A task assignment portal for a tax consultancy, with a browser extension for one-click GST login.

Taheri Consultancy Services is a tax consultancy firm. Their work, like that of most tax consultancies, is built on a steady, predictable monthly rhythm. Each client has the same set of compliance tasks that need to be completed by specific dates each month. The work is essential, the deadlines are fixed, and the volume scales with the size of the client base.

What they came to Simply Five Studio with was a deceptively simple brief: a portal where the admin could manage employee accounts, assign tasks against client accounts, and track completion across the team. The simplicity of the brief masked one operational detail that turned out to define the project's value. The team spent a noticeable proportion of their day logging into the GST portal on behalf of each client to perform tasks. Each login was multi-step. Each task required a fresh login. The cumulative cost was real.

The system we built addressed both the assignment workflow and the login problem. It has been in production for years.

The situation

A tax consultancy with a roster of business clients runs the same GST filing workflow against each client account every month. The clients send across their books. The team accesses each client's GST portal, files the required returns, and follows up where books are incomplete or filings are queried.

The pre-system workflow was a combination of an in-house list of clients, ad-hoc task allocation across employees, and manual GST portal login for every task. The admin had no good way to see whether a client's work for the month had been completed. The team had no good way to share work without duplicating effort. The GST portal logins, done dozens of times a day across the team, were a quiet but constant overhead.

The founder wanted a system that handled three concerns: assignment, tracking, and login. The assignment piece was straightforward in principle. The login piece required a more careful design.

What we built

A web application with secure credential storage and a companion browser extension.

Multi-user account management

The admin can create user accounts for employees. Each employee logs in with their own credentials and sees their assigned tasks. The admin has oversight across all users and tasks.

Client database and task templates

Clients are recorded with their account details, including the encrypted GST portal credentials required to file on their behalf. Task templates define the recurring monthly work that applies to each client.

Auto-generated monthly tasks

A cron job runs at the start of each month and instantiates the recurring tasks against every client. The admin does not need to remember to set them up. The system ensures that nothing slips through because someone forgot to assign it.

Email reminders to clients

Clients receive automated reminders to share their books of accounts ahead of the monthly filing deadlines. The reminders go out on schedule without anyone needing to track who has been reminded and when. Clients who respond promptly support the team's ability to deliver on time.

Secure GST credential storage

The GST portal credentials for each client are encrypted at rest in the database. The system reveals them only when needed by the browser extension, and only for the authenticated team member with appropriate permissions. This matters because GST credentials are sensitive and their handling is governed by the firm's professional obligations.

Browser extension for one-click GST login

A companion browser extension that integrates with the portal. When a team member is working on a client's tasks, they can click once in the extension to log into the GST portal as that client. The multi-step login flow is automated. The team member does not handle the credentials manually, which is both faster and safer.

Admin reports

The admin sees how many tasks have been completed each month, by client and by employee. Open tasks surface for follow-up. The reporting closes the loop on the assignment workflow.

How it works in practice

The first day of the month brings a fresh set of tasks against every client. The admin assigns tasks to employees based on workload and specialisation. Employees see their assigned tasks in the portal.

Throughout the month, clients receive reminders to send their books. As books arrive, the responsible team member opens the relevant client's tasks, uses the browser extension to log into the GST portal as the client, completes the filing, and marks the task done.

The admin tracks progress at any time. End-of-month reporting shows what was completed, what was delayed, and which clients have outstanding issues. The visibility supports both performance management of the team and proactive communication with clients.

What changed

The most direct change was the recovery of the time previously spent on GST portal logins. A multi-step login executed dozens of times a day across a team adds up to substantial hours per month. The browser extension reduced that to single clicks.

The auto-generation of monthly tasks removed the risk of work falling through the gaps. In the pre-system workflow, a busy admin could occasionally miss setting up a client's tasks for a given month, with the discovery only happening near a deadline. The system removed that failure mode by construction.

The secure credential handling addressed a quiet compliance concern. A tax consultancy that handles client GST credentials carelessly carries real professional risk. The encrypted storage and the extension-mediated login addressed that risk in a way that did not slow down the team.

The portal continues to run today, years after its initial build, on the simple PHP and MySQL stack it was built on. It is one of several examples in the firm's history that demonstrate the longevity of purposefully-built operational software, when the build is done well the first time and the technology choices age gracefully.

Stack and choices

PHP and MySQL on shared hosting. A simple, durable stack that has required minimal maintenance over the years. The browser extension was built as a thin native extension that talks to the portal and handles the credential-injection flow against the GST portal's login form.

The decision to use simple shared hosting was correct for the project's profile. The system did not need a dedicated VPS. It did not need a modern orchestration stack. The work was about getting the operational logic right, not about modern infrastructure.

This case is included in the firm's portfolio specifically because it shows that the right technology choice for a project depends on the project, not on what is fashionable. A system that has run reliably for years on humble infrastructure is, by every meaningful measure, more successful than a system that depends on the latest stack to function.