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. ©sharedserviceslink.com Ltd and SOVOS 2020. No copy or visual can be used in part, as a phrase or in whole without the written permission of sharedserviceslink.com Ltd. The concept of this product belongs to sharedserviceslink.com Ltd and cannot be re-created by a third party for the purpose of an event, article, report or any other written product, without written consent made available by sharedserviceslink.com Ltd. 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. 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. 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% 28% 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% EDIProcure-to-PaySupply Chain Management Strategic Sourcing 1 1 4 4 3 3 2 2Next >