Founder Focus: Mike Glover

‍Michael Glover, former head of KPMG's Compliance Centre in Budapest, founded Taxually in 2018 alongside his ex-KPMG colleagues Stefan Mladenovic and Fergal Garvey. Together, they developed the world’s first fully automated product to handle the entire VAT compliance process, from multi-jurisdictional registration to filing returns.

We caught up with Mike to learn about the inspiration behind Taxually and his vision for the company’s future and began by asking him about his background, the founding of Taxually, and his recent move to New York:

Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your professional journey to founding Taxually. 

After spending the early part of my career specializing in tax in the UK, I took on leadership roles in the Big 4 tax groups in Ukraine and Hungary, which significantly shaped my professional journey. In Kiev, I led KPMG’s tax practice before moving to Budapest to oversee the tax practice there and then the European Compliance service centre.

This role allowed me to manage a large team and help grow the department from 35 to 570 people, an experience that taught me how to drive innovation in tax compliance on a global scale.

After 20 years with KPMG, I co-founded Taxually, where we are revolutionizing tax compliance by focusing on simplifying indirect tax processes for our clients.

Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my family, watching rugby and cricket (when I have the time!), and visiting my wife’s home islands of Rhodes and Symi. From 2008 to 2012, I also played for the Hungarian national cricket team, earning awards for wicket-keeping.

What inspired the creation of Taxually? How did the idea for the company come about? 

The founders all worked together at the KPMG compliance centre in Budapest. We achieved a lot as a team, but we knew that to be able to effectively scale a tax compliance business we would need to create our own technology. This was the reason for Taxually being formed. 

You’ve recently relocated to New York. What prompted the move and in what ways is New York an important base for Taxually's future plans? 

The US is the world’s largest market and New York is the financial capital of the world. It was clear after we joined forces with LumaTax that one of the founders should move to the US, and New York seemed an obvious choice commercially. It is also exciting to be in New York.

How do you balance the demands of running a growing company with maintaining a personal life, especially after your move to New York?

My co-founders and the team we have built up since starting Taxually are all great professionals. They make my job easy. It is also necessary to have an understanding family. I think they are used to change and me having to be available for the business most of the time, no matter where in the world we are.

What has surprised you most about living in New York, professionally or personally?

Finding a place to rent, and then the process of acceptance by the house committee was really different. We can laugh about it now, but there is nothing funny about not knowing where you are going to live and whether you will be accepted once you have found a place.

As a leader, how do you inspire your team and maintain a company culture that fosters innovation in a space like tax compliance?

In all the years that I have been a tax leader, it has always been about hiring great people and letting them succeed. I have to be supportive, and available, but I have found that the right people will always find a way to grow the business, improve our products, and enjoy being part of an excellent team.

Mike also offered his insights on how Taxually is positioning itself within the competitive tax compliance landscape and his strategic vision for the company’s future:

How does Taxually differentiate itself from other players in the tax compliance and automation space? 

Taxually is the only truly end-to-end automated solution that caters to all types of customer, and on a global basis. Our platform simplifies even the most complex tax processes, integrating seamlessly across people, technology, and operations.

With a strong focus on customer needs and the ability to adapt quickly to market changes, we combine deep industry expertise with advanced automation. This allows us to deliver a flexible, scalable solution that just can’t be found anywhere else.

The acquisition of LumaTax was a significant milestone for Taxually. Could you share the strategic reasons behind the acquisition of LumaTax and how it fits with Taxually's global expansion? 

As founders, we always talked about when would be the right time to enter the US market and whether we should adopt a buy or build approach. We had started with a small team to investigate how the US sales and use tax works when the opportunity arose to talk with LumaTax.

We immediately recognised the quality of their technology and there was a good fit in our respective visions for the future of compliance. In order to achieve the success we are capable of, it is important to have a global offering.

What’s your long-term vision for Taxually? Where do you see the company in the next 5 to 10 years? 

We expect Taxually to be the market standard for automated tax compliance services. With a combination of organic and M&A growth, we aim to be the foremost tax-compliance SaaS provider within 5-10 years.

What market trends and changes are you observing in the tax tech industry right now? 

There is an increasing trend towards direct automated interaction between taxpayers and governments. Whilst this is the direction of travel, it is not developing as quickly as some people forecast and so there have been delays in implementation. We continue to monitor these developments so that we are ready to take advantage of any changes.

In the meantime, we continue to improve and expand our products to ensure they are best in class, and bring value to our customers in a market segment previously dominated by incumbents using outdated technology. 

How do you think these trends will affect companies, and how is Taxually positioning itself to help businesses navigate these shifts?

Tax compliance is regarded as a chore. Through our technology, we want to make this important repeating process simple, easy, and painless. At Taxually, we’re achieving this through innovative technology and expert solutions. Our aim is to take the hassle out of compliance so businesses can focus on what they do best.

By staying ahead of regulatory trends and constantly improving our platform, we help our clients stay prepared for whatever comes next.

Taxually is at the forefront of tax automation. How do you stay ahead of technological advancements and ensure your solutions are future-proof?

We stay ahead by focusing on continuous learning, technology, and simplicity. Our goal is to make VAT compliance as intuitive as possible, and we constantly refine our solutions to ensure they adapt to the evolving landscape.

We integrate the latest technological advancements into our platform, allowing us to respond quickly to regulatory changes and market needs. By combining our extensive experience with a technology-first approach, we aim to set the global standard for VAT and sales tax compliance.

With tax tech evolving, do you think traditional tax services will need to fully adapt or even disappear over time? What advice would you give to those in the traditional tax service industry?

In compliance, there will certainly be a move away from the incumbent providers of traditional tax services. This is already happening. Those providers that embrace the use of best-in-class technology such as Taxually will be well placed to provide the services that their customers need, efficiently at an acceptable price.

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