One in five illegal streamers who use work devices, 20%, said they had received phishing attempts involving requests for passwords and account login data, compared with 8% of illegal streamers overall.

The survey also suggested that awareness of those risks remains low among some workers. Only 34% of respondents who use work devices for illegal streaming said they knew illegal streaming sites can infect devices with malware, compared with 42% of the public overall.

BeStreamWise is backed by government bodies and media and sports organisations including the Premier League, BBC, ITV, Sky and FACT. It describes itself as a cross-industry initiative focused on raising awareness of the risks linked to illegal streaming.

Business exposure

The figures add to a broader picture of cyber threats facing employers. Government data cited alongside the study shows phishing attacks are the most common type of cyber breach reported by UK businesses, affecting 38% of companies.

The same official figures put the average cost of a significant cyber attack at £195,000 for each affected business. That gives fresh relevance to employee behaviour on corporate devices, particularly when those devices are used to access unauthorised services outside normal company controls.

Illegal streaming has often been treated as a consumer issue linked to broadcasting rights and lost subscription revenue. The new data reframes it by focusing on the risks to company systems, internal networks and commercial information when workers use employer-issued phones to visit unofficial services.

Younger workers appeared more likely than older groups to use work devices in this way, though the practice was not limited to one age bracket. The gap between respondents aged 18 to 24 and those aged 45 to 54 was narrower than might be expected, suggesting the behaviour is spread across the workforce rather than confined to the youngest employees.

That pattern may complicate any response from employers. Companies that rely on staff policies alone may struggle if workers do not associate illegal streaming with cyber risk, especially when the activity takes place on smartphones that move in and out of corporate environments more easily than office-based desktop systems.

Expert warning

The research was accompanied by comment from independent cybersecurity expert James Bore.

“These findings will be a huge concern for business leaders looking to keep their networks and data safe. Illegal streaming sites and apps sit outside the security checks that legitimate platforms go through, so the risk of encountering malware is much higher. Installing unauthorised software on work devices carries the same risks as on personal devices, particularly if companies do not have up-to-date antivirus software installed. Malware can be an entry point into company networks where sensitive commercial and financial information is stored,” said James Bore, Independent Cybersecurity Expert.

The research was based on a survey of 2,000 people in the UK. Its central finding is that a large share of people who already access pirated content are doing so on employer-provided smartphones, creating a route by which malware and phishing attacks can reach business systems.

For employers, the issue goes beyond viewing habits to basic cyber hygiene. The data suggests that personal choices made on work devices can expose wider company infrastructure to threats that begin with a film, match or television stream.