Challenge: Incomplete documentation and a strict deadline

Following an unexpected retirement in late 2021, the responsibility for transfer pricing compliance landed suddenly on the desk of Pekka Poikonen, the Head of Group Finance at Stockmann. At the same time, the group was undergoing major structural changes and Pekka and his team had a strict and tight deadline to finalize Stockmann’s transfer pricing documentation. Facing these significant challenges, as well as the need to get quickly up to speed with the group’s transfer pricing processes, Pekka turned to digital tools as a potential solution for Stockmann.

“The timing was just spot on and Aibidia offered exactly what we needed.”
- Pekka Poikonen

Pekka was eager to find a whole new approach to managing Stockmann’s transfer pricing in order to not only improve the quality of their transfer pricing documentation but also the documentation and compliance process as a whole. His goal was to include the wider team in transfer pricing compliance management, instead of having only a handful of people dealing with the topic. By implementing a platform where the team could work together with all of their transfer pricing related data and resources in one place, Pekka wanted to increase the transparency of the process and make it much less dependent on a few key people.

Finding the right solution was in the end quite a straightforward process for Stockmann. Following initial discussions with Aibidia, Pekka was impressed and decided to jump right in to start digitally transforming Stockmann’s transfer pricing compliance and documentation creation using Aibidia’s Platform. “From the first 15-minute discussion, we were already doing things fairly quickly”, says Pekka. Aibidia was able to provide the support the team needed to ensure the timely completion of the documentation as well as the simultaneous improvement of the quality of that documentation and the overall process itself.

“We can trust that we are in good hands.”
- Pekka Poikonen

Solution:
Structured approach and a common platform

A key benefit of Aibidia's Platform is its structure; it is easy for users to quickly understand what information is required. Because of this, the Stockmann team was able to get up to speed quickly and begin extensively using the Platform with only minimal experience. “What I had to update myself was quite easy and quick, actually. Now that we’re up to date, it's only going to get easier and easier”, Pekka says.

A key factor highlighted by Pekka is the ability to work on transfer pricing issues together as a team. “It doesn't have to be just one person working on it, but you can share this process and work together on the same platform and benefit from what someone else is doing”, Pekka says. “We have one common platform where we can find all the transactions, all the contracts — everything we need. This will definitely make it easier in the future, as we won't have to search for anything, but can find everything in one place.”

Pekka says that the process of working with Aibidia has been smooth, efficient and effective. “I feel that whenever we have a question or anything, we get answers really quickly. You have a great team there at Aibidia and it's fun to work with you, plus the solution is, of course, also great”, Pekka notes. “It's fun to work on this together, both with Aibidia and with our own team, and it feels like after the COVID19-pandemic, it's nice to have something like this to do together.”

Impact:
Improved teamwork and better documentation

Even though the team did not have too much transfer pricing experience, with the help of Aibidia’s experts they nevertheless quickly got onboard and excited about the topic. “I have to say that when we have modern technology like this to work with, interest about transfer pricing has been slowly growing among the team. Despite the topic, this doesn't necessarily have to be boring, it can also be very interesting”, Pekka says.

“I think my team work best when they do things together. And now that there is the same platform for everyone, the same tool to work with, it's a new way of working and a new way to communicate the information we have there”, Pekka says. As a result, Stockmann is now less dependent on specific people, as transfer pricing is not only in the hands of a select few.

“I would say that this is now our best practice in this area. Next we can focus on other development projects.”
- Pekka Poikonen

Pekka explains that by using Aibidia’s Platform, all of the aspects related to documentation and transfer pricing compliance were automatically covered. Despite a relative lack of experience in dealing with these specific matters, it was possible for the team to gather all the required information and at the same time learn a lot about transfer pricing compliance. “When I read our old documentation from earlier years, I did not even realize that there was so much to think about”, Pekka says. To cap off their experience to this point, they also ended up receiving very positive feedback from the Finnish Tax Administration about the quality of the new documentation created in the Aibidia Platform.

Looking ahead:
Digital transfer pricing the clear way forward for Stockmann

“In the future, we will continue learning even more and take things forward together. We still have some minor improvements or clarifications ahead of us, but I think we're making good progress”, Pekka says. He also mentions that the team is highly motivated, with the implementation of the Aibidia Platform and the associated new processes and ways of working leaving a lasting positive impact in the organization. Pekka and his team are eager to continue using the solution and the next step for Stockmann is to extend the implementation of the Platform across the group.

“Working with Aibidia has been great and I must say FUN.”
- Pekka Poikonen