MJ Associates is a boutique tax advisory firm led by Don Jones, CEO, and Shelly Garcia, Partner, both CPAs with decades of Big Four experience advising large multinationals including Fortune 500 companies.
When one of the firm’s large private-company clients was subject to its first-ever GloBE Information Return filing for fiscal year 2024, MJ Associates took on the engagement itself, rather than referring the client to a Big Four firm, the only other providers the team knew of that could handle a filing like this.
Five weeks, one filing, no precedent
The obligation arose from the client’s Swiss subsidiary. Following initial discussions with the client’s Swiss tax advisers over responsibility for the submission, MJ Associates confirmed that it would lead the filing. By the time the team began the work in earnest until May 2026, only approximately five weeks remained before the deadline.
That left three real options: One option was to build the OECD-specified XML submission internally with the client’s IT department. Another option was to bring in a Big Four firm to handle the filing. The third option was to find a software platform the firm could run itself. The first option was quickly ruled out.
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As a non-technology person, we looked at that and said, wow, this is daunting. It was a large investment of time that just was not feasible given where we were on the calendar.
Shelly Garcia
Partner, MJ Associates
”
Retaining the engagement and building capability
MJ Associates already used Thomson Reuters GoSystem for its day-to-day compliance work, and a call to its Thomson Reuters customer service manager led the firm to Orbitax through Thomson Reuters’ reseller partnership with Orbitax.
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We were quite happy that Thomson Reuters offered this through a partnership with Orbitax.
Don Jones
CEO, MJ Associates
”
For a firm built on the idea of delivering senior-level tax expertise without Big Four overhead, the appeal went beyond completing a single filing. Orbitax allowed MJ Associates to manage the engagement itself while establishing a process that could be repeated for future filing cycles and other clients.
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Using a Big Four firm, you’re not really using their product, you are paying for a service, and that would have been far more costly.
Shelly Garcia
Partner, MJ Associates
”
A structured process for data collection and review
Once past an initial learning curve, the platform’s logic clicked for the team, and its template system became central to coordinating with the client’s Swiss advisors on data collection and review.
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The template system was fantastic. It really made the information-gathering process much easier.
Shelly Garcia
Partner, MJ Associates
”
Jurisdiction specific support through submission
Switzerland proved to be the most technically demanding part of the filing. When validation errors surfaced during a Friday submission attempt, MJ Associates received direct support from Orbitax and Thomson Reuters implementation and support specialists. A member of the Orbitax support team, supported over the weekend working through the Switzerland-specific issues, drawing on experience supporting other clients’ Swiss filings to get ahead of problems before they surfaced.
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The Orbitax Team in particular did a lot of work to understand the Switzerland-related issues. We had a call on a Saturday and spent a couple of hours working through all of that, and then it went through just fine. They also proactively identified what would likely be subsequent errors and fixed those too. On Monday, it went through clean.
Shelly Garcia
Partner, MJ Associates
”
Throughout the wider engagement the team credited their Thomson Reuters implementation consultant, with responsiveness that shaped the entire engagement.
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There’s no way we would have gotten through this without Thomson Reuters’s help. The team was exceptionally responsive and never disappeared. It’s rare to have this experience with a software vendor.
Don Jones
CEO, MJ Associates
”
Getting OECD guidance without leaving the workflow
Throughout preparation, the team used XatBot, the AI copilot built into Orbitax, uploading data templates directly into it to connect individual line items back to the relevant OECD guidance, a valuable shortcut for a US-focused team working through Pillar Two terminology for the first time.
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It did a really good job of tying the relevant OECD guidance back to each of the line items in the templates.
Shelly Garcia
Partner, MJ Associates
”
The result: on-time filing and a repeatable capability
Despite a five-week runway on a filing with no precedent to draw on, MJ Associates completed its client’s first GloBE Information Return for fiscal year 2024. The firm avoided building an XML submission process from scratch, retained control of the client engagement, and developed a structured approach it can reuse for the client’s next compliance cycle and potentially for future Pillar Two engagements.
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We cannot quantify the number of hours saved. All we can say is that at the end of the day, we got it filed in far, far less time than it would have taken had we tried to do it ourselves.
Shelly Garcia
Partner, MJ Associates
”
What’s next
MJ Associates plans to return to Orbitax for the client’s fiscal year 2025 compliance cycle, this time with a full implementation runway rather than a five-week sprint, and is exploring Orbitax Academy’s self-paced Global Minimum Tax course to build deeper familiarity with the platform ahead of next season.
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We like the process, we like the program, and we really liked the experience we had with everyone. We will definitely come back.
Shelly Garcia
Partner, MJ Associates
”
How Orbitax supports Pillar Two GIR filing
The Orbitax International Tax Platform provides end-to-end support for the Pillar Two compliance lifecycle, from GloBE and QDMTT calculations and GIR population through XML validation and direct electronic transmission to tax authorities. Current capabilities include an extensive library of Pillar Two forms across jurisdictions worldwide, machine-to-machine transmission for GIR filing in an expanding set of jurisdictions, built-in XML schema validation aligned to OECD and jurisdiction-specific requirements, and XatBot, the AI copilot built into the platform.
Interested in learning more?
Schedule a demo today to understand how Orbitax can help you achieve Pillar Two compliance: