How finance, tax and IT can prepare for the big changes coming to VAT and indirect tax

1. Building a VAT
Roadmap for
2021 and Beyond
Finance, tax and IT professionals expect regulations to
evolve continually. However, ensuring compliance with
VAT mandates and continuous transaction controls
(CTCs) may require significant investment in time and
resources across your organization.
sharedserviceslink and Sovos conducted a study with a
wide range of AP and tax professionals to identify and
understand their priorities and challenges.
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Keeping up
with the pace
of change and
automating to
ensure compliance
are the key
priorities.
Ensure our technology can meet ever-changing VAT
requirements for invoicing, reporting and determination
Automate and centralize our VAT reporting compliance
operations
Get ready for the changes in VAT in the EU and
elsewhere
Improve collaboration between tax and IT on VAT
digitization issues
Automate VAT determination
Get ready for the 2021 changes around e-commerce in
the EU and elsewhere
Upgrade and centralize archiving of electronic invoices
across different lines of business, applications, etc.
Set up a tax technology function
Most
respondents
have concerns
about being
able to keep
up with the
constant
changes.
As more AP transactions get managed in third party
software and multi-tenant cloud services, businesses
are increasingly dependent on their solution vendors
to keep them compliant with e-invoicing and
continuous transaction control mandates.
Almost half
struggle to
balance their
own and the
tax authorities’
digital
transformations.
Automating and leveraging technology to
ensure compliance are the top priorities for
the year ahead.
What are your top priorities for 2020/2021 related to VAT?
73% are uncertain they
can keep up with the
changing tax landscape.
How confident are you
about keeping up with the
changing international tax
regulation / policy landscape?
Use of modern AP software and cloud solutions
are slated for growth.
In AP, which of the following have you already
automated with dedicated software or cloud-based
platforms to facilitate the end-to-end process?
So how can you prepare for the years to come?
All of the normal challenges will be compounded by
some wider market forces.
Very
confident
Have this in place
Don’t have this in place but
have plans to implement
Don’t have this in place
and no immediate plans
Somewhat
confident
Not very
confident
Worried
about keeping
up with
regulation
About
Sovos offer the first complete solution for modern
tax; a continuous and connected platform for tax
determination, e-invoicing compliance and tax
reporting to governments around the world. They
support 7,000 customers, including half of the
Fortune 500, and integrate with a wide variety of
business applications.
sovos.com
Shift from a
passive to active
compliance
approach. Tax,
IT and finance
professionals need
to get proactive
about how they will
meet the complex
requirements of the
tax landscape and
must chart a path to
ensure a compliant
CTC migration
across processes
and systems.
Bring better data
into your system.
The right tools in
your organization
will allow you to
work on the root
causes of bad data.
Reducing manual
processes in AR,
AP, procurement
and tax can create
a positive feedback
loop. Higher quality
data will reduce cost
and risk of imminent
ERP update projects.
Automate indirect
tax compliance
processes now.
To prepare for the
inevitable shift
to continuous
transaction
controls, adopt
modern software
tools for your VAT
reporting now as
a launching pad
towards a more
strategic response
to this trend in all
your markets.
Take a holistic
approach to
continuous
transaction controls
mandates and stop
adopting local point
solutions to a global
problem. Duplicative
functionality and
vendor management
overhead will add
to your costs and
increase risk. Choose
comprehensive
solutions to meet your
global requirements.
The future may be uncertain, but a modern global strategy for these global tax issues will
support digital transformation, resilience and help you stay in control of cost and compliance.
Watch our webinar for more insight into these tips.
Tax, finance and IT leaders need to join ranks and
step up together to push for change.
Robust automation now will set you up for an
easier digital transformation and help you meet
growing government tax requirements.
Here are 4 Tips to Guide You:
Existing challenges
• Manual processes
• Insufficient controls
• Bad data
• Budget and resource
constraints
• Pressure to upgrade
systems
Emerging challenges
•Governments pushing
for continuous
transaction controls
•Increased push for
supply chain resilience
•Errors on invoices are
a threat to business
operations
•More remote working
A lack of time to plan for the changes is an
ongoing concern.
What are your greatest challenges to continued
VAT compliance in the coming 5-10 years?
58%
58%
48%
38%
23%
17%
63%
5%
5%
27%
Diversity of country-specific digital
VAT mandates and systems
Budget constraints
Lack of time to adopt strategic responses to country-
specific digital VAT mandates and systems
Migration to new versions of ERPs e.g. SAP S/4 HANA
Lack of interdisciplinary professionals who can bridge the gap and
ensure coordination among tax and IT functions in my company
Fragmentation of tools used in my company to manage
document exchange with suppliers and buyers
68%
43%
40%
40%
40%
26%
10%
10%
58%
54%
28%
37%
18%
26%
36%
17%
24%
20%
36%
46%
EDI Procure-to-Pay Supply Chain
Management
Strategic Sourcing
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