Web-Based Platform Maintenance: Integrating Salesforce, Twilio, and Advanced APIs for Source Advisors
Accounting, Fintech
Texas, USA 
May 2024 - ongoing
Custom Software Development
Elixir/Phoenix
Dedicated team behind the project
The Client
Source Advisors specializes in providing innovative tax consulting services in the US and UK, focusing on R&D tax credits, cost segregation, energy efficiency incentives, and other specialized tax strategies. With over 40 years of experience, research data and deep expertise, Source Advisors supports businesses of all sizes across diverse industries, helping them maximize financial incentives while ensuring compliance with tax regulations.
Client Achievements:
THE CHALLENGE
Goat Tax is an R&D Tax Credit Software, engaged in automating the preparation of compliant R&D study reports for federal and state tax filings. The platform aims to streamline workflows, ensure accuracy, and provide state-specific compliance while handling voluminous tax credit data. Source Advisors approached us to maintain and support this existing project, an Elixir-based platform.
As part of their budget optimization strategy, the client decided to reduce the size of their U.S.-based team and allocate the project to an external vendor. The primary requirements included a mature, self-managed team capable of ensuring quality delivery, along with project management support to handle any issues that might arise during the production process.
The client was particularly impressed with Ralabs’ SQM (Software Quality Management) approach, the caliber of our managers and developers, and the structured quality control processes we employ. Despite initial challenges in staffing due to project-specific requirements and the availability of engineers, we successfully staffed senior engineers to the project, including those with full-stack expertise.
The project posed several challenges:
Working with Elixir Programming Language and the Phoenix Framework required identifying highly skilled developers in a niche market. Although Elixir’s community is relatively small, its collaborative and open-hearted culture made integration smoother.
Onboarding required a balance between complying with the client’s existing processes and challenging inefficiencies to improve the system’s overall LEAN delivery. The guidance of the client’s lead developer was instrumental in ensuring high-quality code reviews, long-term technical strategy, and collaborative planning.
The team needed to identify and address inefficiencies at both the development and delivery levels, optimizing processes where needed to enhance productivity and quality.
The platform required seamless integrations with several third-party systems, including Salesforce, ReCaptcha, Contentful, Finch, Solupay, Airtable, Twilio, DocRaptor, and Railz, as well as Single Sign-On (SSO) solutions like Google SSO and Intuit SSO.
After onboarding, the team rapidly started delivering new features and improvements to the Elixir project while maintaining the platform’s existing functionality. The engineers also contributed to other client projects built on Python and React.
What Was Done
To address the challenges, we implemented a comprehensive overhaul of the Goat Tax software, focusing on scalability, performance, and usability. This included:
- Resolving legacy bugs and reducing technical debt backlog.
- Optimizing a complex data schema for smoother workflows.
- Refactoring heavy database queries to enhance speed and efficiency.
- Upgrading the UI to align with user needs and streamline tax credit processes.
- Internal integration with the AI solution to enhance operational capabilities.
- External integration with Salesforce, utilizing best security practices such as encryption in transit to ensure data protection and compliance.
Implemented Features:
We introduced state eligibility tracking to handle diverse state-specific tax requirements. This included adding feature flags for dynamic state handling, developing forms and components for managing state eligibility, and integrating “State Qualified Expenses By Type” tables to enhance data accuracy and usability.
Admin functionality was expanded with advanced features such as sorting capabilities for expense data tables (e.g., wages, subcontractors, supplies) and the addition of new columns for studies, partners, and companies. Sticky table headers and enhanced editing options for Business Component (BC) details were also implemented to streamline admin workflows.
The study management interface was restructured for better organization and efficiency. Workspace tiles on the study progress page were redesigned, financial data and study overviews were separated into distinct sections, and new industry-specific categorizations were added for studies. Updates to tax and expense forms, including QRE columns, further improved usability.
We centralized CSV-related processing into reusable utility functions, enabling the addition of exports for expenses, wages, and financial data. This streamlined the handling of large datasets and allowed users to extract information quickly and accurately.
A revamped user interface was delivered, with updated tooltips for state and employee guidance, dynamic metadata enhancements in admin layouts, and redesigned navigation for document and financial data sections. These changes improved accessibility and workflow efficiency across the platform.
We implemented advanced permission controls, allowing admins to manage invoices, edit studies, and control user access across companies, partners, and data hubs. These updates ensured a secure and flexible system for handling sensitive data.
Heavy queries were refactored to improve performance, while state, revenue, and expense data models were updated for consistency. Validation and fallback mechanisms were added to forms to ensure data accuracy and reliability.
Additional features included internal study deadline notifications, table of contents navigation on admin pages, and automated user notifications for specific document uploads.
Results
Upgraded the platform to the PostgreSQL 16.4 version, ensuring enhanced reliability, scalability, and optimized performance to handle high volumes of tax credit data
Successfully integrated Railz and Finch APIs, enabling seamless external connectivity and enhancing the platform’s capabilities for data retrieval and processing
Delivered a Version 2 UI redesign, improving workspace navigation, simplifying workflows, and enhancing usability for tax professionals managing complex R&D filings
Resolved approximately 70% of the backlog of reported bugs and technical debt, improving system stability and user satisfaction while laying the foundation for future growth
Tech Stack
Daniel
Head of Engineering at Ralabs
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