WTS has opened its tenth German location in Berlin. From there, the international tax consulting company will centrally manage its consulting services for the digitization of tax and finance functions, and create a group-wide Digital Hub. This will be headed by Christian Baumgart (41). Karl Bevan (43) will assume the function of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) within WTS. Both digital experts joined WTS as new partners on 1 April.

“The process automation and digitization of tax and finance functions is one of our main topics. With our new Digital Hub, we will now establish a central hotspot for our digital consulting services. This applies both to our locations in Germany and internationally to all member companies of WTS Global,” explains Fritz Esterer, CEO of WTS.

In recent years, WTS has established itself as one of the leading service providers for the digitalization of tax and finance functions. The main growth drivers were tax process consulting and the development and implementation of tax tool solutions. With the founding of wtsAI, WTS has also accelerated the development of intelligent tax solutions using artificial intelligence methods for practical use.

Expansion of the Tax Technology Team

The new members Christian Baumgart and Karl Bevan strengthen the Tax Technology Team of WTS with immediate effect. Together with four other consultants, they have moved from KPMG to WTS and are responsible for setting up the Digital Hub.

Christian Baumgart has been working for KPMG in various positions on a national and international level since 2003. He specializes in the digitization of tax issues through process and transformation consulting as well as the implementation of IT tools. In 2008, he established a process and technology team at KPMG’s Berlin office, which he managed as a partner since 2010. In addition to projects in various tax disciplines, his focus was on HR and payroll functions. He advises clients from the strategy phase through planning to implementation.

Karl Bevan started his career as a software developer before joining KPMG in London in 2001. From 2008 he supported the development of the process and technology team at KPMG in Berlin and, as Director, was responsible for software development and implementation, product management of software solutions and the conception of technology strategies. He was also a member of KPMG’s governance and architecture boards for Global Mobility Technology. During his career, he has developed numerous local and global tax applications for international corporations.

“Digitization consulting is a cross-cutting topic that covers almost all tax areas. With our new Digital Hub, we are now creating a platform through which we can better serve our clients with digital solutions,” adds Fritz Esterer. “I am very pleased that we were able to win over Christian Baumgart and Karl Bevan. We will benefit greatly from their great expertise”.